Sahara Sensei to Toki-kun (2023)

Started out fun and engaging, even the cinematography (the yellowish filter which reminded me of the horror movies in the 2000s, i thought Sadako was gonna spring out out of nowhere) is A grade, Then somehow it got a little boring in the middle and then i realized i wasnt even looking forward to any of the episodes anymore, i just finished watching just for the sake of finishing the series.

One big problem is the chemistry between Sahara and Toki. I dont mind and i actually like the awkward overacting, but they just didnt show enough to make me care about their characters and to root for the relationship. I didnt even understand the 'slap in the back' thingy which were supposed to be a thing of affection considering those were such strong slaps and didnt they say Sahara has (or had) a back injury?

The addition of Nekoto- and for goodness sake his emo hair is so annoying - n the last few episodes even made the show worse, no wonder why Sahara chose Toki isntead of him.

Let me get this out of the way too. The idea of a teacher getting into a relationship with a high school student is very cringy layered with too many inappropriateness that gets worse when being romanticized. I am not a conservative but this is not something that i would feel comfortable seeing in real life no matter how small the age gap is.

Is this something that happens normally in Japan and i wonder what is the targeted demographic for these kind of contents? it smells of something predatory.

The fact that this is the second Japanese BL within the past 6 months with this age gap (the other one is One Room Angel) kinda bothered me a little. One other BL with this kind of premise is Minato's Laundromat (with not just one but 2 of this kind of relationship) and that even got a second season. In these series, they show the younger leads vehemently pursuing the older guys, and they make you think it is ok. I somehow feel its not. These 3 series features younger HIGH SCHOOL male leads being partnered with adult guys (to be fair Minato's Laundromat handled it better) Im not against big age gap between partners but i think we have to be reminded that these high school students are STILL kids compared to the older guys they are running after. At least make both characters "adult" even if you make a 20-year age gap then it might be ok.

Overall, its a 6.5 for me. This is a series i wont even remember after a few months, and its not even entertaining enough to be rewatched.

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Sweet and Funny

First: There's a lot of pearl-clutching in the discussion section about the age gap, and particularly that Toki is a minor when the story starts. If you're uninterested in this topic, skip down to ANYWAY.

I really don't see how this is objectionable. So Toki has a crush on a handsome and charming teacher - haven't we all been there? My junior high PE teacher was so hot I spent all day in the restroom "imagining" things he could do to me, and I was 13 and he was 20-something.

The point is that Sahara makes it plain that nothing is going to happen, although he does say he'll wait for Toki to grow up, and there is a time skip at the end to when he's 18. It's hard to tell how old Sahara is because the same actor, who is 26, plays him in flashbacks. I would guess he's 6-7 years older. Big deal. My first positive experience was with a 26-year old when I was 18 - it was wonderful to have someone experienced and kind to ease me in, as opposed to boys my age, who just wanted what 18-year old boys are wont to want.

17-year olds do - almost invariably and universally - develop crushes on people of varying ages, and let's be honest, there is nothing you can do about it if you're an adult who has a crush on a minor. If he's 10, there might be something really wrong with you, but if he's 17 with an adult body, it can happen. You just don't act on it. There is a huge difference between having feelings for someone and acting on it. One you can't help, the other you can.

There is an accidental kiss, but it's not sexualized in the least - in fact they're both mildly injured by it and Toki reflects sardonically that his first kiss tasted like blood.

ANYWAY.

Toki is a fascinating character, immature in behavior, but unusually mature in moral fibre and inner strength - it's no wonder what Sahara sees in him, not to mention his looks. The actor does a wonderful job, making Toki both vulnerable and strong, affecting and really funny. Sahara is a less interesting character, but he's not without complexity either.

There is a lot of comedy in the series - most of it is pretty funny, and some of it is too obviously adapted from manga - where running screaming offpage works better than it does in live action.

This is a sweet story with a lot of charm and one of the best BL characters I've seen in a while with Toki - I'd fall in love with him too.

On the negative side, way, way too much time is chewed up by Sahara's former love interest, who brings the narrative to a screeching halt for a character that isn't introducted until two thirds through the series and who it's nearly impossible to care about. I found myself internally screaming "I DON'T CARE GO AWAY" You will want, no, NEED, to take clippers to his ridiculous bangs. I think his stylist must be the ghost from The Ring. There's a flashback to a confession in the rain that we're shown so many times that I nearly bought a plane ticket to Tokyo to go slap someone. Nekoto is dull, depressive, irrelevant, and takes forever to say anything - he should have been limited to one scene, not stretched out over 2 episodes.

Anyway, the payoff at the end is worth it, but I do wish that time had been spent on Toki & Sahara or on the secondary couple, who I hope get their own series.

I highly recommend this - unless you're one of the abovementioned pearl-clutchers, in which case you should probably just go to church instead.

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