is a 2019 Japanese drama film directed by
Takamasa Oe.
It made its world premiere in the 28th
Rainbow Reel Tokyo festival on July 15, 2019.
The film stars Joe Nakamura and Yohdi Kondo.
Cast
* Joe Nakamura as Kohei Kaido
* Yohdi Kondo as Yutaka "Yuta" Imaizumi
* Yoshiaki Umegaki as Priscilla
* Reina Tasaki as Mizuna Kaido
* Fumihiko Nakamura as Atsushi
* Rai Minamoto as Mimosa
* Flora Miwa as Rinka
Release
The film was played at festivals including the 2019
Rainbow Reel Tokyo and
Taoyuan Film Festivals
and had a small general release in Japan, beginning on July 26 at UPLINK Kichijoji in
Kichijoji, Tokyo and expanding on August 3 to cinemas in
Osaka
is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
,
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...
and
Himeji.
In June 2020, it became available internationally with subtitles in English, Chinese, Thai and Indonesian for subscribers to the
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
-based
streaming service provider Gagaoolala.
Reception
The film received mixed reviews from 18 critics of ''
Yahoo! Japan
is a Japanese web portal. It was the most-visited website in Japan, nearing monopolistic status.
According to ''The Japan Times'', as of 2012, Yahoo! Japan had a footprint on the internet market in Japan. In terms of use as a search engine, ...
'', which gave the film an average of 3.56 stars. Asian Movie Pulse highlighted the taboo of
LGBT rights in Japan and highlighted the film in those aspects, though said that "while you can enjoy a movie that opens many colours of the rainbow and waves more than one flag, your enthusiasm might hit several walls" adding that "Unfortunately, the relationship and its hardships are the least interesting line in the narrative" and concluded that the film is "perplexing."
References
External links
* (in Japanese)
*
* {{IMDb title, id=9664838, title=Athlete
2019 films
2019 LGBTQ-related films
Films set in Japan
Gay-related films
Japanese LGBTQ-related films
2010s Japanese-language films
LGBTQ-related romantic drama films
2010s Japanese films
Japanese romantic drama films