#everything is either yuri or yaoi Trust

[evilkaeya]

"Everything can't be yuri or yaoi" not with that attitude no

[skrivarmelodi]

Now AOT is over...

So, I read the final chapter of Attack On Titan and there are a lot of thoughts and feelings. But overall I'm pleased with the whole story and the ending. I trusted Isayama and he didn't disappoint me.

There are certain things I'd like to go into detail about Levi, Ymir, Mikasa, Eren etc and certain moments during the story.

So if anyone cares here we go. (warning, this got long and contains spoilers for chapter 139 and obviouisly the whole story!)

First, Ymir Fritz, Eren, and Mikasa.

The more we got to know Ymir, the more we knew about her circumstances and how it all started, the more I asked myself, why she doesn’t simply stop all of the misery, if she can and, obviously, has the power to do so (chapter 122).

I thought, perhaps, because she loves King Fritz so much, after all, she sacrificed herself in order to protect him (which I didn’t like at all, because he was a shitty person). But then I wasn't sure if Isayama would use 'love' in such a way. He did and it's nothing new but it's something we can all understand. Love is good, but it can also be something bad, something toxic, and Ymir was most likely a slave of her own feelings because she didn't know better. Her life was miserable until she got the power to become a Titan and gave birth to the daughters of the king. But as you can see, at the beginning of chapter 122 she watches a couple getting married and that was what she wanted too. To be loved. This was the love she knew and the love she protected and believed that was true love (most likely) because she didn't know a different kind of love.

When Eren told her, that she can decide and asked her to give him the power he needs, it didn’t sit well with me. I guess because I never connected Eren to have any romantic feelings (though I guessed so much when it comes to Mikasa and he simply wanted to be cool or something). But AOT in itself doesn’t display love in the way we usually see, that became very clear to me with each new chapter. And love is not the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about AOT.

Now about Eren.

Oh boy, look at that. When Eren slowly became the villain I liked the idea but at the same time I was questioning it. It simply made no sense to me why he would want to kill everyone and yet care so deeply about his friends. Also, Isayama is not that sort of person to let his characters act out of character. Whatever the characters I agreed with it because that was how Isayama created them. That's why, when it came out that Eren was able to see the past, present, and future, I thought he probably saw a way to stop all of this and protect his friends. Isayama played us good, when Eren was rude towards Mikasa and Armin and then the rumbling came, but I constantly thought 'No, there must be more to it'. And yeah, Eren saw a possible future because everything was unclear to him and he grabbed that chance and took it.

Remember in the first season, when Eren, Levi, and Levi's squad were fighting against the female titan and that Eren has to decide what he should do and what not? That he has to accept the consequences? Yeah, Eren did that and he knew it was bad but it was the way he believed in and saw, even if it meant to kill 80% of humanity (what the...) and sacrifice his own life. I don't see Eren as a hero nor as a villain. But he definitely acted on his own free will and accepted the consequences.

Now about Mikasa.

Well, I'll be honest, I was never a fan of Mikasa. I didn't like how she was solely focused on Eren and didn't seem to have her own goals that were not connected to Eren. I simply didn't like that and Eren wasn't my favourite either, but I love their development. The moment I started to feel sorry for her was when Eren said he hated her. You see, I get it, I understand why Mikasa is the way she is and I'm simply no fan of this 'I do everything for you, fuck everyone else' especially not in a world like AOT, I also understand the Ackermann Bond (I ship Eruri after all). So I was really pissed at Eren to stomp on her feelings like that because, no matter how much I like or dislike a person, you don't treat them the way Eren did (also toward Armin). From that moment on, I enjoyed her development and when she cut off Eren's head I was sad and happy for her.

So, in many ways, Mikasa is like Ymir, or rather, Ymir is like Mikasa, but on a whole different level. Mikasa, who devoted herself to Eren, just like Ymir did to King Fritz, saw that what he was doing was wrong and she decided to stop him. She loves him still, of course, but she was able to do what Ymir couldn't and she did it for the greater good. Because there is more than Eren, there are more people who deserve to live. I did like that and also that her action was the eye-opener for Ymir. It doesn't change the way Mikasa feels about Eren, and that's okay, but she was willing to kill the person she loves more than anything because it was the right thing to do. Ymir simply couldn't do what Mikasa did because she didn't know better.

About Levi, Erwin's death, Armin saving humanity, Berthold wasn't supposed to die, and just some thoughts about AOT in general.

Now, I do ship Levi and Erwin together and I was sure Levi would die and meet Erwin in the afterlife and then Isayama would out them (haha). But I'm just happy that Levi survived and is now the adopted uncle of Gabi and Falco. He's my favorite character and a lot of things would have ended badly without him. For me, he and Erwin and their squad represented not only a strong force and saviours but also how you probably have to be in order to survive/handle a world like AOT.

So I was shocked, at first, when Levi saw Erwin and the others because I thought he would die, but when the tear ran down his cheek, I could feel how everything fell of his shoulders. Levi never cried, never had time to mourn his comrades because he understood the world they were living in and that he needed to keep on moving. I never considered him as someone cold because he clearly wasn't. But he also never cried and seeing that... finally. And I'm sure he cried some more after everything. I thought he would cry (he was close to though and perhaps did when he was alone) when Erwin died because that fucking broke him.

Their relationship fascinated me even before I started to ship them but it broke my fucking heart when Erwin died too.

And here we come to the part about Armin and Bertholg.

I was so pissed that Armin survived and even more when things just became worse. I thought, in AOT, you can't solve everything through talking. It worked during certain critical moments, yes, but it simply isn't the main key for everything when it comes to the world of AOT.

So, I never understood why Armin had to survive and not Erwin and it became more and more confusing for me as the story continued because Armin, clearly, is not Erwin and he doesn't have what Erwin has. I don't know if things would have been better with Erwin being in charge, but he would have definitely done something while Armin didn't know what to do. Sure, he is younger than Erwin, doesn't have the experience as Erwin does and in his core he is very different, and that's totally fine. Armin is fine the way he is, but during the story. I constantly found myself thinking: 'With Erwin and his mind, we wouldn't be in such a situation'. I once read somewhere that Levi and Erwin are too smart to be fooled by, for example, Yelena. I can't help but agree.

And today, when I read the final chapter and Eren said 'Berthold wasn't supposed to die on that day' and also, that he couldn't see the past and future as separated paths but everything at once I thought, that this is Isayama giving us his version but there are also many many other ways this story could go. Which is, for me, such a sweet and grateful message. We are free to choose our path (fanfiction/fanart etc) and to create a different story, but this AOT version is his version and how he imagined it, or rather, how Eren saw one possible happy end.

I'm still certain with Erwin around things would have been different, better even, but I understand Eren too. I guess, he didn't only choose Armin because he knew things would have a happy ending for his friends. He also choose Armin because of personal feelings. I wonder what would have happened if Berthold survived, was there also a happy end but without Armin? And perhaps without the rumbling? I think it's nice that Isayama did this and that he, basically, points at a different way but it's up to us.

Now, the rumbling is over and so is the power of the titans and in such a world, someone like Armin is the right person to be in. Now it's all about talking, having a proper conversation, creating relationships through words. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Erwin would have been able to do that as well, but Armin is much more diplomatic than Erwin because he doesn't want to fight or kill, it's really the last option for him. Erwin on the other hand wouldn't hesitate, and someone like him was important for the world before the rumbling was over.

Now some general thoughts about AOT now that it's over.

Okay, so, I watched tons of Anime when I was a teenager and the best thing for me was Death Note. But after Death Note I found nothing that really interested me and a lot of weird stuff. I don't know, it simply wasn't for me. However, I continued reading my yaoi Mangas and even studied Japanese for a year. Then, I did hear about Attack on Titan but I was so used to shitty Anime that I thought it would be shitty too (the next best thing I found was Yuri on Ice). However, a friend of mine gave me the first season and I thought, well, why not. I was so wrong and through AOT I found my way back to Anime.

It's not just the story, not just the art-style I like, it's Isayama and his brain I enjoy so much. I'm a very logical person and I like it when stories and things make sense and are connected from the beginning till the end and when it never feels forced but natural, true, loyal to the characters and the world they created. I don't know how he does it but I'm so grateful for AOT and that he decided to share this amazing story with us (even though it was fucking painful and my poor Levi). It's really been a while for me to find a story that caught me like Death Note did many years ago.

So, ありがとう、Isayama-San!

But I'd love to know more about the Ackermans and Levi and perhaps we'll get a book like Answers etc later. That would be great.

[komakitigerdrop]

Apparently I didn't express myself accurately. As you said indeed, certain scenes don't mean anything, so my question is, what scenes would actually mean something? (I'm being hypothetical, not trying to say existing scenes mean anything.) Or are you going to keep believing in YxF even after something big happened between MxF/TxF/YC/AxF? I'm the kind who buys whatever couple the author sells, but I'm curious about shippers loyal to one specific couple.

Ahh, thank you for sending another ask. I was not pleased with my previous answer either - I was pressed for time and didn’t articulate my ideas very well.

I think that the best way to answer your ask is to break it down into a few different parts, if you don’t mind. I will hide it under a cut so that I don’t clutter people’s dashboards.

1. About Shipping

I am not the kind that buys whatever couple the author sells, just because I am not naturally invested in most fictional couples (regardless of media type - I guess I am either too cynical, or just overly realistic). I read other mangas and in most of them, either only one couple draws my attention, or none. I find most of the tropes used in yaoi either dumb, childish or both. That is all to say that I hardly ever find myself emotionally invested in a fictional couple, but when I do… I do.

2. About Finder specifically

This part will merge with the next, “scenes that matter”. The reason why I can’t bring myself to find Mikhail and Fei a believable/interesting couple is because their relationship is not organic. By organic, I mean: something that was construed over time, something that followed a trail, that was built upon events that primarily existed to advance other parts of the story. Finder started in 2002. Fei Long and Mikhail were introduced in 2007. For twelve years, FxM interactions were limited and emotionless. Even their sex scene in Volume 9 was a transaction. Nothing was built to suggest any kind of emotional connection between these two individuals, nothing was said, on the page, about either of them being remotely interested in starting a romance.

Bear with me here.

Reason being, Fei Long was a character created to gravitate around Asami. The crux of his existence in the manga was always the relationship with this one man, the feelings for this one man. No one else. Not Mikhail, not Tao, not Yoh. Flash forward to 2018, and YA gives us that iconic scene in which Fei Long ships Akihito and Asami to a desert island, and I think that this is the gamechanger. Now Fei Long is in a position to move on.

Coincidentally, we readers are given back Yoh and a sex scene with Mikhail in the same damn chapter.

Two suitors with feelings for him.

On one hand, Yoh, whose feelings he admitted to Fei Long in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Of course he was not reciprocated. Then, there was Finder no Rakuin, in which their affection was mutual. Had its plot not been written by Yamane Ayano herself, dialogues reviewed and all,  I would happily cast it aside as “non-canon”. But it was, so I won’t. If one accepts Finder no Souen as canon to explain Kuroda and Asami, then one needs to accept Finder no Rakuin as canon to explain the feelings Fei Long and Yoh have for each other. I won’t label those feelings because in all honesty, I wouldn’t know how to. Fei Long’s heart was not within reach, and yet Yoh still managed to touch it. There is a connection between those two men based on trust, on forgiving, and yes - on physical pleasure. It delivers in all fronts.

You ask, what would be necessary to convince me that Mikhail is the real deal? I’d say, I would need to see him deliver in those three fronts. I’m sorry, but a night of sex in exchange for a favor, and a moment of compassion after a session of torture won’t cut it for me. Mikhail going to see Yuri, as I mentioned before, was due to concern and a sense of duty - but in all honesty, he is not the first and won’t be the last to put his ass on the line for Fei Long. Akihito did it. Asami did it. Yoh did it. Do they all get a ticket to Fei’s heart? If they do, then what is the point?

It was the need to save Asami that ultimately brought Fei Long and Mikhail together. It was not mutual attraction, interest, or compatibility of values/goals/personalities. What happens when Asami is safe and sound? Has Mikhail made that much of an impression that his presence in Fei Long’s life will be justified long after their current shenagigans get sorted out?

Again: maybe yes. Maybe YA will find a way to make Mikhail relevant, maybe the road she chooses is a passionate romance. But will that convince me that she is “picking Mikhail over Yoh”? No. Because these two relationships do not compare. Mikhail is an open flame, Yoh is a slow burning amber. It’s just who they are, it’s what they have to offer. Their purposes and benefits as “love interests” are very, very different. And yes, I will even say that Fei Long might have a thing with Mikhail, but is Mikhail going for the marathon or just a sprint? As I said, things change. A moment of tenderness does not equal a love affair; a love affair does not equal a lifelong commitment. YA, smart woman she is, will probably leave both doors open until the very end, because with Fei Long, she can do whatever she wants with his love life. She can give us all or nothing, then have Tao reach age of 21 and join the race as well.

And I bet she will have a load of fun playing with our emotions.

(She does it so well, tho!)

Part 3: About scenes that matter

I will talk about the scenes that don’t matter: the ones that could easily be removed from the manga without any harm to the characters’ development or to the plot. My favorite example: the infamous Sakazakigate. I might come here later to post an apology but it does look like sensei completely abandoned that idea (she had Sakazaki record a video of the whole thing and never used it. Why? What was the point of it?)

In terms of Fei Long and Mikhail: I might be wrong about this one as well, but I think we never got confirmation that is was Mikhail who got the temple set on fire in exchange for Sudou’s info about the goods. Which is a shame, because this demonic deal could easily contribute to his hero journey if it was revealed that Mikhail himself sent Sakazaki to warn Akihito about the fire (hence double-crossing Sudou. Or triple-crossing - who knows at this point!)

I could backtrack and find more scenes that existed for apparently no reason but this is too long already. My point is: scenes that don’t matter are those that promise great waves and in the end, fall short. Time will tell how much of the current arc will have an impact in the future - do the scenes between Fei Long and Asami when they are saving each other’s lives really mean this new phase of their relationship or were they there just for the action? Does Fei Long’s moment of tenderness with Mikhail indicate that the doors are open for romance? If yes, will we see that romance now, later, two years from now?

All in all… the scenes that matter the most are those that change characters and the story in some kind of irrevocable way. I think certain scenes in Finder no Souen did that to Asami, same can be said to Fei Long in Finder no Rakuin. And those scenes cannot be invalidated by any other future scenes, because they happened, the people involved in them changed, the mark was made.

I will continue to celebrate Yoh and Fei Long simply because their past and everything they went through, their trust, their synergy, all of that deserves to be celebrated. If Fei Long ends up with Tao, then be it. With Mikhail, okay. If he ends up alone, okay too. There is more than one type of relationship between two people and that’s what I’m here for.

[esbion]

yuri!!! on ice isn’t actually a“sports anime”

Water is wet. 

It’s not that FS isn’t a sport. Because it IS and takes a huge amount of dedication and skill. It’s just that skating was a sideplot and the main focus was Yuuri’s relationship with Victor, making it a romance/comedy with a sprinkling of sports rather than a sports anime with a sprinkling of romance. 

And it’s a shame because the execution was professionally done, the choreography was (according to irl skaters) accurate and realistic. The team put a great amount of effort with the budget they had into creating the routines, the different costumes, the soundtrack, everything. HOWEVER, none of that is attributable to the writers/producers. Just because Kubo & co. hired a good team, doesn’t mean anything. 

It’s like they were building around the skating, like “oh let’s just write a thing about some guy discovering his eros & leave the actual performance up to the animators/designers lol.” I would like to know a single place in the anime where it had to be FS specifically. Was there ever a plot point where some technical or setting aspect of figure skating was mentioned?  It’s like the plot and the skating aren’t integrated.

Part of it is probably because it’s an original anime developed by a team and not like Haikyuu!! or Oofuri, adapted from a manga by one (or a few) people. No, I’m not expecting an anime about a performance sport to be the same as those about points-based team sports. Cheer Danshi!! had a performance sport (cheerleading) & it was decent. But it feels like Kubo didn’t even try. Bc the super hot gayz are 97% of yoi’s appeal. The only people who watch yoi for the skating are irl figure skaters. That’s the truth. While it’s great that y’all have accurate representation, sports anime is supposed to be accessible to people who know absolutely nothing. Look I hate sports. With a passion. If someone mentions anything sports related my eyes glaze over and my soul dies. That’s why I was (am) SHOOK about Oofuri, Haikyuu!! etc not being absolute torture.

I’m a humble plebiean, I need things explained to me. Maybe some people can understand things just,,, based on context but when I’m watching these routines I have no fucking clue what’s going on. There’s a post on tumblr about how amazing Yuuri’s triple jump or whatever was, I shouldn’t need to see a tumblr post about it I should just see it in the anime itself. It just feels like a gigantic case of *telling* and not showing. In other sports anime at least you can understand “oh the ball go whoosh” and “cool they’re doing the thing”. Do I fucking know the difference between nice receive! and one-touch! No. But that doesn’t stop me from watching Haikyuu!!. People say yoi is good because it doesn’t have the super hyped action moves that others (ahem, KnB) do. In fact yoi doesn’t have any moves at all. Yuuko’s triplets are named axel, lutz, and loop, but what does that mean? I don’t know. Kubo probably doesn’t either. Everything, all the professional choreography and whatnot, is just an accessory to Victuuri’s relationship, to make it feel more skating-y. 

It would be nice if we knew how Victor concretely impacted Yuuri’s performance, other than teaching him the Power of Love to cure his anxiety. But instead of skating they use their (mediocre, shouldn’t have won the Crunchyroll awards) animation on shiny lips and naked sauna scenes. From the beginning it’s all about Victor. Yoi doesn’t begin with “a tall tall wall looms ahead of me”, it’s all “ooooh victor never fails to impress me so hot wow.” (btw even Free! w it’s emphasis on teenage drama starts out talking about water not people) 

Sports anime is supposed to have a *goal* to get somewhere or become stronger. In the finale, even if they lose the competition the characters will have learned something. You might lose but you’re no longer the tyrant king. You might lose but you’ve learned to trust your teammates esp. your catcher. Yuuri’s character arc was never finished. He didn’t overcome his anxiety, or stand on equal terms as Victor. Instead it’s on the ice we call everything love, his love for skating is becoming mixed up with his ~“love”~ for Victor. Because Victuuri is the main selling point here. The audience isn’t a typical sports anime shonen crowd, it’s 20-something yaoi fangirls who think Viktuuri is the hottest thing ever. Everyone knows yoi isn’t about the skating.

[my-placeinthe-stars]

Lately

Happy Chinese New Year! I haven’t really wrote anything on here in a while. 

I’m not even sure where to start exactly.

I’ve been officially single for...three weeks now? I finally decided to end things with Eric. It’s funny even seeing that typed out- when you first meet someone and you’re madly in love you think to yourself, wow this person is amazing, I’d do anything to be with them, I couldn’t imagine being the one to end things with them- and well, here I am. I guess it’s part my naiveté, part just relationships in general.  When you date someone for a while, you see more and more how the sausage gets made. And it either reassures your feelings of affection for them or it begins to chip away at the pedestal you put them on.

My experience undoubtedly was the later. When I met him, I was completely swept away by him. He was fun to talk to, he was sweet and cute, we had a lot of common interests. But after those “butterfly stages”, I would notice things that made me feel like “wait, wait?”. And to that you’re probably saying...red flags? Get the fuck out of there then!! I know it sounds simple, and hell it is simple. But everything feels different when you’re into someone, and I know that isn’t an excuse, and hell I feel stupid admitting it but I just wanted to get my thoughts out about it and be done with it.

So more and more time passed and there was always one reoccurring issue in our relationship his trust, and him not knowing what he wants. So basically two very key elements of any relationship were not in a good place. He let his own insecurities worry him so much I became anxious and paranoid, I know that isn’t fun to be around at all. And mostly, I just never felt wanted. I never felt like I could just take a deep breath and be like, ah okay, everything feels good. I feel secure. I just didn’t.

I knew my friends and family could see the stress wearing on me. And probably could tell that I wasn’t as happy as I could be. And they don’t even know the half of it. The more I see and feel how happy I am being alone the more I realize that I wasn’t in a good relationship. And that’s not to put all the blame on him, while I never did anything idk fucked up, there were definitely things I could have done very differently. Or times when I chose to stay when I should have walked away.

He called me the other day upset, saying, “Why do I always do this? Why do I always have a great girl in my life and then I push her away?” I didn’t really know what to say. Sometimes people are never happy with what they have. but I think more in his case he just needs to be single. He’s used to being with someone that takes good care of him. I hope he goes out and learns more about himself because I’m just not interested anymore.

I put a lot into a person that I’d cross an ocean for and he would step over a puddle. I’m just not interested in having that kind of relationship anymore.

I started a detox 2 weeks ago and I have lost 10 lbs so far. I’m getting healthier and losing weight and I feel better than ever. I talk to my anime trash friends all the time and I’m just doing whatever I want. I’ve been in full force fujoshi mode lately and omg god reading yaoi is better than a relationship sometimes (i.e. I’ve gone full otaku).

One of the manhwa’s I’m reading, Killing Stalking, (Sangwoo ugh such a daddy ;_;) besides me just being a total fan girl over it, it is defintely an interesting experience reading. Because you can read it from so many perspectives. When I read it, 99% it’s in total fangirl/fantasy mode. So it’s pure fantasy, it’s exciting, it’s whatever and the other 1% I think about it and damn, I wonder how anyone that’s ever been in an abusive/bad relationship has felt. Not that I’ve been in a relationship like Sangwoo-Yoobum’s at ALL but when you look at it through the lens of those who have suffered at the hands of the one they blindly care about. Damn it takes it to a crazy level. It makes me feel even worse for Yoobum and hate Sangwoo even more because you’ve been there one way or another.

Now take a 180, the other manhwa I’m reading, Blood Bank, could not be more fucking opposite. Talk about two people madly in love with each other that do so much for each other. Fantasy, neh? :’) God damn I want a love like theirs.

Anyways, I don’t have much else to say other than, my sister and I have labeled this year as ‘the year of personal enrichment” and by god as corny as that is I’m sticking to it. There is nothing like doing what is best for YOU.

And on that note, I am going to the gym for some cardio. And probably will watch Yuri on Ice shamelessly. I mean, that’s okay right? LOL

[thekoreanlass]

Thirsty for a different kind of movie, I tried ‘Close Range Love‘ (also known as ‘Kinkyori Renai’) without much thought. I mean, I downloaded it a couple of months ago and forgot what it’s all about, so it’s too late to back out when I figured it’s a teacher-student kind of forbidden romance after a few minutes of obvious hints where the two protagonists become involved with each other.

Don’t get me wrong. I used to read about this kind of manga series back in my high school days, but as I’ve matured from that kind of mind setting that it’s okay for an underage teen to fall for her teacher who’s an adult, I realized that in reality this is one type of relationship that will surely get frowned upon: (1) because it’s socially unacceptable for a teacher or anyone to be in a relationship with someone that young, (2) it’s immoral, (3) totally irresponsible of that teacher to not separate his own feelings from work and to encourage his student about her own feelings. Those are only a few things, but the end result may be the same: both of them will be ruined in the end if the yet caught.

But I’m pretty sure you and I are well aware how Japanese artists and writers are very diverse when it comes to topics about love. Anything is possible, even forbidden love–incest, teacher-student relations, yaoi, yuri and all that yada. As long as you have an open mind (to an extent possible), I think that you will learn to appreciate their writings in some ways, just like how I found ‘Kinkyori Renai’ likable to an extent. Not totally like it, but found things okay, since I still can’t find the relationship acceptable, well not unless Yuni is finally legal and can think for herself and Haruka still likes her by then.

Anyway, to sum up my experience, the film isn’t my cup of tea but I liked it to some extent as its able to deliver a story, though unconventional, that can be deep and moving and that is not complicated (looking at the big picture) and which is modest. It’s perfect for a night movie marathon before sleep.

The story

Kururugi Yuni (Nana Komatsu) is a high school prodigy who has a difficult time expressing herself. And whilst having top grades in all her subjects, she isn’t doing so well in English and so her English class teacher, Haruka Sakurai (Tomohisa Yamashita) gives her temporary private one on one English lessons.

But when Yuni’s guardian who is also the school’s maths teacher, Kazuma Akechi (Arai Hirofumi), notices the differences in Yuni’s behaviour, he decides to put a stop to the tutoring.

With the encouragement of her only friend, Nanami Kikuko (Mizuki Yamamoto), Yuni realizes that she has fallen in love with her teacher, Sakurai who also happens to be admired by every girl in school. Every time Yuni has the chance to express the way she feels to Sakurai, she isn’t able to do so.

But finally, Yuni musters up the courage to confess to her teacher and tries to do so by using a notebook that reads “I hate you teacher but I also like you. What should I do?”. At first, Sakurai doesn’t acknowledge Yuni’s feelings until one day in class, Sakurai purposely drops a pen to lean towards her, when Yuni is hiding under his desk before kissing her.

Trying to keep it a secret, Sakurai doesn’t know that the new homeroom teacher of Yuni’s class, Mirei Takizawa (Asami Mizukawa), who is being shown around, coincidentally sees the incident between them.

When a co-teacher introduces Mirei to Sakurai, Sakurai is surprised to see his childhood friend again. Mirei tells Sakurai what she saw and that she still has feelings for him. But things develop further between Yuni and Sakurai when Mirei tries to stop their relationship by taking a photo of Sakurai and Yuni hugging each other as she passes them. Mirei shows the photo to Akechi when he asks for Mirei’s help to keep an eye on her as he is concerned about her strange behavior which leads to Akechi confronting Sakurai and asking him to leave Yuni as she has given up her dreams of going to her dream college for Sakurai. Akechi asks Sakurai to encourage her to study abroad which he is reluctant to do but does out of care for Yuni.

Heartbroken when Sakurai cuts ties between the two of them, Yuni decides to follow her dreams. However she is unable to forget him after leaving to study at the University of California and she soon returns to Japan to confront him again. The two of them finally reconcile at the beach where they had their first date.

(c) wikipedia

Review

I realized early in the movie that this isn’t my type of thing, but tried very hard to hold on to the hope I’ll somehow feel gripped to watched it entirely. Sadly, though I know its a good movie with an interesting story line, I started skipping scenes halfway through.

I’m not really a patient person when it comes to things that aren’t able to grab my interest on the first go, so I skim the length of it to get the gist of the story, which is much or less the plot for most student-teacher relationship stories: student feels the strong attraction for her teacher and tries her best to win him, but teacher tries his best to not encourage her, yet eventually falls head over heels for the 16-ish girl at some point and they start dating secretly until some jealous girl (who’s crushing on the handsome teacher) tries to ruin the relationship and they will have to separate for good and meet someday in better circumstances either still madly in love or moved on.

To say it simply, I feel that the movie is a bit predictable and plot driven that plot holes are bound to happen. Say for example, Yuni’s character is written as someone who finds it difficult to express her emotions. However, this behavior was never explained throughout the movie unlike how they explained Haruka Sakurai’s personality and why he hates people who lie and doesn’t trust women much. Haruka’s father loved telling him what he thought were make up stories when he was a kid. He looked so happy on the outside and Haruka didn’t see his father’s death coming because of his lies. That must have truly traumatized and hurt Haruka badly that he doesn’t give much care even if he must know he’s generally a likable person appearance-wise.

We get nothing about Yuni’s backstory, but the superficial background wherein she’s being taken care of by her uncle Akechi because her parents are working abroad. Well, this may be an unsaid thing for her but it doesn’t say much either that perhaps the reason why Yuni feels so detached from her feelings stems from lack of affection she gets from her parents. That could be it or not.

On the other hand, whilst a lack of behind story about Yuni, she has shown progressive changes to her personality after she meets the insufferable Teacher, Haruka, and eventually she becomes attracted to him to the point she burst of excitement even though she didn’t know what to do, that by impulse she searches for Haruka and ends up hiding under the podium he is using in front of the class. The risk is worth it for her though because Haruka answers to her own confused feelings by giving her a kiss. This development in Yuni’s character is very significant, because it really showed Nana Komatsu not as herself but a teen who’s believably head over heels for her teacher.

It doesn’t mean, however, that because Haruka has a rich background that presently speaking in the story it helped him with his situation in some ways. His cold personality despite showing pleasant emotions towards his other students and the fact he knows it’s wrong to have feelings for one of them, Yuni, has shown his hesitance about making a step forward and only hurt her feelings. He had become two-faced that it’s hard to discern whether his feelings for her (at first) are sincere. And when he jumped into a relationship with her, it’s hard to figure how he came to like her with the way he acted before towards her. It’s even harder to digest that he has suggested marriage to a 16-ish girl like that. If I were her mother, I’d slap this guy for even thinking that. Clearly, he’s not on his right mind while in love with her, which is most of the time bad for a relationship. It makes him look impulsive even if he’s portrayed as someone usually calm and collected.

But oh well, where does all the logic and rationalization go when in love? In the trash bin. No one’s just smart enough when falling in love.

Gladly, there’s not much complication shown that they went through, even though I suppose it’s inevitable for a relationship like this to travel a rocky path. It has stayed a quiet relationship all throughout, which is totally cool with me, but didn’t boast much of the relationship itself as the development stops to intensify after they jump into the boat. There’s just a bit of this and that and then the other characters has short appearances to go in between them.

This movie couldn’t have shone on its own if not for the great actors Komatsu Nana and Yamapi. From what I’ve researched, Nana was 16 around the time this was shot while Yamapi was 28, so the age gap itself it quite impressive. The chemistry between them ain’t explosive but it’s the right blend that I cannot hate them despite the unconventional theme. In better circumstances, I would have liked everything, since both have done a nice job owning their characters. Nana may have appeared flat in the beginning of the story, but her gestures as the inexpressive Yuni made up for the lack of emotions shown on her face. Eventually, she got better as Yuni starts to show more emotions on the latter part of the film. As for Yamapi, I’ve never seen any of his other projects, but I think he has shown enough skills to appear believable as a high school teacher who fell in love with his student. Though that’s very standard for male characters in Japanese movies, he’s actually good… and handsome too…

Rating:

Over all, it’s a good movie though it’s not my cup of tea. The actors are really good too. Yuni’s odd at first, but she looks natural and not animated unlike heroines in other Japanese films. Yamapi is as well another discovery to look forward too in this one. He’s a total eye candy. And though the story itself  isn’t much remarkable, it’s good as it can get.

Rating it, I give it 3.5 out of 5.

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