Twilight Out of Focus is an anime at the center of conversations around Crunchyroll’s recent decision to remove all user-generated content, including comments and written reviews, from its platform. As theorized by some careful watchers on Twitter, the decision to remove comments came after the show was review-bombed with a slew of 1-star reviews and negative comments from thousands of accounts, creating a similar situation as the one last season’s Welcome Home found itself in. These reviews were largely homophobic in nature, complaining about a supposed wave of LGBT-friendly content taking over the site and generally hurling accusations of being woke or something silly in that vein.
Intriguingly enough though…it’s good. Twilight Out of Focus is actually pretty good, for a variety of reasons. The premise is interesting and is a mechanically ideal setup for a boys’ love (BL) story, the art and animation are pretty decent for it not being a big-name title, and the romance (or at least the beginning of it — only two episodes are out) is on face compelling. Setting aside opinions on how Crunchyroll opted to “prioritize creating a safe and respectful community environment,” it’s a bit ridiculous to submit thousands of 1-star reviews for a series just because it happens to center on a gay romance. It’s even more ridiculous to do that for a show that’s actually quite solid.
A Unique Premise
The series starts with roommates Mao Tsuchiya and Hisashi Ootomo making three promises to one another. Mao must not tell anyone that Hisashi is gay and has a boyfriend, Hisashi must never make any moves on Mao or otherwise make him uncomfortable, and neither one of them will disturb the other’s… let’s just say “personal time.” This is how their second year of living together as roommates starts off. During the early days of the school year, the film club for which Mao is an Assistant Director decides to put on a BL film for their project that year, and the head of the club wants to cast Hisashi as the lead. Mao resists asking him to take part out of fear that doing so would make Hisashi think he had told the film club about him being gay, but, through sheer happenstance, the head of the film club runs into Hisashi and talks to him about the role, which he excitedly accepts.
Mao up to this point has never had more than a single crush and considers himself to be heterosexual, while Hisashi is gay and knows it but largely hides it from those around him. For romance to slowly build up between these two constantly juxtaposes so many aspects of queer experience, especially during adolescence. For Mao, he has to contend with the complicated feelings that come with learning more about one’s sexuality. For Hisashi, he has to contend with the harsh reality of choosing to be out and the harsh restrictions that come from hiding oneself and avoiding those realities. Hisashi also has to balance his romantic life and actions with not making Mao uncomfortable, all the while not knowing that the person he’s trying to be mindful of just might be gay himself. It immediately makes not only the characters compelling, but their interactions as well, since they both are having to learn to be more true to themselves in different ways. Even more, because of their being roommates, there’s a sort of agonistic intimacy between them as they’re both forced to hold back some aspect of themselves.
Strong Execution
Within the very first episode, there’s a scene that feels like a natural comparison to the reactions to this show’s premiere. When the film club was first presented with the concept of a BL film, they were universally hesitant and even talked of replacing the head of the club. But, after they read the script he wrote, nearly every single one of them was on board. Actually engaging with the material helped them appreciate the story not as something emblematic of queerness or some supposed gay agenda, but as a piece of art and as a work of romance. The same would likely be the case for many who check out this anime; it may even be the first BL story you end up giving a shot.
Within Twilight Out of Focus, meta-narratives aside, this also means that Mao is given a unique lens through which he finally sees Hisashi. In a directorial role, he’s hyper-focused on setting a scene correctly and making proper use of the talent on set. Within the context of a BL film, this means imagining a scene where Hisashi is making romantic advances. In other words, this means the intensity with which he approaches making movies serves as a catalyst to any romantic feelings he has toward Hisashi, who remains mostly oblivious in the early episodes. The story is told from Mao’s perspective, at least for now, and it’s Mao whose thoughts and emotions we’re exposed to.
Overall, I think Twilight Out of Focus had a strong start and made use of its tools well. It certainly doesn’t deserve a one-star review solely for being BL, and it definitely deserves higher than one star from an objective standpoint. I think that, just like the characters within the story, a lot of people will surprise themselves with what they enjoy from this show, and I would genuinely recommend it not just to fans of BL, but to fans of romance anime in general. And that’s just from the opening episode.
Twilight Out of Focus is streaming on Crunchyroll.
© Jyanome, Kodansha / “Twilight Out of Focus” Production Committee
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