Egoist poster
#4948 This Week

Egoist

Egoist  ·  2022, Japan
7.4
3,652 ratings
1
Film
0
Watchlisted
● Completed 🕑 2022

When Kosuke was 14 years old, his mother died. As a young gay person, he spent his adolescence in a rural village and suppressed his feelings. Now, Kosuke is all grown up and he works as a fashion magazine editor in…

Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Episodes
Reviews (5)

Kosuke, a successful fashion magazine editor in Tokyo, has spent years building a carefully curated life to mask the pain of losing his mother as a teenager and the isolation of growing up gay in rural Japan. When he hires Ryuta, a charming but financially struggling personal trainer, an unexpected and intense connection blossoms between them. As their romance deepens, Kosuke discovers the many jobs Ryuta takes on to support his ailing mother, including sex work. Determined to help, Kosuke pulls Ryuta from that world, but the pressures of poverty and a hidden illness cast a long shadow over their happiness. Based on a true story, *Egoist* is a profoundly moving and unflinchingly honest exploration of love, loss, and the families we choose. It moves beyond traditional BL tropes to deliver a raw, beautifully acted meditation on grief, sacrifice, and what it truly means to care for another person.

Episode data is coming soon.

7.4
out of 10
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CB
cherry_blossom_love
March 15, 2025
9/10
My heart is in pieces. The way Kosuke and Ryuta looked at each other – I've never seen such raw, desperate love on screen. This isn't a fluffy BL; it's a gut-punch of a romance that makes you feel every ounce of their joy and their pain. I cried so hard, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
PH
plot_hound_2023
June 2, 2025
6/10
I can see why people love this, but the editing felt sluggish. The romance develops too quickly without showing us the real emotional glue, and I never fully bought why they were so devoted. Ryuta’s death also came out of nowhere narratively – it felt like a device rather than an organic tragedy. Great acting wasted on a disjointed script.
FB
frame_by_frame
Jan 10, 2025
8/10
Visually stunning. The choice to use long, silent takes and natural lighting makes every scene feel like a stolen moment. I loved how the camera lingered on small details – Kosuke drawing in his eyebrows, the texture of Ryuta's worn-out sneakers. The color palette shifts from cold city blues to warm, golden intimacy, mirroring their emotional journey perfectly.
QA
queer_analysis
September 8, 2024
9/10
This film does what most BL refuses to: it shows gay men as fully realized, flawed human beings navigating systemic challenges – poverty, homophobia, and the commodification of bodies. Kosuke’s 'egoism' isn’t just selfishness; it’s a survival mechanism. The depiction of chosen family and the ethical complexity of financial help is handled with incredible nuance. Essential queer cinema.
PT
page_to_screen
August 20, 2025
7/10
I read the novel first, and while the film captures the emotional core beautifully, it loses some of the novel's internal monologue that made Kosuke's selfishness so layered. The movie rushes through the early relationship stage, which undercuts the tragedy later. Still, Suzuki Ryohei’s performance almost makes up for it – he brings the book’s Kosuke to life with heartbreaking restraint.