etoks21

This!

I flashed back to the horrendous audience betrayal/cop-out at the end of the early Thai BL, "The Love of Siam."

Answers:
1) That's what I deduced. I could be wrong.
2) That didn't actually happen. At that point in the film Suzuki is in a coma, brought on by the case of blue-balls Sugiki gave him causing a back up of semen into the brain. The 10dance sequence was a hallucination.
3) Excellent question, as it comes out of nowhere, and goes nowhere. If you recall, Sugiki's female partner comes to the side of Suzuki's partner after the two men are out on the floor. She is teary-eyed and pensive. I took it that she deliberately no-showed Sugiki, knowing that Suzuki was his truly desired partner, and so he would go ask Suzuki to dance with him.

Yes, that is an absurd stretch of the imagination and ridiculous.

A part 2 would be just as frustrating.
Machida don't do full-on homo.

ummmm...the last ten minutes of the film was them dancing together, as partners, except maybe that was all a Suzuki hallucination brought on by the severe case of blue-balls Sugiki deliberately gave him...? The spooge backed up into his brain and he blacked out, imagining all this...?

He's actually in a coma at the hospital...?
That would explain how, during their 10dance, Suzuki was able to remove and put back on his shirt without stopping...

How so?

You were served crumbs and thought it was Thanksgiving.

It's conditioning. These viewers are so accustomed to seeing gay relationships in film short-changed that they gobble up crumbs and pretend it was a feast.

Among many other issues, THIS.

Bravo.

He held back 75% on the kisses. That's MK's M.O.

Please quote me where I wrote that "everybody else" has to "see it the same way" I do. Thanks, I'll wait.

But, if you're too lazy or disinterested to consider another view and respond with support for your own, you def fall into the I-see-what-I-want-to-see category. Just acknowledge that and move on.

Seeing what you want to see is a choice you're free to make. Own it.

bingo!

Really?
His character, who just ran like the Flash to the train station to catch up with and kiss Suziki? Who said, breathlessly, just before that kiss, "stop me if you don't want it" or words to that effect?

The character who ran that mile and gasped those words would cover his crush's mouth with his own, their tongues would meet and embrace, saliva running down chins.
Watch what Machida does...it ain't that. :)

THEN, to top those lame pecks off...Sugiki gets off the train and goes home, leaving Suzuki gasping for more, and...suddenly, it's two months later. wtaf? :D
Normal gay men, hell, a normal straight couple at that point, would have gone to the hotel or wherever and made love like animals. Not these two, oh nooooo. Machida don't do that seriously gay shit.

Then...nearer the end of the film Sukigi, who knows Suzuki is frustrated, pissed, and probably drunk, shows up at his room with a bottle of wine, cock-teases Suzuki some more, rolls around on the bed, gains the advantage, then...pulls back again...and leaves. Why? What was that?

After the train, but especially after the wine bit, I thought Sugiki HAD to be deliberately leading Suzuki on to draw out a spectacular performance or something, but no...that wasn't it either. Then, there was the weirdness with their 10dance, the disappearing and reappearing costumes, the used car salesman emcee...oops! I repeat myself. What a mess.

I know I'm ranting. That trailer cock-teased me too, prepping me for a spectacular ride. With Machida in that role, I should have known better.

Gotta love mdl's prude tag writers: "prolonged nudity." lol
Wow, I wish I'd seen that part, or maybe I accidentally watched the NF alternate, PG version, because the only nudity was 2 seconds of Suzuki's very fine butt early in the film.

There was zero other "nudity."
One man with his shirt off doesn't count.

You contradict yourself.
You wrote that Sugiki was after "love and inspiration" (he was), but then you drop the "love" part.

I have a question: After what we saw on the train, why did Sugiki abruptly leave Suzuki and go home? Then, it's "two months later." That bit was so clunky, I laughed.

This is what I mean about people seeing what they wanted to see, and not what was on the screen.

Hi Matt.
The mains' chemistry was smokin,' which made what transpired all the more frustrating.

If you choose to watch a second time, pay close attention during the smooching scenes. To my eye, Takeuchi fully commits to the kissing, while Machida does not. He holds/pulls back.
Some will argue that's "what his character would do." Really?
See behind spoiler button below:

Huge budget, lush cinematography, glorious choreography/dancing, and excellent acting in service to a fatally flawed, no-homo script that ultimately betrays its audience. Several clunky transitions and plot holes, as well.

Its minuses more than offset its pluses.
4/10

On edit:
Take the MDL rating with a grain of fan-girling salt.
Most MDLers were going to rate this flick highly, no matter what.
As is clear below, the ravers saw only what they wanted to see, whether it was projected onto the screen or not.

I already did.
Same old no-homo Machida.

You posted this twice.

I didn't assert that the entire manga should have been crammed into a 2-hour movie.
I didn't say time jumps should be disallowed, but that this one was handled badly.

I rarely say this, as I think the vast majority of dramas drag out beyond all reason, but perhaps in this case, the source material would have been done justice more by eight hours than by two. However, if you have a no-homo actor in a lead role, it's only going to extend the homophobic agony.