Is Haruka Ayase the Japanese version of Anne Hathaway? In everything from their perky public personas and sterling work ethic to their toothy smiles and flawless complexions, the two stars symbolize a type of good-girl perfection. And yet they also rub some imperfect types the wrong way, though Hathaway is the undoubted winner in the most-disliked-celebrity contest.
I swing back and forth about Ayase. For every film like Hirokazu Koreeda’s “Our Little Sister” (2015), to which she brought a Setsuko Hara-like grace and poise, she makes others like “Galaxy Turnpike” (2015), “The Kodai Family” (2016) and now time-travel fantasy “Honnouji Hotel,” playing heroines who are pure, cute and dim.
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