No matter the age, falling in love remains always a first time. But the very first time, this shows Hatsu-koi realistically in a fresh and unpretentious way, is especially full of traps and insecurities and might imprint the pattern for life: it is alike exiting and dangerous. The adventures of young Tadashi is of global validity, touching themes like mobbing, homo marriage and different shades of sexual behaviour, with the specific taste of today's Japanese environment young gay people find themselves in.
Wieland Speck, Director of Panorama, Berlin International Film Festival


Hatsu-koi is a sweet gentle film about coming of age in the contemporary world of Japan. Sensitive yet melancholic, the film takes us on a joyride. It reminds us on how pure it is to be in love again and make us look back to our own first love experience. the docu-drama style is engaging but the Imaizumi Koichi adds some comic funny moments to lighten up the story. The camera work works on a manga style approach that brings on some delights.
John Badalu, Director of Q! Film Festival in Indonesia


Do you remember the taste of first love? Do you remember how simple love should be? Hatsu-koi is a lovely, funny and romantic love story among boys. It reminds us how sweet and unforgettable first love is. No matter what kind of love you are looking for, Hatsu-koi tells you love is actually all around us. All you have to do is believe in love and you will come across your real lover someday. With a living and meaningful script, Imaizumi Koichi once again proved his talent in scriptwriting and filmmaking. Pay attention to the young actor, Murakami Hiroshi, who has a brilliant performance in this growing-up story.
Jonathan HUNG, Director of In D Blue in Hong Kong


Kawaii. Everything about Hatsu-koi starting with its main actor is kawaii. The boy's infatuation with plastic robots, his love for robot literature and his schoolboy-like expression when he finds himself in a robot toy store are all cute. Rare, yet innovative cuts (from 1st person POV to 3rd person POV) also contribute to this theme of cuteness. It will be quite easy for both cinephiles and filmmakers to fall in love with director-producer team's Koichi + Hiroki lastest work. They might also find themselves leaving the theater with a sudden interest in plastic robots.
Josh KIM, Korean Filmmaker


Imaizumi Koichi is a good-looking man. In fact, he's so photogenic, and has such a strong presence, that I asked him to be in my dance performance 'The Middle of the World' in March 2000. It was 1999, when I was the director of the Tokyo International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, that he made his first film Angel in the Toilet. Seeing a new talent grow as a filmmaker - a filmmaker firmly based in Tokyo's gay community who christened all his new films at the TILGFF and gained a larger audience each time - was a huge reward for the festival staff. Imagine my surprise, then, when he found talent even more photogenic than himself for his latest film Hatsu-koi Imaizumi's pop, sexy camera shots deliciously portray the youthful beauty of his new star. There's no doubt that people around the world will fall in love with these photogenes when the film comes to a theatre near you very soon!
Kawaguchi Takao, Dancer/Choreographer, Former director of the TILGFF


Imaizumi Koichi makes films with an unusual flavour. His cooking method is simple, but his ingredients - his values, worldview and a unique sense of rhythm - produce exotic results, even when roughly chopped. I call this flavour the Habakari Spice. Once you taste it you will never forget it, and it's even habit-forming. From its plot to its characters, Imaizumi's latest film Hatsu-koi is full of this wonderful flavour!
Otsuka Takashi, Artist


It was when I watched Imaizumi's debut film Angel in the Toilet that I fell in love with him. He himself was in the film as the angel, and I fell in love with his eyes - sad, even frightened, but there was this little light of mischief twinkling in the back of them. Those eyes were of a film director. In his second film, Naughty Boys, he became a cupid who gleefully manipulated a set of star-crossed gay lovers. His eyes were those of a mischievous child. This balance between comical and cynical had become his signature style. Imaizumi's latest film Hatsu-koi shows yet another kind of light in his eyes, one that is different from before. The new light is like the gentle rays of the spring sun. The film's last scene celebrates the union of two gay men in the spring sunlight, but the mischievous sparkle of Imaizumi's gaze from behind the camera was unmistakably there. Captured by those eyes, I fell in love with Imaizumi Koichi all over again.
Margarette aka Ogura Toh, Editor/Writer


Being honest to myself has been and still remains my motto, so this film struck me right in the gut. Some things can only be expressed through film. This one touched me so deeply it made me cry. And then it made me feel refreshed. Seeing it encouraged me to work hard again.
Sakurada Munehisa, Photographer

The Berlin Film Festival is famous for its Teddy-movies. They all include　subjects related to any kind of "outsiders", people living in opposition with the main stream, and often these films show homosexual lifestyle and the problems related to it. One of the Teddy-movies in 2008 was Hatsu-koi. The director Imaizumi Koichi had the courage to make the whole movie with only a few people. And in deed, you can see almost everyone who took part in the realisation of the film, some of them just for a few seconds. Whoever sees the movie gets the impression to be inside a small group of very good friends. Making a film for them is not only hard word (it must be!), but also much fun. And of course we should not forget the mission of the story, that is obviously even more important in Japan than in Europe. Young gay men have to fight against their own feelings before they are able to accept them, like Tadashi, a young man that falls in love with his school mate Kota. The first part of the film seems almost to be an education movie, made for school kids that are not sure about their feelings and about how to deal　with them. But after a while the main story about friendship and love gets more and more clear. In Hatsu-koi you can see sex. But one the most beautiful aspect of Hatsu-koi is, that it shows gay people as loving people and not only people having　sex. Sure, Hatsu-koi is a happy ending movie..., but when it ends you wish you had more time with this funny group of friends and lovers!
Sophie Lindenau, Cooperator of the Berlinale Panorama Guest Management