"Boys’ love," a genre label applied to manga, anime and films about romance between good-looking guys, is popular in Japan, though it doesn't get much critical respect.
Once considered niche territory, boys’ love narratives have moved into the mainstream, as evidenced by “The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window,” a horror-mystery distributed by Shochiku and based on the work of manga artist Tomoko Yamashita.
The studio of Yasujiro Ozu and Yoji Yamada, Shochiku makes films for the masses, not core boys’ love fans, who may be disappointed by the film’s relative tameness: The two protagonists — the tall, commanding Rihito Hiyakawa (Masaki Okada) and the willowy, sensitive Kosuke Mikado (Jun Shison) — fit the template, but their relationship never moves past the suggestive stage. Those expecting passionate embraces had better look elsewhere.
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