Overdramatic and strangely shallow despite its weighty themes. Set in Meiji Japan, we follow the bad relationship between two brothers as it ropes in a third party -- a young duke who specializes in teaching ballroom dance. Things end tragically, though a love story does emerge and survive. Youka Nitta makes some very odd choices about when to summarize and when to introduce time jumps, resulting in a lurching, melodramatic ride with lots of deadspace where characters don't develop, change, or learn anything new, and the last scene ties up the whole mess in a deeply silly play for people's love of "until death do us part." Shoots for "Farewell My Concubine," with lots of nods towards real history and upheaval, but ends up achieving none of the gravitas. Still, an extra star for Youka Nitta's art, which is always pleasing to look at.
Butoukai No Techou