Rom-coms are by definition movies about comical miscues in the game of love, usually ending with the protagonist winning through to happiness, even if their first object of affection escaped them.

In her debut feature, “Kisspeptin Chronicles,” Shiika Okada doesn’t completely toss out this formula — she finds humor in her central character’s disastrous love life — but she also shows the darker side of bad romantic decisions and their devastating results, as well as the lasting pain that comes from experiencing sexual harassment.

Co-scripted by Okada with her elder brother, Kazune, who is also a director, the film has an autobiographical feel — watching it, I was reminded of the confessional music of Taylor Swift. However, whether or not the story has a basis in the Okada siblings’ own lives, it has the ring of lived truth, directed with a quirky originality.