BL Metamorphosis

'BL Metamorphosis' is a 2022 Japanese feature film directed by Kariyama Shunsuke ('Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai', 'Brush Up Life'). It is an intergenerational drama about a teenager and an elderly woman connected through comics.

Yuki (Miyamoto Nobuko) is a 75-year-old woman who gets into BL (Boys Love) manga, a comic subgenre dedicated to romance between boys, after accidentally buying a beautiful manga in a bookstore. On the other hand, Urara is a 17-year-old girl who works in that bookstore and also secretly enjoys BL manga.

Urara and Yuki begin to talk about BL and start to develop a friendship based on the pleasure of conversation about something they both enjoy. Yuki is a widow and lives alone, while Urara has been raised by a single mother and often has a lot of time to herself. From their loneliness and with their love for BL stories, they forge a curious and beautiful friendship, despite having very different ages and lifestyles.

Their friendship grows to the point where, encouraged by Yuki, Urara begins to draw her own manga and the two plan to exhibit it together at a large Comiket (a market for self-published manga). The two women star in a story of transformation about friendship that, in turn, is full of lessons about the ways manga can be enjoyed and the diversity found among its readers.

'BL Metamorphosis' is written by Okada Yoshikazu and Tsurutani Kaori. Ashida Mana plays Urara Sayama, and Miyamoto Nobuko embodies Yuki Ichinoi. The main cast is completed by Furukawa Kotone as Yu Komeda and Ikuta Tomoko as Hanae.