Completed
xie
1 people found this review helpful
Apr 14, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.0

an absolute masterpiece!

Initially, I wasn't going to write a review for this movie but then decided to do so because the movie honestly deserves praise. Also, a quick disclaimer that I have not read the manga that this is apparently based on.

The plot of the movie is very rich and honestly very worth watching. It's twisted but real and very raw. I loved how they didn't use too many s** scenes to draw in the audience and only inserted them when necessary for the plot build-up. The journey of finding one's true sexuality and the reluctance and denial that comes along with it was shown beautifully.

The cinematography was also very beautiful (though I admittedly know very little about it).

Overall, an amazing movie that is worth every minute. 10/10 would recommend. The r-18 scenes are also totally skippable.

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Completed
RiyaShrma
1 people found this review helpful
Aug 10, 2023
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 9.0
This review may contain spoilers

Completely Raw tense at times yet presented Beautifully

Indeed a gem.
Got completely involved with the charecters even after having multiple affairs and other charecters with kyoki watching kyoki and imagase together was so intense.
The scene where imagase asked kyoki to keep him near he doesn't want anything in return even if he can just see him once ....uff i badly wanted to hug the charecter of imagse.
STORY LINE :- So the lost character of kyoki continuously cheating and denying to realise himself a character imagse came who loved him since the university where they first met since 8 dammn years without a sign of getting him (although how he made it you will know in the whole story )made a huge change in kyoki which was obviously slow and frustrating at times because your heart will ache for imagase. I was cursing kyoki to be left alone in journey but the scene when he went to bar and left crying convinced a little hope in me like yes he could be given a chance may be which still was too much for a character like him but somehow i tried to understand him too. he kept dragging imagase in because somewhere he didn't want to make him unhappy but he kept doing it wrose and was not ready to accept his trueself
SIDE CHARECTERS:- i liked most the charecter of okamura and felt really bad for her, kyoki's wives charecter was also good and screaming of a completely cold and dead relationship between them which was meant to be end.
The charecter of kyoki's ex from university potrayed best that you will definitely dislike her and will want her to leave soon which i was glad not dragged too much
SEX SCENES: i saw some reviews saying its nudity and porn there is nudity but hello you are supposed to make your choice seeing r rated of the movie wether to watch it or not
If you are here then you must not be going to serve any lullaby
So In the short kyoki just wanted to settle his cheating agenda with the kiss but you will see how he resists but could really not deny imagase with time
He keep saying he is straight and cant do that but
in short You will see the difference in poured passion how kyoki was with the other and was with imagase when he finally couldn't say no to him .He was the one to hold imagase when he said its just a yes or no , if its a no after that i will never touch you .
ENDING:-
People might be getting dissapoint over the ending that oh no its sad or little more legit will say its open ending but trust me for me it was beautiful the two last scene one the beach one where imagse said "when you truly love someone they are your only expectation/ exception"
And he shouted that "i did love you truly"
Analogy to this scene where kyoki went to finally broke up with okamura and she asked do you trust that they will return kyoki definitely had no answer but he was willing to wait for the love he finally realised he wanted to make imagase the only exception for him and for me he might not had the answer if imagase will comeback but he trusted when he said he truly loved him and might consider to make him his exception.
The relationship was toxic and intolerant at times but i fell in love with imagase for having the courage to kept holding And for imagase he definitely deserved the wait he made the man like kyoki willing to wait for him.
The one flashback scene where imagase cried while they were making out made my heart ached for him at that point it was right for him to leave. Kyoki was changed but i couldn't imagine the loss and harm imagase was at but thats what the point of his charecter that he was willing not to count that like us and came so a long way to make the things happen he himself might not have ever thought. But in course he was probably lost and tired loving kiyoki which he didn't in 8 years when he was not with him.
The slow gradual and wanted change in kyoki was so satisfying to see and the at last scene when he washed the ash tray which imagase threw in dustbin while leaving which he himself once gave kiyoki too keep when they last broke up ,,,was beautiful. The exact end with kyoki crowling on the stool sitting like imagase used to do and kept waiting for him was satisfying.

JUST IN CASE:- i know it is based on the manga but if just in any case I would love to see a sequel of it and for the end i would still say i m not obssesed it to be them coming back together and a typical happy ever after. i want to see more of imagase want him to be at peace want to see his strong determining self when he decides something. ( whether it was to love kyoki 8 years ago or to leave him in the end)

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Completed
OhSheIs
1 people found this review helpful
Jul 24, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 6.5
This review may contain spoilers

Very powerful

Wow what a good movie. I wasnt expecting too much out of it but i really loved it. I'm ecstatic to see bi representation, even though he was claiming to be straight for 90% of the movie.

The sex scenes were steamy and really well done. The two lead actors had major chemistry. The ambiguous ending wrecked me, i probably should read it to see if there's canonical closure.

It would be awesome to see more idols take on roles like this. It was a breath of fresh air to have a movie tackle issues like this, Okura's character was a huge jerk but he finally grew at the end, however not without the expense of others. Overall, its a favorite of mine now.

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Completed
jiritwist
1 people found this review helpful
Nov 3, 2023
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
This award -winning Japanese film, made in part by manga, is a good mystery into the immense depths of the human soul, human fates and the complete intricacy of relationships and sexual orientation. I haven't seen such a valuable picture to portray these features with gay themes. Yes, for example, some less susceptible viewers or those who cannot assemble the story and realize the context, like me as much as I do, but I think those who are empathing in the story despite their own life experience will sit like an ass on a pot .

Dark, rough, real film 18+ I got inside and despite all the evaluation criteria for me 10 I liked the most acting two characters. In the opening photo it looks like they are playing teenagers, but it's a story about adults. At the time of filming 34 -year -old singer and actor Okura Tadayoshi and 26 -year -old model and actor Narita Ryo, who totally got me by portraying the character Imagas, which I initially perceived rather antagonne (find myself, have the courage to accept who I really am .


Tento oceněný japonský film, natočený zčásti dle mangy, je pořádný záhul do nezměrných hlubin lidské duše, lidských osudů a naprosté spletitosti vztahů a sexuální orientace. Tak hodnotný snímek pro vykreslení těchto vlastností s gay tematikou jsem ještě neviděl. Ano, nemusí se třeba některým méně vnímavým divákům nebo těm, co si nedokážou příběh poskládat a uvědomit si souvislosti, líbit natolik jako mě, ale myslím, že těm, kteří se vcítí do příběhu přes své vlastní životní zkušenosti, bude sedět jak prdel na hrnec.

Temný, drsný, reálný film 18+ se mi vryl do nitra a přes veškerá kritéria hodnocení pro mě 10 se mi nejvíce líbily herecky hlavní dvě postavy. Na úvodní fotce to vypadá, jako že hrají náctiletí, ale je to příběh o dospělcích. V době natáčení 34 letý zpěvák a herec Okura Tadayoshi a 26 letý model a herec Narita Ryo, který mě naprosto dostal tím, jak ztvárnil postavu Imagase, kterou jsem zezačátku vnímal spíše antagonně (najít sebe sama, mít odvahu přijmout to, kým ve skutečnosti jsem, bojovat předem prohraný boj o lásku svého života a případně přijmout prohru ...), ale kdoví ... více neprozradím.

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Completed
huang renjun
1 people found this review helpful
Jan 15, 2023
Completed 0
Overall 4.5
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 3.0
This review may contain spoilers

what

what the hell did i just watch even like a man assaulted some guy he liked in high school for an hour and then somehow got that guy to fall in love with him just to be like lol nvm i dont trust u bye oh wait yeah lets fuck even thoguh u have a fiance now like what did i just watch i cant do thi slike genuinely and then at the edn the guy thats been cheating on everyone and their mom the entire movie was like wait maybe i shoukdnt cheat on ppl let me clean this fucking ashtray WHY DOES THIS REVIEW HAVE TO BE 500 CHARACTERS FUCK U MYDRAMALIST IM DONE WITH MY REVIEW LET ME FUCKING POST IT

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Completed
Emara R
2 people found this review helpful
May 14, 2021
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

The movie is about flawed characters and their tangeled life.

The movie is about flawed characters and their tangeled life. Which I do not mind, its just that I do not have to like them and/or sympathise with them. The character Imagase is obsessed, a stakler and kajoled his "Love" into having sex. He pushed him to a point where the other guy "Falls" in love with him and longs for him. Appeared to me as some form of Stockholm syndrome. Otomo repeatedly and continually cheats. He has no respect for anyone else's feelings. I think he is a sociopath. Extremely self-obsessed and emotionally immature. Yes people like these are all around us and in a movie we would like to see the redemption part of such characters. Here I felt that was missing. There was no redemption for Imagase. He is still as obsessed with Otomo as he was before to a point tha he cannot even enjoy sex with someone else, even though he chose to leave Otomo. Otomo appears to have redemption by falling in love with Imagase, which is really unrealistic, cause this is a realistic movie and sociopaths need serious rehabilitation. By loving someone you cannot redeem yourself. There was no serious consequnces for the two lead characters, they have treated other people with such disrespect that the movie should have shown some consequences for them. Yes, one can argue that they did not end up together and there was no happy ending. To be honest these two characters cannot be happy together unless they work on their issues. May be at the end the makers wanted to show some glimpse of road to redemption by Otomo, but Imagase was left hanging. All in all it was not a satisfying expereince for me to watch this. I am all for movies portraying complex characters who are ruthless and self absorved. But I am against glorifying them and I think in this movie both these characters were glorified and the director wanted us to sympathise with them. Sorry I could not.

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Completed
Prince Eldie
1 people found this review helpful
Feb 26, 2021
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers
Things that I really want to see in a movies or series are: looks, chemistry, acting, and storyline.

LOOKS: Otomo Kyoichi (Okura Tadayoshi) is appealing while Imagase Wataru (Narita Ryo) has his own cuteness.

CHEMISTRY: For me their chemistry doesn't fit well. I don't know if why but it's just my opinion.

ACTING: Superb especially in their bed scenes. It makes me horny as hell.

STORYLINE: I really like how the plot of the story was made. I was just curious if what does really happen during their freshman years in college. It's quite interesting to know if who was that senior that Imagase mentioned but it was not confirmed though. But when it comes to bed scenes it really makes me horny as hell.

One of my favorite line: The person who reeks out of smoke are the most lonely person in the world. I wonder if its true or not but maybe.



# PrinceEldie's Review 2021

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Completed
Kdrama fanatic
1 people found this review helpful
May 21, 2021
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
I would have given this a higher rating, but the end spoiled it. I enjoyed watching this, it kept my interest. I thought the acting and story were good. This movie had a lot of sex scenes, so if your not comfortable with that, don’t watch it. I think the two ML’s were excellent and very believable in their roles. They were two lost souls, but throughout the movie kind of discovered themselves. I don’t think I would watch it again though. I’ve watched You Make Me Dance, Long Time No See, and To My Star several times each, but I won’t be doing that with this one, for the reason stated in my first sentence. If you like BL’S on the serious side, it’s a nice short watch.

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Completed
yoonthethicc
1 people found this review helpful
Jun 2, 2021
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 4.5
This review may contain spoilers
oh boi i wasn't ready at all for this one
my biggest mistake was not reading the tags nor the synopsis so i wasn't aware of the infidelity. besides my carelessness, i actually found this movie to be emotion-inducing and one of the main feeling here is frustration. everyone frustrated me. i'm not kidding.

this one tells a tale of two completely questionable dudes in terms of moral compass. what i like is that this movie doesn't sugarcoat anything. we are presented what the mixture of insecurity and loneliness can do to someone. such combination can lead to desperation of returning to a situation that is not going to benefit them mentally. there is no romanticising this relationship. instead, the viewers are given both point of views with no justification of the main characters' actions.

both the main characters are awful in many ways. yet, sympathy is felt because they both have different sides and internal issues. i'm no way in support of the cheating but it's really interesting how otome is shown to have the tables turned as he was the one to wait for igisame instead of the other way around. the chair was a nice touch of symbolism for anticipation/waiting.

overall, this movie was definitely a profound take on mature topics and didn't go around in circles conveying them.

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Completed
estar
1 people found this review helpful
Feb 21, 2021
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 6.0

this is a good movie if ur into watching humans be human

aish from where to start, first off haven't read the manga and after watching this, very intrigued to find out how it differs from the movie and if the ending (if it has ended in "written" form) is much more satisfying then this open ending.
secondly, read comments saying - agreeing with Otomo when he called himself self-centered - and i Don't agree - yeah there a bucket load of messed-up, complicated character's here, but he just another one on a long list. he for sure aint at the top of that list.

this whole drama is about people not being perfect in any way, shape or form... trying to succeed at love and life and basically buggering it all up - to put in mildly. if anything watching this if there is anyone that i rooted for by the end, it's Otomo - yeah he was guarded and stoic, the typical tsundere (without any background info about why he is the way he is - i can't say what is the cause for his turning out the way he did) but he for sure aint heterosexual, he either bisexual, pansexual or a deeply closeted homosexual... cause the way he noticed Imagase in their collage/university days, wasn't platonic in the least - and he was always aware of him..

Imagase "proposal" starts to break down his walls from the first encounter. and i think its more about being with a man then being with Imagase - which of course changes when Imagase keeps at it - or maybe i'm wrong, as no one would go back to the woman they r cheating with, when they know their wife has a detective tailing them - that was kind of an open invite, for the 2nd encounter to happen -
the rest is kind of a emotional roller costar, where Imagase who seems to know what he wants, can't deal with getting his wish - and keeps pushing Otomo away with words and actions... therefore the sad open ending

but this is one hell of an emotional ride where u see Otomo grow, mature into his own. and that in itself made this worthwhile - i enjoyed this even if i would've loved a happy end - but "they" kept it real and i can appreciate the reason, as in life no happy ending guarantied.

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Completed
thecarterfilez
0 people found this review helpful
Aug 31, 2022
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 10
This review may contain spoilers

Underrated Gem - very relatable

I would highly recommend this movie to anyone looking for a real story you can connect to and this Japanese movie was so amazing. I'm shocked that this doesn't have a big following and it's only a 7.4 on MDL. but I want to let you know this isn't fluff. it's dark. it's gritty. its about a straight man who is going back and forth wondering if he can be with a man so he keeps having relationships with women and the back and forth aspect of it to me was really realistic and I connected with both characters so much in this show.
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Completed
Czrrt
0 people found this review helpful
19 days ago
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 10

Trapped by Desire

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese has easily secured its place as one of my all-time favorite Asian dramas and BL films. This adaptation brings to life Setona Mizushiro's manga with depth, portraying the complexities of love, vulnerability, and identity in a way that is raw and intensely intimate. The film dives into the relationship between two deeply flawed men, Kyoichi and Imagase, revealing how love can emerge from even the most unexpected places.

-Story

The story centers on Kyoichi, and Imagase, his old friend who has secretly longed for Kyoichi for years. When Imagase enters Kyoichi’s life as a private investigator, Kyoichi is forced to confront aspects of himself he's long ignored. What unfolds is a story of self-discovery and acceptance. The story's pacing is reallythoughtful showcasing the emotional conflict between the characters. Their interactions are painful, but through the film's raw approach it feels genuine and intense. Watching Kyoichi exploring and discovering himself through Imagase’s nonstopping pursuit of love is both heartbreaking and fulfilling.

-Acting/Cast

Okura Tadayoshi’s portrayal of Otomo Kyoichi is perfectly layered, quiet, vulnerable, and inscrutable. He captures the all the rage existent inside Kyoichi’s mind.
Originally in the manga he is kind of spineless, and the one who is seduced easily all the time and cant even resist to anyones charms, but here in the movie he is really reserved and almost unemotional at points. This Otomo keeps his with him and doesnt let them out, making it hard for viewers who are unfamiliar with his background to understand him, making it incerdibly hard to understand whats is going on inside his head, so i personally think that to understand his character in the movie u have to notice the little details, which are his gazes and expressions. Lookin at those aspects his character may not seem as complex as he looks like.

In the manga the character Imagase was a cold and detached that only shined next to Kyoichi, while in the movie he was relaxed, and loosen up. Narita Ryo perfectly conveys the desperation, fear, and hope to capture Imagase's deeply insecure nature. This insecurity comes to show through his actions and choices, revealing the intensity behind Imagase’s carefree exterior, both on the manga and the movie. Together, they create some of the most emotional moments I’ve seen in a BL.
Both characters are extremely hard to portray yet both actors really did their all represent the characters and it resulted in a spectacular depiction of the manga.

-The Music

While the soundtrack is understated and doesn’t stand out as much as other aspects of the film, it actually complements the tone, allowing the story to shine through without distraction. The music quietly supports the ambiance, enhancing the film’s moody feel. While it’s not the most memorable soundtrack, it’s fitting for the story’s contemplative atmosphere.

-Rewatch Value

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese actually made me look at love in human relationships in a different light. This is what made it standout among BLs and made it on of my personal favorites . Even with differences from the manga, the film’s artistic direction make it a fulfilling watch every time, especially for those who really like towatch messy stories of love who are really character-driven.

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The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (2020) poster

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