menostrabajo

Despite its adaptation from a rather long Japanese graphic novel, the story doesn't lack in emotion and appeal.

The two main characters are realistic and it's nice to watch something different in the Boy's Love landscape. One might be tempted to compare it to a French film, in that it focuses on the evolution of the protagonists' relation. The insights and references to nineteenth century rural France add to its charm.

One thing that might possibly disappoint is the somewhat bad visual quality, but that may be due to the fact that the film was released quite a few decades ago. Still, I highly recommend watching it, and if fairly intimate scenes between same sex characters disturb you, there's always the option of looking away.

I'll be honest: I first thought this wouldn't be any different from any other typical magical girl story (With battles, nasty witches, bright pink magic makeup,...). I even found it a little redundant at times. Still, all along its progression, the protagonists slowly diverge towards different directions and new elements add to the confusion and interrogations, while a puppet master takes a malicious pleasure watching the events from the outside. The not so clear demarcation between illusion and reality, the central role of ballet and the classical background music add to the series' originality with sensitivity. The suspense and tragedy build up exponentially the last few episodes, with an interesting ending.