This is an award-winning B-film from Japan based on a manga of the same name.
The small cast of characters are well played, against stark, geometric backdrops in Tokyo. The only warm, organic shapes exist in the presence of Hanabusa, a directorial decision which makes the mood mesmerizingly abstract and stagey, setting the mood in each scene for the actors.
Each character's relationship with Hanabusa makes them realize that they need more than the ordinariness of their lives, but tragically, that they can't help the one that gave them their revelations.
The sex scenes are laughable, probably purposely so. Kumiko Takeda is a pleasure to the eye from any angle. The movie's facts about transexuals are more-or-less correct.
In the end, you've seen a romantic comedy with great cinematography.
The small cast of characters are well played, against stark, geometric backdrops in Tokyo. The only warm, organic shapes exist in the presence of Hanabusa, a directorial decision which makes the mood mesmerizingly abstract and stagey, setting the mood in each scene for the actors.
Each character's relationship with Hanabusa makes them realize that they need more than the ordinariness of their lives, but tragically, that they can't help the one that gave them their revelations.
The sex scenes are laughable, probably purposely so. Kumiko Takeda is a pleasure to the eye from any angle. The movie's facts about transexuals are more-or-less correct.
In the end, you've seen a romantic comedy with great cinematography.