Fujoshi, Ukkari Gei ni Kokuru (2019)

I am no cinema critic and I have no education in visual media or anything like that so I'm just gonna write this review as a 21-year-old gay man who was born in a heavily Catholic country and who's spent a good chunk of time in Japan, too.
First, let me just get by the regular review-y things. The acting was great, not perfect, but still great. I especially loved how Kaneko Daichi played with his expressions, expressing a lot of emotion just by moving his eyes or changing his expression just enough to convey any changes in Jun's emotions. You probably won't get a 5-star-worth acting in this drama if that's what you're looking for, but it's decent enough to convey what the drama is going for so you won't be disappointed.
The music was fine, as they used a lot of Queen's songs in the making, and I especially liked the moments just before the more dramatic or sad scenes when the music swelled up, mixed with some white-noise-like sound effects, which I felt was the perfect expression of what a gay high-schooler might feel in moments of dread and sadness.
I will surely rewatch this drama someday, that's for sure, even if just to remind myself of what a lot of gay people have to go through, and that not everyone is so lucky as I am.
And now the story. Oh God, the story.
I watched all 8 episodes and I can say that it's a great description of what it is like to be gay in an unaccepting, especially high-school community. The dread of being found out, the uneasiness before coming out, the unquenched desire to end your own life – all of it resonated with me on a very personal level, so much that I had to take breaks while watching this drama so as to let myself calm down a little.
I assume that if you're reading this review, you're not afraid of spoilers so let me say it clearly: no, Jun didn't end up with a girl, and his self-introduction during his first day at University at the end of Episode 8 starting with "Nice to meet you, I'm Andou Jun from Tokyo and I am..." and cutting just at the end of the episode is a clear indication that what he intended to say was "I am gay," which means he most probably came to accept his own sexuality and Miura is now just a friend to him, a dear friend, but just a friend.
This drama brought up a lot of problems I encountered myself when growing up. Is it really impossible for me to date a girl? Will I never be able to have my own children? What will my parents say? Will they be mad at the fact that I will never be able to give them grandsons? Of course, not all gay people encounter these problems but a large chunk of them do, especially in a country like Japan which values (traditional) family a lot and has no partnership nor a same-sex marriage system, where adopting a child might prove to be a pretty tough task for same-sex couples. All of these problems were perfectly conveyed in Jun's story and I was really happy to watch all of it.
However, what I'm even more happy about is that Jun had friends, true friends like Miura and Ryouhei who accepted him as a gay man and supported him no matter what. I am very lucky to have had such friends and I wish Jun had realized that much earlier, too.
That's why I'm giving this drama 10/10. It's not exactly my kind of drama and if I followed the suggested score I would have to give it just 8.5/10. But the story felt so real to me as a gay man that I had no choice to give it an overall score of 10/10. I just feel that it's a drama that would be important for every person in the world to watch to understand gay people a little better.
If you bore with me till the end – thank you for listening to this young, gay man's rambling, and I hope you will watch this drama for yourself to find out what it really has to offer.
PS I am sorry for any mistakes I might have made – English is not my native language.
Have a very gay day,
R.

Leggi di Più

Please bear with me as this is the first review that I have ever written. I usually see no need to let my personal thoughts on a series be known to the public, but this show was just exceptional.

THE STORY
I binged the first 4 episodes with english subtitles, and by that point I was completely captivated by the story that I spent days searching for the rest of the show. The story explored issues in a way that I have never encountered before, and I found the drama and character settings to be awfully real. I fell in love with Mr Fahrenheit, I smiled every time I saw Ryouhei, and I really felt for Jun. I cried my eyes out at the end of the 4th episode. I cried for a second time when I rewatched it.

The first 4 episodes in itself got me dying to watch more, and once I finally watched the rest, it gave me a rollercoaster of emotions. I loved how everything felt genuine, and real. There were no stupid misunderstandings because of miscommunication. There were no convenient coincidences to move the story forward. There were no glitter and fluff to cover up the harsh nature of our world. Like this could be happening to someone right now.

The story made sure to explore everything in detail. There were no half-assed plot points that were thrown in and forgotten about. Jun and Makoto-san's relationship, the story of Mr Fahrenheit, Jun's mother, Ryouhei and Jun's backstory, and Miura-san, all were explored deeply, dynamically, and tied up neatly at the end. Even the smaller characters went through noticeable developments.

I felt very satisfied at the end of the show. I felt that everything was cleared up, and no questions went unanswered. Although, that abrupt ending made me want to punch the screen just a little bit.

ACTING/CAST
I found the acting to be really good. I'm not very good at telling apart good and bad acting, but I find a lot of Japanese acting to be cringey, but this definitely wasn't.

MUSIC
How could I not give this a 10? It was bloody QUEEN! The way that the show incorporated the queen songs and titles were so creative, and it really hit the mood of the scene perfectly every time. I didn't really notice the other music until I went back to search specifically for the music, and I guess that's a good sign, as the music didn't distract from the scenes, and instead enhanced the intended emotions.

REWATCH VALUE
I already rewatched the first 4 episodes while looking for the rest of the series, and I would definitely rewatch the entire thing again. Knowing the outcome of the story doesn't change the emotions it can make me feel. Oh god, I cried an unhealthy amount watching this (It's a happy ending tho, if that matters).

OVERALL
I loved this series so much, and I'm so glad I went back and found the un-subbed videos. It may be tough waiting for the english subtitles to come out, but I assure you, it will be worth the wait. Just make sure to see it through to the end, and you will not be disappointed.

Leggi di Più