This review may contain spoilers
Just watch the first 4 episodes and the last 4 minutes of episode 6.
As soon as I watched the first episode, I knew this was going to be a good show. I have not liked most BL shows (I prefer reading the comics) but I really anticipated this show since I am familiar with the mangaka.
We are all aware this is going to be a trope-y romance where they carry their adolescent feelings into their adulthood and we are going to love it.
The first two episodes were so fun with the introduction of the characters which were all enjoyable the majority of the time. Although, I will say that they did not feel quite fleshed out. Iwanaga felt surface level, like his words and responses to Miyata throughout the whole show did not move me. Miyata spent the first three episodes sharing his feelings and it felt like Iwanaga wasn’t actually listening with his flirty coquettish behavior. BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN I DID NOT ENJOY THIS CHARACTER.
The way Iwanaga reacted and responded were very funny with each and every moment. When he stayed to eat the cake in episode 2 after Miyata walks out on him was great. He has walked away from this man to leave him on his lonesome so many times throughout the show and I love that for him and me. Miyata having his guard up and not trusting Iwanaga right out the bat was to be expected but his reasoning of not trusting him felt like it needed to be fleshed out more since it seemed like he was holding onto the way his young teenage self felt. Made him a bit unreasonable to me, at times, or maybe I am being a bit biased towards Iwanaga.
Shiriashi was adorable with his little schemes and jabs; I was okay with him being a menace for the man he pined for. You can tell I have read way too many dramatic BL comics where revenge on a love rival have been severe so the way Shiriashi behaved was nothing.
I found the dialogue to be so fun and entertaining like each character did respond in the way that I would expect. Sometimes BL dramas/movies have the odd/uncomfortable dialogue that ruins it for me. I do not care for very intimate scenes in shows but the one in episode 3 felt necessary. It broadened my view on Miyata’s feelings with the call back to the past when Iwanaga apologized for his first kiss. “Don’t be sorry. If you like me, don’t be sorry”. THIS LINE WAS SO GOOD.
If there is an episode I have to pick that made this story it would be the fourth one. Episode 4, in particular, was memorable since so much happened and Miyata showed many different reactions/faces and said many surprising things. This wasn’t that surprising cause he has always been blunt but I was kind of shook he said he thought of Iwanaga while pleasuring himself outside right in front of the moon.
Episodes 5, I felt the momentum of my enjoyment and anticipation of the show falter a bit. It felt unnecessary to have that kind of drama and going into episode 6 felt like such a chore but the last scene of episode 6 made it worth getting through. I did not care about what was happening or what was being resolved. Just because I did not like the last two episodes does not mean this was not a good story. Your typical romance/BL has to have the drama.
I have read some of the author’s English translated works on MangaPlaza and on Kindle and their stories tend to have very similar dynamics which felt familiar in this show. I mention that since Miyata and Iwanaga were similar to certain characters throughout their works and I think they did a great job, as well as the show doing a great adaptation. I can see the author’s other works getting adapted.
I would definitely rewatch the first four episodes.
We are all aware this is going to be a trope-y romance where they carry their adolescent feelings into their adulthood and we are going to love it.
The first two episodes were so fun with the introduction of the characters which were all enjoyable the majority of the time. Although, I will say that they did not feel quite fleshed out. Iwanaga felt surface level, like his words and responses to Miyata throughout the whole show did not move me. Miyata spent the first three episodes sharing his feelings and it felt like Iwanaga wasn’t actually listening with his flirty coquettish behavior. BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN I DID NOT ENJOY THIS CHARACTER.
The way Iwanaga reacted and responded were very funny with each and every moment. When he stayed to eat the cake in episode 2 after Miyata walks out on him was great. He has walked away from this man to leave him on his lonesome so many times throughout the show and I love that for him and me. Miyata having his guard up and not trusting Iwanaga right out the bat was to be expected but his reasoning of not trusting him felt like it needed to be fleshed out more since it seemed like he was holding onto the way his young teenage self felt. Made him a bit unreasonable to me, at times, or maybe I am being a bit biased towards Iwanaga.
Shiriashi was adorable with his little schemes and jabs; I was okay with him being a menace for the man he pined for. You can tell I have read way too many dramatic BL comics where revenge on a love rival have been severe so the way Shiriashi behaved was nothing.
I found the dialogue to be so fun and entertaining like each character did respond in the way that I would expect. Sometimes BL dramas/movies have the odd/uncomfortable dialogue that ruins it for me. I do not care for very intimate scenes in shows but the one in episode 3 felt necessary. It broadened my view on Miyata’s feelings with the call back to the past when Iwanaga apologized for his first kiss. “Don’t be sorry. If you like me, don’t be sorry”. THIS LINE WAS SO GOOD.
If there is an episode I have to pick that made this story it would be the fourth one. Episode 4, in particular, was memorable since so much happened and Miyata showed many different reactions/faces and said many surprising things. This wasn’t that surprising cause he has always been blunt but I was kind of shook he said he thought of Iwanaga while pleasuring himself outside right in front of the moon.
Episodes 5, I felt the momentum of my enjoyment and anticipation of the show falter a bit. It felt unnecessary to have that kind of drama and going into episode 6 felt like such a chore but the last scene of episode 6 made it worth getting through. I did not care about what was happening or what was being resolved. Just because I did not like the last two episodes does not mean this was not a good story. Your typical romance/BL has to have the drama.
I have read some of the author’s English translated works on MangaPlaza and on Kindle and their stories tend to have very similar dynamics which felt familiar in this show. I mention that since Miyata and Iwanaga were similar to certain characters throughout their works and I think they did a great job, as well as the show doing a great adaptation. I can see the author’s other works getting adapted.
I would definitely rewatch the first four episodes.
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