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Art house movies. We get it. They do sex. That's their thing. From Swedish nudes in 1953 ( Summer with Monika) to the butter-based penetration of 1972 ( Last Tango in Paris) to crazy irascible beach-side sessions in 1986 ( Betty Blue), nothing screams "art house" more than a smartly directed and gamely acted sex scene. Then came Blue is the Warmest Colour. Nymphomaniac is as explicit as many porn films – and far more so than a lot of late-night cable TV fare – and yet the film’s eroticism works in inverse proportion to its explicitness: the most graphic sex we see is largely dull, monotonous and routine. The first and only X-rated film to be named best picture was given its certificate from the MPAA for its “depiction of prostitution and homosexuality” – a fact that now seems a relic of its time, not least given the modesty of the film itself by modern standards. Nonetheless, John Schlesinger’s drama was a risky, adventurous movie in theme if not content, making a mesmerising protagonist out of Jon Voigt’s gay hustler who strikes up an unlikely friendship with another impoverished loner in Dustin Hoffman’s skittish con man Ratso. When it comes to the millennial generation’s defining coming-of-age movies, Clueless has a lot to answer for. The success of the teen-centred Emma adaption inspired a frenzied craze for remaking celebrated centuries-old classics as cheeky modern high-school romps. Twelfth Night became She’s the Man, A Midsummer Night’s Dream became Get Over It, Pygmalion became She’s All That and The Taming of the Shrew became 10 Things I Hate About You. And Dangerous Liaisons became the most excitedly whispered-about pulpy teen sex drama of the decade – the one where Buffy the Vampire Slayer seduces her step-brother with the never-to-be-forgotten offer: “You can put it anywhere”. In Maze Megaburst Space, not only is the central couple a pair of blood siblings, and not only is the central plot their successful and unrepentant plot to be together, but it goes even beyond that...
Iina from Kokoro Library appears to have quite a thing for her sister Kokoro. She tries to steal kisses from her and gets quite upset when Kokoro decides to spend time in the bath with her other sister, Aruto, instead of her. Kokoro clearly loves Iina a lot too, but in a sisterly fashion. Pretty much the fundamental appeal of Yosuga no Sora combining with Twincest. Both tropes are heavily deconstructed, as the sister's lust for her brother stems from her extreme emotional dependence on him, while the brother struggles with knowing that society won't accept their relationship. Also, them becoming a couple means they spend more time together, which is well noticed and leads to them getting caught. They end up moving overseas, hoping for a happy life together. The idea of theatre and performance is returned to again and again, making the point that both our main characters – each switching between personas throughout – are constantly putting on a show, forced into doing so by the repressive social strictures they exist within. Like those in Blue is the Warmest Colour, The Handmaiden’s love scenes divided viewers for being unabashedly erotic depictions of lesbian sex as viewed through the lens of a straight man.
Such a simple reading does the film’s all-round cynicism a disservice: Douglas’s protagonist is also insipid, cowardly and weak. But in terms of pop-culture drawing up a response to the issues of the time, there can surely be few better case studies. In 1997, at roughly the same time pornographers were starting to wonder if this “internet” thing might affect their industry, Paul Thomas Anderson made a film about a similarly pivotal point in the sex-movie business. A film, aptly enough, that would help transform Hollywood. In Corsair, Jean-Hughes saves his seven year old brother Canale from being raped, but he can't stop imagining himself doing the exact same thing to him. This leads to him pinning the guilt and blame on Canale and loathing him even more. Basically the plot of Aki Sora. It's also deconstructed, as the longer the siblings are sexually intimate, the more angst they go through in keeping their relationship a secret, wondering if they can truly be together. Eventually, they're caught and separated, but reunite in the end. (The brother also has several side affairs that include his abusive twin sister raping him.)
The prestige erotic drama, which exploded across Hollywood in the late 80s, incorporated dozens of films, stars and directors. Yet one man remains associated with the genre above all. Adrian Lyne’s contribution may only have been three films but each represented a major milestone in the sultry sub-genre. If Fatal Attraction gave the genre its cultural capital and Indecent Proposal marked its sleazily glamorous apex, then 9½ Weeks, which preceded both, sent it hurtling into the mainstream. It may not have birthed the genre – that happened around the time of Body Heat – but it did plenty to set the defining tone of bold, brazen, faux-thoughtful filth. Magikano plays with the trope: The main character's oldest sister has a downright obsessive love for him (one that is definitely not simply sisterly) even to the point where she claims she will marry him and becomes ultra possessive whenever any other girl shows any interest. However he doesn't seem to have any interest in her. The arrival of the protagonist's Magical Girlfriend makes her intensely jealous and always vying for his attention.
Aaaand then... it's subverted! Himari and Kanba are Not Blood Siblings. Episode 19 explains that Himari was adopted into the Takakura family after she was rescued from a plance named the Child Broiler... and her savior was her and Kanba's brother, Shouma.
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