Doukyuusei

Doukyuusei is a very simple romance story that will leave a big smile on your face.

Based on the very popular manga of the same name, this movie follows Hikaru Kusakabe and Rihito Sajou, two high school students of the same age, through their journey of self-discovery and their first love.

Story (8/10): Even tho this movie is good, the story isn't very deep or emotional. In real life first loves can be a very complicated thing, but not for these characters. The story flows as it should be, there's isn't a "dramatic twist" or a "love rival" or a "love triangle", this movie didn't need that ... at all, it's just them falling in love and enjoying each-other. Nothing more, nothing less.

Art (9/10): Doukyuusei has a very unique kind of artstyle. I personally think it works PERFECTLY with the movie and the characters but you'll have to see it for yourself.

Characters (9/10): the characters are what makes this movie WORK. How they interact with eachother is the cutest thing you'll ever see. You can feel the love they have for eachother, and that's an big accomplishment for the mangaka, the studio and specially the director.

Overall: If you're looking for a hardcore yaoi movie then you'll be disappointed because this movie is very romantic and REAL. You can easily feel the characters and understand their actions because they're very relatable.

Anyway, WATCH IT.

Reading the manga, a lot of stuff bugged me. Mostly how quickly the storyline just moved on. The characters and relationship didn't get time to properly develop or even be introduced well. The idea of this story was cute, but the way it was told turned the manga pretty shitty. However, in the movie they changed all of that. The creators stretched out all of the "soon-to-be-over" scenes, and ended up spending their time very well. This way it was easier for me to really get to know the characters, and for their relationship to build. They also managed to not stretch anything too far. ... They changed some of the moments in this story from being weird or feeling unnecessary to being absolutely adorable.

The artstyle is unique and simpler than what we're used to, I really liked it. It's very similar to the manga artist's artsyle. Animation is smooth and fits this movie perfectly. Just the animation itself made me laugh a several times. The backgrounds are also gorgeous. I loved all of the usage of colors.
The soundtrack somehow gave Doukyuusei a realistic vibe, and Galileo Galilei's song playing at the ending was perfect.

Both Kusakabe and Sajou are mostly chill characters, and seeing them get along like this makes me very happy. Their love doesn't seem forced, which is in my opinion the most important thing when it comes to love stories. Sajou is a typical nerd/careful character, but something about him makes him stand out, as if there's something that he really wants. Kusakabe is not like the typical rock star/talk-without-thinking character. He's calm and very nice. They are both just high school students, which is very easy to notice. They make dumb choices like every teenager does. I love how their ages actually show through their personalities.

I would recommend this movie to anyone, whether they like shounen-ai or not. This is what a good love story looks like: characters falling in love the most natural way.

The only thing I didn't like was one of the changes from the manga. I wish that they would tell us something about Sajou earlier. ***SPOILER He has a fear of trains SPOILER IS OVER*** In the manga, they made this very clear, and it cleared up what was going on in some of the scenes. In the anime, this didn't come through well at all, and has definitely caused confusions.

You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this. I've been familiar with the source material for more than a couple of years and have read it over and again multiple times. I've even listened to the Drama CD more times than I would probably ever confess to.
I am what you would call "biased af".
So yeah, no effort to be objective here.

Simple story, "a boy meets a boy, they were in the blush of youth", but it is that simplicity that keeps it fresh and sweet without making it too mushy. The movie covers only the first volume of the ... series, but it is enough to appease my fangirl heart.
I don't think I've ever seen a movie before that just has me grinning from side to side for the whole time looking like a psycho.

As an interesting point that can also be a bit of a minus, you can clearly tell this was plot derived from a manga. You have shots that lead you around like panels, jokes that work more on manga since they are kept more brief and a pacing that is at the same time a bit rushed and slowed down. But you can't really blame anyone, that's how manga works, translating Nakamura Asumiko's format is probably pretty tough.

The voice actors are once again doing an outstanding job, it was interesting to hear them do the dialogues in slightly different tones, pacing, implying different emotions (yes I remember what they sounded like for all the dialogues in the Drama CD by heart I'm fujoshi fangirl trash). It felt like they understood maybe their characters more. Kamiya Hiroshi is one of my all time weaknesses in the seiyuu world, he didn't disappoint. I guess it's funny how the Drama CD was made during the time none of the three main voice actors were big and yet now they are considered quite the formidable cast. It makes you realize how long it's been.

All in all this was great for my heart. It makes me want to re-read the series. I probably will. Ok I'll read it now bye

(Intro is spoilers sorry even then it doesn't take away enjoyment.)
Asking your teacher at an all boys school how two guys do it. Basically. Dating someone who's really popular and has good looks, Unlike you. Not talking about your future, and falling out. ⠀
⠀Where do I begin with Classmates?! (English title) Actually the plot isn't anything new, it's been dried out like a fruit. Even so if you put enough emotion and love into something it's bound to hit some heart stings!
The characters drove this movie till the end. If anything I'd like to say well done to Kamiya Hiroshi, for always putting in 100%. ... It's honestly a treat to hear his voice acting.⠀⠀⠀
⠀So the animation is fluid, or how I like to explain it. Not really detailed but the running and backgrounds all were pleasing to look at. Honestly I think this style is surprising for A-1, they usually have that more generic A-1 look if ya know what I mean. I'm pretty sure it's the first Shounen Ai they've produced too, correct me if I'm wrong it's usually Deen.⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀Overall I highly recommend it if you're a fan of sekai ichi hatsukoi or Junjou Romantica, it's got all the same drama and feels plus that comedy.

To be honest i never actually thought i would like this when my friend recommended this to me as I was never really into the yaoi and romance genre. But I was wrong.

The reason why I didn't like the yaoi genre was mostly because of those highly unrealistic story lines. I know I know, "this is anime just turn off your brain and enjoy the show!!!". But seriously, in anime like sekai ichi hatsukoi and jinjou romantica, they act like the whole fucking world is gay and focus only on the romantic scenes between the protagonists to satisfy the fangirls. It's just basically like changing ... the girl into a dude and BANG you get shounen ai.
However this show managed to not only portray love scenes that will bring a smile to your face but also the difficulties and and differences of loving someone of the same sex. This is still your typical love story but that little detail they actually put effort in is what made all the difference.

I seriously can"t rate is anime unbiasedly as it goes beyond my expectations of a shounen ai movie. But overall It's a decent movie that will leave a smile on your face and is definitely worth watching. Seriously it only takes you an hour, GO WATCH IT.

A very good movie to watch on a summer day. It's light, with a little bit of pain. The art is wonderful. I actually never read the manga of this movie, because I don't like to read things that make me sad, and I knew this story will most probably make me cry. But in the movie it was actually what added the deeper layer to it. It's a very simple movie, and watching it definitely made me think of "youth". Also a note that I believe is important: there are no homophobic slurs in this film. This film is about love between two people, ... two men, and it's completely acknowledged to be so. They also kiss. Several times. Honestly, this is probably one of the best BL movies I've ever watched.

This is my first review isn't going to be very in depth, and I am basing my review off of personal enjoyment which I probably shouldn't do since my own personal opinion is, well, personal to me, however I believe that if you aren't overly critical and enjoy a cute romance then u will enjoy Doukyuusei.

First of all, for a short, hour long film there is a lot going on between the relationship of the main characters, and it's just adorable. The way they became friends and eventually caught feelings for each other by practising their singing together for choir is really cute as well, ... and I'm repeating myself because I can't really say much other than it was cute. That's all you really need to know.

The art style was also extremely pleasing to the eye, which made it even more enjoyable to watch.

The only thing negative I can say is that the teacher really creeped me out, and I'm not sure if it was intentional.

That's all, goodbye :)

Very much enjoyed watching! A very light yet touching watch, a feel good movie for people who seek a little bit of youth romance. Just enough fluffy, chummy, lovey-dovey stuff to compliment the story.

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Story
The story of high-school romance that happens so suddenly. It all starts in the summer when the students have to perform a song in a choir. The musical prodigy takes a liking to the smartest kid in the class, and they start practicing together. The love grows, and then blooms at the end of the performance. The relationship continues as they struggle to finish their high-school year, with college/career options, university ... entrance exam preparations, and their own respective hobbies.

The settings are kept simple, and they perfectly fit the ups and downs of a relationship in such short amount of time without feeling rushed or forced. The pleasure of love, the misunderstandings, the light drama, and the resolve, was executed beautifully. The fluffy parts are just enough to keep you satisfied, and it is kept at PG-13 rating.

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Art
The art style is very unique and but it really helps with the delivery of the story. Rough-sketch like pictures and animation impeccably capture the essence of youth romance, carefree and delightful. The brightly tinted pictures are giving me this feeling of effervescence, as if taking me to float into the sky.

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Characters
The pair of MCs seem perfect for each other, despite being different, Sajou a quiet academic, who spends most of his time at cram school and worrying about college, while Kusakabe being a musician who spends more time with friends and practicing with his band.
How they handle each other is especially adorable. There's very little push-and-pull, instead both characters are shown to have equal amount of love for each other <3. The supporting characters help with the story by creating a pinch of drama and deeper understanding of the MCs' feelings of each other.
The casts are kept at minimum, which is a good choice knowing the movie only lasts for an hour and is already packed up (even I still want more of those!)

Just a note that this review is not entirely free of the lightest of manga spoilers.

Anime fans (myself included) are guilty of colloquially tacking the “fujoshi” label to anyone who enjoys consuming stories depicting romance between men. In some fundamental sense, it’s true, but with such broad usage we forget that the word translates to “rotten girl” and that the people it ought to describe are indeed rotten fetishists of relationships that too often are violent, exploitative, incestuous and/or non-consenting in which the fairer sex happens to be uninvolved.

Such a distressing (and rather unflinchingly vocal and parasitical) status quo makes it easy for something ... like Doukyuusei to fly under the radar as some garden variety...um...that.

What an egregious offense.

This franchise will absolutely ruin your mouth—my teeth rots from its sweetness and my jaw aches from smiling so damn much. The only offensive thing about it is the fact that such beautiful romance blossomed so realistically right in front of me that it feels that much more out of my reach.

Strangers Kusakabe and Sajou start to notice each other, each stained in the light pouring through their windows of their shared classroom. They sing to the tune of cicadas and new beginnings. The rest is history.

These boys do not steamroll their ways into each other’s arms—there’s no self immolation or collateral damage (beyond Harasen, more on that later) or ruination—Doukyuusei chooses to celebrate the stumble, the blushing moment when the internal chaos halts for a minute and everything remains unclear except the fact that you’re in love.

You’ve read the plot of Doukyuusei before: honor roll and rock n’ roll get tangled up in fate’s inept hands. The writing’s poetic enough to make the cliche work for them.

By “poetic enough” I refer to its mastery over awkwardness. It hits amazingly close to home when Kusakabe idly chats about a poem to put off getting to the point only to bulldoze straight to it soon after, when Sajou affirms in meek I-don’t-know’s in lieu of apologizing for running away, when Kusakabe has no issue spilling to his teacher that he’s tryna bone a guy but tomatoes at the notion of said guy being his first love.

This relationship really feels soulmate-y, and it’s not because there’s some arbitrary red string linking their pinkies. The movie totally rejects such an idea, joining the two characters by chunky yellow ribbon, one frequently cut and retied together, only unchanging in color. You root for the relationship with full confidence that they’ll get through it somehow because they so fervently work toward a middle ground it’s only natural that they would. As a regular consumer of shounen ai I can only lament where we went wrong such that cousin incest became less surprising than mere classmates, such that loving one of the same sex came from a place of dependence, addiction and indulgence rather than from the beautiful heart that beats in every frame of this movie.

All the praise I give Doukyuusei for being non-contentious is seemingly upturned by a certain stinkyhead who very much embodies the “forbidden love” aspect that’s so detestably endemic.

At the very least i can say that Harasen, a thirty something washed up music teacher harboring painfully pathetic feelings for our resident scholar is exactly that—pathetic. His affections are purely catalystic. He’s taken seriously by Kusakabe, not necessarily because he has a chance, rather, Kusakabe regards it as a threat because the feelings exist at all. For all of Harasen’s efforts at repression, for all the personal strife he feels at his own pedophilic tendencies, he ends up being a mere hill the doukyuuseis climb only to zoom down with more speed than they had before.

Even if he is such a nonentity though, his role has still done its damage in making gay relationships seem illicit or scandalous. In the manga, the teacher-student relations don’t even stop there: Harasen gets his proper ending and there’s a whole other couple walking the same halls, going through the same motions.

If I had to make a case for such relationships, though I hesitate a lot in doing so, I’d argue that rather than something, for lack of a better word, trashy, like Why the Hell Are You Here Teacher which fetishizes the age gap and indulges in its wrongness, this franchise opts for providing real meaning to the characters involved in the relationship being in different places in their lives, much like After the Rain. Such commentary is actually even more welcome considering this show is about gay relationships - the adults especially have to deal with reorganizing themselves around an identity that wasn’t so easily accepted by society in their heyday. That argument is weakened by the fact that the characters do really end up romantically involved, but at least in a narrative respect, it’s one I think worth entertaining. (That said, most of what I said here hardly has much to do with the anime movie at all. Whoops.)

On appearances, Doukyuusei is the prettiest BL animated thing I’ve ever watched. The conventional attractiveness of Yuri on Ice and the paradoxical vintage modernity of Banana Fish are still third and second to the light handed aquarelle I can stare into forever and feel sheer summer romance staring back at me.

It was a serious blessing to drink in the ethereal watercolor, the delicate stroke of the lines, the cutie lil character models that so animatedly bounce and wiggle and trip and slouch their way across my screen it makes me personally feel as though I’m missing out on youth (hardly moving as is and lugging myself as though my mass is a chore whenever I do; quarantine’s been tough on the lot of us.)

The OST isn’t anything too special to my untrained ears, but I really really enjoyed the way this show sounds — the voice acting is stellar for sure, ideally capturing the franticness, the playfulness, the awkwardness both possess in spades. No complaints felt passionately enough to mention.

There’s no real reason to avoid this movie. For good romance, for decent rep, and for a good freaking time, do give this one a shot.

For the record, I posted this review on my friend’s Instagram, and it was seen there first. I didn’t steal it, I wrote it. Check it out: instagram.com/neverdaijoubu.

This is the type of movie you watch when you want to put a smile on your face! It's very sweet and all around a very pleasant movie to watch! The animation looked great (when the characters would run on screen they did look slightly wonky but that's fine) and the backgrounds were all very nicely done. The characters I really enjoyed. Also if you already watched the movie.. did you think it was weird how that teacher guy kissed the student and then nothing ever happened after that?? I thought that was kind of odd! I mean the teacher never got in trouble and ... the rest of the time the movie acted like it never happened..

Man this is like, my favorite movie ever. It is not the best anime movie I've watched but, it was beautiful and decent for an yaoi.
The OST just made cry so much, so pretty...
I love the couple and how they really care about each other, Kusakabe is so sweet and caring for Sajou, and a very interesting character. He had many girlfriends before but Sajou was his real first love, like, woah! So cute.
There isn't rape or lemon scenes and thats very good and kinda rare in this gender.
The art isn't perfect or detailed, but it's so simple and pretty, it suits perfectly the movie.
I ... just cry every time I watch it.(but that's probably just because I'm a fujoshi)
I love it 10/10

Felt like I had to write a review because I really enjoyed this. It deleted. So this is going to be a little concise. (Note: I haven’t read the Doukyuusei manga.)

Story: 8 for Very Good

The issues brought up in this were typical for teenagers. What stood out were the characters' responses. The emotions and reactions made sense. The progression was logical.
The script especially shines in this one. One memorable instance that I liked was:
Hikaru: “Was I cool?”
Rihito: “I dunno.”
This just seemed like something teenagers would say, not long speeches from John Green novels. So the story and the progression of the plot made sense to ... me, seeing as they were inexperienced teenagers and this is how everything fell into place.
The poem thing was cheesy, but there weren’t cherry blossoms in this, so that makes up for it.

Art: 9 for Great

I liked the range of settings and how they were illustrated.
Sometimes when I watch BL, I wonder, “Why do these characters find each other attractive?” But it was easy to see why Rihito liked Hikaru and vice versa. Points to the artists for being able to bring out the beauty in both characters.
But I did think that Hikaru’s appeal could’ve been more understandable in the concert scene.
I especially appreciated the transitions between settings. I thought they were artfully done.

Sound: 8 for Very Good
At one point while Hikaru and Rihito were running, it sounded especially manufactured.
But I liked the music. The sound was at a good level. It wasn’t too overbearing and the music didn’t get to be too much at times.
Not sure if voice actors go into this category, but except for one instance where I felt like Hikaru could’ve sounded a little more intense, the voice acting was good.

Character: 7 for Good

I found it strange that Hikaru chose to ask the teacher for advice. (But the teacher’s interactions with Rihito were actually surprising to me, so that was a plus in the Story category.)
I don’t know if I found a strong sense of character from the beginning, but I did like that the character development was evident throughout their relationship. Hikaru realized where he’d gone wrong, and Rihito sorted out his priorities.
I especially liked Hikaru’s friend - his prying seemed justified to me. He just seemed like one of those teenagers that didn’t really care about too much because he just cared about his friend.
Hikaru and Rihito were never suave Casanovas. They seemed a lot like teenagers in the ways that they interacted with each other and the way that they seemed flustered. Hikaru’s attitude about exams was especially reminiscent of a teenager’s - the whole “it works out how it works out” thing.

Enjoyment: 10 for Outstanding
I did enjoy this! I got into the characters and story. Rihito, especially, was a character I could relate to, in the anxiety that he had about his exams and the “ribbon.” There wasn’t anything in this that took me out. I think that the soda metaphor is weird in concept, but watching it play out in the movie, I loved it.

Overall: 9 for Great
This is the art that animated movies can bring out. I loved Doukyuusei and I’ve already recommended it. A solid piece of work all around. I would watch this again, and now I’m interested in reading the manga. Just a really beautiful story. A first love story that's way more realistic than Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi.

I was... not expecting this at all. Having seen some yaoi before, I've rarely come across any that's realistic or relevant. Most of the time, it's a little strange, makes no sense, and is more than a little heteronormative and it makes me a little annoyed. In this case, I think that they managed to portray it in such a beautiful way that even if you're not a fan of the yaoi genre, you'll be able to enjoy this as an amazing romance on its own.

To begin with, the story is split into multiple pieces as seasons. It's very poetic and has a slow, ... realistic pace. There isn't as much sexual assault as yaois usually have, which is a relief. Other than that, it's also very sweet and builds up naturally. Not for a moment did I feel this was undoable in any way. The whole time, I actually felt like the characters had chemistry as well. The problems they faced together were very true to life.

I've seen some people complain about the art, and when I first saw it, I had a similar opinion, but watching the whole thing, I've been charmed by it. It's a strange style for sure that I've never really seen before, but at the same time, it's very fluid and soft, much like the story itself. I think it really matches the flow of the story.

Most of the time, I'm not really impressed by the music, but the background music and the closing song are both gorgeous. I could just listen to the plain instrumentals all day long. This was so calming to listen to.

Gosh, the characters were masterpieces. They weren't heteronormative sexual assaulters and the plot wasn't spent mostly on the seme-uke dynamic and claiming that they definitely weren't gay. There was acceptance, there was romance, there was conflict, there was chemistry. What more can we ask for?

I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. It's a perfect movie to watch with a significant other or even alone on a rainy day. It's adorable, it made me squeal and smile and also nearly cry. But I'm a little bit of a crybaby so I don't know if the crying will apply to everyone. :)

I would recommend this if you: like romance movies, dislike heteronormativity, dislike the classic yaoi tropes, want to watch something short on a rainy afternoon, want a cute date movie, want to smile like an idiot for an hour

I would NOT recommend this if you: like classic yaoi tropes, are expecting smutty stuff, like the seme-uke structure, don't like romances

Have a great day everyone!

Doukyuusei, simple yet elegant

The story didn't have the characters figure out there feelings for each other but just had them together in the most beautiful and simplistic way possible.

In the most of the bl I have seen this has to be the by far the most elegant storyline I have ever seen. The story is really easy flowing and super adorable to watch. Most of the scenes in this movie will leave you with a big smile on your face.
There is just one bad thing though, the movie was too small and wished it was a lil longer. I really loved the simple romantic ... plot and most of all the relationship between the main characters.

Animation (10/10): The animation is a nice change of pace from your usual anime styles. The art style is fantastic, A-1 pictures definitely did a good job.

Overall definitely worth a rewatch or more.

IT’S CUTE! It’s really cute.

Doukyuusei delivers a quaint story told in several sections, each developing the central relationship. While the story is simplistic, the characters are carved out in a way that highlights the charming animation style while engaging the viewer. I was afraid that it would feel equally rushed as the manga, but the writers diminished parts of the source material that I didn’t like and brought everything that I enjoyed about the original story to life. The music blends with the emotions of the characters using soft guitar, and the animation is gorgeous. The story doesn’t try to be more than anything ... it is, but the characters stand out enough in humor and struggle to entertain. The length of the movie was surprisingly satisfying—the writers didn’t draw out the plot to an excessive length and instead focused on the details of the animation and story itself.

The movie was so simple that it will blow your mind while watching it..

It was the simplicity of the movie that will make you finish the movie.. though the ending was (no spoiler) so so so ughhhh... so ughh that you will want the continuation of it. To all my co-shounen-ai and yaoi lovers, I hope you will understand what I feel.

Another thing is that the art or the graphics of the anime was simple yet enchanting. enchanting in a way that it so simple that you it to be a live action. Their gestures and contact with each other makes you want them to ... go beyond on what their doing (if you know what I mean)

Rihito is smart but so adorable when he's experiencing things he doesn't know, on the other hand Hikaru is a simple-minded guy but sweet in his own way.. they are so opposite with each other making them so perfect together..

that's all I can say so you should go and watch it for yourself and tell me what can you say about it.

This anime is really an easy for originalest watch shounen ai and talking about first love between guys and I really like it.

Very funny anime and have a normal limit of romance here.

Hope they will be toghter and they are will found that they are falled inlove for real.

Hope for "to be continue" to see them more some years still love each other but with more interesting story, I mean to not just love each other but there, in the other scene with wedding or they are didn't see each other for really many years, to be more emotion there on your face when you ... watching shounen ai.

Thank you for the anime. :D

The build up of the story is quite simple, but is done in a clever way. The plot is compelling and sweet, and it doesn't drag on for longer than it has to.

Doukyuusei is one of my personal faves, but it's not perfect depicting it's lgbtq+ themes. Yes, it's far better than many other anime's at it but it still fails to treat queer relationships as normal. The relationship between the two leads feel very stiff sometimes, and the development in their relationship is mostly physical (even at the end it doesn't feel like the characters really know each other, despite having dated for quite ... some time). It's a great movie and a big step for lgbtq+ anime but it's still far from perfect

A reliable litmus test for boys love anime is to ask myself whether I'd care about the story if the characters were not gay. Is homosexuality being used as an erotic ploy or does the narrative explore broader themes that apply to relationships of all varieties while offering meaningful commentary on the social stigma faced by the gay community

I'm happy to say that Doukyuusei passes that test with full marks. Rather than stressing the sexual orientation of the characters, what is proudly emphasized is the fact that love knows no specific orientation, and it does not matter who we choose to confide in so long ... as they can grant us feelings of self actualization and acceptance in who we are. Doukyuusei is not only a gay love story. It's an exceptionally written love story.

As tends to be the case in love stories, the lead characters are as opposite as can be. Sajou has neatly trimmed, short black hair, is introverted and studious. Kusakabe has curly blonde hair, is extroverted and lacks direction in his life. It is together that they manage to fill the gaps in their personalities and inevitably conquer the pitfalls that so often doom young relationships, number one of all being lack of communication. The narrative is split into four separate arcs with each taking place in a specific season. In each of these seasons the viewer can the viewer observe a change in the dynamic of Kusakabe and Sajou's relationship, and a broader theme being applied to their development - such as not being afraid of failure, acceptance of oneself and not giving up when a string of fate is cut temporarily.

The visuals are consistently impressive - Shoujo Nakamura uses a lurid mix of warm watercolors and atmospheric backgrounds that emphasize the season taking place. This makes the aesthetic appear almost dream-like, creating a feeling of relaxation and making it easy for the viewer to sink into their couch for fifty minutes and watch the drama unfold itself. The character designs are somewhat typical of BL stories - long limbs seemingly trying to run away from their torso, beautiful facial features and large hands, but nonetheless befitting of the characters and appealing to look at.

Doukyuusei came very close to being a 10/10 on my list, and only two negatives in a sea of positives managed to bring it down to a 9. I felt that Kusakabe's initial aggression towards Sajou was bordering on sexual harassment. If it were a heterosexual pairing with the male asserting his dominance over the female, my inner raging feminist would be taking the same issue. Lastly, I found myself wanting to know more about our lead characters backgrounds. Their family history, what contributed to their personalities and interests.

This is a romance that deserves a larger audience than it has, but probably never will gain because of the divisive yaoi tag that prematurely splits audiences upon first glance. Yet as expressed above and in many other reviews on this page, Doukyuusei goes beyond the initial hook of a homosexual romance and speaks to broader themes of communication, self acceptance and empowering your better half that anyone can sympathize with and apply to their own lives.

Doukyuusei (同級生) is what every shounen ai (or yaoi) story should aspire to be. The story is brought to life by the incredible voice acting, soft and bright art style, and relatable themes shown in the story.

Story: The story was great, and while it was cheesy and rather simple, I feel like that was the point. The more complex the story is, the harder it is to relate to the story, and I think the point here was to show how a typical high school relationship between boys in Japan may go. It is easy to relate to, but it isn't so plain that there's ... no character development. The ending was sweet, though it didn't wrap everything up, as there has to be room for sequels (which exist through the Manga, and hopefully through future movies, if A-1 decides to pursue the sequels).

Art: The style is nice, soft and vibrant. The backgrounds had much more detail put into them than the characters in the background, whom are noticeably undetailed, but I believe that enhances the theme of the story. The only characters who have detail put into them are Kusakabe, Sajou, and Hara-sen; even Kusakabe's friends, whom seem to get even more showtime than Hara-sen, aren't detailed. The reason behind this is likely due to a focus on the relationship between the two main characters, in that this story focuses solely on them. For some reason, Hara-sen is a detailed character, yet he plays a relatively small part in the film (this may have something to do with the sequels). Other than that, the animation is mostly fluid and the style is easy to watch. It isn't on-par with some of the masterpieces of animation that are out there, but it is definitely good for a modern anime film, and the focus is mostly on its other aspects anyways.

Sound: The sound was nice and pleasant, but nothing popped out at me. Every tune seemed to be background music (aside from the credits and Moyuru Wakaba, sung by the choir). However, it was pleasant background music, and its ease in ability to sit in the back of the movie and play without my noticing does a good job complimenting the film in that we can keep our focus on the story while the music does its work backstage.

Character: Kusakabe has the most character development and screen time, and deservedly so. He is more outspoken, with many different character traits that make him an interesting character. Unfortunately, we don't see much character development from Sajou, but this can be attributed to his timid and reserved nature. Unlike Kusakabe, it seems that he spends most of his time on his studies, like a typical Japanese student. There is a bunch of character underneath, but on the outside, he is quite plain, which can explain why he did not get as much development. I am hoping that the sequels will draw him out of his shell more and show more character, perhaps post-graduation when he is finished with his studies. Hara-sen, as mentioned earlier, was the third most detailed character in the series, but he didn't get much attention at all. I would have also liked to see more about Kusakabe and his band; however, the movie is about an hour long, and that's a very small amount of time for an animated movie to flesh out their characters. Even so, they do so very well, while leaving us more to crave from potential sequels.

Enjoyment: I have a lot to relate to here, so personally, I enjoyed watching it a lot. I've gone as far as to order Aniplex's overpriced collector's edition of the movie just because I want to support it and the potential for its sequels. It's such a beautiful movie, and it's compacted into an hour for easy viewing, so I can easily see myself showing it to everyone and watching it several more times in the future for details that I may have missed.

Overall: It was a great movie, with great character development, great art, great everything. It left some to be desired, but I feel like these things are nitpicks, which can potentially be solved through sequels.

Here's a basic list of Pro's and Con's to sum up my review:

Pros - Great art and animation, one of the very few yaoi stories that isn't entirely based around sex, and genuine romance themes that can melt any (non-homophobic) heart.

Neutral - Short film (while being short has its advantages, it leaves a lot out that could have fleshed out character development further), Collector's edition is like $90 and that's pretty much the only way you can legally purchase the movie outside of Japan (you can thank Aniplex, however this doesn't subtract from the content itself, it's just a little aside, so it's in Neutral)

Cons - Leaves some to be desired (sequels?), can be seen as generic and cheesy (even if that's the point), forgettable (but still solid) soundtrack.