Does The Flower Bloom?
'Does The Flower Bloom?' is the first Japanese BL drama I've seen in a while. It's great to get back to the the basics of BL sometimes and see something that's classically BL, which this drama is. Based loosely on a graphic novel, it reminded me of the Takumi-kun series more than other more modern Japanese takes on BL such as Seven Days - which isn't a bad thing by any means, but it's noticeably not as good as it probably could have been.
Summary: Despite being born into the wealthy land-owning family of a famous artist, nineteen-year-old university student and aspiring artist Youichi Minagawa has had a tough life. His parents died in an accident when he was much younger, and it's left him with painful trauma that he is unable to move beyond. He lives at his family's beautiful, traditional Japanese-style home in Tokyo - of which he is now the owner - with two cousins and a guardian who do their best to take care of him. It's an upbringing that's left him emotionally stunted and too sheltered, and his social interactions are a confronting combination of rude and blunt but also passive and detached. (One of his cousins humorously calls Youichi's detachment "making deaf ears".) When an older man Sakurai-san sees one of Youichi's paintings with an insightful, sympathetic eye, he immediately captivates Youichi and opens his mind to the possibilities of life and love. And himself.
This series can be strangely unsettling at times. A lot of it has to do with its off-putting tone of teenage morbidity, which permeates the screenplay at every turn. It's neatly encapsulated in the metaphor of flower seeds that belonged to Youichi's mother and which have been locked away in a drawer for so long that they are no longer be able to germinate. Morbidity is common enough in Japanese BL to be usually nothing more than a minor annoyance, depending on how you view it. But the more obvious reason for the strangeness is the sullen performance of Tsurugi Watanabe, who plays Youichi as so impervious to natural expressions of emotion, it borders on being a pathology. When he suddenly develops an obsessive interest in Sakurai-san, it comes across as the reaction of someone with father issues, rather than as a genuine interest or a fond attachment. The portrayal of their growing mutual affection aims to present it as a sort of dewy-eyed, wistful yearning and a meeting of minds, but Youichi is so obviously damaged by his past that it becomes difficult to see his 'love' as anything other than as a by-product of his trauma. As a consequence, credibility becomes a very big issue with the screenplay, despite its impressive originality, and it makes sympathy and identification with the lead characters tough to come by. It doesn't help that there's very little chemistry between the leads either.
The rest of the story has some moments of interest. Sakurai-san's own backstory of overwork and a scant social life devoid of meaning holds up well, especially when he is suddenly slated for promotion to Osaka. I liked seeing Youchi's cousins voice their affectionate concerns to Sakurai-san, as he becomes an increasingly regular visitor to their home for reasons that are becoming plainer. They openly express their understanding of Youichi's burgeoning homosexuality, which is all too rare in BL - although it also lent the series an odd feeling of being in its own BL fantasy bubble, and not in the real world. There's an unfortunate, poorly realised BL sub-plot involving Youichi's lovestruck university friend Fujimoto, whose story is probably meant to be puppy-dog cute and touching, but it ends up being annoying as he repeatedly imposes himself on an impassive Youichi.
Released in 2018, 'Does The Flower Bloom?' runs to about 90 minutes in total, with a lot going on to fill the time. It still manages a reflective pace though, which is probably the series' best asset. That, and its unassuming but eye-catching cinematography.
Rating: Worth a look. 11/20
Ending: Happy
Best scene: The cake scene is a fine example of social ineptitude and anxiety in the face of the obligations of Japanese etiquette. Oblivious Fujimoto is prattling on and on, in front of the whole family, about eating some cakes Sakurai-san has brought to Youichi as a gift. It's a coarse, immature display of his supposed closeness to Youichi that fools no-one. Whereas it's painfully clear that the only thing Youichi is paying attention to is Sakurai-san, who is about to leave the room in awkward discomfort.
Summary: Despite being born into the wealthy land-owning family of a famous artist, nineteen-year-old university student and aspiring artist Youichi Minagawa has had a tough life. His parents died in an accident when he was much younger, and it's left him with painful trauma that he is unable to move beyond. He lives at his family's beautiful, traditional Japanese-style home in Tokyo - of which he is now the owner - with two cousins and a guardian who do their best to take care of him. It's an upbringing that's left him emotionally stunted and too sheltered, and his social interactions are a confronting combination of rude and blunt but also passive and detached. (One of his cousins humorously calls Youichi's detachment "making deaf ears".) When an older man Sakurai-san sees one of Youichi's paintings with an insightful, sympathetic eye, he immediately captivates Youichi and opens his mind to the possibilities of life and love. And himself.
This series can be strangely unsettling at times. A lot of it has to do with its off-putting tone of teenage morbidity, which permeates the screenplay at every turn. It's neatly encapsulated in the metaphor of flower seeds that belonged to Youichi's mother and which have been locked away in a drawer for so long that they are no longer be able to germinate. Morbidity is common enough in Japanese BL to be usually nothing more than a minor annoyance, depending on how you view it. But the more obvious reason for the strangeness is the sullen performance of Tsurugi Watanabe, who plays Youichi as so impervious to natural expressions of emotion, it borders on being a pathology. When he suddenly develops an obsessive interest in Sakurai-san, it comes across as the reaction of someone with father issues, rather than as a genuine interest or a fond attachment. The portrayal of their growing mutual affection aims to present it as a sort of dewy-eyed, wistful yearning and a meeting of minds, but Youichi is so obviously damaged by his past that it becomes difficult to see his 'love' as anything other than as a by-product of his trauma. As a consequence, credibility becomes a very big issue with the screenplay, despite its impressive originality, and it makes sympathy and identification with the lead characters tough to come by. It doesn't help that there's very little chemistry between the leads either.
The rest of the story has some moments of interest. Sakurai-san's own backstory of overwork and a scant social life devoid of meaning holds up well, especially when he is suddenly slated for promotion to Osaka. I liked seeing Youchi's cousins voice their affectionate concerns to Sakurai-san, as he becomes an increasingly regular visitor to their home for reasons that are becoming plainer. They openly express their understanding of Youichi's burgeoning homosexuality, which is all too rare in BL - although it also lent the series an odd feeling of being in its own BL fantasy bubble, and not in the real world. There's an unfortunate, poorly realised BL sub-plot involving Youichi's lovestruck university friend Fujimoto, whose story is probably meant to be puppy-dog cute and touching, but it ends up being annoying as he repeatedly imposes himself on an impassive Youichi.
Released in 2018, 'Does The Flower Bloom?' runs to about 90 minutes in total, with a lot going on to fill the time. It still manages a reflective pace though, which is probably the series' best asset. That, and its unassuming but eye-catching cinematography.
Rating: Worth a look. 11/20
Ending: Happy
Best scene: The cake scene is a fine example of social ineptitude and anxiety in the face of the obligations of Japanese etiquette. Oblivious Fujimoto is prattling on and on, in front of the whole family, about eating some cakes Sakurai-san has brought to Youichi as a gift. It's a coarse, immature display of his supposed closeness to Youichi that fools no-one. Whereas it's painfully clear that the only thing Youichi is paying attention to is Sakurai-san, who is about to leave the room in awkward discomfort.
Comments
I found this series on Gcinee, but it looks like it's been taken down since then. This has happened to Gcinee with a few Japanese BL dramas recently, I'm not sure why.