DOUKYUUSEI

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA DramaDoukyuusei

REVIEWS

• 

  mikitaka

  90/100
  Doukyuusei is a blossoming love story that doesn’t pander but respects each character and their relationships.

  

  I recently re-watched Doukyuusei because I was feeling down, which should tell you already how I feel about the movie. I’m a big BL fan, being bisexual myself and knowing the Yaoi/Shounen Ai genre is abundant. I almost hesitate to say it based on how much BL manga I’ve read that I deeply enjoy, but the BL anime genre is sadly lacking both in quantity and quality. I won’t go into too much detail here as I’m not Japanese and can’t speak for LGBTQ Japanese people, but nearly all BL is pandering cliche tropes for the enjoyment and titillation of straight girls and women. Doukyuusei, while branded as BL and also aimed at straight girls, is a gentle blossoming love story that doesn’t pander but respects each character, their identities, and their relationships.

  

  Told in four parts, Doukyuusei’s plot feels as warm and lazy as the summer days it shows. The two main characters Kusakabe Hikaru and Sajou Rihito are high school classmates, as the title states, who bond over a song they have to sing for class. The first part covers how they meet and start dating. The second part goes into more of Sajou’s insecurities with regards to Kusakabe and his sexuality. However, he’s not angsting about internal homophobia but rather whether Kusakabe takes him and their relationship seriously. (This chapter also includes my least favorite part: the adult teacher who comes onto a young and confused Sajou. He also gets his own spin-off manga, but I still don’t care for him for what I think are obvious reasons!) The last part is about Kusakabe’s band and again Sajou’s insecurities surrounding Kusakabe’s popularity. The fourth and final part focuses more on Kusakabe’s problems in the relationship, as Sajou studies for college entrance exams. [SLIGHT SPOILERS] Kusakabe says the line: “You know, I think no matter how you choose to live, there will be regrets,” but goes on to talk about how he wants to choose Sajou. Generally summing up the movie, this line describes both the pair’s anxiety towards their paths while reinforcing their active choice to follow their feelings and strengthen their bond despite an uncertain future. [END SPOILERS]

  This is a very brief summary of the events though, and each chapter has its own vibe while also contributing to the overall feeling of the couple’s new relationship. Doukyuusei excels in exploring both the feeling of first love as a teen (“The fizzling soda.”) and the anxiety of entering the “adult world.”

  

  Nakamura Asumiko was a common name to me from her BL manga, as she has a very unique and fluid style. When I heard Doukyuusei was going to be made into a movie, I was worried about that transition from manga to anime. However, A-1 Pictures nailed it and I didn’t really need to worry at all. I know very little on the subject of animation actually, but both capturing Nakamura’s fluid style and the watercolor backgrounds in nearly every scene not only impressed but helped develop the peaceful feeling of the story. Further still on a technical note, the soundtrack was soft with relaxing or dramatic riffs as needed. And as an additional bonus, the now disbanded popular indie rock band Galileo Galilei performed the ending theme.

  The only flaws I can see—biased as I obviously am—are slow pacing, long introspective narration, and some manga-esque scenes that couldn’t be translated any other way. I believe these are matters of taste but can make a movie challenging to watch if you aren’t into the leisurely tone. For me, Kusakabe’s loud personality and dramatics (thanks to the spectacular Kamiya Hiroshi as always) more than make up for any pacing I found disjointed or slow.

  In more than one way, Doukyuusei is a breath of fresh air. This slice of life BL takes a simple feeling and setting and shapes them into a moving and enjoyable movie that values and respects its gay characters and their relationship. I also recommend the manga, there are more volumes and one shots after the events of the movie that do the trick as well.

  
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• 

  SomeoneLikeTim

  90/100
  Sometimes Keeping it simple is the trick and Doukyuusei -Classmates- does just that

  

  Sometimes keeping it simple is the trick, and Doukyuusei -Classmates- does just that. It's a simple and beautiful story of two young men falling in love with each other. I sometimes don't like how relationships are developed in films since they've limited time on their hands. This film manages to develop the relationship and the characters alongside, with the jump in time. We get the jest of how they are faring and in which directions they are heading next. As they fall in love with each other, Kusakabe and Sajou face problems like doubt, self-deprication and other relationship issues. And the filmmakers handled those issues quite well, nothing too melodramatic and even though at times it may seem they resolve issues quite easily, they do it in a realistic manner. Doubts are resolved through communication, even if one of them tries to avoid the situation. They dealt with some of the more common issues people face in a relationship really well and kept the resolutions realistic. I loved the scene with ribbon; yes, at times a relationship may be at the brink of death but if both partners try they can still save it. Yeah, it won't be the same as before, but who says a little difference is bad? Those struggles will make the relationship stronger for future storms they may face.

  As for the characters, we've our two protagonists, Kusakabe and Sajou. The former is free and fun-loving, while the latter is shy and keeps to himself. The way they fall in love is kind of generic, but their innocence and pure love for each other makes up for it. Often times, the popular guy is a player but here it's not the case, and I'm quite thankful for that (Even though Sajou thinks that isn't the case sometimes). They learn from each other, grow with each other, and watching their relationship blossom through the impediments is a delight. As for other characters, we've Hara sensei; Kusakabe at first thought Sajou had a crush on him but thankfully that wasn't the case. He's a catalyst in reaching a lot of resolutions, and he helps the protagonists in different manner (I won't deny I thought something different when he called Sajou to his room, but thankfully it didn't totally go there). We also have Kusakabe's bandmate and friend who keeps on asking about his relationship with Sajou. His questions lead to some problems in the relationship and his main purpose is for reminding Kusakabe that Sajou is his first true love, so basically he is a plot device. So, yeah it's a two men movie.

  I won't say I'm the biggest fan of the artstyle or animation, it's highly stylistic for sure but really simple too. They could do more than featureless faces. I will give them that sometimes the background looked good, especially the fountain area, it's simple but to me it feels so nostalgic.

  I noticed the ost was very minimalistic as the movie progressed, and the music piece for Kusakabe's band was average at best. But, the song that was played with the credits was really beautiful and it stuck with me. The voice actors did their work quite well, they expressed well without making it melodramatic.

  So, all in all I enjoyed this film a lot. It has two decent characters, highly stylistic animation (and simple), and a beautiful innocent love story at the core.

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• 

  HidamariSeashore

  94/100
  This was the first yaoi anime I watched in its entirety (even if it was a movie), and I'm very glad it was.

  (WARNING!: There may or may not be slight spoilers.)

  It's really amazing how you can just fall in love with someone else after interacting with them for a certain amount of time, even if you've known who they are due to the two of you being classmates. It's also amazing how sometimes, that "someone else" may even be the same gender as you. Let that last part sink in for a second, okay? Okay, this anime movie was the one yaoi anime for me to be truly interested in watching, mainly because of Hiroshi Kamiya, one of my favorite seiyuus, having a role in it; under normal circumstances, I don't really watch yaoi or shounen-ai anime (although I did try to make an exception once), but with a certain milestone approaching, I decided to make a true exception in order to make hitting that milestone extra special. All I'm going to say is that if Doukyuusei ends up turning me into a fujoshi, I really wouldn't mind becoming one.

  Doukyuusei, or Classmates in English, begins when Hikaru Kasukabe, a student at an all-boys school, takes notice of a classmate, Rihito Sajou, as their school's choir festival approaches. When he catches him singing by himself in a classroom one day, he offers to help him prepare for the choir festival, with Kusakabe being in a band and all. As the festival looms closer and closer, Kusakabe and Sajou end up developing feelings for each other; eventually, the two of them begin a relationship. From there, the film covers some of the things the two boys go through as a couple, especially when the time comes to be seriously thinking about their futures....

  The story is divided into four parts, and not every single part is perfect. However, the overall story is admittedly better than some of the straight or yuri romance anime I have watched; it's got some funny moments and some heartwarming moments. I also really enjoyed the relationship between Kusakabe and Sajou; they say that opposites attract, and with this relationship, that saying really holds a meaning! As individual characters, they're pretty enjoyable, too; Sajou got some interesting character development, and Kusakabe was overall fun to watch. Although there was barely any focus on the few side characters, that's okay; Kusakabe and Sajou did a good job carrying the story along.

  The voice acting was pretty stellar, especially Hiroshi Kamiya as Kusakabe. Maybe it's just me being biased, since I'm a fan of him; however, his voice suited his character, and I could feel the emotion he put into his acting. The same goes for Kenji Nojima as Sajou; he did a pretty great job with him, as well. The ending theme, "Doukyuusei" (same title as the anime), was a beautiful song, and if I could just find it somewhere, I'd love to listen to it again. As for the animation, I absolutely loved it; the art style was very unique, and A-1 Pictures was able to impress me once again with the movement of each scene.

  Overall, Doukyuusei was a really enjoyable film, and I'm glad to say that it was the first yaoi anime for me to complete. If you don't mind watching anime where the main characters are homosexual dudes, I'd definitely recommend it. If you're a hardcore fujoshi who likes watching those homosexual dudes do the nasty, they won't go all of the way.... although this was a subject touched upon.

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