"Old" JBL Rec List
The only ones on this list I'd rec without caveats are the first four. Ossan's Love is so funny and also sometimes hard to watch because of how much the main character sucks; this is addressed somewhat in the sequel film so I've put both here (the second season is an unrelated AU and can be completely ignored if you don't want to see characters fall for other people (because one of the mains is not in it) but I love it a LOT, but if you like these then HIGHLY recommend the new third season). Athlete is sad queer cinema hours, To Each His Own is a bromance? also TW for suicide being a big theme (it's a beautiful and heartwarming film with a happy ending though); I go back and forth on how I feel about Udagawachou but I think people should watch it once; Junjou hovers on the edge of 'just ok' but I have a fondness for it so I've included it lol and First Love has weird tonal shifts, but is also very queer.
Anything not on this list is something I'd consider either just ok, or seriously flawed. A next step from here would be the rest of Saito Yasuka's works lol but early JBL like Bokura no Ai no Kanode which gets suddenly dark, or Does the Flower Bloom which is just middling, I left off this list. And of course since I made this for specific people who are familiar with What Did You Eat Yesterday, The Novelist & related works, plus everything 2020 and later, those are not on this list.
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1. Ai no Kotodama
Japanese Movie - 2007
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2. No Touching At All
Japanese Movie - 2014
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3. Seven Days: Monday - Thursday
Japanese Movie - 2015
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4. Seven Days: Friday - Sunday
Japanese Movie - 2015
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5. Ossan's Love
Japanese Drama - 2018, 7 episodes
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6. Ossan’s Love: LOVE or DEAD
Japanese Movie - 2019
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7. Athlete
Japanese Movie - 2019
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8. To Each His Own
Japanese Movie - 2017
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9. Udagawachou de Matteteyo
Japanese Movie - 2015
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10. Junjou
Japanese Movie - 2010
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11. First Love
Japanese Movie - 2007