Koi wo Suru nara Nidome ga Joto (2024)

An Excellent but Too Short Adult BL Romance

This was very enjoyable to watch. The actors have an amazing chemistry, and whoever the cinematographer was should get an award for how well they made Hasegawa Makoto and Furuya Robin look. There were so many moments where both men were lit with an amazing golden hue that rivals feature film or big budget advertising cinematography. Plot-wise, I must say that there's a nice feeling seeing two men navigating a past shared teenage trauma and trying to figure out if they right for each other as adults. Amidst the drama, there are some nice comedic touches from Takashi's assistant, and Takashi's "brother." It also presents a nice story of gay man standing up for himself in the face of some traditional Japanese conservatism. They did a great job of casting three teenage versions of the adult men, actually finding young actors who looked like the adult actors, particularly the young Miyata. I think that some very talented hair and make-up people also had a big hand in that. Lastly, although there was no explicit nudity, the sex scenes, though brief, were quite frank and passionate.

My only criticism is that six 24 minute episodes felt too short. I could have used a little more delving into Takahashi's psyche and how he was affected by his broken relationship with his family. They explained everything in the final episode, but whereas I felt I really understood Miyata's trepadations about entering into this relationship again, Takahashi was a bit of a mystery throughout the series. I know a big part of the plot was predicated on Miyata not trusting Takahashi's words, and us not completely understanding his motivations helped elevate that plot thread. Miyata's voiceover gave us really clear insight into his character and I think some time could have been added to do something similar with Takashi's character. But this is nitpicking. Koi wo Suru nara Nidome ga Joto is an excellent series and very much worth your time if you like adult BL dramas.

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Smooth, solid, emotional, this drama has everything!

With a runtime of 6 episodes of 20 minutes, this drama is on the shorter side but the story leaves no stone left unturned. Miyata and Iwanagi knew each other from high school and secretly got closer together. Thinking about how it must have been to be gay at that time in Japan makes this realistic. They were supposed to run away together, but Miyata's feeling have been toyed with, and Iwanagi leaves their home town.

Years later, the two meet under professional circumstances. With some cat-and-mouse play, they decide to seriously love each other once more. I will not spoil more of the plot but I love the full circle moment at the end. All of the actors are skilled and look great to boot. I wouldn't know how to make this drama any better!

This drama can be serious, funny, intimate, and it does not stop or get boring ever. The acting and visuals in this drama make it a Japanese BL classic for me. Great job on everyone who was involved in this series and thank you for this fantastic piece of cinema. Do not hesitate, watch this now!

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Totally smitten!

I am totally smitten by the Senpai here, especially his voice. There's a gentle demeanour in him that just melts heart. I love the NC because I can see how the Senpai is totally desiring Miyata! Although I still think the NC could be better, it's overall pretty good as I can feel that chemistry and sexual tension between them

The story is quite typical BL, nothing new, but it's still a really nice watch

I actually love how compact it is, so it doesn't feel draggy. That said, I totally would love a special episode! Also, it's nice to finally watch a mature BL, after all the school BLs!

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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.

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Maybe love is better the second time around

I actually enjoyed love is better the second time around, I felt it was different from the recent Japanese BLs lately because it literally was their love a second time around, from them dating when they were younger and in high school were they broke up from a miss communication and then years later they finally meet again from work. I have to also say that I am a huge fan of Makoto (Miyata) because he’s in the jpop group the rampage from exile tribe and he’s one of my favorites from the group. The plot is how Miyata and Takashi used to date when they were younger and in high school and we’re gonna run away together because Takashi new his parents wouldn’t accept them together, but on the day they were supposed to leave Takashi never showed up so and stopped talking to each other. Later in the present Miyata is a reporter and has to write an article about Takashi who is a successful university professor and they finally see each other after that long break, you do expect that reaction from Miyata that he is done with Takashi and isn’t their to talk about their past relationship together since now Miyata moved on and is dating a girl and is about to propose to her, but on the day he proposes to her she rejects because he doesn’t seem to be paying attention to her anymore after being together for a long time and at the restaurant he proposes to her at Takashi comes and puts the ring on him and later they have a very steamy scene. Then Miyata is frequently at the office that Takashi works at, but Takashi’s assistant Yuto has a crush on Takashi and keeps telling Miyata that he can’t have him because he’s his and calls him a b!tch. Later Miyata goes to Takashis house drunk and Yuto is their, but he got rejected and Miyata goes in and Takashi takes care of him and Miyata is the cutest person while being drunk. Miyata does also get a key that he can enter Takashis house whenever he wants to. Later Sugimoto who is the person who kept Takashi with him on the day they were Miyata and him we’re supposed to run away together, but he sends Miyata a pic of Takashi sleeping while shirtless and sends it to Miyata while he’s at the train station and that is the reason why they lost contact. Turns out Sugimoto had a crush on Takashi and wanted him, but helped Miyata and Takashi get approved by his parents even if he still liked him. They also had a whole lot more steamy scenes, but I won’t spoil anymore. I also loved the younger them because they were a actually so cute together and I would like to see the younger them in a BL together. I really recommend this drama.

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