This is the second vertical AI BL drama I've sat through, and honestly I went in knowing better. I had it on while I was doing cardio at the gym, and what struck me was just how much the plot echoed the last one I watched. Same step brother romance angle, same mystery girlfriend showing up near the end, same extra guy pining after one of the leads. Genuinely the only thing going for it was the runtime, the whole thing wrapped up in forty five minutes flat. The setup kicks off with Finn moving schools because his mom just married into money. He finds out his new step brother Aiden goes to the same place, and he's warned to keep his distance from him. Their first run in at school is rocky, just like you'd expect, but there's this odd pull between them neither can shake off. Finn keeps telling himself not to read into it because Aiden's straight and openly homophobic. Things shift when some kids start bullying Finn and the student council president, Ryan, steps in to ...
Ito and Yoshida are close friends but Yoshida is completely unaware of the huge crush that Ito has on him. When a new girl Aihara joins their class, she somehow gets a pang of Ito’s fascination for Yoshida. Initially she taunts him but slowly the two of them become friends, especially given that they are both being treated by same psychiatrist (Ito’s father finds out he is gay and wants him treated And we later find that Aihara was raped in her previous school). Ito is constantly ridiculed by his classmates who make fun of him for him love for Yoshida and finally one day Ito confesses his love to Yoshida who doesn’t understand how to react to this news. Ito begs for a kiss in a beautifully done scene. Yoshida slowly finds himself drawn towards the mystery of Aihara, who knows that her best friend Ito is madly in love with Yoshida. This is where a bizarre love triangle happens because part of everyone wants to do the right thing and also do the right by themselves.
This is not an easy film to watch. It is slow, sometimes with no dialogues but at the same time showing young adult confusions very clearly. There are a lot of scenes which have been handled very sensitively. The whole sequence when Ito tells Yoshida about his feelings. They are friends, so Yoshida lets him hug him and kiss him but instinctively feels it wrong and pushes him back. And from now, there will always be a very uneasy rift between the two boys. Every character has a story and we don’t question too hard on thoughts and feelings behind the actions of each of the characters. Yes, the finale is a bit unsettling, without any clear direction. Their understanding of what romantic feelings mean at all just breaks down. I found it very very interesting when Aihara asks Yoshida is he likes her just because she is a girl and would he love her if she was a man. Yes, she is trying to help her friend Ito but this does pose an interesting thought challenge to everyone who watches this film and make you ponder about yourself.
A not-so-easy to watch coming-of-age film, I wish it was not such a long film and the ending was clearer but I think a similar story has a better prospect in today’s day and time. This film was probably way ahead of its time in 1995. (6/10)
Comments
I would say , with no offense for them who worked to build a film : it is not my cup of tea.