Aki0

I get it... but I don't

This piece of beautiful cinematography reveals some important flaws of the society that we live in but also shows how a specific part of it is suffering without us even knowing.
I liked that it showed something raw and real without focusing on the bl part which actually came pretty natural. The chemistry between the actors seemed pure and I loved that. They really managed to express difficult emotions.
On the other hand it seemed to me that it was one of those films where 'nothing happens' but it actually does. The plot looked like it was going nowhere so I was a little confused as I was watching it.

The ending didn't sit right with me and I was hoping to find someone here who I can talk about it but I am the first review so feel free to talk to me.

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Sometimes we dont get the closure that we crave for

I felt the need to write something under this piece, maybe just to remind myself why I gave it a 10.

Let me start off by saying that I did not know what I was getting into when I started the serie. At first I was attracted by the title, which I love. The comparassion between the proverb and the action in this is simply good.
We have two complex characters with their own complex relationships.
Let me talk about both:
-Hagiwara and Kaori, your normal couple at first, two people who undeniably love each other, no matter what everyone says. A sexless relationship that is but they still love each other. Its interesting to see how Hagiwara changes throughout the serie in his relationship and also his mindset. I wanted to hate Kaori so bad, I thought I would, like in any BL ever but I just couldnt. Let me explain her, Throughout the plot, we dont know the reason Kaori doesnt want to have sex with Hagiwara but it still makes sense. I dont think it was ever a problem that she doesnt want to have sex, it was just that it was not communicated good enough. I didnt blame her one second, seeing how she actually cares for him, if you dont want to have sex, you dont have to, but you should also communicate why. I tried to portray their relationship as something else and look at them maybe like a mom-son or a brother-sister relationship but they didnt fit. I thought -maybe she just sees him as her brother- but it was not that. I feel like the author also had a hard time with her character, making her look bad when saying that she doesnt like it -when he gets masculine- or whatever was the translation, but at the same time, her giving her reasons at the end, making her look like she cared for him all of this time. She also was really offput by the fact that Hagiwara cheated on her with a man which I feel like it can come from either internalized homophobia, her pride or the fact that she realized that its not just sex Hagiwara is dissatisfied with (seeing how he could just hook up with another woman if he wanted sex but he was actually unhappy in general). I fear I cannot dislike her. She feels very human. Lets not forget tho that Hagiwara cheated on Kaori at the end of the day, when he couldve talked with her about all these things before.
-Sei and Kazuaki, an even more complex couple, who could, in my opinion, be even more developed. I was actually shocked to see that Kazuaki (from what I understood) actually liked Sei but he refrained from his feelings, afraid he might damage him even more. Kazuaki was the one who stayed by Seis side the whole time and while this doesnt justify his actions later, its true that he actually cared for Sei and was afraid of feeling more, in case Sei only attached to him because of his trauma. It seems to be revealed that Kazuaki sees Sei as someone very fragile and thats why he is so taken aback and reluctant everytime Sei mentions something sexual around him. I find his reactions to be exagerated of course, and I think the actor build such impecable temper for the role, because we see this side of him from the begginning until the end, so we shouldnt be shocked when he reacts like that in bed. Same as Kaori goes for Kazuaki too. In the beggining I didnt know what was the reason he didnt want to have sex with Sei but at the same time I didnt blame him. If you dont want to have sex, you dont want. Its good that its communicated but you should also say why. But again, I didnt blame him. He really said all of his intentions from the start and I appreciated that. I actually wanted a real flashback of how they met or how they interacted before, like the first couple had. Their relationship developes into something controling and toxic and it is not to forget that Sei was RAPED by Kazuaki. That is unforgettable, and is not justified by anything.

I saw some people saying that its not really adressed the fact that Sei got raped or the fact that Kaori didnt take responsability and I have one hard truth to share. That is how life is. That doesnt mean that thats how it should be. I assumed everything is intentional. Especially since Sei didnt want to put a bad light over Kazuaki. He respected him, he liked him. Maybe it really never got adressed (and maybe this will develope into a trauma for him and a problem in the relationship with Hagiwara, that is, if this was real). And especially since Hagiwara also respected Kaori and liked her for a long time. I imagined that it happened just like in real life=you get in a fight with someone close and you want to tell them so many things and make them feel bad but when you actually see them you just want to get it over with because of the history you have together.

I liked the interactions between Hagiwara and Sei. The actors did a fantastic job making me love or hate them. They all seemed very genuine and normal. Also the conversations felt very real and the characters were made very mature. This show portraits perfectly the importance of compability and especially sexual compability. Even if you love each other, you have to be on the same wave on each level. Also this perception of sex as being dirty and disgusting is so real. I dont need to elaborate on that.

Dont forget that a huge stepping stone, which might not seem, was the interaction with the couple friends with the pregnant lady that actually revealed a side of reality that not many can handle. I believe it was put there to give an isolated example of the same situation so that we can look at it more objectively.

I could talk about this more and Im sure I forgot a lot of things but for myself, this is my hectic review.

For a good series to be good, the characters shouldnt be visualized as perfect, each with their own complexity. We dont always get the closure we want like talking about the scars that Sei was left with and how are those going to affect his next relationship. We shouldnt see this as a romance but more as a piece of life.

I gave this series a rating for how it made me feel.

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All I really want is to be like the rest of them, to be who I really am

I found myself intrigued by this little piece. Though they may have been some things that didn't sit right with me I will only talk about the good stuff. Pretty sure this is my first time watching a Hong Kong piece and they did not dissapoint. This was perfect after a night out walking through the city. I want to give all my love to the cinematography and visuals because they were beautiful and 100% my style. For a 35min movie, which tried to capture a tiny part of someone's life, this was really engaging. The movie takes on topics that happen all of the time around us and although it's from 2015, 10 years from then things like this still happen. Left me bitter but somehow fullfilled. Would totally recommend and maybe someday I will find it in more quality.

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