Underwhelming overall... Disappointing as I expected more given the meta aspect of the story
Not going to sugar-coat it, I unfortunately did not enjoy this Japanese BL series. The story was really slow paced and honestly, there were too many episodes for what it was trying to say. The storytelling was super dull with the overall energy of the protagonists pretty low. I do enjoy contemplative show but then I need to either truly enjoy characters and their evolution, or just vibe with the atmosphere of the series...That was clearly not the case here.
The characters were pretty unlikable. I did not really get why they liked each other for most of the series which prevented me to really root for their relationship. I did not believe in the chemistry between the actors, it was quite lackluster. The two main actors have quite meta roles, as they play (talented) BL actors. Sadly enough, the drama they play on screen is even more insipid than the "real" storyline. The only character I enjoyed was a support role played by Nagumo Shoma who insufflated a bit of life to the drama.
The production was okay for the genre. Nothing outstanding. It made me believe at first that it would be a more gritty and dark story but my hope quickly died and it remained very tame until the end of the show. In a few scenes, it provided some interesting insights on how the filmmaking of a BL drama works and I wish they would have developed it much more. The soundtrack was completely forgettable.
I would not recommend this to people as they are more interesting BLs out there. The premise is quite similar to "BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen" (which I overall liked). I therefore expected to enjoy "25 Ji, Akasaka de". Unfortunately, rather than providing a more mature take on the "BL actors falling in love with each other" trope, it featured a super slow and boring story, with miscommunication / non-communication being the focus point of the relationship. I would suggest to watch "BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen" rather than this one.
The characters were pretty unlikable. I did not really get why they liked each other for most of the series which prevented me to really root for their relationship. I did not believe in the chemistry between the actors, it was quite lackluster. The two main actors have quite meta roles, as they play (talented) BL actors. Sadly enough, the drama they play on screen is even more insipid than the "real" storyline. The only character I enjoyed was a support role played by Nagumo Shoma who insufflated a bit of life to the drama.
The production was okay for the genre. Nothing outstanding. It made me believe at first that it would be a more gritty and dark story but my hope quickly died and it remained very tame until the end of the show. In a few scenes, it provided some interesting insights on how the filmmaking of a BL drama works and I wish they would have developed it much more. The soundtrack was completely forgettable.
I would not recommend this to people as they are more interesting BLs out there. The premise is quite similar to "BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen" (which I overall liked). I therefore expected to enjoy "25 Ji, Akasaka de". Unfortunately, rather than providing a more mature take on the "BL actors falling in love with each other" trope, it featured a super slow and boring story, with miscommunication / non-communication being the focus point of the relationship. I would suggest to watch "BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen" rather than this one.
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