Aichaku

I was a bit worried when I first started watching this because it looks less like a normal BL movie than I was expecting. Having said that, I think this movie kind of got the balance right.

The romance in the movie is lovely. It was very cute, but still felt realistic enough that non-BL fans could enjoy it. The starry sky scene and the cafe fantasy were for sure for BL fans. I don't know if there was ever a foreign lead in a BL movie before, but this might be the first. It was very interesting to watch and added some elements to the movie that I hadn't seen before in BL.

If someone is looking for a LGBTQ+ movie that has strong social messages attached to it, I'm not sure if they will be satisfied with this. It certainly has a message. For a BL movie it almost has too much of a message. (Do you see what I mean about getting the balance right?) I thought that the main message was about love in general and how important it is. What I really liked was that Aichaku was about all kinds of love, so it was easy to feel attached to the world of the movie.

Since Aichaku means "attachment," perhaps that was the goal. If so, they certainly accomplished it.

In 2023, I participated in the crowd funding for this and Max Emerson's novel. I was a bit worried because it felt like there was a long wait between the end of the campaign and the release of the movie. They apparently sent out an email with download codes for the movie in 2024 for people who purchased it from the crowd funding and I must have missed it.

I was really happy to see the finished movie and I'm glad to say it was worth the wait. They said that they were mainly using the money from the crowd funding to help with post production and it really shows. The music they got for the movie is really good and I was surprised to find that most of the songs are original.

Originality really is what makes this movie special. There's so many things that are different about this movie, it's hard to write it all with out giving a lot of the movie away. They way they play with language, the setting, the flow of the characters all felt really fresh and made you want to see more of it. Also, as a mom I really liked the way moms were portrayed in this movie.

I hope there's another movie or something else. Aichaku ends in a way that all of the questions are answered, but the characters are all moving on to new things. You want to see how that works out.

Trite, self indulgent and bad. Just bad overall.

I won't even begin to voice my opinion after a reviewer (above or below me here), I'll call them double D said the exact same thing I was thinking as I read each of their paragraphs. There isn't even an OUNCE of chemistry between them, nada.

The Japanese lead was incredibly good to look at, I will give you that and he kept my interest for the film. That being said, even in Japanese he couldn't act as way out of a wet paper bag. No offense my friend, I'm not attacking you personally if you read this review...but given what I viewed, you would not have acted your way out a out of a wet, perforated bag.

As for the American lead, it's been a long, long time since I've seen such incredibly poor and self indulgent melodramatic turns, heaped under a pile of what the actor thought he was emoting, emotions, topped by all sorts of VERY stereotypical, "barbie like" head throws and twists and with all KINDS of stomping and swishing going on when they were upset. This is how an adult, who goes to Japan to teach English, carries themselves?

Was this supposed to be a trans film, maybe a lady/boy type of film? I am being dead serious.

I'm hoping that this is just a sophomore attempt and then it gives everyone involved the chance to learn and grow and make better each time you produce and then present. I'd love to give you more than two stars but I'm sorry, the American lead destroyed it for me, it's not even worth the time nor the effort to point out some of the poor camera angles, the lighting, the direction, and how someone, never it seems, took into account sound and how to utilize it. The Japanese lead is soft spoken YET no one in sound took this into account? GOD GRIEF!)

I struggled to get through this film and finally gave up about 70 minutes in.

This entire film is apparently a showcase for the (American) lead actor's Japanese speaking ability. As a story, it is predictable and laughable and not really that interesting.

There is a lot of unnecessary dialogue, there are over-the-top screaming scenes (which are de rigueur for Japanese films, even, apparently, ones featuring foreign leads), there are tired tropes (English teachers in Japan), and there are huge miscalculations by the writer/star, mainly about why anyone would care that he can speak Japanese as well as he does.

The entire onsen scene came across as totally unbelievable and bizarre and fake.

The lead actor does tons of mugging and has apparently learned every single Japanese facial expression or reaction, since he has very few of his own.

His character is not developed at all, and as such, I could not care what happens to him.

The Japanese actors all fare better, and the lead Japanese "half" actor is legitimately hot and sexy and has potential in the right story (not this one).

There was tons of unnecessary (and incorrectly chosen) music with singing, played over scenes where the actors were talking -- and yet, how could we understand what they were saying when they were being drowned out by background music?

The two star rating is for the hot Japanese male lead, who gives us a hint of what paradise might be like in the onsen, but it is nearly totally destroyed by the virginal worry-wart first-time-ever in an onsen foreigner who acts like a scared girl on her first date.

I have lived in Japan for a long time and I understand a lot of what was going on, and the idea that we are supposed to care about anyone in this film is one that apparently never occurred to the writer/star, since he spent his entire time on screen being obvious about everything he said and did, all without a soupçon of subtlety.

It was amazing and what a beautiful setting and story. I've wanted to visit Japan in the past but it made me fall in love more.

The story of Luke and Ken is beautiful and they make such an cute and powerful couple, a true example that two people can change the course of their futures.

The Christophers are so compelling and heartfelt. They make it so easy to follow the story and journey of Luke and Ken.

The setting in Japan compliments the love story and family stories lines so well and bridges two cultures in one bucolic masterpiece of a country.

Definitely recommend this to everyone an hour and a half well spent.