This dark gritty Japanese BL is something I was not expecting. The story focuses on a Yakuza bodyguard assigned to kill his young boss. The premise sounds interesting but the execution was just weird. There were lot of problems with the show like violence, abuse, coercion and even forcing themselves sexually. Eventually it somewhere becomes. BL with some nonsense stuff. Thankfully the series was only 6 episodes of about 26-30 minutes each. Kataoka is a respected yakuza leader. His boss has grown old and frail, unable to manage the organization anymore. Leadership now falls to the boss's son, Keito. He assigns Odajima as Kataoka's new handler to keep him in check. Kataoka is impulsive and treats Odajima aslmost as a servant even forcing sex on him. But beneath the rough exterior, Kataoka occasionally reveals a gentler side. Odajima, on the other hand, is stoic and distant, keeping his emotions under tight control. What Kataoka doesn't know is that Odajima has a hidden agen...
A lanky teenager has grown up in a rural town where most people expect him to be the weird gay boy. Called up for military service, Johan is fortunate to be accepted into the 23-member Defense Force Church Choir, aka the Kanaries, where he finds kindred spirits as well as standard-issue bullies and bigots. He meets effeminate Ludolf, for whom ehe eventually gets a liking and become good friends with. Johan continues to keep up his macho personality for fear of being bullied because of his sexuality. And then we have Wolfgang, with whom Johan shares their love for pop music. Over touring around country singing choir for military folks, Johan and Wolfgang's friendship soon develops into a very tender love and intimacy. But something is bothering Johan and he is very conflicted (mostly because of religion and what people would say). Johan is confused and self loathes for what he is doing with Wolfgang and decides to stay away from him. But he is so confused about love , he goes into a self destruction mode. Eventually with help of his kind teacher, that eventually what Johan needs is self-acceptance and only then he can look at God and his family. It is not very clear but the ending is a bit vague where it seems Johan is coming to terms with who he is and he is now friends with Wolfgang, all of them going back home after their first year in the military.
The opening sequence and dance number sets the tone for the film. Johan's small town boy is always conflicted having never gone to a club or from having Boy George as his only idol (who also never openly came out). As the film progresses, you slowly start to understand his predicament and confusion even though he has found the almost perfect love in Wolfgang. Two very important sequences according to me in the film are one where an older lady instills some confidence in Johan to become a fashion designer and follow his dreams and run away from his country. And the second one is with Johan's sister where she outrightly rejects even the thought of Johan being gay, further pushing him back in the closet. The way the filmmakers steadily build Johan’s inner turmoil then unleash it in a show-stopping dance number is surprisingly dramatic. The country in the 80s was at a very thorny and interesting intersection of religion, politics and racism which are subtly handled in the film. There is only one scene that touches upon the black folks and I think the makers purposely tried to stay away from it (maybe). The film, though a bit long, is something I actually enjoyed. I wanted Wolfgang and Johan to be together and they made such a nice couple but I can also relate to the turmoil that Johan is going through and is something he needs to deal with on his own.
This movie can explain how a gay man could be struggling in a racist army. A bit knowledge of South African history helps appreciate this film better. (7.5/10)
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