This is a drama that I rewatch often. Suzuki Jin, with his beautiful caramel-colored skin and doe-eyes, is like a precious little puppy and I was particularly drawn to the significant vulnerability that he portrayed in every episode. This drama ultimately shows that LOVE, no matter the ages of the characters, wins in the end.

And I love so much about this. Japanese dramas often get right to the point and sometimes that's a refreshing change of pace from an endless slow burn.

The music is haunting and lends itself perfectly to the background. (I wish I could find what the one song is!)
The acting is flawless. This was my first Suzuki Jin drama and I went right out searching for others of his to watch. He's got quite a talent at only 24 years old (at this writing, and between 20-21 when this drama came out!)

So free your mind from often-rigid societal expectations and enjoy this celebration of love between two unlikely people who simply found what they needed in the other person.

Read More

Beautiful from beginning to end

This is pure sweetness and love. The film explores themes of abandonment, failure, trust, and, ultimately, love and self-acceptance. The acting was first-rate, there wasn't a false note entire film. The music was unexpected, but somehow perfect too. The writing was understated and soft, and yet carried emotional weight. The leads reminded me of the characters from the film version Life-Love on the Line, my other favorite LGBTQ+ film from Japan. These are important stories to tell, and yet, this film doesn't make them exceptional - they're just human. Which is even better.

Read More

This is the story we need

You need to watch Seven Days: Monday-Thursday first, and then Friday-Sunday. I hope that they put the two together sometime because it should be watched as a longer movie. I'll be referring to both movies as just one in this review.

This is not your typical BL story, and that's good. What this is, instead, is an exquisitely and breathtakingly beautiful story about two young men in high school who, almost accidentally, realize a love that they didn't know existed or was even possible. There isn't any fanservice here, thank goodness, only phenomenal - and age-appropriate! - writing and acting. They actually act and speak like high school boys and their shyness, embarrassment, and halting actions were all backed up by their inner thoughts, which the audience was thankfully privy to. We got to listen in on their doubts and lack of self-confidence even when their outer appearance was the opposite. I had never seen either main lead before and my goodness, they both delivered 100%. Also, the OST was the perfect accompaniment to the story, and it was shot really well, from lighting to the filming angles.
But the importance of this story lies well past how well-done it was. It lies in the fact that two people, who happen to be the same gender, find a love in each other. Yes, most of us have seen BL stories before, and many of us have seen a lot of BL before. And reams of type have been dedicated to the more problematic aspects of BLs, like the lack of consent too often portrayed as normal, the often-toxic nature of the relationships, again portrayed as not only normal, but expected in these relationships, and the ways BLs cater to the female gaze, making that more important than the other stories of LGBTQ+ men and women that deserve to be told. So we need more stories like this (and maybe less problematic BL!)
The beloved LGBTQ+ folks in my life experience the same kinds of fears and hurts as straight folks do in relationships and many of them want to get married and have a family and live a stable, settled life with their love. And they deserve that chance. Hopefully stories like these Seven Days films, Life-Love on the Line, and others, will help change public opinion enough in Japan to help pass marriage equality laws and normalize LOVE. Because that's what it is. #lovewins.

Read More

Breathtakingly beautiful and honestly almost perfect

This is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen, and I don't say that lightly. I loved the show, but this film gives us more breathing room and time to spend getting to know the characters - to see how time changes them and their relationship.
This isn't your typical BL stuffed with fanservice, and in fact I would argue that this isn't BL at all. Instead it's a gorgeously filmed, exquisitely written, and flawlessly acted film that celebrates the existence and resilience of LGBTQ+ folks, which caused me to ugly-cry at more than one place in the film. The characters aren't caricatures - they're written to be real people who are meant to be together and who fight to be together - sometimes fighting themselves and their preconceived notions of what "normal" is.

Read More

Ultimately it doesn't matter if you've read the manga or seen the anime

Having never seen the anime, or read the manga, I loved this. And I disagree 100% (and more if I could) with any commenters who said that Suzuki Jin's acting was disappointing in this. On the contrary, that young man is a freaking star in the making, and this drama helps to confirm that. His eyes, his facial expressions, the way he tightens up his chest and shoulders, the realizations that pass from inner monologues to outward expressions - all of it was authentic, with not a false note in sight. (Btw, for anyone who might need to hear this - anxiety can cause involuntary eye and facial twitches and for as much as Ue seemed to be on the verge of panic throughout the entire drama, it makes perfect sense that he would be a little twitchy at times.)

I read so much complaining about live action adaptations of manga and anime and partly I understand that - folks have a picture in their head when they read something and they get attached to it, and disappointed when it doesn't match what they had imagined. But each medium is different, and the creators should be allowed to interpret the story to fit the medium chosen. And each creation should get a chance to stand on its own, and say things its own way, but in the end fit within the trilogy, if you can call it that - of manga, anime, and live action. Carbon copies can be kind of boring, but totally different interpretations are risky as well. This drama had so many lovely and touching scenes, and I enjoyed them without having seen anything else before them. I got to experience the story for the first time, and it might even push me towards actually reading the manga or watching the anime if I wanted to see more. Good stories, and interesting live action productions of stories based on previously published works can propel us toward their source material without having to be the exact mirror copy of it.

Read More

Just not enough of a story for its premise

Just as I started watching this film, I made the mistake of reading a comment about how it looked like it was filmed like a U.S. young adult movie from the 90's, and the damage was done - I just couldn't unsee it from then on. At times it made me think I was watching "Reality Bites" from 1994 but with 21st century bells and whistles, like social media and access to fancy camera equipment. Young adult struggles are young adult struggles, no matter the era, and you never really know the people around you - that's the big takeaway from this movie.

The storytelling wasn't linear, and normally that's not a problem , but this film felt too disconnected to really grab hold of what it was supposed to be about. I would have liked to have seen more actual plot and less music video or scenes that were trying to be shocking and new (but just felt sad.) The rare moments where the flash and glitz all stopped and we could see real emotion were welcomed but not nearly plentiful enough. A huge crime was committed at the beginning of the film (no spoilers) but the lack of fall-out was truly far-fetched at times and added to the viewer wondering if we were just watching one long dream sequence.

One of the main characters said: "I believed without thinking too much" and I thought that was appropriate. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say, and one of the real lessons we all need to learn as we grow up. But I wanted much more from this film than I got.

Read More

Brought me to tears so many times.

I loved this so much. I cried so many times throughout the film, some for sad scenes, but sometimes because it was so beautiful I didn't know what else to do. I'm not going to read any other reviews or comments here because I want to keep my experience of this movie all to myself. It left me with so much to think about. Really, really well-done.
The acting was first-rate. Taishi Nakagawa is a new favorite, and his softness under pain was powerful, but Marie Iitoyo brought her A-game to this one. For such young actors, they both exhibited such maturity and strength.

Read More

So much to love here

I thought I would never like a K-BL as much as Semantic Error, but The Eighth Sense has moved in and completely taken over. What a beautiful and sumptuous and emotional ride...like surfing. Lots of falls and false starts, but when you finally get to stand up on the board and see the water curl around you, it's magical and like it's meant to be.

The eighth sense, as others have mentioned here, is interoception - the sense that starts deep inside a human being, the sensations that are both natural and learned. Some sensations we're born knowing how to attend to, and some we need to learn how to recognize.

This should mark not only a new era of K-BL but a new era of filmmaking and storytelling.

Read More

This is how a plot-twist is done

This movie was brilliant and just deeply profound on many levels. There's a plot-twist that makes the whole thing swing around in the middle and go a completely different direction, and because the writing, direction, and acting were all absolutely first-rate, it all works. Is it all spelled out for everyone and tied up at the end in a neat little bow? No, because that's not how life works. This film has a lot to say about trauma, (inter-generational and one's own), fame, identity, art, shame, and hidden thoughts that we might not want to talk about out loud, but they end up emerging anyway. (If you've ever lost anyone to suicide, the very ending scene will make a lot of sense.)
Suda Masaki was flawless, as usual, and I was very pleasantly surprised by Nakajima Yuto.
I had no expectations going into this film, but it will go on my 'best of' list now. Really well done.

Read More

We need more stories like this!!!

You need to watch Seven Days: Monday-Thursday first, and then Friday-Sunday. I hope that they put the two together sometime because it should be watched as a longer movie. I'll be referring to both movies as just one in this review.
This is not your typical BL story, and that's good. What this is, instead, is an exquisitely and breathtakingly beautiful story about two young men in high school who, almost accidentally, realize a love that they didn't know existed or was even possible. There isn't any fanservice here, thank goodness, only phenomenal - and age-appropriate! - writing and acting. They actually act and speak like high school boys and their shyness, embarrassment, and halting actions were all backed up by their inner thoughts, which the audience was thankfully privy to. We got to listen in on their doubts and lack of self-confidence even when their outer appearance was the opposite. I had never seen either main lead before and my goodness, they both delivered 100%. Also, the OST was the perfect accompaniment to the story, and it was shot really well, from lighting to the filming angles.
But the importance of this story lies well past how well-done it was. It lies in the fact that two people, who happen to be the same gender, find a love in each other. Yes, most of us have seen BL stories before, and many of us have seen a lot of BL before. And reams of type have been dedicated to the more problematic aspects of BLs, like the lack of consent too often portrayed as normal, the often-toxic nature of the relationships, again portrayed as not only normal, but expected in these relationships, and the ways BLs cater to the female gaze, making that more important than the other stories of LGBTQ+ men and women that deserve to be told. So we need more stories like this (and maybe less problematic BL!)
The beloved LGBTQ+ folks in my life experience the same kinds of fears and hurts as straight folks do in relationships and many of them want to get married and have a family and live a stable, settled life with their love. And they deserve that chance. Hopefully stories like these Seven Days films, Life-Love on the Line, and others, will help change public opinion enough in Japan to help pass marriage equality laws and normalize LOVE. Because that's what it is. #lovewins.

Read More