This review may contain spoilers
Another School JBL TW: MINORS!!! Grooming!!!
Headsup: this reveiw may be all over the place
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This was another school JBL with nothing really special or outstanding about it. SPOILERS AHEAD
(Wasn’t good part had the TW)
The story: (Overal gist)
Follows an ex-soccer player, Kanata, stil struggling mentally over his past injury, who is learning to continue playing and a honors student, Akira, who has struggled with being gay since middle school. They’ve seen each other around school and curiosity eventually got Kanata to go see the lonely Akira during lunch, they start talking and find similar interests. They start hanging out more together and fall in love, but with obstacles. (Kanata’s soccer journey is a side plot about his character development, not really related to their love story). Akira’s past brings himself major doubts about him being gay, from his previous middle school crush who was disgusted and hated him after finding out Akira’s sexuality. (Although that friend was EXTREMELY touchy and intimately “friendly”) Akira had found comfort, emotionally and sexually, in his older brother’s friend, who also struggles with being gay and liking Akira’s brother. Akira would stop that relationship when he met Kanata, who is always unapologetically himself. The two finally confess their love and end up together. The end.
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What the show did well:
They did stray away from the normal cutesy bubbly type of BLs that we see from school JBLs. The did address some real life issues: Akira’s struggle with accepting his sexually, Kanata’s struggle with taking up soccer again, despite fears of failing again, and both their sort-of brother inferiority complexes. This gave the show a definite maturity that isn’t really found in other school JBLs. Both main leads and the supporting actors did well in this project and the main leads chemistry is there.
****I like how they included and highlighted these issues, didn’t agree 100% with how they dealt with / addressed them****
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What wasn’t good:
We’ll start off small. This show followed the same basic structure as every other JBL out there (was hoping for something different given the mature setting). Two guys, one popular and the other a loner, meet up, hang out, like each other, problems arise, realize they like each other, then chase each other, then happily ever after. AND we can’t forget the flashback memory at the end of how they already met each other in the past (like are you kidding me, so overdone, so boring).
Now onto the SCREAMING issue with this show. TW:
THEY ARE MINORS. First off, what is with Japan and their minors in school trope. It’s fine for the cute ones, but this one has ADULT/MINOR SEX involved, we CANNOT be having that. IDK if school in Japan is similar to the US, but they are MINORS or barely legal 18 year olds. The story of Akira and Kanata is fine, as they are both senior in high school and they only kiss, but this show did some disturbing grooming and sexual relationship between Akira and Kanda Yoichi (Akira’s brother’s friend). Firsly, they met when Akira was in MIDDLE SCHOOL, he is like 14-15 and Kanda is a working adult post college or at the end of college. ( what were they thinking with this ). Kanda “teaches” Akira (grooms him) on how he keeps emotionally and mentally balanced with liking Akira’s older brother, who is straight, through sex. They start an intimate and sexual relationship between a grown ass adult man and a middle schooler for “balance” like WTF???!!!?!? (**** the show DID NOT have any intimate sex scenes between them, but it doesn’t matter, in the story it still happens and this is fucked up and disgusting ****). And on top of the grooming and sex, Kanda only makes Akira feel worse about being gay. Kanda doesn’t want to be strong and admit his feelings towards the brother, nor will he get over it, so he has sex with his crush’s younger MINOR brother???? Kanda basically shows Akira to always hide the fact that he is gay and Kanata was the one who pulled him out of that mindset.
This show, while addressing other real life issues, MISSED this GIGANTIC one and didn’t even address it in the show and played it off as caring and helping each other stay mentally stable. If this plot was given to a drama outside of the high school genre, where all these events happened in adulthood for every character and they addressed the grooming part, that would have made for a potentially good drama that could highlight the struggles with accepting sexuality and learning that someone may seem to want to help us, but only wants to helps themselves while hurting them more (the grooming part). BUT instead this show made it between a minor and an adult. That is definitely where a line NEEDS TO BE DRAWN.
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This show gave screen time and most of the plot to the main leads, which was ok I guess. Overall this show was mediocre with major unresolved issues in the production team. I don’t understand how the rating is that high. I got bored about halfway through.
Overall Rating: 5.5-6/10
*** P.S. this reveiw is by no means hate to the actors, they did a fairly decent and good job, this is mainly about the plot, production team, and screenwriters ****
————————————————————————————————————
This was another school JBL with nothing really special or outstanding about it. SPOILERS AHEAD
(Wasn’t good part had the TW)
The story: (Overal gist)
Follows an ex-soccer player, Kanata, stil struggling mentally over his past injury, who is learning to continue playing and a honors student, Akira, who has struggled with being gay since middle school. They’ve seen each other around school and curiosity eventually got Kanata to go see the lonely Akira during lunch, they start talking and find similar interests. They start hanging out more together and fall in love, but with obstacles. (Kanata’s soccer journey is a side plot about his character development, not really related to their love story). Akira’s past brings himself major doubts about him being gay, from his previous middle school crush who was disgusted and hated him after finding out Akira’s sexuality. (Although that friend was EXTREMELY touchy and intimately “friendly”) Akira had found comfort, emotionally and sexually, in his older brother’s friend, who also struggles with being gay and liking Akira’s brother. Akira would stop that relationship when he met Kanata, who is always unapologetically himself. The two finally confess their love and end up together. The end.
——————————————————————————————————-
What the show did well:
They did stray away from the normal cutesy bubbly type of BLs that we see from school JBLs. The did address some real life issues: Akira’s struggle with accepting his sexually, Kanata’s struggle with taking up soccer again, despite fears of failing again, and both their sort-of brother inferiority complexes. This gave the show a definite maturity that isn’t really found in other school JBLs. Both main leads and the supporting actors did well in this project and the main leads chemistry is there.
****I like how they included and highlighted these issues, didn’t agree 100% with how they dealt with / addressed them****
============================================
What wasn’t good:
We’ll start off small. This show followed the same basic structure as every other JBL out there (was hoping for something different given the mature setting). Two guys, one popular and the other a loner, meet up, hang out, like each other, problems arise, realize they like each other, then chase each other, then happily ever after. AND we can’t forget the flashback memory at the end of how they already met each other in the past (like are you kidding me, so overdone, so boring).
Now onto the SCREAMING issue with this show. TW:
THEY ARE MINORS. First off, what is with Japan and their minors in school trope. It’s fine for the cute ones, but this one has ADULT/MINOR SEX involved, we CANNOT be having that. IDK if school in Japan is similar to the US, but they are MINORS or barely legal 18 year olds. The story of Akira and Kanata is fine, as they are both senior in high school and they only kiss, but this show did some disturbing grooming and sexual relationship between Akira and Kanda Yoichi (Akira’s brother’s friend). Firsly, they met when Akira was in MIDDLE SCHOOL, he is like 14-15 and Kanda is a working adult post college or at the end of college. ( what were they thinking with this ). Kanda “teaches” Akira (grooms him) on how he keeps emotionally and mentally balanced with liking Akira’s older brother, who is straight, through sex. They start an intimate and sexual relationship between a grown ass adult man and a middle schooler for “balance” like WTF???!!!?!? (**** the show DID NOT have any intimate sex scenes between them, but it doesn’t matter, in the story it still happens and this is fucked up and disgusting ****). And on top of the grooming and sex, Kanda only makes Akira feel worse about being gay. Kanda doesn’t want to be strong and admit his feelings towards the brother, nor will he get over it, so he has sex with his crush’s younger MINOR brother???? Kanda basically shows Akira to always hide the fact that he is gay and Kanata was the one who pulled him out of that mindset.
This show, while addressing other real life issues, MISSED this GIGANTIC one and didn’t even address it in the show and played it off as caring and helping each other stay mentally stable. If this plot was given to a drama outside of the high school genre, where all these events happened in adulthood for every character and they addressed the grooming part, that would have made for a potentially good drama that could highlight the struggles with accepting sexuality and learning that someone may seem to want to help us, but only wants to helps themselves while hurting them more (the grooming part). BUT instead this show made it between a minor and an adult. That is definitely where a line NEEDS TO BE DRAWN.
————————————————————————————————————
This show gave screen time and most of the plot to the main leads, which was ok I guess. Overall this show was mediocre with major unresolved issues in the production team. I don’t understand how the rating is that high. I got bored about halfway through.
Overall Rating: 5.5-6/10
*** P.S. this reveiw is by no means hate to the actors, they did a fairly decent and good job, this is mainly about the plot, production team, and screenwriters ****
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