Nagisa no Shindobaddo (1995)

Cast: Kumi Takada, Yoshinori Okada, Kouji Yamaguchi, Ryosuke Hashiguchi, Shizuka Isami

Rating: NR

Running Time: 129 min.

Synopsis: Ryosuke Hashiguchi follows up on his critically acclaimed debut Hatachi No Binetsu -- a film about gay hustlers -- with this emotionally honest film about growing up. Shuji Ito (Yoshinori Okada) is a gay high school senior in love with his best friend, the naïve and straight-laced Hiroyuki Yoshida (Kouta Kusano). Yet Ito is too afraid of messing up his friendship with Yoshida and destroying his persona as a "normal" high school student to tell him. Meanwhile, Yoshida as fallen for the new transfer student Kasane Aihara (Ayumi Hamazaki), who harbors her own dark secret -- a brutal rape has left her unable to respond to anything sexual. Her classmates' usual schoolgirl politics bore her and she bluntly tells them so. At the same time, shy Ayako Shimizu (Kumi Takada) has fallen for Yoshida while Aihara finds herself strangely drawn to Ito. She senses his secret, which, however much he tries to maintain his facade, sets him apart.