Living with Him (2024)

heartwarming slice of life/romance series (need a Haruna spin off)

Overall: I enjoyed this friends/roommates turned into romantic partner stories, though it could have used slightly faster pacing (almost rated it 8.5 but I liked their dynamic so it ended up a 9). 8 episodes about 25 minutes each. Airing on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4215/living-with-him-2024-e01

What I Liked
- caring/sweet moments
- clear flashbacks and enjoyed seeing them when they were young
- ex girlfriend wasn't a cliche, non-cliche female characters
- a character was a bit naive but he did figure things out and communicated
- supportive family members, dynamics felt realistic
- Haruna was such a good wingman and friend
- overall realistic with trying to maintain boundaries but also being jealous
- production value (nice color symbology which included their clothes, pillows, mugs, toothbrushes, etc)

Room For Improvement
- not a fan of starting a series with a voice over exposition dump
- episode 2 had a too long recap of episode 1 at the beginning
- some slow pacing
- Ryota did annoy me a bit but I tried to keep in mind that he had low self-esteem and was likely struggling with internalized homophobia and/or heteronormativity
- cliche almost told something and got interrupted, the running scene

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The first four episodes were cute, but it falls of till episode 7

I was quite hyped for this BL, and the beginning was really nice great.
But episode 7 killed some of it. I would have wished they could communicate without "Keitas" help and I would have even more flashbacks to communicate that they were really, really close. While the slow pace does not kill it for me, Ryotas behaviour does to some extent. I would have wished episode 7 did not happen or that he could break out of his shell and confess then which would have been much better.

Of course typical of such JBL the kissing was lacking as well. If you long for someone, you just not touch lips and let it be. You may be shy and start slowly but I prefer kissing which conveys the feeling of the characters. It's lame and unrealistic, so why do they do it all the time?

This series was enjoyable with some length and a frustrating moments in episode 7, but overall it was good.

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Fluffy and cute slice of life BL

Things I liked:
- The OST! It's such a bop! I started to listen to it even before i was watching the show and i love it. its catchy and cute!
- The acting and their chemistry. They are so adorable together!
- No annoying characters -> There was no unnecessary drama at all. It was so healthy and fluffy! And the support characters were all fun, especially Haruna! :D As someone who doesn't like angst, this was just perfect.

Things I missed:
- The kisses were cute and kinda fitting, but it still would have been cool to have at least one deeper kiss. But still, they just fitted the atmosphere, so my complain is really little (although i complain all the time about deadfishkisses xd) But like I said, it matched the vibe totally!
- I think, it would have been the cherry on top if Kazuhito called him at least one time for real Ryota. :D

All an all its a super cute and fluffy slice of life BL. I binged it, so it adds to the different feeling i have for the show. A lot of people criticized that it's boring or slow, but since i waited for the full release, i can't share this opinion. I wasn't bored a single second and it just felt good to watch those adorable cutie patooties together. I dont rewatch dramas often, but i can totally see myself coming back to this one, when i need some fluffy feel good drama.

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Heartfelt Romance between Childhood Friends

Overall, I thought this show was quite good in relation to other JBLs that we have been seeing over the years.

I thought the story was well-written and really wholesome as I could feel the sparks of love between the two co-stars. The flashbacks of their past really helped to add to the context of show and made it very enjoyable as we got to see how Tanaka's love for Ryota all began. Though, I do think that the flashback we saw in Episode 7 could've been featured earlier just so that not a lot of time was wasted scenes leading up to the confession.

I do not know if this was in the manga but one part of the story that, I think, really needed some tweaking was Episode 7 where we had the running scene and the episode ending with Ryota going home. It would have been a lot better if they decided to extend episode 7 so that there could have been a confession there instead of in episode 8. It would have felt a lot more natural and the last episode would have spent time entirely on the two being together. Moreover, the pacing of the show was far too slow, making it seem more like a story of two best friends than one of a romance (I am sure many will argue with me here but I'd say that this show spent too much time establishing that they were very close (even though this could have easily been done via flashbacks)).

As others have pointed out, Ryota's character was a little irritating but I think keeping in mind that he was written to be a relatively low self-esteem character, it was okay. I wouldn't say it was amazing but it was not bad. It's clear that the actor playing Ryota (Sho Sakai) is talented and did a great job embodying the modest Ryota. The same goes for the actor playing Tanaka though I'd wish that some scenes would be less awkward (e.g., Tanaka's slowed reaction to Haruna in the last episode).

Contrary to what others have said, I do not think the open-endedness of the show was bothersome at all. While some questions were left unanswered (e.g., how Ryota and Tanaka choose to spend the rest of their lives together, whether the girl knows that they are together, how Ryota's sisters would handle their relationship, etc), there were some that were tacitly answered at the end of the show. For instance, the yukata scene in episode 8 where Kazuhito's mom already knew that they were for them was good enough for me to know that Kazuhito's mom supports their relationship. I think the gazes from Ryota's mom also speak volumes on this. Dialogue on that was unnecessary, the audience just knew it.

The music was great, it was catchy and made for an enjoyable OST. The opening theme song is especially catchy and well-suited to the theme of the show.

Given how slice of life it was, I may rewatch the show just because it was fun. It was adorable seeing them together at the end.

In the future, I will likely use bullet-points instead to write my reviews.

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So Cute!!

If you are looking for a BL series to make you feel good, this is the one. This series was very cute and fluffy. Yet another good example that you don’t need a lot of episodes to tell a great story. The script was very well written and had a nice even pace. The cast was awesome and did a great job with their characters. It had just the right number of characters for an 8-episode series. You get just enough of everyone’s backstory without taking too much screentime. It was very refreshing to see an ex-girlfriend not placed in the crazy/evil stereotypical role. The only minor negative aspect for me was it had some shaky camera work at times.

Random Note:

The timing on the English subtitles on GagaOOLala were too fast at times. I had to pause many times.

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This series is such a delight! Wholesome, sweet and refreshing

This series is such a delight! It's the common trope of childhood friends that have grown apart yet this story is told in such a wholesome, sweet and refreshing way. I think it quite accurately showcases the mental gymnastics and struggles of figuring out your feelings as an LGB person. We are three episodes in as of right now and each episode just keeps getting better and better!

I hope that this series is able to maintain this momentum that they've built so far throughout the rest of the remaining episodes.
My only complaints so far are that ever single week the episodes are too short which makes the wait for the next episode even more difficult. Definitely worth a watch!

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Mais um Boys Love que não entra no conceito

Lamentável, mas este é mais um BL que não entra no meu conceito, e aqui o motivo é mais simples, existe nitidamente uma falta de conexão entre os atores que fazem o papel principal. Outro ponto que percebi acompanhando a série até agora é a razão é que às vezes Natsukawa age um pouco demais como um gato assustado, como quando ele quase (não) entra no restaurante, quando ele derrama a bebida, etc. Tudo bem não ficar confortável, mas ser tão constrangido ao ir sair para comer algo me parece problemático, e não, isso não faz parte da cultura japonesa, o que poderia ser para muitos uma justificativa. Normalmente, isso é possível conferir nos sites e outras plataformas, os BL’s que mais chama atenção são os que, atores se comunicam muito bem na atuação, uma história bem objetiva (enredo e roteiro), e personagens que conseguem cativar de modo geral seus fãs.

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A Serious Question of Attraction

We often don’t realize how little we know about a person until we are in constant proximity with them.

Living with Him, an adaptation of Miyata Toworu’s manga of the same name, explores just that: the complexities of friendship and attraction through the shared living arrangements of childhood friends Tanaka Kazuhito (Sato Ryuga) and Natsukawa Ryota (Sakai Sho) upon entering university. Ryota is reserved and accustomed to responsibility, whereas Kazuhito is outgoing and universally liked. Despite Kazuhito’s popularity and striking looks, his inability to sustain relationships confounds Ryota and sparks a journey of self-discovery. As Ryota probes the reasons behind Kazuhito’s fleeting relationships, he confronts his own emotions and insecurities.

Read the complete article here-

https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/04/27/living-with-him-first-impressions-ep-1-2/

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