Puberty is a time of physical changes that range from the wondrous to the excruciating, but once accomplished are soon forgotten. The beard that greets you in the mirror, which once seemed miraculous and strange, is now just one more morning chore.
As Daigo Matsui's seishun (adolescence) drama "Sweet Poolside" reminds us, the emotional upheavals that accompany those changes can cut deep and linger long, especially when you stand out from your peers.
The hero, baby-faced Toshihiko Ota (Kenta Suga), suffers agonies of locker-room embarrassment over his lack of pubic hair. Meanwhile, a girl on his high school swim team, Ayako Goto (Yuiko Kariya), is teased for being freakishly hirsute (though, thankfully, her angelic face is smooth).