Love Counseling (2018)

No is No

Social commentary on gender roles and SA through an unusual—and what many might consider an uncomfortable—lens of literal role reversal. The story does not give the viewers any context as to why the gender roles are reversed, not that it matters; in this world, men get pregnant and women do not. That is all we know, and that is all we need to know.

We follow our main character, a young man having a pregnancy scare. There isn't a whole lot of time to dwell on this fact due to the runtime, but it does a good job of making us feel the distress he is in. We learn the circumstances of how this situation came to be and are able to sympathize with him and his feelings. That being said, unlike what the synopsis might imply, we see almost nothing of the FL.

The story does well in showcasing the struggles women face with their bodies and how a lot of men do not understand, much less care to do anything about these issues, all from the perspective of what would happen if the roles were reversed.

Despite enjoying the premise as an avid fan of role reversal and everything wacky, I understandably found it to be lacking in its overall execution of the themes and presentation. I believe a work like "Hiyama Kentaro no Ninshin" to be better, not just because of the vastly longer runtime but also because of the approach. At the very end of this short film, I'm still not quite sure what exactly it DID intend to say. That forcing someone is bad or that our ML was overreacting in everything? Maybe that's the intrigue, the fact that it is left ambiguous without a clear final message. Sometimes things just are.

Overall, it's an interesting short watch but no masterpiece. If you're a fan of role reversal, you'll enjoy it, and if you're not, you might find the perspective interesting regardless as long as you can accept the initial premise.

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◇ Was it what I was expecting? Yes
◆ Did it live up to its potential? Mostly
◇ Would I watch it again? Perhaps
◆ Would I recommend it to others? Sure

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