FilmFanatic007

I genuinely don't understand how this is considered a beloved LGBTQIA+ love story... There are two relationships in this series. One is between two childhood friends. This story could play out innocently enough, but Hasekura pursues Ohshiba so aggressively that it veers into sexual coercion. He literally says "sleep with me or cut ties". He also forces kisses onto him and requires Ohshiba to let him touch him sexually for 5 minutes in order to maintain their friendship. Despite that abuse, they become a couple.

The other pairing is between Ohshiba's adult brother (who teaches math at their high school) and his best friend, Setagawa. Setagawa has no family or support system outside of the Ohshiba family. He says several times this is the only place he truly felt he belonged. So the fact that this adult man is pressuring this teenage boy into a relationship really puts Setagawa in a vulnerable position.

There's also the fact that several people (other kids and even adults) find out about this student/teacher pairing and, not only does no one seem to think it's inappropriate, no one does anything to help this child escape his abusive situation.

Everyone else is fine, but Tibby is annoying and a total bitch. How anyone stands her is a mystery. She constantly self-sabotages, then acts like she doesn't understand why things aren't going well, and then takes it out of the world around her. The movies would be fine, but this character ruins them.

Everyone in this movie is so annoyingly unsupportive of Melanie wanting to make something of herself. Just because she doesn't want to waste away in an Alabama trailer park doesn't mean she's a bad person. Her family and friends act like she's this unfathomable monster for wanting to do something with her life.

Even more frustrating is the fact that her estranged husband is holding her hostage in an unwanted marriage; seemingly out of spite. It's not a crime to grow and change, despite what this movie would have you think.