Fubanshee666

He didn't need to begrudgingly "take responsibility," he just needed to do the right thing, which was for them to stay together in this case. He got scared and ran TWICE. In the end, she's better off, but there's no way they could just go back to being platonic siblings. In reality, they'd need to completely break off from each other or the feelings and lust are going to keep welling up at family reunions.

Agree and disagree.
Yes, agree Yori is a spineless dick but I don't think he planned to be one. The way he push-pulled Iku back and forth emotionally was horrible.
I think Iku loved him from the beginning, just as he did her.
She may have seemed weaker, but LOTS of female Japanese characters in movies and dramas have that mousy, trembling, weak aura and speaking style. However, to me Iku is by far the more emotionally faithful and strong. It's Yori who keeps getting spooked.

Totally agree.
Plus, cyclops-babies are extremely rare, even from sibling parents.
I watched this for a second time tonight and had forgotten the ending. Such a chicken-shit, cop-out, bogus wrap-up. Very disappointing.
Yano is my hero.
Man, Yori is an emotionally sadistic fucker, isn't he, even if he is hot af? Kept yo-yo-ing Iku back and forth with mind-fuck attitude changes. Now that things have gone this far, how are they going to go back to being just siblings? They can't.
If Yori were MY twin I would totally do him also.
That mom is a piece of work too. WTF? Like a zombie, not-so-convincing drag queen.
WHO, with any degree of sense, would provide that sleeping arrangement, if only to grant each kid their autonomy as they moved into adolescence? It's not as though the family was impoverished and couldn't afford larger digs. And a two-BR setup would have made for some dramatic, back-and-forth sneaking around scenes for Yori and Iku.
Given that the dad was NEVER there, ever, maybe he doesn't even know about the bunk-beds and would sense what was up the minute he walked back in the apartment.
Maybe the Dad IS the Mom.
I so badly wanted Yori and Iku to make a plan, go abroad together for college, then stay there and live as man and wife. It's not as though they're going to miss that mom or the dad, or the mom/dad.
Such possibilities, such disappointment.

Despite a couple of HUGE implausibles I would have given this film a near-10 for its willingness to take on a topic that makes commenters here run screaming, but in the end it chickened out, so I can't do that.
This is my second watch but now I remember what bugged me about it last time.
Yano is the hero of this movie.
I even have a bit of respect for the female supporting character.
The two leads are very good. Perfectly cast, I like that both are tall and athletic-looking, like fraternal twins might be. Their acting is good too.
Highly recommended but I'm going to stop at 8/10. It gets big points for the attempt, but big points OFF for cutting off its own balls at the end.

lol They are making a negative change by watering down the stories and characters to protect their fluffy K-Popper images and please the Netizens.

Yes, I am talking shit about it, primarily in regard to the casting of yet another K-Pop performer under the thumb of their agency and interested only in pleasing IT.

Zuho already has a job, bouncing around on stage. He doesn't need to take the place of courageous, independent actors. You are interested in seeing your idols hug each other and hold hands while pretending to be playing a BL character, most of whom aren't actual humans but fluffy figments of 13 year-old girls' fantasies.

Of course, Zuho is probably gay IRL, like most K-Pop idols, but let's keep pretending otherwise for the sake of Korea's soul.

Idols aren't interested in making change. Did you see all the change A Shoulder To Cry On brought us? lol They're interested in pleasing their agencies and their agencies are interested in making big bucks, not making change. Please.

You actually think idols will change the attitudes of crazy netizens? Never happen. That psycho demographic thrives on the status quo, in which idols live in fear of their judgement and being canceled at its whim.

You go AROUND bigots, silly K-Pooper, you don't try to please them.

Duh.

Don't listen to this person, producers. All they do is slobber over idols who aren't willing to give their best to a role or a production featuring gay characters. Idols are worried about image above all else. I heap praise on quality BLs and talk shit about bad ones, like a normal person. All this thing does is get triggered when someone threatens its K-Pop/BL fantasy world, where cute boys hold each others' hands and stuffed Teddy bears only, and would NEVER stick their tongue down another boy's throat.

Other than just to be contrarian, why would you want people who are primarily singers/dancers taking roles that could go to other actors who are willing to play the parts to their fullest without worrying about the insane "netizens," korea's homophobic society, and a corporate agency controlling their every move? I take it you're a K-Popper.

How did the gays--and I'm one of them--"win again?"

A really overwrought, badly-written comment that takes itself way too seriously. Idols do not do as they please. They are tightly controlled by their agencies.

No more "idols" in BLs please. There is not only the individual performer's career-worry to prevent him from sticking his tongue down another guy's throat with full commitment, but the huge entertainment conglomerate who owns him and controls his every move to worry about. They're not about to throw away the big bucks they've invested in training and developing Zuho, by risking it all letting him give a no-holds-barred portrayal of a gay man in homophobic Korea.

"Semantic Error" has been the one exception that proves this rule.

All that mess aside, I've no doubt there are many, far-more talented actors around to play these roles who would do anything to get their name out there, including turning in an outstanding, committed portrayal of a gay BL lead character. Let Zuho and the like sing and dance. Let serious actors act.

It would also be helpful if the BL audience would stop accepting lowest common denominator-level quality from their BLs.

My god, what is this?

LOL

Hoo boyy...this could be god-awful.

Excruciatingly good in a sad and frustrating way. But I've long been a person drawn to dark themes, angst and all things unpleasant in the human psyche so this was my kind of thing. It was made even more powerful than it otherwise would be by the observant, almost documentary feel of it, which rendered everything onscreen as absolutely real.

I cannot praise the director and the entire cast of young actors enough for their stunning work in creating such realistic, natural-feeling tableaus and dialogue. I have never seen a scripted film with better naturalistic acting across the board. I never saw a single student or anyone else drop character or not be entirely in each and every scene but in a casual, un-actorish way that is difficult to achieve even for the most experienced actors.

I am thankful I grew up long before social media existed. Truly, I am not sure I would have survived the 24/7 scrutiny, gossip and BS that young people today accept as a matter of course. Just horrendous. But there's no closing the floodgates now.

I have questions about two of the behavioral choices Hitomi made after things got out of hand and she'd been made to leave school (btw, the school administrators should be sued by the mother for placing the responsibility to maintain school discipline on Hitomi's shoulders), but it's not possible to ask them in the current climate on this site.

Highly recommended. 9/10

lol You are spot-on about MDL being prude-central. I'm a BL fan and you should read some of THOSE comments any time there's an indication of sex, let alone anything the least bit explicit, which there has never been.

MDL is a prudish, PC place, dominated by sex-phobics and killjoys. But it's a great place to list films and keep tabs of what you have seen and how you feel about what you've seen. Also to scout new dramas and movies to watch and list.

omg...I just noticed your screen name. hahaha How are you getting away with that here? And are you really one of those?

Porn is explicit. This is acting. And there are one and a half sex scenes of any note.