Is this technically a gay show? Even after getting through the whole thing, that's still kind of tricky to answer. There's never any physical intimacy shown between the two leads, not even a single kiss. What it gives you instead is something that goes way deeper than that. It traces an emotional bond that spans a full decade between two guys who are both dealing with their own baggage, and what they share basically amounts to being soulmates. The story moves across Japan, South Korea, and Berlin. Honestly, whether people want to call what they have a romantic relationship or not doesn't really matter to me. A relationship doesn't need a label like boyfriends attached to it to actually mean something. And closeness doesn't need to be physical to feel genuine. What this show captures is something quieter but way more powerful, a bond rooted in understanding, respect, and just showing up for each other. Across eight episodes, each running 35 to 45 minutes, this is one...
14 year old Axel comes from a broken home with a substance-abusing mom and an abusive stepfather. Rather than go to school, Alex hangs out with his friends in the center of town and cruises a gay bar to try and find johns and make some money. Axel mostly appears quite assertive in his behavior, he is smart-mouthed, sometimes violent and sports a giant Elvis-like hairstyle. Things change when he meets an older guy, who is unhappily married, has a son and is likely hiding his sexuality. Their affair starts off as a blackmail event but slowly the relationship evolves. All this while Axel using his place to have sex with his girlfriend, who is also sleeping with his best friend. There are like 10 other sub plots about the man's wife having an affair, weird neighbors, everyone talking about sex and porn as if it is the most natural thing. Anyway at some point when cops get a wind of what's happening, they come to question this older man, who eventually empties his bank balance, goes on a long drive with the kid Axel, but eventually lets him go and tries to attempt suicide but fails. Back home, Axel's shenanigans finding tricks and selling his body continue.
There is no concrete plot and the quality of acting is negligible. The film jumped around too much in tone and couldn't stay focused on any single plot line. The film focuses on the dire situation of street kids and how they use their bodies to get through life. If the film stayed there and kept its focus, it would hav been fine, but the makers keep jumping from one plot to another making a chain of sorts while doing no justice to either of those things. Some scene make sense, like when the old man has had enough hiding his sexuality, he wants to eventually break free and doesn't care for materialistic things. He gives all his money to Axel so that he can live his life, but sadly the same cannot be said about Axel. His behavior is too erratic most times and unpredictable, to get a real feel of what this character is feeling inside. What this film needed was some sort of emotional connect between these two main characters and focus on their story. That would hav been more impactful rather than plethora of these subplots. (3.5/10)
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