chenu

Not Just Another Highschool BL

We all know the premise, highschool, two boys, falling in love. But this show genuinely subverted every single expectation.

From giving both characters well nuanced personal problems they had to work through, to having their relationship build up be genuinely so natural and authentic. This show took what I thought was a genre I had seen every possible take of (see: highschool jbls) and gave me a concoction I never even knew was possible until I had already been served it.

I loved how none of the problems either character was going through was all that easily solvable. How the hurdles were ones they kept tripping over time and time again, even with the help of each other and their friends. (Shout-out to Kanata's friend group, specially mizuki —we love emotionally intelligent female characters in bls!— and Akira's brother's best friend, such a breath of fresh air to have nunaced supporting characters.) It did feel slightly frustrating to watch in the moment, having the cast of characters confront the same issue for episodes at a time, but it felt incredibly realistic to the nature of things in real life? And I fear that frustration is in parts because of how accustomed we've grown to conflicts being so easily solved or sweeped under a rug in shows for convenience. So it was nice to take a moment to sit with that discomfort and watch the characters constantly show up for each other even when zero problems were actually getting solved.

Also loved how the teenage characters in the show were treated with so much maturity?? (Except for when Akira, a minor, was alluded to have constantly hooked up with his former tutor who without a doubt was well into his twenties 😭 I'm glad his character was genuinely remorseful for it and did admit to having used Akira, and letting Akira use him, for them both to get over their gay heartbreaks but bro, why a minor of all people orz) Their problems and emotions in the moment were treated with so much sincerity within both the narrative and by the fellow characters, which I feel isn't something we see often.

The two main leads were incredibly well cast, cos not once did I ever get broken out of the illusion of the show during my watch. And while this is pretty much the norm for Japanese bls with how well they deliver 9 out of 10 chances, I still feel it deserves acknowledgement.

Overall, genuinely a beyond amazing watch. I'm so glad I stuck around for it.

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Aro Rep like you've never seen it before

Genuinely, so floored by how well this show handled its aro rep, literal goosebumps on my skin after watching ep 4. It was obvious to me since episode 2ish that Kei fell somewhere in the aro spectrum (i'd argue even the ace one, looking forward to see how and whether the show tackles that in the coming episodes. Because we have had Fumi mention the lack of bedroom activity between them to his friends) but characters exhibiting feelings and/or behaviour that places them in the aroace spec is fairly common in bls, but it being actually intentional? and being addressed by the show? never in all my years of watching bl have i actually stumbled across it prior to this.

Adored to pieces how they breadcrumbed the aroness in the episodes leading to this and allowed for the audience to come to its own conclusion on it before actually addressing it using miku-kun. The fact that the aro conversation wasn't something that came out of the blue, but a much needed addressing of something that had been there since the start of the show (and in fumi and kei's relationship, even causing a rift between them in episodes prior when fumi thought kei didnt see him in a romantic light because it took much longer for kei to develop feelings for fumi, that it did for fumi to develop feelings for kei), genuinely meant so so much both narratively speaking and in the aro rep not seeming half hearted.

When it came to the actual scene between miku-kun and fumi at the restaurant. God, it wouldnt be too far to say i adored and cherished every second of it. Finding companionship in fellow people that precent aro and ace is such an inherent aroace experience. The stark lack of this thing (whether it be romantic love or the desire to have sex) that society hypes so much as sees as a fundamental part of the human experience, can leave you feeling so so unbelievably isolated from your peers and society at large, so to find someone who shares an iota of your experience is like being thrown a lifeline. That companionship alone can get you through the roughest parts of struggling with your identity and coming into terms with yourself. It can help you feel just that bit more normal and not like a freak, because even when you struggle to accept yourself for who you are, if this other person whom you know and love is also just like you, doesn't that make whatever you are, just that bit more okay as well?

So to have that anchor of a person torn from you in the worse sense (falling in love, the way neither of you were supposed to be able to) its an ugly unwanted thing, but that feels like a betrayal of the worst kind, even when you want to be happy for them. The restaurant scene exploring all that so artfully with fumi as the mediator for that conversation. urgh. my heart. stuff of dreams genuine to god speaking.

I would have been fully satisfied with that being all we got from this episode. heck, from this show. but futsu no renai goes the extra step further and gives us even more. in the form of kei and miku-kun's conversation as they both part ways from fumi and head home. When i tell you my jaw was on the floor in response to miku-kun pulling the big a (aromatic) out on kei, and i was crying screaming throwing up by the point kei bought up the demi label. words cannot express how floored and grateful and impressed i am at this show for not just giving us banger aro rep, but really committing to the move and going all the way with it???????

Genuinely adored how plot relevant both the conversations were, and i cannot for the love of me emphasize how important them saying the words aromatic and demiromantic as a part of the dialogue was, because all we aroace folk have had up until this point in terms of aro rep has been Crumbs so far. Hypothesis based on characters' actions and throw away dialogue, and assumptions based off of their storylines. So to have a show not shy away one bit from saying the terms Aromatic and Demiromantic but also to make these themes and aromatic people's lived experiences such a core aspect and message of its storyline is just the most amazing thing ever honestly.

I've definitely grown to love the show's title all the more since this episode. With how obvious its become that exploring these kinds of topics was the original intention of this show to even begin with. Starting from something as fundamental as its title. I can't wait to see all the other unconventional forms of love we'll explore with our lovely characters for the rest of its runtime.

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