Homoerotic (Slash) themes in Asian films

doesn't the slash just come from fred/barney (imagining some kind of flintstones thing here for an example) ?



just as an aside, i think the strongest peice of homoeroticism i can recall is that in 'spartacus' with kirk douglas and tony curtis...

the uncutt version does containa a scene between laurence olivier and tony curtis which is fairl unsubtle in what it refers too (apologies if you've not seen it).

This thread is giving me so much to watch now LOL I'm gonna do some screen caps at my mate's house of the slashy bit in Versus and the slashy lines in Ichi the killer. *for my website, I'm not just a sad fangirl*

I noticed on a Miike interview (DOA dvd pal version) he is questioned about the amount of homoerotic themes in his movies-- to be honest I didn't really notice until I watched Ichi lol.

Of course! While i'm at it does anyone want grabs from the following:

Ichi The killer
Battle Royale
Versus

is there any homoeroticism in BR ?


*thinks*

I think that depends on how much you wish the characters were together--LOL I mean for a yaoi fic writer like myself having two male characters in the same room as each other is enough to write a fic on.

I think you could interpret some of the characters relationships as slashy, but there are no overt moments that come to mind.

I tend to work on realistic pairings when I do BR slash anyway-- such as;

ShuyaxNobu (I honestly hoped Nobu would say he had a crush on Shuya in that flashback-- but no *pout*)

MimuraxSetoxLijima based on Mimura's reaction when Lijima dies

KiriyamaxKawada; there's no reason for that, they just look cute together and I'm a die-hard Ando fan.

MimuraxSugimura; ditto

how about BR2? does anyone know of any slashy bits in that? Or possible pairings so I can get writing in advance? :lol:

Did I miss that bit of the movie or are we talking Manga now? *had to look on BRonline to even remember who Tsukioka was!* Plus, you know me-- if we're talking movie, I only usually slash the best looking characters.

*hopes no one's noticed her strange obsession with slashing Motobuchi*

Oh yeah I forgot my friend Alice did SasagawaxKuronaga-- unusual, but pretty good imho.

As for Yuri-- well I'm giving Het a try; ChigusaxSugimura so you never know what the future will bring. Fic requests are welcome ^_^ *needs inspiration*

There is no homoerotic themese in BR, but I do appreciate your honesty. If you WANT there to be gay themes, all you need is 2 guys in a room.

Just please leave Beat Takeshi out of them...

heey ! down girl


obviously there are sexual overtones in BR - some of the characters' motivations are drawn for this, but i've never seen any in the film itself. sure, some of the direction is intentionally sexual/sexy in nature (the scene in the 'making of' that has fukasaku saying that eri ishikawa's performance in the lighthouse/bed bit isn't sexy enough (rough translation aside).

i'm racking my brains trying to contradict myself here...

(i started watching BR last night wit this in mind, but i'd been out and was a bit piddly so i retired to bed)


...but i thought part of the charm of BR (IMHO) was the contrast between the innocence of the characters and the violence of their fate.


btw - nakiko...i'm not knocking your slashfiction !!!!

Righto, replies;

Yes I will do some caps of Taro *drools some* The grabs will all be done sometime next week and mailed to the appropriate people.

Ewh! I would NEVER EVER include Beat Takeshi-- love him as I do that's a lil bit too creepy for me.

And yeah, I agree Asagai, the contrast is one of BRs strongest themes. I know ya weren't knockin my fics, afterall yaoi isn't to everyone's taste and I understand totally. As long as the C&C is constructive it's a good thing ^_^

*wanders off to write some Jrock fics instead*

Erm, this is my first post and I kinda guessed this might be a good place to start.

On the slashiness of Moonchild - of *course* its slashy. This is Gackt we're talking about. Even the bloody screentest is slashy (Hyde lying on a bed having a 'bad' dream, Gackt peering round the door looking as if hes naked....not so, but...it...really seemed that way)

But I took some screenshots from the first 30 minutes or so of the movie, just so you can see for yourselves ^^

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v34/chibi_shin/moonchild/moonchild04.jpg
Hyde's 'bad dream' face....yes. Dreaming about his old buddy whos name I've forgotton.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v34/chibi_shin/moonchild/moonchild09.jpg
Fag break in the middle of a gunfight...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v34/chibi_shin/moonchild/moonchild13.jpg
Hyde made Gackt cry. What on earth could make him feel better?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v34/chibi_shin/moonchild/moonchild15.jpg
......oh yes. Hyde's magical crotch of healing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v34/chibi_shin/moonchild/moonchild14.jpg
This scene makes the gakuhai fangirlies squee with joy.

There are so many more, but I don't want to flood the whole post with screenies
(but, for those of you looking for Taro pics...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v34/chibi_shin/moonchild/moonchild03.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v34/chibi_shin/moonchild/moonchild06.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v34/chibi_shin/moonchild/moonchild01.jpg )

On the slashiness of Versus - No. There was no reason. At all. The only possibly explaination I could see was that they knew I'd be watching that movie adnd they knew I'd be reaching to point of just turning it off out of sheer boredom/frustration so they threw in a 'special relationship' scene to keep me watching until the end just incase the script found out it could actually develop its characters. Turns out no, it didn't and the slashiness was never mentioned again.

On the slashiness of Battle Royale - In the movie, not so much. MimuraXIijima, but thats about it. In the book....oh lordy. One boy in the class fully admits hes gay and that Mimura is 'so his type'. Then you have poor, frustrated Mimura who can't ever imagine loving a girl or spending his life with one, but...wait...whats that? A tiny bug? Oh my! Must protect Yutaka! Must protect Yutaka! It really doesn't take that much reading into it to realise that, yes, Mimura and Yutaka have another one of those 'special relationships'. Then you have Nanahara mentioning Mimura in every other sentence. He may not exactly fancy the knickers off him, but theres a great respect there that slash fans can and will read into. And the Kiriyama Family make the fangirl in me weep.

And the Battle Royale Mimura x Iijima doujinshi that I got from ebay says that I'm not alone in seeing the slashy potential ^_~

I'd also talk about Blue Spring, but if I do I'll want to watch it again and its getting a bit late ^^; Ping Pong too. Overtones a plenty. Those Japanese schoolboys and their 'special relationships'.....

Thanks Iijima ---- I totally agree with you regarding Moonchild --- it's possibly one of the most overtly slashy films I've seen all year (*of course owns the super expensive box set*) It knew it's market and aimed solely for them with regards to homoerotic overtones between both Gackt and Hyde and Taro Yamamoto who attacked Gackt regularly during the out-takes.

If you're looking for any kind of plot tho Mandi --- it's kind of non-existent. I'd recommend buying the USA version if you can --- it's alot cheaper.

*dies over The Libertines pic*

I haven't managed to read the BR novel yet, but vol.7 (I think it was) of the manga was blatant MimuraxYukata --- I was surprised the writer/artist managed to stretch a couple of death scenes out for a whole book, but it definatly gave more than a few hints that they too had a 'special relationship.'

And as for Ping Pong --- it was slashy enough for me to make SmilexPeco icons. apart from being a v.enjoyable and visually gorgeous film --- the close relationship of those two characters and the overt tension between them and Sam Lee's character made the film for me.

Oh and I forgot to mention --- a new community has just opened up on www.livejournal.com --- username: cinemasia_slash ---- there are some good reviews/pics etc there.

Definitely agree with Ping Pong and Blue Spring slashiness - especially with Matsuda Ryuhei as the star of both BS and Gohatto.

I have to agree with Nakiko's original post about there being more homoerotic subtexts (or texts even) in Asian film - or, at least, more "normalized" homoeroticism. I think Westerners are still too freaked by homosexuality for it to become as relatively accepted as in Japan and, I guess, the rest of Asia.

A good example was my 16 year old cousin's reaction to the fairly innocuous Waterboys. She though it was hysterical but hated the little gay boy. And I can't imagine what her brother's reaction would have been - probably utter disgust.

Unfortunately this is still an incredibly homophobic society, at least here in the US.

homoeroticism in films has always been a topic of discussion, not just in asian cinema (top gun gets a lot of elbow-nudging action). but i guess it seems more rampant in asian films 'cause the friendships seem more "intimate". plus they're all soo damn pretty and, well, gentler-looking.