Athlete (2019 film)
Release. The film was played at festivals including the 2019 Rainbow Reel Tokyo and Taoyuan Film Festivals and had a small general release in Japan, beginning on July 26 at UPLINK Kichijoji in Kichijoji, Tokyo and expanding on August 3 to cinemas in Osaka, Nagoya and Himeji. In June 2020, it became available internationally with subtitles in English, Chinese, Thai and Indonesian for subscribers to the Taiwan-based streaming service provider Gagaoolala. Reception. The film received mixed reviews from 18 critics of "Yahoo! Japan", which gave the film an average of 3.56 stars. Asian Movie Pulse highlighted  the taboo of LGBT rights in Japan and highlighted the film in those aspects, though said that "while you can enjoy a movie that opens many colours of the rainbow and waves more than one flag, your enthusiasm might hit several walls" adding that "Unfortunately, the relationship and its hardships are the least interesting line in the narrative" and concluded that the film is "perplexing."