truly matched each other's freaks
I'm conflicted writing this review because I loved this drama not because of the story itself but because of how unintentionally funny this is.So the story is about a guy with a stalkerish tendency who falls in love with a guy whose insecurity is almost as intense as his ego. Both of them can't properly talk which makes an absolutely hillarious series to me.
The love story itself feels very juvenile and really does give you secondhand embarassment. However, for me the secondhand embarassment quickly turned into comedic gold. Everytime either one of them does something insanely stupid, I literally fall out of my seat laughing. Please do watch if you're needing a laugh.
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This review may contain spoilers
Complex, fascinating characters
10/18/2022Rating: 9.0
Pairing Type: quiet, shy mc x popular, tsundere ml; stuttering mc; bullied mc (not severe); obsessive mc
Tropes: school life; time-skip (midway through); high school; college; acting; obsession; second lead syndrome
Triggers: bullying (ie teasing, no severe physical abuse); toxic relationship; ideations of mass shooting (nothing graphic but a gun is depicted)
Heat level: 2/5 (behind closed doors); characters are intimate but love scenes are behind closed doors
Re-watch: will likely not rewatch
I can’t believe I didn’t watch this just because some of the comments people left scared me off. This was surprisingly really well done.
I should note, the lead’s relationship is not healthy. Someone commented that this is controversial without anything controversial actually happening and it is very accurate.
Both characters are flawed individuals. Kiyoi is narcissistic, manipulative and selfish. Beyond Hira’s stutter, he’s obsessive and puts Kiyoi on a pedestal. A perfect combination for an absolutely toxic relationship.
I thought the episode in Kiyoi’s POV was necessary and well done. We see how he first becomes interested in Hira’s devotion to him and how he manipulates Hira because of these feelings. However, as his own feelings grow, he wants Hira to see him as a person rather than an ideal. Like wow, the psychology of these characters is really well written. You can also tell, to some extent, that Kiyoi is mutually obsessed with Hira in his own way.
It’s not healthy, but it is fascinating.
Totally got second lead syndrome. Hira’s secondary love interest never had a chance but damn was he lovely and damn did he make me cry.
These two people would definitely be better off without each other, which is why I probably won’t be watching this again. But I really did feel like this story was well crafted with complex and interesting leads. Would recommend.
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I feel so bad for Hira and I feel uncomfortable for Kiyoi.
A lot of people told me that this was really toxic. I actually prepared myself for it and to be honest, the first few episodes made me uncomfortable. I feel so bad for Hira. Then again, I feel uncomfortable for Kiyoi. They complement each other, and for some of us, it might seem toxic. For them, it is the kind of love they want to have. After all, who are we to dictate what kind of love they should have for each other? To be honest, I often wonder if this kind of relationship would last. Overall, I enjoyed watching this masterpiece.Was this review helpful to you?
Really Enjoyed This, But Also Could Be Better
I watched this out of the whim, and it was pleasant to watch episodes 1-3, and just those episodes, I was rating this series at about a 7. But, once we got to episode 4, the story got better, and just all of it was beautiful.Who knew BL genre could be so beautiful. The only thing I didn't quite like was the derogatory or name-calling from Kiyoi towards Hira. It almost came off as borderline abusiveness, even though I understand it's to convey the sub-dom relationship. Still good to watch. It was a good watch indeed.
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angsty cute
kiyoi is a cute lil brat who cant express how much he adores hira. sometimes his actions may confuse the viewers but just try to understand he truly does adore and love hira.hira has a hard time learning to be loved due to being bullied in the past. hes soft and pure he deserves the world.
they are such a great pair honestly
super cute and sweet, if you arent into bully to lover than i wouldnt watch, but both leads are super cute and had great chemistry! i enjoyed it a lot :)
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How to rate this show?
I just finished watching this in 2025 and its one of the most unique BL I've watched. I don't even know how to rate it. I absolutely disliked the start. I hated how the ML was treated (I acknowledge he was creepy). No, I did not hate the script, I did not hate the actors, I loved the OST, I was glued to my screen the whole time, but I hated it. Call it anti-shipping, but I vehemently hoped the ML ended up with the second lead despite the foreboding.However, when the POV switched, my ship switched too. I saw what Kiyoi saw. Honestly we cant blame him for falling in love. For all his flaws Hira was cutie and needs to be protected at all costs. Its truly magical to be seen, to be loved, to be the only one. Thats what they are to eachother.
The show is not fluffy, despite the hip OST. It is dark. Their relationship can be perceived as toxic, but its not, you'll see why if you stick with the show. They are just bad at communicating. The characters are flawed, they needed to be in therapy like yesterday. For Hira it is to help his stutter, to increase his confidence, to reduce his obsessiveness and most importantly to get rid of his imaginary gun violence. For Kiyoi it is to improve his communication.
100% recommend. My beautiful man Kiyoi is indeed the most beautiful man I've seen, but it was Hira who shone bright.
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Unique, Painful & Brilliant
A film is not written to protect the audience from unpleasant paths to love. Utsukushii Kare intends to drag you through an unpleasant, and dysfunctional relationship, which I would argue, honestly reflects the often screwed up nature of first love.The brilliance (but also risky) in this work is in how it's structured, only letting us in Hira's world to start, and then surprising you by bringing you into Kiyoi's world to bring the story together. The result is, yes, an at times uncomfortable watch, but ultimately achieving beautiful moments.
All of this to say, watch this series. Withstand the tough stuff, and remember, characters must be flawed. By the end you'll get what's being shared here, and I think, most will enjoy it. Thanks.
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Love Beyond Words
I can’t believe I’ve been sleeping on My Beautiful Man!This series is amazing—and the plot is actually different. I was hooked from the very first episode. The only downside? The episodes are a bit short, but that seems to be a thing with a lot of Japanese BLs. Still, they never skimp on quality. I honestly haven’t watched a J-BL I didn’t like.
What makes this one stand out is that it’s not your typical fluff-filled, lovey-dovey show. It’s deeper and more emotionally complex. Hira, the main character, struggles with low self-esteem because of his speech disability, and he’s completely head over heels for Kiyoi from the moment they meet. He basically becomes his errand boy, doing anything just to be close to him.
On the other hand, Kiyoi starts off as this cold, distant “I-don’t-care” type. But as the story progresses, you can see them slowly building a bond—even though they barely talk but eyes won't lie. A lot of the conflict comes from miscommunication and the fact that neither of them really knows how to express their feelings. At one point, I thought it might be a one-sided love story, but I was wrong—Kiyoi has feelings too. He just doesn’t know how to deal with them or show them properly. Both characters are so insecure, which is probably why nothing really happened between them back in high school.
As for the acting—top-notch. Both leads delivered great performances, but I’ve got to give special props to Hagiwara. He portrayed Hira’s insecurity and dysphemia so naturally, it felt real. The pacing was also on point. Even with short episodes, the story covered all the essentials without dragging or adding unnecessary scenes.
Overall, I really enjoyed this series from start to finish. Highly recommend it if you’re looking for something emotional, realistic, and a little different from the usual BL fare.
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What A Beautiful Set Of Bois
Had no idea what I was jumping into with this one. I've had mixed reactions to Japanese BL's. Loved ones like "Cherry Magic", "Love On The Line" and "The Novelist" , but sometimes they get quite repetitive. As well as now really showing the leads dynamic very well, aka they don't have much chemistry. Well this show definitely was a pleasant surprise!First things first. I really like the animation aesthetics in this. They really added to the storytelling, it also made me think of "Heartstopper". I love how our main character Hira is so shy and awkward. He really is one of the most awkward main characters in a BL I've ever seen and that's saying something! So high praise to the actor. Though one plot device with the character I didn't like. I understand the violence symbolism of the gun motif was him expressing his inner thoughts and feelings. However, it was still too much lol. I live in America, that sh** is too serious.
Kiyoi's development with Hira is interesting. I saw little nuances of him liking him back from the start. Sticking up for him, the little smiles and wanting to just be around him. So I could tell something was up from the beginning, which is a good thing. It shouldn't just be completely one sided infatuation. I love that ep 5 is completely dedicated to Kiyoi and his backstory. We saw everything from his POV too now which is what I wanted. I also love seeing Hira kicking booty in this episode! We got to see our shy boy screaming and I loved it. At first I thought their first kiss seemed so out of left field, but if this is how Kiyoi has been feeling this entire time. Totally makes sense now. Boy is in love and the jealous type! I was frustrated thinking Kiyoi needed to stop being so chill or acting chill about everything. However ep 5 on explained this very well and I understood where he was coming from in his reservations.
Moving on. The intro of Koyami (our official love triangle boy) was interesting. I really like him and he clearly likes Hira a lot. So I felt conflicted. But because the love Hira has for Kiyoi I knew the switch up could never be. However, all I'm saying is but THE TINY CAKE Hira got himmmm. So sweet! The final talk between Hira and Koyami hurt my heart, but it was really well done. Koyami is genuinely also a good person, like he wants Hira to be happy, Koyami FOR THE WIN. It was nice to see the other love interest not be shady for a change. We got our happy ending and I hope Koyami gets a boo too! He deserves it.
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very toxic
this show has a lot of cute moments and i think the actors have good chemistry, but it is really tough to ignore the very toxic nature of their relationship. i understand that shows are not real life and they can explore an aspect of toxicity without people actually having that in their relationships, but it crosses a line and becomes hard to watch at points. i think if at some point the character fundamentally learned to change their view, this would receive a higher rating. unfortunately the sequels only doubled down on the toxic parts so take that into consideration. with all that said, I would not mind seeing these actors in completely new story.Was this review helpful to you?
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A Plot with a different Twist
This was a very lovely drama that I started watching a couple of times and was finally quite happy with it when I finally saw it through. We have a family member who stuttered from when he could first mouth words and through high school. It can be a very frustrating disability. Fortunately, he outgrew his and is now a middle school principal. This drama handled it quite well and accurately. The protagonists had such great chemistry. You couldn't help but love both of them. They had an air of naivety and in their own way expressed it in two totally different ways, one like a child and the other with a bit of anger adolescence. I've completed watching it but will watch it again as soon as I'm finished with this review because it is such a short drama and I enjoyed it so much the first time. I always write my reviews before reading others because I don't want to be influenced by other's feelings. I honestly don't care if someone liked a drama or disliked it. After all that's why we were given minds of our own. I hope you give it a shot and get some enjoyment out of it.Was this review helpful to you?
Love or hate it, but I adored it.
As in many Japanese storytelling, this felt real, with many many layers and subtleties. In my experience Japan is never afraid to go outside the box with flawed characters and dark tropes, or tell a story others might not be brave enough to.The acting is superb, and the character complexities are subtle. I can see why the boldness of narration in this story might trigger people to be mad and leave a lower rating, but sticking with this show to the end, looking behind a character's exterior to the emotions lying underneath each interaction, will bring all its light and beauty to the forefront. As I read recently, you'd rather a piece of art provoke 1/10s and 10/10s than all 5s.
As with reality, people are flawed. There are misunderstandings, nerves and social pressure getting in the way of honest communication, weird and creepy sides to us we rather others not see, insecurities and a lack of awareness of our own shortcomings. If you want an escape from reality with fluffy characters and story, this isn't it. Personally I find happy stories off-putting unless there's a journey to get there. These are people you might be able to relate to that we can empathize with. It explores neurodiversity and potentially slight personality disabilities in a way I've not seen. Lighting, scenery, settings and music all play a part in feeling enclosed within their story and evoking our senses. The subtleties behind the conversations, but also the tones of voice, the nuanced expressions - they stick with you to the point where I think rewatching you would pick up on so much more.
There's probably more I could say, but I hope you give it a go. It deserves the spotlight. I'm a sucker for subtle art, one that doesn't feel pressured to scream to the masses, one where the characters are followed through properly. 10/10, go watch it 💛 it's stuck with me all day.
Looking forward to the movie.
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