BLISS RATING: ★★★★+
“When someone important appears in your life, you start thinking it’s your fault if you lose them.” – Quote from Love Punch!
If you are familiar with the classic movie, “WEST SIDE STORY”, or even its updated remake, then the current result, I like to describe, is the gay Japanese version of that classic without of course the musical/dancing scores. I may be reading too much into this production, but the film appears to pay homage to that archetype through its many parallels in its theme, setting, design, and overall atmosphere.
At any rate, this is just such an enjoyable and entertaining movie that is so much fun to watch. However, be sure to watch a version (if it is not Japanese) with fluent, accurate subtitles so the story comes through clearly (I did not initially and had to go find one). Otherwise, it may not make much sense. Good translations mean everything. And as the title implied, it really is a story of love. More central is the message that fighting, aggression, and rebellious behaviors do not resolve conflicts; they only magnify them and lead to further destruction and pain. While the title might seem oxymoronic, its meaning will be understood clearly and precisely by the end of the movie.
Kamei Madoka (Takamatsu Aloha) is an outgoing, gregarious, ginormously popular student who was once a fierce warrior and never backed down from a fight and never lost a fight for his high school gang. He is a beguilingly handsome young teenage boy with golden hair that shines like the sun. But about a year previously, he realized he had gone too far in one of his fights and decided to change and resolved to never fight again. He made arrangements with his counterpart at the rival school (i.e., referring to the Jets’ and the ‘Sharks’) that they would never fight again and he would, as his punishment, repeat the year, thus assuring and maintaining the peace. Now that the year is nearly up, his rival, Sato Mitsuru (Yamanaka Jyutaro) pays him a ‘visit’ on his turf.
Madoka immediately embraces him with a hug as if they are old friends and brothers. He seems, by all measurements, to be comfortable with Madoka’s physical endearment. Mitsuru is a serious laconic but reflective young man who is also yearning to keep the peace. He too is astonishingly handsome and from the beginning we could sense that he is attracted to Madoka. While we do not know the exact extent of their relationship from the past, it is obvious now that they are finding each other beguiling.
With very little effort Madoka manages to talk Mitsuru into staying with him. This arrangement not only helps solidify their own burgeoning relationship, but it was also meant to try and strengthen a greater bond between the two rival schools. However, Takaaki (Hori Natsuki), who is Mitsuru older brother, is dead-set against a peaceful alliance and personally despises Madoka, as he is the only one who was able to beat him. He is the reason that Madoka stopped fighting, though, as he nearly killed him. For revenge, Takaaki disfigured Madoka’s younger brother, Kamei Itsuki (Shiratori Haruto) in an attack on his leg that left him limping. Despite that, revenge was not exacted on the rival school. They kept and maintained the peace.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this movie? Unquestionably, Shiratori Haruto as Kamei Itsuki does. Seemingly a small role, he becomes pivotal in diffusing an explosive situation that would have gotten out of hand. He knows all too well the effects of unchecked rage and anger and was determined to stop it at all costs. Even though he was younger than his brother and one would have thought he would want ‘revenge’, he learned from his brother and Mitsuru that if you are going to stop violence, you must learn to forgive. His compassion towards others, including his complete commitment to his older brother Madoka. To the point, he instructs his brother to stop feeling guilty for the attack on him and to stop feeling responsible for it. Haruto is now becoming his own person, and he has learned to adjust. Almost immediately upon seeing Mitsuru and Madoka together, Itsuki sees that their relationship was going to become more than a mere friendship and he began to foster and nurture their union, realizing the inevitability of them being together. He indeed was a character wise beyond his age and one of the few in this series who was believable on so many different levels. Not only in his interpretation of his character but also because he looked and was young. So, his projection was one of pure childhood innocence without the cloudiness of living beyond the age that he was actually portraying. Kudos for casting an individual who completely and totally fit the part he was playing. A rarity anymore.
As I said, this movie reminded me so much of West Side Story. The fight scenes, which I generally find so contrived and cringey, were some of the best and were choreographed with exceptional skills and intensity. The acting was masterfully intense. The antagonists got into their characterizations with complete gusto and the protagonists were their equals. Without either becoming caricatures. Although the presentation of the movie was done a bit on the tongue-in-cheek side, it was still enjoyable. We just knew no one was going to get seriously hurt and that in all honesty was its point. We did not need to have graphic visions to get the idea. It accomplished that with some first-rate acting and screenplay that made us feel for these characters. We understood these characters and why they were behaving the way they were. What they said and how they said it made me weep as I felt their pain. They presented themselves in all their hurt. Even though it might be a bit naïve to believe that THEIR world could exist in the way it was presented, we wished that it would. I wish we could all embrace our enemies.
There are no weak performances anywhere in this movie. I want to give a special shout out to the hapless character of Madoka’s senior, Tsuyuki Kaname (Arashi Shoma) who was the ‘default’ leader of the group as he was the senior, although Madoka was its natural leader. Yet, Kaname kept the peace and managed to reign in the anger and the need for revenge. Underlying all of this was his unrequited love for Madoka, which he kept locked up inside himself. Madoka never saw it and frankly never seemed to process it even when told. When Kaname was losing Madoka to the wiles of Mitsuru, he could only look on with sad eyes and support his friend. But honestly, it is hard to keep your eyes off Arashi Shoma. He can take your breath away with his natural beauty and charisma. One felt sorry for him as he seemed so deeply in love with Madoka. The pain showed all over his face when he said his final goodbye to Madoka. It quite literally broke my heart. Who does not still get choked up thinking about the first unrequited love that got away?
Unquestionably, while this movie is highly captivating, it conveys a deep moral message presented with entertaining undertones. While there is gang violence, this movie makes significant arguments against that way-of-life. It advances and embraces detente not in a Pollyanna way, but in a straightforward, honest way to resolve aggression with SOMEONE courageous enough to lead the way with another person on the other side with equal courage to reciprocate.
For me, three flaws brought this movie just slightly down. While the actors are tremendously handsome, most are too old to play seniors in high school. I am not and never will be a proponent of individuals in their 20’s playing characters for much younger roles when in fact there has to be up and coming performers who can. There were two who had a naturalness about them that came out (Arashi Shoma and Shiratori Haruto). I miss the naturalness and sometimes the awkwardness of actual youth getting them through the scenes. That is something that is immeasurable and cannot be ‘acted’ out. The second flaw was the awkwardness of kissing. I KNOW all the complications surrounding issues of displaying kissing between two males, especially in Japan. However, if you are presenting and conveying a love story (which by the way both articulated that they were in love with one another), there should be a greater naturalness to their kisses. What we saw was awful and it spoiled a rather exceptionally good movie. I am still waiting for a Japanese movie or series to finally break the inhibition of casting off the shackles of the manacles to sincerity kissing so we (and they) can see that societies will not crumble if it is actually shown. A third flaw was a general weakness in the actual story. While Mitsuru made it clear early on that he liked Madoka, which was pleasantly surprising, Madoka did not reciprocate his feelings until the very end. Honestly, he seemed uncharacteristically reserved while Mitsuru was uncharacteristically forthright. That is a big gap, or it seemed so. I just wish there had a better transition for Madoka.
However, I would highly recommend this perhaps under the radar movie. I want to believe it pays homage to “WEST SIDE STORY”. For me, thinking of this in those terms gave me an extra tingle of joy as that is one of my all-time favorite movies. That, of course, is the past and perhaps this can be your own “West Side Story” especially if you are gay.
This will no doubt be in my Must-See List or at the very least, one of my guilty pleasures for this year.
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