Nineteen

Unfortunately, the title doesn't refer to the length of this hybrid music video romance, which clocks in around 40 or so minutes. The story, which centers around a young man finishing high school named Kubota, is barely there. He tends to hang around bars with his friends attempting to pick up women, though he is still a virgin. One night, he meets a girl on whom he had a crush in middle school and they start to have a relationship. But will the ever-present memory of the evil boyfriend crush their friendship? Oh, please.

This is another sorry excuse for Japanese pop music played loud over graphics of uninteresting characters, though this one has the decency to have a real plot, unlike its kin Cipher and To-Y. It seems to spring from shojo, women's comics, and has certain trademarks familiar to it. The fact that the story hinges around lots of sexual innuendo, yet never actually engages its characters in the deed, is par for shojo; the not-so-vague hints of homoeroticism are also classic in that genre of comics. Unfortunately, the plot is an excuse for the music, and that's not a good thing. My rating goes up slightly in that it has a plot, but beyond that...don't expect this one to be released this side of the Pacific any time soon and with good reason.

Nineteen -- explicit dialogue, lechery abounding -- D+