Coming Out

Coming Out is a Japanese film under the Pinku Eiga subheading. That means it falls within the genre of softcore porn. That, plus its runtime of 64 minutes means that Coming Out lacks a level of depth. On the plus side, this is one of the better films that qualify as softcore that I’ve seen. It’s a lot more accessible to women and particularly queer women than most other softcore films.

Coming Out does exactly what it says in the title. It’s about a woman coming out. Reiko begins the film engaged to her boss. But they have sub-standard sex. On her morning commute, Reiko is frequently felt up by a male passenger. Reiko meets her manic pixie lesbian love interest, Tamaki after Tamaki punches Reiko’s groper in the balls. Tamaki and Reiko have sex and Reiko enjoys it a lot more. So, she and Tamaki begin a relationship. But the still questioning and closeted Reiko is at odds with Tamaki’s sexual openness. And by open, I mean Tamaki likes to finger Reiko in public. The difference between Tamaki and Reiko sexual and sexuality openness is what makes up the conflict in this film.

The bar for softcore is so low for me that I’m going to champion Coming Out. There’s so many minor, easy concepts this film gets right that most softcore I see gets wrong. Maybe I should stop watching softcore lesbian stuff from 50 years ago. Coming Out is a film that actually likes its main character, and women overall. The film wants Reiko to be happy. It celebrates when she is and crafts a narrative that allows her to be so. Reiko is also believably attracted to women. I’ve seen a lot of softcore where the actress is too straight or the story has the character focus too much on male attention. Coming Out goes out of its way to show you how much much Reiko prefers women to men, sexually. Also, all the sex is consensual! Another absolutely subterranean bar that most softcore I watch doesn’t pass.

There is also a genuine plea for gay understanding and acceptance. Coming Out absolutely objectifies lesbianism. But it does so and also thinks lesbians deserve rights. This is a film about a woman who successfully comes to terms with her sexuality. It’s just that a big part of that journey is sex. But hey! That’s absolutely true for some people. There is a sense of genuine triumph and pride when Reiko gets on her desk at work and announces she’s a lesbian. Again, it seems like a low bar, but this is the first softcore film I’ve seen that has an actual sense of gay pride. In terms of gay deadly sins, that’s twice the amount than usual for a softcore feature. Every other softcore film maxes out at one- gay lust.

Within the story, the sex scenes have a level of integration. The plot doesn’t entirely stop dead for sex. There’s at least a level of character development for Reiko within these lengthy scenes. While they’re integrated in a story sense, the same cannot be said for how Coming Out is edited. It’s a lot of hard cuts to graphic sex. One minute Reiko and Tamaki are navigating how to be out in public. And then, bam! Hard cut to a 6 minute scene of Reiko licking Tamaki’s back and Tamaki acting like this is absolute peak sex.

So, grading on the curve of softcore features, Coming Out is above average. But grading on the larger curve of film, obviously this movie is going to come up short. Coming Out has 4 lengthy sex scenes and a few brief ones. So, a lot of this 64 minute film is just sex. Also, the camera quality is bad. And not just bad, but uneven. It’s bad generally but a few scenes are of even lower quality. My theory is they shot these scenes on their backup camera because their A cam was out of batteries.

Coming Out might be the best softcore WLW film I’ve seen. It’s about a gay woman who comes to terms with her sexuality by having enjoyable gay sex. It’s a softcore film that lets its characters be cute and happy, as well as just horny. Unfortunately, a good softcore film is still an at best, average film. For that reason, I can’t give it higher than a mixed review. But if you are looking for a lesbian softcore flick, Coming Out is a way better option that any of the trashy 70s stuff that I’ve reviewed in this genre.

Overall rating: 5.0/10

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