Maggi64

I'm sure you read critics gushing about this film before you watched it. Or you heard from friends who read the gushing critics before you watched it. Either way, you did not watch it cold. Because then you'd have seen it for what it was: the work of a pretentious auteur director. Yet, apparently, you watched it while already armed to like a "masterpiece" and you obliged your preconceived notions. I can tell this is true because you have nothing specific to say to defend the film.

Yep, the misunderstanding trope with the Art Student and TA was disappointing. But I'll give it a pass because I like that couple so much. I also adore Maru -- especially the way his ears stick out! lol. I think that Maru and the Art Student are the least traditionally beautiful of all 6 guys in the show, but they also happen to have the most charisma. I am drawn into the screen each time either one of them appears. The pretty boys in the main couple, however, bore me.

Also, what is it about BL's that the side couples are always more appealing? It happens so much that it's not even a coincidence anymore so much as a rule. I used to list each BL wherein the side couples were better whenever I had this convo, but by now there are so many examples that I can't even list them all.

Powerful. Upsetting. Honest. Brilliant.

This film was not widely distributed in Japan because the subject matter was so delicate, and not distributed in theatres at all internationally. Nevertheless, it won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 1986 and holds a top spot on most of Japan's film critics' lists, such as the uber prestigious Kinema Junpo.

The plot is centered on the true story of Japanese surgeons conducting vivisections on 8 American POWs. That's the ostensible subject of the film. But the real subject is Hanna Arendt's famous maxim, "The banality of evil." You see, we witness 3 ordinary individuals -- 2 medical interns and a nurse -- knowingly participating in the grotesque murder of 8 men for various reasons. For instance, because they were just following orders. Or because it was a way of pandering to superiors and advancing their career. Or because, in one case, they were acting out a personal grudge against another staff member. This particular person's motive was the most striking example of the Banality of Evil.

The writer, director and actors created believable characters whom the viewer cares about in a well paced plot that flies by over the course of 2 hours. It's a film of stunning realism and emotion. Highly recommended. I rate it a 10/10

Yea, that wasn't clear. But I think you're right. That's how I read it, anyway. I don't think the Chinese citizens themselves necessarily carried a Communist ethos with them when they migrated abroad, but they would've been effected by it since it was such an all prevailing force in their lives back home. I think the commenter was saying that a fear of authoritarian forces such as the Communist Party back home would've resulted in the tendency to isolate in the merchant enclaves known as Chinatowns when they migrated abroad.

Although, this theory does not entirely hold because the Chinese Cultural Revolution with the Communist takeover was not until the 1960's and Chinatowns formed in cities across the world before that. But I think the theory partially holds because lots of nationalities from America's great immigrant wave of the late 1880's gathered in niche neighborhoods amongst themselves, just like the Chinese, but then the immigrants dispersed (eg, even NYC's "Little Italy" no longer has many actual Italians left). The Chinese seem to be the only ones whose niche neighborhoods remained even beyond the 1960's That could have something to do with a reaction to the political climate back home.

Thank you so much! It's especially amazing to discover from your research that this Chinatown was formed in the late 1800's and survived because the Japanese were freaking brutal to the Chinese during WWII. There are Chinese who demand war crime reparations from the Japanese to this day (eg, for the Japanese raping and murdering of civilians when they invaded Nanking in 1938). So I am surprised the Japanese did not destroy the Chinatown in Tokyo during this era. But, clearly, they did not. Very interesting.

I know, right? It never occurred to me either until I watched the show and saw a Chinatown in Japan. But now I am learning why it's this way. Who ever said BL's couldn't be educational? LOL.

Wow, what a fascinating theory! If I'm correct, you're saying that the Communist culture makes the Chinese immigrants less trustful of an international community when they migrate elsewhere and, hence, they isolate in these commercial enclaves we call "Chinatowns."

Am I the only one who thinks that the couple who's actually taking the titular "Love Class" has the least heat? Talk about a lame kiss! I'm most engaged by the art student and TA. The art student is not what many call beautiful, but his personality and animated facial expressions make him the most appealing to me of the entire cast. Funny how that can happen, huh?

Thank you. But I wonder why other Asian immigrants never developed similar transnational hubs. For instance, there was a massive Japanese migration to California in the late 1800's, but we never saw anything like what the Chinese developed when they migrated there and created Chinatowns in LA and SF. I wonder if it's just a difference in how the cultures develop commerce?

You never know what you'll get with the Japanese.

Taikan Yoho -- 2 guys not talking things over while constantly having sex.

Minato's Laundry -- 2 guys constantly talking things over while never having sex.

Exactly! The kissing scenes did not seem forced, or simply shoved in to please fans, as is so often the case with weaker BL's. The sign of a good BL is that the kisses feel natural to the story. It also helped that these 2 actors were so comfortable doing it.

I thought it was interesting that they went on a date in Chinatown, because I had no idea until now that there even was a Chinatown in another Asian country such as Japan. I know, of course, that there are Chinatowns in Western countries such as America , England, Australia, and Montreal. The question is, what is it about the Chinese that they form these merchant enclaves in other countries? I mean, we don't have Japanese towns, do we? So why is it just the Chinese?

I know this has nothing to do with BL's, lol, but I couldn't help but notice this and become curious. Does anyone know the historical reason for this?

Wait, what Thai BL is breaking the internet right now?

Ordinarily, I dislike gimmicks in BL's such as gangsters, time travel and ghosts. That stuff always seems an excuse cuz the writers couldn't come up with an authentic love story. But this one worked cuz the 2 leads were just so damned adorable together. Without their terrific chemistry and playful performances, it would've been just another Taiwanese bomb with gimmicks such as what the Thais commonly use to just frame 2 cute guys giving a couple of deep kisses. But with this show, its silliness was somehow its charm. I totally enjoyed it.

Thank you, cuz I totally agree. It's a low budget, badly written, badly directed, rush job using only the most basic storyline of the Thai original. It's obvious that this is a cynical attempt for some Korean production company to cash in on the BL craze and make the same kind of big bucks that Thailand is making off BL fans. As a BL fan, I rather resent this sort of thing.

It's going nowhere, as the commenter stated, because the plot points are simply laid out in a rudimentary fashion, but not developed. Plot points are simply tossed out and rushed forward, one by one, as if the director's following a diagram. That's a very different thing from carefully crafting a believable romance.

If you mean the couple based on Fighter/Tutor, they are also better actors. The tall one in the other couple is cute, but an awful actor.

Kind of ironic that the characters are all film majors when the production quality, writing, directing and editing for this show are all so bad. Clearly, the team behind this show did not go to film school themselves. Or, if they did, they didn't learn much.

Exactly, it was a low budget production which means, as you said, that they had a very limited time in which to tell the story as it was. So it was crazy to waste time on that 3rd hetero couple.

Wait, what was in this show about the wife and her new lover? I didn't catch anything about the wife having a lover.