I hate rating this as a BL because it's simply a love story. The director and screenwriters made sure of that. Red Balloon, even without the amazing soundtrack, is an imperative story for any BL fan. It does not fluff us up with some idiotic fan service but gives us a plot from beginning to end that actually makes sense without a suspension of disbelief. This moves from actual romantic engagement to love to disappointment to so much more without requiring us to just sit there and let it happen. It happens because of the logical flow of progress.