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Such a beautiful film portraying the complexity and layers of human emotions. Loved it so much.

Same! I love dark and taboo subjects too because the world and human nature aren't always nice and rosy! Yet, yes, people love to be the moral police here obsessed with a happy ending and they all think in black and white with no grey areas in life... Sigh... Yes, I also tend to avoid most comment sections like the plague because they're so toxic lol

Omg, don't get me started! lol I joined MDL a few months ago and this is what I can't stand about it. I mean how come so many on here seem to have led such a sheltered life?!! Mind boggling.

Loved it! Very slick and stylish.

Such a beautiful film exploring loneliness, vulnerability, self awareness, self love/worth, longing, fear. Narita Ryo was just mesmerising. I could watch him for hours.
I think this film will speak to you more and you'll "get" it, if you're a deep thinker and/or have had some life experience behind you.

This film was fantastic! I find that almost everything I like has a low rating on MDL. I guess that's because the majority (from what I can see) are strait laced and into romance/fluff and obsessed with happy endings lol So if you're like me who loves crime, gore, black comedy, understands that the world can be a fucked up place, then you'll enjoy it, but if you're not, stay the hell away! lol

Wasn't expecting much tbh at first because it didn't look/sound that interesting, but it turned out to be really good especially as a fan of the mystery/crime/horror genres. It's an exploration into human psychology; what drives someone to kill, why do we feel uncomfortable when we don't understand, etc.

One of my favourite movies. I feel like Yoshitaka Yuriko was born to play the main role! She was so good along with the rest of the cast.

Yeah, I'm new to MDL and the majority on here seem to be so young/immature or have led a sheltered life (maybe religious too) because many have this black and white thinking with a narrow world view where nothing can be in a gray area or every single drama/film has to have a happy ending (face palm lol) Reading the comments on here leave me shaking my head in disbelief most of the time lol

I totally agree about the fireworks. It was planned by Fujisaki and Rokkaku helped at the last minute, so how could they have been as spectacular as planned by a professional company?!?? It would've been unrealistic and a huge plot hole to see ones like you see at a summer festival. Weird Chinese thinking.

I really wanted to like this but the diner and the whole street looked too much like a purpose built film set that it felt too "clinical" and "impersonal" for me personally. No atmosphere, completely lacking character, vibe and flavour I was looking for.

FYI, if it's any consolation, I haven't read the manga, didn't even know the manga existed in the first place and that the film was an adaptation lol but I did like the film and understood it perfectly.

Obviously I can't compare it to the original manga (not planning on reading it either as I'm not a fan of manga or anime in general), so I can't say how the main characters should've been this and that or that my understanding of the whole film is correct, but it was quite easy to get and interpret the main leads and empathise with them actually. It wasn't confusing at all. It's a very complex raw film with dysfunctional characters, so it's not for everyone though.

No worries. I'll have a look at the tweets later; off to bed now! haha

Yes, totally agree. A realistic portrayal of the LGBTQ+ community and the struggles and difficulties they face is definitely needed, rather than sweeping everything under the carpet and making it seem like everything is OK. I mean look at what happened in Hungary just this month where they passed unbelievably homophobic bills in this day and age. Couldn't believe what I was reading. Anyway, sorry, I digress!

Well, I don't know anything about the screenwriter, so I'm only basing it off on this article alone and the whole interview is about how she approached adopting the CM manga as a screenwriter, i.e. the focus of the interview isn't specifically about the LGBTQ+ community or her views on it.  I don't think she avoided talking about the community purposefully (if that's what people thought), it's just that the interview isn't about that, but it's about her as a screenwriter and how she went about writing a script that could be seen on a national TV without prejudice, controversy and stigma.  So I think that's why she just talks about the "bigger picture" rather than specific issues relating to LGBTQ+.  It sounds like the producer, director and the original mangaka herself had some input as well.  I don't know if any of them are LGBTQ+ themselves; they don't mention their sexuality. 

She also mentions we used to see the role of a "gay best friend" often in dramas before (only as a sidekick/support to a heroine) but now that's changing, and, slowly but surely, gay people are not treated/seen as special beings finally.  She keeps on making a point about normalising any sexuality that there are different types of people in the world.  I personally like the message she's conveying, but I can understand why some may feel that it doesn't touch on the core issues facing the LGBTQ+ community, though being "too preachy" in a drama (a form of entertainment after all, not a serious documentary) can turn people off and have the opposite effect as well.

I can't translate the whole article, but calling her "homophobic" isn't fair on her at all.  She actually comes across as an open minded forward thinking woman from the answers she gave.  

Regarding the BL label, before the topic comes up, they are talking about the pitfalls of labelling individuals according to their sexuality, e.g. asexual, because that can actually put people in a box unnecessarily.  That prompts the interviewer to say that, to him personally, the term BL has a strong sexual connotation, so he tends to avoid using BL to describe any work depicting romance between men, instead he likes describing them simply as a "love story" or "love/romance between two men" especially to appeal to a wider audience to normalise the genre.  

To this, Yoshida (the screenwriter) says she totally understands and she gets that there are those who love BL for what it is but at the same time, there are those who may be put off by the BL genre (not because of homophobia but because to some BL = sexualised), so she avoids using the BL label herself.  She goes on to say that she wants to create a neutral/unprejudiced society where no one has to specifically mention something is a "BL drama" but rather simply calling it "a love/romantic drama" or "the main leads are XXX kun and XXX kun" ("kun" is used to call a boy/man, so basically two men) is accepted as if nothing special like a "normal" part of the society.     

I personally didn't find anything offensive or homophobic at all.  I don't know why some got that impression; maybe lost in translation?  I don't like labels myself, so I totally agree with her point of view.  I actually have an issue with some fans who are fixated on the BL genre where they talk obsessively about who's top and bottom, for example. That's not being accepting, but that's simply reducing gay men to sexual objects like many women are subjected to still.   Yoshida talks a bit about that earlier in the article as well about the role of a Fujoshi.