Vagueness - Throughout the movie, the couple faced many problems that were lightly glazed over. The positive is, we as viewers don't have to sit in angst for the characters to reconcile. The negative is, the story feels slightly disconnected. Although, the story is very cohesive considering this.
Acting/Cast - The acting of the main characters was great. There was some cringey or unnatural acting with the smaller roles and one-liner roles (there are more than you think), but not really a big deal.
****Ending - Vague like the rest of it. LOL. Happy in my opinion.
Music - It was good. Nothing to complain about.
Rewatch Value - The couple is cute, but with the plethora of BL dramas and movies I have, I would not pick to rewatch this one. The story is generic. Because of that, my chance of re-watching is low.
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This review may contain spoilers
Very underdeveloped with a typical BL ending that leaves things up in the air and pretty unsatisfying. Plus the version I watched seemed to have cut out all the intimate scenes. I’m not sure if they edited the movie that way, or if Winspedia (the translators) did. But cutting those scenes of intimacy also cut out part of the story and left me feeling like I was missing something of the emotional intimacy between the characters as well. Overall I just felt board and unfulfilled. Could’ve been a really good story too, how disappointing. Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Good story, mid romance
After reading some of the comments here, i was expecting something super cliché and boring, but I was surprised in a good way. I liked it overall, I think the rythm was good and the topic was interesting.Now, I think the main reason I liked it is, being queer myself, I rarely see realistic queer representation in BLs or GLs. Which is fair, since the target is straight women who'd like to enjoy a nice romance, not really actual queer people. The lgbtq+ matters in these romances are often ignored: no homophobia, no identity questionning, no other representation than the main couple... I'm not blaming them, I actually enjoy these romances too.
But after watching athlete I realized how much I actually missed a more realistic perspective on those matters. Not only did the movie talk about Homophobia, it also portrayed accurately the struggle of coming out, of facing your family who has always known you under a certain light and you're not sure they'd understand, of actually understanding the problematics and not just fall in love, and on top of everything, being part of a community.
Although some of the BL/GLs I've seen before do go over the main problematics of being queer, I've rarely (maybe never) seen one that actually depicts the lgbtq+ community. This movie did, and I loved it. The final scene when they talk about priscilla was super touching, and I loved that Kouhei actually gets to learn about the people in that bar and grows close to them rather than just fall in love with a guy and try to understand only him.
Now digging into the main relationship. The open ending didn't bother me. The relationship was pretty unstable from the start, so I wasn't even expecting a happy ending. However, I understand the people saying that it was too much of a mess. The couple raises a lot of topics and problematics: Being a prostitute, cheating, jealousy, being ashamed of their relationship, etc... but even if they reconsciliate at the end, they never actually solve the problems. They never communicate about their feelings, they just blame the other for doing something wrong and that's it. Maybe that's why I don't mind the open ending, because I could see this story expand and have a sequel where Kouhei finds another boyfriend with whom he actually has a healthy relationship, and Yuta would be an important part of his journey but not the finality.
I'm a big fan of "show don't tell", so I also didn't mind them not saying "I love you"s and stuff, but still I was annoyed how they didn't kiss once without having sex right after. Knowing that this story really wasn't about lust, I think that was a pretty weird choice. Also, the first two times were fine but the love making on the beach was just straight up ridiculous. The movement were so weird, the choreography was really bad.
The acting otherwise was ok I guess but I did laugh out loud when that kid started crying in Kouhei's arms at the pool. The acting really ruined the scene there.
To conclude, I think it was a pretty bad BL but it was an good queer story and I'd definitely recommend it to people who look for something a bit more twisted than simple romance.
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A Quiet Film That Speaks in Silences
Note: this is a queer film, not a BL. if you’re looking for a BL this isn’t for you. If you are confused what I mean by it being a queer film: this story deals with the realities of being queer, including homophobic strangers with loud opinions and having to decide how to face your families. It also delves into the complexity of sexuality, love and attraction as we have a gay man and a straight man in a relationship.If you’re expecting a plethora of love scenes and kisses and put a high value on those you may be looking for a BL, not queer media.
I’ve seen criticism of the sex scenes and, to be honest, they feel awkward and uncoordinated. On the other hand, there is a sincerity in how very unpretty it is. No one is having Hollywood pretty sex in real life. There’s an urgency and desperation when these two are together as if they are desperate for air and this is the only way to get it.
A lot is left unsaid between Kohei and Yuta. Yuta is emotional and reacts in a way that causes protective distance. Kohei is often unclear about his own feelings because his affection for another man is new to him. When given the opportunity they both do what so many people do in real life: hesitate, hold back and remain silent.
I’m still not sure Yuta loved Kohei, if I’m honest. I think he clearly cared for him but I think he wanted to be loved and accepted by someone more than anything. Kohei wound up stepping up into that role, though he faltered and made mistakes along the way. In the end, I think Yuta was too wounded to give any more of himself than he did.
Kohei was so interesting to watch evolve. In many ways he simply let their relationship evolve and become whatever it wanted to be without giving it a lot of thought. There was no hesitation in becoming part of Yuta’s life and accepting what he offered. There was no hesitation when Yuta decided to cross the line to evolve that relationship into something sexual, and by extension eventually romantic, between them. Kohei only stopped to think about things when Yuta was gone, but he never really stops trying to figure things out. He doesn’t just give up on Yuta, even though he is sometimes too lost to know what to do.
The main actors convey so much with their physical performances. This isn’t a dialogue heavy story and it doesn’t need to be. Yuta is complicated enough that this could easily be unsatisfying for some viewers but it wasn’t for me.
I also want to include a HUGE shout out to Priscilla’s bar and the community Kohei finds there. The regulars all seem to know about him and Yuta but still don’t presume anything about his orientation or press a narrative about what their relationship means for the label he should wear. It is an accepting and comforting place to be with people you can be yourself with. As a queer person, this was one of my favorite things in the film.
This film isn’t perfect. The writing and storytelling isn’t flawless. The emotion and impact, however, is fantastic. This may be a little too “real life” for some, but I really appreciated the depth and complexity this film managed in such a short time.
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Kaido Kohei, bývalý závodní plavec (ve skutečnosti herec Nakamura Joe, který ve svých 45 letech vypadá naprosto dokonale) žije běžný život se svou ženou a dcerou až do doby, kdy dcera má promovat a manželka se rozhodla se s ním rozvést. Kaido se setkává s Yutakou, mladíkem, u kterého začne přechodně bydlet. Setkávají se zde dva světy vysloužilého postaršího plavce, žijícího doposud poklidným hetero životem a mladého gaye, který chce žít podle svého. Pěkně zahráno, příběh pro mě malinko skřípěl v tom, jak ti dva naprosto odlišní lidé k sobě stále hledali cestu, zpracování bezva a těm, kterým nevadí japonské filmy, mohu jen doporučit....
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The costume department left something to be desired. While the outfits were pretty decent it felt like they all wore the same outfits for the whole movie.
That red light crosswalk scene where he was on the phone was so damn bad, it was ridiculous. The extras were just walking in all different directions and it didn’t make any sense. I blame the director for that scene.
The acting was pretty decent but it generally wasn’t a solid movie so I won’t be rewatching this.
Overall rating 3.5/10 because I can’t forgive the bait and switch act with all the make out scenes that made it look so fake.
I do not recommend
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This review may contain spoilers
Was a waste of time!!
2/10 dropped, disappointed.Negative:
1. Too few kisses
2. Just 1/2 Lovescene but unfortunately not much happened there. The Second one was too short.
3. Story
4. I dont liked the Ending....i didn't understand it somehow. Was it a happy ending or not? ......
5. The Music was annoying. The voices came across so quietly because of the Music.
6. The Movie didn't stick in my mind. The implementation was bad.
Positive:
1. Acting was good.
2. The Maincouple
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Alur yang terhalang kabut
Sebenarnya saya tidak mengerti alur cerita dari bL yang satu ini, seolah-olah hanya menjelaskan bahwa seorang guru renang ini bercerai dengan istrinya lalu keluyuran di tengah kota dan menemukan pria mabuk, dia kemudian membawanya ke bar dan akhirnya punya perasaan untuk mencoba bercinta bersama laki-laki. Dan saya merasakan bahwa ini akan menjadi bad ending, seperti umumnya bL lawas Jepang under 2019 ; selalu memberikan cerita yang bad ending dan bad scenery. Saya tidak merekomendasikan bL ini. Mungkin review saya akan diperbarui suatu saat nanti karena jujur sebenarnya saya tidak benar-benar menyelesaikan atau menonton film ini dengan sungguh-sungguh ; karena menurut saya alur ceritanya membosankan, detail ceritanya kurang sehingga tidak menjelaskan apa yang terjadi, terakhir ; life meaning film ini saya tidak menemukannya. Yang saya suka mungkin hanya satu, aktor utama laki-laki yang seorang atlet/guru renang, sisanya tidak ada alasan lain.Was this review helpful to you?
