The Trailer Overpromised
The trailer promised more than it delivered.
Visual Beauty, Emotional Gaps
The film was visually stunning, sensual, and tender at times, but also underdeveloped and even cringey in others. I had so much faith in Machida Keita before the release, but I felt he transmitted very little when watching. I had no expectations of Takeuchi Ryoma, on the other hand, because I’d seen very little of him, but he was the one who pulled me in. And I’m not even talking about the waist scene. It was his eyes and the yearning he portrayed after a certain point.
Stereotypes and Weak Writing Choices
I was not a fan of the heavy-handed stereotypes about Latin people, but that wasn’t his fault. It was the writer’s and the showrunner’s choice. The writing focused far too much on telling and not enough on showing. There’s a scene where Suzuki tells his dance partner how he can feel Sugiki’s emotions when he dances with him, listing many of them, yet the only one that actually comes through from Sugiki is his need to control. Suzuki’s partner and the bartender then tell Sugiki that he’s in love so the train scene wouldn’t come out of nowhere, yet they were still jarring. I've seen countless of edits online fawning over this scene yet it barely left a mark on me because in my mind it was supposed to be a build up of their connection not just after a tense moment when Sugiki had accidentally revealed what a sociopath he was to his dance partner.
Underdeveloped Relationships
The characters, their motivations, and their growing emotional connection are severely underdeveloped. Instead, time was wasted on behind-the-scenes sponsor meetings and whatever that conversation was with the British lady, as well as those men gossiping about Sugiki and Liana.
Language Breaks Immersion
The English and Spanish dialogue was embarrassing to watch, delivered by Japanese and non-Japanese actors alike. The non-Asian actors seemed like randos picked up from the street. Their delivery was wooden and cringey.
Ryoma’s and Keita’s multilingual lines were painfully delivered. We’re supposed to believe Sugiki spent time with a British lady as a surrogate mother and had a girlfriend who doesn’t speak Japanese, yet he can barely say a few lines in English? Ryoma’s mom is supposedly Cuban, yet he struggles to speak Spanish to the bartender. This completely takes you out of the story.
Language Proficiency as a Production Responsibility
And don’t give the excuse that they’re Japanese and other languages are hard to learn. I’ve recently seen two BL short series where the actors have heavy accents and are clearly not native English speakers, yet they deliver their lines so clearly and confidently that it doesn’t even matter. Connor, the actor from Heated Rivalry, did an entire speech in Russian, doing justice to his character, yet nobody bothered to teach these guys how to say a few sentences in different languages when the characters were supposed to be speaking them. They spent an entire year learning the dances, but couldn’t learn to pronounce a few lines with confidence?
Final Thoughts
I overall enjoyed the film. I’m just disappointed it was spoiled by such amateur work in certain aspects.
Visual Beauty, Emotional Gaps
The film was visually stunning, sensual, and tender at times, but also underdeveloped and even cringey in others. I had so much faith in Machida Keita before the release, but I felt he transmitted very little when watching. I had no expectations of Takeuchi Ryoma, on the other hand, because I’d seen very little of him, but he was the one who pulled me in. And I’m not even talking about the waist scene. It was his eyes and the yearning he portrayed after a certain point.
Stereotypes and Weak Writing Choices
I was not a fan of the heavy-handed stereotypes about Latin people, but that wasn’t his fault. It was the writer’s and the showrunner’s choice. The writing focused far too much on telling and not enough on showing. There’s a scene where Suzuki tells his dance partner how he can feel Sugiki’s emotions when he dances with him, listing many of them, yet the only one that actually comes through from Sugiki is his need to control. Suzuki’s partner and the bartender then tell Sugiki that he’s in love so the train scene wouldn’t come out of nowhere, yet they were still jarring. I've seen countless of edits online fawning over this scene yet it barely left a mark on me because in my mind it was supposed to be a build up of their connection not just after a tense moment when Sugiki had accidentally revealed what a sociopath he was to his dance partner.
Underdeveloped Relationships
The characters, their motivations, and their growing emotional connection are severely underdeveloped. Instead, time was wasted on behind-the-scenes sponsor meetings and whatever that conversation was with the British lady, as well as those men gossiping about Sugiki and Liana.
Language Breaks Immersion
The English and Spanish dialogue was embarrassing to watch, delivered by Japanese and non-Japanese actors alike. The non-Asian actors seemed like randos picked up from the street. Their delivery was wooden and cringey.
Ryoma’s and Keita’s multilingual lines were painfully delivered. We’re supposed to believe Sugiki spent time with a British lady as a surrogate mother and had a girlfriend who doesn’t speak Japanese, yet he can barely say a few lines in English? Ryoma’s mom is supposedly Cuban, yet he struggles to speak Spanish to the bartender. This completely takes you out of the story.
Language Proficiency as a Production Responsibility
And don’t give the excuse that they’re Japanese and other languages are hard to learn. I’ve recently seen two BL short series where the actors have heavy accents and are clearly not native English speakers, yet they deliver their lines so clearly and confidently that it doesn’t even matter. Connor, the actor from Heated Rivalry, did an entire speech in Russian, doing justice to his character, yet nobody bothered to teach these guys how to say a few sentences in different languages when the characters were supposed to be speaking them. They spent an entire year learning the dances, but couldn’t learn to pronounce a few lines with confidence?
Final Thoughts
I overall enjoyed the film. I’m just disappointed it was spoiled by such amateur work in certain aspects.
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