I'm really surprised no one has done a review of this film. I loved it except for the ending. But this actually falls into a genre with a long tradition in poetry and literature - the age old tale of "courtly love" - you can trace it back to Genji or mediaeval Europe - courting the loved one and sacrificing everything for him (or her in the European tradition). Gay lovers were not subject to the same discrimination in the Chinese and Japanese  (until Meiji) traditions (see e.g. Ihara Saikaku's The Great Mirror of Male Love). Plus there has to be a villain - and that music teacher brought something coldly sinister to it (ugh!). The music of Debussy was a bonus. A gem of a movie - but I was hoping he'd match the love shown him and return at last. Life's not like that, is it? Pity. A beautiful movie. What happened to Tsuyoshi Hataya?