Classmates (Dou kyu sei)

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Audience Member "Classmates" is a story about a boy meets boy, falling in love with the blush of youth, simplicity makes it a beautiful romance movie. They are able to maintain it well, maintain it so that it still seems fresh, sweet, calm, and without making it cheap. This is a movie I really recommended to anyone, whether you like the genre or just looking for a romance movie, this is for everyone. Not too complex, the experience is still there. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member While not very original in story, the film makes up for this simple telling in visuals and pure heart of the characters. These two polar opposites are brought together by Hikaru Kusakabe's (voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya) blurted out words to Licht Sajo (Kenji Nojima) to aid the other in practicing reading music for their class chorale performance. Licht agrees and soon they find themselves in the middle of a blossoming romance that takes both by surprise. Nakamura Asumiko's works have a very distinct style and feel-they're long, lanky, fluid things made softer by warm watercolor tones- which creates a challenge that the production team handled with a delicacy that has created this meticulous, faithful re-imagining of her iconic style in animated form. Split screens and pans over light watercolor backgrounds also felt very genuine to the manga's layout and presentation again, planned exceptionally well and treated with great care. Especially moments of hesitation or jealousy, the small shots to the background or away for their faces and to their subtle body movements, showed well thought out art direction and planning. Little moments between these two fumbling boys, very clearly experiencing the qualms and comforts of a first love, were made intimate with minimal music and sound effects that echoed just how fleeting these interactions between them truly are. These characters were very emotive from the beginning and moments shared between them are full of genuine interactions and feelings. It felt too brief, but only because I had become so engrossed in this quaint love story all over again. It's not often that BLs get animated, let alone one free of the typical cookie cutter art style and terrible cliches. For those who don't mind that the main focus between these two teenage boys, I'd highly recommend this to fans of high-quality animated films, niche romance movies, those interested in lgbtqia+ in media, and to anyone willing to watch a film different from the norm. Of course, the story has it's faults like all BL, but it's definitely one of the more genuine and heartfelt mangas out there in the genre. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Classmates (Dou kyu sei)

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