Foundational BL but it's not good
The Takumi-kun series showcases a LOT about origin Japanese yaoi and why it’s troubling, why it’s addictive, and what a core foundation it gave to the modern BL shows coming out of Thailand, Taiwan, and Korea particularly.Beautiful fragile traumatized Takumi escapes the horrors of his youth by attending boarding school. There things aren’t great because his coping mechanism is touch-aversion, timidity, and fear. Alone and bullied, Takumi is barely surviving until handsome, rich, popular Gii becomes obsessed with him. Oh and they’re roommates.
The Takumi-kun franchise (like 2 Moons/2 Moons 2) shot this first movie and then recast for the remaining adaptations. The second cast is much better. They did not, however, re-film book 1 with the new actors, except as flashbacks. I highly recommend you watch the fan made first movie version (from those flashbacks) instead of this one, and then 3 of the 4 follow ups. So here’s a watching order:
Takumi-kun Series 1 DaiMao Version (Fan Made recut via flashbacks)
Takumi-kun Series 2: Rainbow Colored Glass
Takumi-kun Series 3: The Beauty of Detail
Takumi-kun Series 5: That Sunny Blue Sky
Series 4 is about side characters and doesn’t add to the main story, but it’s fine if you like those side characters.
This original Series 1 with the different cast is okay (I guess?) and a more honest adaptation of the original yaoi (which is NOT good), but not worth watching if you're looking to get into the series.
However, from a heritage BL film perspective this first movie (but also bits of the others) showcases how Japanese framing, filming angles, body positioning (staging), and cinematography for BL using the origin manga as a storyboard. This filming style would go on to influence Korean BL in particular (see Color Rush) and is still used in Japanese BL today (see Love Stage!!).
All that said, if you want a pitch perfect Japanese yaoi manga adaptation with none of Takumi's issues, Seven Days is your jam. Watch that instead.
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The storyline is interesting, but the plot was pretty cliched and also very rushed.
The characters are very likeable and just as we start to understand them, they do/say something that makes it feel like we missed something in between. So, it wasn't very believable.
What I appreciated about it was the feel of the movie. Even being about such a different aspect as love between boys, it didn't feel strange at all. Rather it showed a very natural and beautiful relationship.
The cast was very good. The boys were perfect for the roles they played.
In all, here's a movie with lot of potential, but it falls short of being great.
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If "The Room" Was a Japanese BL
This movie is so bad, that it's good.Parts that were meant to be sad were so hindered by terrible dialog and acting, that I thought I found myself in a comedy. The whole thing was extremely confusing, almost as if it was skipping time, people drastically changing emotions and feelings within one day to the next, and filled with rushed and unexplained plot lines.
The whole thing made absolutely no sense, and I love it, but if I hadn't looked at it in such a comedic way, I wouldn't have been able to finish it.
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Cute & Fluffy!
I actually really enjoyed this first movie. I went into it thinking it was going to be some intense love story due to all the clips I've seen online but it wasn't at all. So seeing that it was lighthearted and more comedic, I actually felt relieved. I absolutely love fun, light-hearted movies.Characters:
I liked Gii. He was super confident but never cocky. I loved how he had absolutely no shame in pursuing Takumi yet he never forced himself on him and was always aware of Takumi's feelings and his "phobia" (which was really ptsd).
I also liked Takumi. He was cute and I found myself wanting to be his friend.
The other characters were kind of forgettable though as they were not central to the plot. Some were over the top and hilarious while others were just a random face in a crowd.
Actors:
I think the actors did a great job at portraying their characters. The guy playing Gii fit the character perfectly to me and he seemed comfortable in the role. The boy playing Takumi also did a great job at portraying an awkard kid with high levels of social anxiety. I see some people complain that he wasn't a good actor but I think he is. He is playing someone still mentally suffering from a childhood trauma and he hasn't had friends (except the one guy) for a very long time. So interacting with people after that is going to be...well...awkward! Lol. So in my opinion, he did a good job too.
Story:
The overall story was a pretty good one. Mildly basic with meaningful under tones, yet not so heavy that it makes you feel sad. It was about two boys, one has a crush on the other, and they become roommates. Over time we get to see Takumi lower the invisible brick wall he has built around himself to keep other people out as he comes to terms with his feelings and how his past trauma is affecting his relationships with people.
Even though the writing and script could feel a bit corny at times, I also feel that this is what added to the comedic and fluffy charm of the film. Some silly dialogue mixed with the silly music in certain scenes had me cracking up laughing at some moments. Corny dialogue isn't always a bad thing in my opinion.
I think in the end, things wrapped up nicely with Takumi realizing certain things about himself and life in general, while also finding some form of closure for what happened to him.
Locations/Scenery:
Where on earth in Japan was this film shot?? The scenery and landscaping was absolutely beautiful! Such lush, green forests and mountains; sunlight for days; beautiful buildings and interior design. It really was a treat for the eyes and added to the upbeat, light-hearted feel of the movie.
Music:
Silly at times. Unnoticible at other times.
Overall, I would recommend this movie. Especially to those of you, like me, who love fluffy movies. I will choose a fluffy movie over a steamy movie any day and this movie gave me all the happy feels ^_^
I can see myself rewatching this many times simply for it's simplicity and visual beauty. If ever I need a break from an intense series or something, or maybe I'm just bored, I can see my self rewatching this. I liked it! Lol. But I seem to be a minority in that matter.
As long as you are not taking this film too seriously and aren't expecting something deep and riveting, you'll most likely have a good time and get a few laughs out of it.
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This review may contain spoilers
You know, I can't even be mad at this movie. It was so cringey that it was actually cute. LolI'm still kinda laughing though because ... you can absolutely tell what year this movie was made but it also gave me a bit of nostalgia feelings. lol
I'm still a little confused about the back story though because we learn why he didn't like being touched (though we can get the reason why through flashbacks, we just never knew WHO) -- it happened when he was a kid but from how his mother seemed to speak, was that she hasn't even seen him since that happened... so you just dropped your kid at some school and never saw him for 10+ years? Are you serious? And we all know his brother screaming sorry in the woods before he died (yes, we know why but I'm just disgusted) -- so what? The mom drops one kid but keeps the pos? Since she was the one that found him in the woods before he died? Not to mention the other guy who kept sexually assaulting him because he "liked" him... Dude is just disgusting man. Who the hell thinks "I'ma win this person by forcing myself on them" yuck!!!!!!
I don't know... I got like a million thoughts and just want to puke. My emotions are everywhere.
I want it to go back to the cute fluff it was before. Lol
Other than that gross part(s), this movie was actually really good.
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It's better than the drama not sure why it is rated so low
I liked this one more than the drama. Given that this was made a decade ago, the questionable scenes make sense. If i watched this 1st I'd probably hate the drama version of it.Here gii was a total green flag. He didn't touch takumi or force or gaslight him into sex. Instead he treasured and respected him the whole time. Also they didn't make takumi's brother into an angel and showed that takumi hated his brother but kept quite cz he never expected someone soo close to do that to him. He didn't forgive his brother but just learnt to move on from the past.
If u watch this I'd suggest u dont watch the series.
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Tento film je první v pořadí z pěti série Takumi-kun o jaoi (yaoi) na motivy mangy, líbil se mi a ničím neurazil. Ohledně zjednodušených termínů pro nejaponské publikum spíše tento první díl a i druhý je šónen-ai. To, že nemám kvalitní kopii a zvuk nic nemění na známkách, které dávám. Snímek může působit naivně, láskyplně, jako pohádka, ale ve skutečnosti je to natočeno podle japonských neměnných pravidel a někteří hodnotitelé zde toto nemusí pobrat. Za mě mírně nadprůměrný film o šónen-ai lásce.
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Curious after watching Takumi-kun 2025
I came to see this movie because i watched the Takumi-kun series 2025 and read in the revieuws that you should watch the previous movies to understand the storyline better, so here i am.Visuals were a bit blurry, maybe because it is a copy of an old film? It was the best quality i could find.
Without the slightly blurr the visuals would be beautiful. The music was good.
The acting was ok as far i could judge, because of the slight blurr some facial expressions weren't noticable.
Some parts were a bit messy like the fact that Takabayashi was at one moment in love with Gii next moment totaly in love with Yoshizawa. Maybe those back stories will become more clear in the other movies? I'll just go and watch them the next days to see if they add something to the stories.
It wasn't a bad watch, but i think they didn't use all the potential it had.
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This review may contain spoilers
I found the story interesting above all the idea of troumatism and the fact that it is afraid to be touched by others because of its past even if I think that precisely this aspect of the film could have developed much more because it is still thanks to this that it falls in love with Gii and yet we hardly talk about it. I think Gii confessed his feelings too quickly and out of context. I found that the story whether the romantic side or other go too fast and was not developed enough for me. It would have been nice if the film had lasted longer to be able to develop a little more the characters as their past, their ties, their friendships ... I really liked this movie even though it has some negative point, I think it's worth the detour
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Pour la nostalgie...
Plus très jeune, ce premier volet garde une forme de nostalgie qui fait parfois grincer des dents, ou donne envie de se cacher sous des répliques ringardes à souhait.L'image est vieillotte, l'intrigue est clichée, la narration n'a pas de rythme, c'est parfois confus. Le film coche toutes les cases du cliché et manque cruellement de réalisme. On sent les personnages de l'ancienne époque. Et pourtant… Si ce n'est pas crédible, j'y trouve une forme de réconfort et une vague de souvenirs. Il est amusant de remarquer qu'aujourd'hui encore, certains clichés se retrouvent.
En bref, derrière mes rires nerveux, Takumi-kun m'a rappelé les maladresses du premier amour avec des plans horribles et des dialogues niais au possible, mais pour lesquels je ressens une forme de nostalgie.
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Brega e intrigante.
Sinto que esse filme é uma preparação para seu sucessor que é uma verdadeira obra de arte. Ele tem momentos muito bregas e clichês, mas, por incrível que pareça, eu gosto!O clássico BL japonês aristocrático e fofo, aquele com o personagem perfeito em tudo, geralmente vem com música clássica e personagens super refinados na etiqueta.
Posso dizer com tranquilidade que "Takumi-Kun Series" é um dos maiores clássicos do mundo BL japonês; pode não ser uma referência em qualidade, mas é inegável sua repercussão.
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