BLISS RATING: ★★★★
“The world is full of things that shouldn’t be seen.” – Quote from The Night Beyond The Tricornered Window
This movie is based upon a manga story and is NOT a BL. Yet, it still has sundry innuendos, nuances, and play-on-words that make this story just enough for me to label it a quasi-BL. Mikado Kosuke (Jun Shison), has been plagued all of his life with seeing ghosts. Rather clearly and distinctly. They indeed terrify him, and he tries to avoid seeing them with little success.
One day, while walking to work, he catches sight of a ghost. Watching him is a very enigmatic individual who confronts him with the reality that he knows his secret. He too can see ghosts and sense their presence, but not clearly. His name is Hiyakawa Rihito (Masaki Okada). He touches Kosuke’s heart, and he can now see the ghost that he is visualizing more clearly and is able to keep the ghost away from Kosuke.
In fact, he can drive it away into non-existence. He tells Kosuke that they are fated to be together. Rihito asks him to come work for him and help him to rid these ghosts by performing simple exorcism. Although Kosuke is terrified of these visions, Rihito assures him that as long as he is with him, he need not be afraid. To do this, they must physically touch and be together and essentially their souls have to intertwine so that they almost become one.
While it is all metaphysical, there is a cogency of a deep connection between the two men. Rhito is an enigma and on the surface is cold, distant, and almost isolated from feelings. Yet, he does have a sense and adulation for Kosuke. They are asked by the police to solve several bizarre murders that are happening that appear to be cult-like in nature. The key individual who relates to these bizarre murders is a teenage girl by the name of Erika Hiura (Yurina Hirate). She has the power to kill with her mind and is feeding into what is called the “Storage Box”, which in essence is a collection of impurities. Without giving too much away, the Storage Box is something connected to the development and character of Hiyakawa Rihito. Kosuke is instrumental in a bizarre journey to destroy this evil entity. But is it really gone?
This is a very occult ghostly evil story heavily ladened with a lot of bloody scenes. I dislike these types of series (as I suffer from night terrors) and generally avoid them. But I watched this because of the endearing and frankly intense connection these two actors had to these roles. They are extremely effective and believable, and I simply got engrossed in what happened. You have to follow the story carefully because it does tend to get lost in details and the story about how all this developed is rather complex. But getting there is half the fun. There is just something so special about the connection these two have when they enjoin together. It really is almost magical and in a real sense sensuous. You can literally feel their connection with each other. This in no way suggests that they are physical attracted to each other or that even a bromance is present. But there is something and these actors make you feel that.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. the movie? While the two main actors do a great job in giving us a connection between the two of them, the individual who really is the center of this series and is its heart is Yurina as Erika. She is obviously very laconic and pensive and has to do most of the acting with her expressions. She must project evilness without it overwhelming her overall sadness to her current existence. She wants to stop but is powerless to do so and in essence leaves clues for someone to try and help her. She focuses on her missions to kill yet maintains a balance with living in the present as a teenage girl. It is an intriguing role and a luring performance.
This is not a movie for everyone and is most assuredly not a BL in any sense of the concept except peripherally. Yet it does intensely intimately connect two men without being sexual or sensual. However, it does seem even deeper than that and to a great degree they are true soulmates. If you are into occult and exorcism, then this movie is for you. If you are looking for anything related to romance or ‘feel good’ outcomes, you best move on. It is very dark and broody.
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