If you believe everything you read in the news, Japanese romance movies should really belong in the science fiction category. Just last week, a new study estimated that a quarter of people aged 18 to 39 in Japan had never had heterosexual intercourse, feeding the popular stereotype of a listless generation, allergic to sex and relationships.
Yet not enough films seem willing to acknowledge how frustrating modern love can be.
Contrary to the tropes of seishun eiga (coming-of-age films), most people in Japan aren't getting pinned against walls by their admirers — a lot of them aren't getting any, period.