Don’t expect modern BL but do expect classic live action yaoi. Japan played with narrative beats with this one so, it actually launches with a confession scene and secret relationship. The initial meat cutes are told from each boy’s perspective as flashbacks. It’s really flipping good with both of them liking each other, and already in a relationship, yet so nervous about what to do. It’s completely and totally high school first love, flip-flopping agony and joy. It made me so happy but it’s also so teenage crisis management it’s traumatic to live through. This is my favorite kind of Japanese BL, I kept getting a hint of Seven Days and I never mention that show lightly.

Amagi, our uke, is an ADORABLE sunshine bean nugget with wildly uncontrollable elbows, one of the weird outsider kids. He’s frantically jerky and clumsy but in a way that doesn’t seem as overblown as Aoki did in Kieta Hatsukoi.

Takara is elegant to the point of deadpan, too cool, one of the popular clique, reserved and inaccessible at first(to us and Amagi). But turns out Japan is doing their version of pining with him. And when Japan does pining it skips right over yearning and into THIRST.

Takara, it turns out, is the one who liked Amagi first, and it’s Takara who will latch on to Amagi’s confession as an excuse to hold on as tightly as possible to his sunshine. Takara’s reason for keeping their relationship secret is that he doesn’t wanna share Amagi, ‘cause he thinks his friends will like Amagi too much and steal his attention - such a seme reason. Takara will (as we learn, as we watch him learn, and as eventually we see Amagi learn) do absolutely anything to keep Amagi. He’ll risk his friendships, his popularity, his status, even go against his own nature and learn to communicate (which includes going against his personality as a sullen teen).

“I like him so much that it feels stupid.”

The show depicts depth of character and balance by switching perspectives and voice overs from Amagi to Takara relatively quickly. We need this as Amagi shows too much emotion and Takara too little. Takara is a classic seme, voicing many of the conceits of the archetype while at the same time being a seme who is scared of his own semeness and therefore forced to learn to communicate. Amagi’s fears are all the fears of first love (and not really queer love, just first time jitters) and Takara’s attempts to mitigate that fear mean trying to understand Amagi better through conversation.

I adore this because part of first love should be learning how to talk to each! The way Takara evolves in this matter is so good and so important to the BL genre I did a whole post about it. I genuinely think this is a BL suitable to show to youngsters and teens, a genuine YA coming of age narrative.

It is Takara’s voiceover that really blew this show away for me. All too often in BL we only get the uke’s perspective and that means, with a difficult uke, it can be hard to understand why the seme likes the uke in the first place (see SCOY). With these two we are never left in any doubt that Takara thinks Amagi is beyond adorable, wants to have him (in all way) and keep him (probably in all ways too). Takara is also a corny, awkward, dork, because coolness and passion are incompatible, and I we him for this. He keeps stepping on land mines with Amagi and not knowing what to do about it. Good thing his default it to actually communicate. GOOD SEME, have a cutie as a treat. And Takara does win, there were more kisses in this high school JBL than I have seen since Seven Days. Sure they are awkward, teenager, dead fish kisses, but for this narrative that totally worked for me.

“He said something cute and I couldn’t help myself“ is so traditional Japanese seme in one sentence I can’t even.

As a couple, and we see them in a relationship for the entire show, these two are sweetly shy, and so painfully high school awkward it’s almost unbearable. The hand holding! The torture of decision making when you can’t read his mind! The. Agony. of. it. All. But I happen to enjoy the way burgeoning desire works with high school characters better than in any of the other settings Japan explores. What I find annoying in an office drama like Senpai is fine here.

Warning though, these two pretty much define cringe. Takara because he is trying desperately to maintain his reserve (and perform perfect seme) while simultaneously being so in love/lust with Amagi in high school where desire is, by definition and practice, uncool. While Amagi is just a tiny basket case with more than a hint of blushing maiden about him. He is all frenetic movements and angles, like he cannot control his limbs or his emotions, both are deeply confusing to him. Watching them stumble around each other and reflectively agonize over every little movement and conversation is an exercise in joy, patience, and terror. It’s all so “teenager” I can hardly stand it.

I gnawed on my knuckles and squealed a lot with this show. Reserved cool kid who must lean to communicate to keep the tiny disaster nugget he’s madly in love with. It is beyond charming: soft and gentle, packed with cuteness and high school angst. Did anything actually happen? No. Was it emotionally tense and paced well enough for me not to notice? Absolutely. Was there plot? Not really. Did I enjoy the hell out of it, anyway? Oh yes.

9/10

TOTALLY RECOMMENDED

GaGa’s subs are more poetic but Viki’s are more comprehensible, so I did (and recommend) both but if you must pick? Viki.

I you liked this show you should watch Seven Days and even Old Fashion Cupcake. Also something like Cherry Magic, My Love Mix Up, and Mr Unlucky might also be enjoyable. For something a little less cringe but with a similar dynamic there’s Korean BLs Cherry Blossoms After Winter and Light on Me. (Also T&A features one of the best wingman since Namgong.