
Welcome to The Great Happiness Space: Rakkyo Café. The club's owner, Issei (22), has a staff of twenty boys all under his training to become the top escorts of Osaka's underground love scene. During their training, they learn how to dress, how to talk, how to walk, and most importantly, how to fake relationships with the girls who become their source of income. Join us as Osaka's number one host boy takes us on a journey through the complex and heartrenching world of love fo... (Full plot summary below)
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Welcome to The Great Happiness Space: Rakkyo Café. The club's owner, Issei (22), has a staff of twenty boys all under his training to become the top escorts of Osaka's underground love scene. During their training, they learn how to dress, how to talk, how to walk, and most importantly, how to fake relationships with the girls who become their source of income. Join us as Osaka's number one host boy takes us on a journey through the complex and heartrenching world of love for sale in the Japanese underground.
Leave your thoughts about The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief.
| User ReviewJulie Munadulterated look at the twisted workings of host industry in Japan |
| User ReviewKyria ANot only a fascinating subject, but a beautifully paced documentary. An unbiased, conversational look at young women in Osaka who are willing to spend outrageous amounts of money to purchase affection, and the boys who are in the business of selling dreams. |
| User ReviewLynn Ci've always been interested in host cubs and japanese culture... and this one gave me a real opening look. I'm utterly amazed at how open these people are... it's scary yet intriguing what they say on camera and all i wanted to do was just heal them. I really wanna go to japan just to experience it. I hope they're all happy now. |
| User Reviewman bamazing. one of the most compelling movies i've ever seen. |
| User ReviewJocelynne GGory accident that you can't help but look. A closer look into the "Sumimasen" mofos. |
| User ReviewDiana WGreat movie! Gave good insight on a side of society we don't understand. |
| User ReviewJon GEver heard of 'host boys'? Well, these 'host boys' don't so much solicit sex (though they do that too, sometimes); as they say, they're selling a dream to the girls, aka their customers (and telling them they love them). Forget the fact that most of these host boys resemble girls sans boobs. Their job, at Stylish Cafe Rakkyo, is to create a fantasy world for the girls where they can feel fulfilled, whatever it takes. Issei, host boy and owner of Cafe Rakkyo (and main focus of this doc), admitted to drinking as many as 10 bottles of champagne in one day at the request and (very high) expense of the customers (most are well paid call girls or prostitutes themselves). As he put it, he will "Drink, throw-up, drink, throw-up...My liver is probably fucked." I was ready to demonize these boys from the start, yet this business isn't as simple as what it most closely resembles: pimps/prostitutes, escorts, etc. Though the facets of those sex businesses all appear here (special focus on manipulation and deceipt), there's the bizarre spin that it brings fulfillment to those who seek it. Emotional fulfillment. Even though a lot of the customers understand it's false. So...is what they're doing as bad as it appears? Worse, because of the focus on intimacy?... As many lies as these boys told, they let it all hang out for the camera. And kudos to them for doing so. One cried while explaining how they charge so much, and others admitted guilt and even falling in love (Issei included, though he informs his employees there's no place for guilt or love in this business). "Work is work," Issei says. I'll be thinking about this doc for days.. |
| User ReviewGeorge Wone of the best docs i've ever seen. Editing, camerawork, storytelling - top notch |
| User ReviewAmy WYoung male Japanese hosts in Osaka. Exciting and honest, nicely translated! One of the most interesting docs I have seen in a long time.. |
| User ReviewDani AFascinating documentary on a Japanese Host Club. I was glued to the screen. Some of the best direction I've seen in a documentary. The stories and interviews are cut together beautifully. |