Eternal Yesterday

Criminally underrated

When I first started the drama I was lowkey skeptical about it being the “Soft fluffy Japanese bls” but they proved me very wrong with it.
Firstly, the plot in itself is very interesting, it has gradual growth . I would suggest you to not be skeptical about it being sad.
Ofcourse given to the plot it, indeed has sad undertones throughout all the episodes but along with it, it has some sweet, funny and heartwarming moments.
The acting is top notch, there's is no overreacting. Each character feels so real and genuine. Also everyone is a green flag

The cinematography is very beautifully yet smartly done. You can see the tones, scenes, the little cuts adds into the feeling of the drama.

I personally loved the gradual growth between Mitsuru and Yamada Koichi so much. You could practically feel the character (Mitsuru) opening up and breaking down his walls and expressing his, love hurt, breakdowns etc to Koichi after him being dead and to not loose him.
Koichi on the other hand, had one of the most loveable characteristics; he's warm to Mitsuru, and his love is just so pure that he is okay if his whole world consists of koichi.

It's honestly very hard to describe in feelings how this series makes you feel,it's like you know something bad is about to happen / the time is slipping away and the state you are in will end but somehow the current state you are is comfortable.
Please 🙏🏻🥺 watch them it's just so good.
PS: i might make changes after i finish the last ep.

Read More

Bitter and Sweet

This gotta be one of the best JBL. The plot is interesting and well written. I loved how it clearly tells us what kind of series this would be. That it would have a sad ending that would make us cry buckets. But did that made it hurt less? No, it actually hurt even more because it makes us hopeful that maybe all will be happy even though there is a very slim chance of that happening. Also by the end, I loved how we see the POV of the other character, it makes that things that we have witness even more impactful and finally I loved that the pacing is good. It wasn't rushed, it wasn't slow and we only focused on these two characters. Now the acting is just phenomenal. Both the actors portrayed their characters really well and also they are not afraid to kiss. Japanese Bl is infamous for its dead fish kiss but here, the actors actually kiss properly. So that amazed me. The ost was so nice. It set the mood for the series really well. Overall this is a really great bl. A unique plot, great acting and great ost. Beautifully well done.

Read More

Sweet like candy with a doom filled center.

This was a nice story that was undercoated by dread. From the horrible shock of the accident, then the disbelief that we are supposed to follow a story like this, then being fully on board because the story was just so nice, then trying to decide if that last episode would be watched or forever skipped. The entire show was pierced with a feeling of dread knowing the only way it could end. The thing is, that in the opening credits, you see them having a great time camping and think maybe there will be a twist. I assume that was deliberate. The two main actors were amazing in this. I hope that separately or together, they do a lot more acting so I can see them again.
I had to knock down the Rewatch rating. I really don't think I could go through that again.

Read More

? A Love That Defied Death – Haunting, Beautiful, and Unforgettable

Eternal Yesterday (Eien no Kino) is one of those dramas that only Japan could come up with—where else would you get a love story involving a literal living corpse? And yet, despite the strange and surreal premise, it works so beautifully. It’s poetic, heart-wrenching, and unforgettable.

From the very beginning, it’s clear this is a story about love at first sight—on both sides. The connection between Koichi and Mitsuru (Micchan) is instant and intense, and the drama does a beautiful job exploring the depth of their bond, even when death gets in the way.

I absolutely loved Koichi. He was so protective of Mitsuru from the start—whether it was standing up to bullies in the classroom or always walking on the traffic side of the road to shield him. Ironically, that very habit led to the truck accident that took his life. Speaking of the truck—honestly, the driver should have been fined or jailed. He was clearly speeding and caused Koichi’s death. But even after being hit, Koichi got up and his first thought was still Micchan. That says everything about the kind of person he is—selfless and full of love. Even in their final moments together, he was still thinking about Micchan’s future, saying he couldn’t leave his “corpse” behind because it wouldn’t look good for Micchan. It broke me. He was always putting Micchan first.

And then there was that final scene. The crying, the love-making, the constant exchange of “I love you”s—God, it was so emotional. Koichi knew he was disappearing soon, and his tears showed just how much he didn’t want to leave. Meanwhile, Micchan tried so hard to comfort him, saying things like “You are the one I love the most,” “I will never forget you,” and “You’ll always be my number one until I die.” Those words hit so hard. It was painful to watch two people love each other so deeply and still have to say goodbye.

Overall, Eternal Yesterday is an incredible series—unusual, emotional, and deeply moving. The plot and chemistry are everything. My only wish is that Japan would invest a bit more in the production quality of their BL dramas. Compared to Korean or Thai BL, the visuals and cinematography here felt a little lacking—but the story and the emotional depth absolutely make up for it.

If you’re looking for a BL that’s raw, touching, and unique, this one is a must-watch.

Read More

"A momentary illusion once again, true love is always there."

Well, this was a way of showing the 5 stages of grief while throwing strong symbolic and relatable content into the mix. The fact that this is a BL is a bonus too. It's quite a shame that this drama is underrated, because although the theme seems a bit disturbing and morbid at first glance, when one considers a BL with such a ship, this unique plot transcends all that entirely.

This BL story goes beyond the typical love story.
It's about a first love tale; most of them are doomed not to last.
This one took 2 years too bloom, alas when it did it was already too late.

"It was in the blink of an eye. It was so sudden, it was inevitable. I couldn't do anything." - Mitsuru

It starts with the ending, and ends with a possibility of a new start.
(Although, it seems there's a cycle too, of when a person is stuck in the past.)
Confusing? Perhaps, but the drama is fairly complex and simple at the same time.
All it takes is to read in between the lines, analyze the symbolic value it presents in the scenes and lines.

The content is relatable. It tackles life and death in a calm, soothing way.
Almost too natural in an unnatural way. Then again, Japanese dramas are keen in this thematic.
They are able to teach valuable lessons, and make it look like it's a natural, mundane rite of passage.

The way this drama was wrapped was beautiful, heartwarming and bittersweet.

"How can we heal the sorrow of what was given and taken away?" - Mitsuru

When people start to forget Koichi's existence, and seeing Mitsuru's frustrated was painful.

Those we lose still live in our memories, in our hearts, there's always resurrection, when time passes the memory lasts but the image of the person sometimes fades without us realizing it does. We find ourselves forgetting about those we cared about, and then remembering them from time to time. It's the natural course of life. This drama handles those themes in a light way, but in the underlines of the meaning of their lines, their scenes and the plot the message is there.

The five stages of grief are highly represented by our main lead Mitsuru.

"I cried so much that my whole body turned into tears. But in the end... the sadness did not go away at all. " -Mitsuru

He can't let go of Koichi. He denies the truth, lives with the pain, and knows he has to embrace reality.
The connection of a newborn baby, in the birth of Koichi's little sister, shows that while in death and loss there's also life. It goes on, the living keep on living, time waits for no one. The concept of Koichi being trapped in eternal yesterday, it's a ephemeral miracle. Perhaps the will to hang on to life a little longer, to his love, to his unfinished and unresolved love story. Mitsuru's feelings that keep him there, and make him well co-exist. But, nothing lasts forever. And neither will he. The departure is eminent and they have to deal with it. Make peace with the situation, acknowledge their pain and predicament.

From the very start we know where this will leads us, and yet we still follow the ride.
Very much like Mitsuru and Koichi who seemed enthralled by their first glance, we find ourselves wanting more.
Hoping for a miracle, albeit knowing it's impossible. Wishing that there's a happy fairytale ending instead of reality.

I think it's realistic as to where or how it ends. It was meant to be a moral fantasy story after all.
Maybe it was mostly all in Mitsuru's head, his profound wish for it to be true. To have Koichi near him.
Or maybe it was really an odd miracle provided just for them, in a short term. Koichi was his shield and Mitsuru his life.

Komiya Rio and Inoue Sora did a phenomenal job in their roles. I can only praise then. Rio's character was a hard one to portray and to be believable. A living corpse, the walking dead, not a zombie, not entirely dead but not alive either. And yet he did it. The pain, the struggles, the longing and his love for Mitsuru is there implicit even before the accident. Mitsuru being more reserved, took him more time to acknowledge his feelings and maybe that's why it was so hard for him to let go, and what made Koichi wait. But time was against them, and as much as Koichi and him wanted to stay and last, it was for the best that it ended.

Rio's sorrow as he cried in the last episode, broke my heart.
They were too pure, and their cute first love was robbed too soon.

"Koichi. You're still my number one. I love you the most." -Mitsuru

There can only be a number one. Despite the room in our hearts, there's always a special person in it.
For Mitsuru it will always be Koichi. I love that the sensei took a picture of them, it validates that it was real?
It's a memento, a token to keep close to the heart. Even after years, Mitsuru still can't forget his first love.

The story is mostly under the perspective of Mitsuru, but I liked that in the end we have an insight of Koichi.
As he describes their first meeting, his on growing feelings for Mitsuru and their journey. The tender love and enthusiasm in his voice as he tells the details, is endearing, despite bittersweet, since we all know where it leads.

"I didn't know how many first-year high school students there were that year. But meeting Mitchan was a miracle to me. He looked scary. However... He looked at me with a strong gaze. Yes. I fell in love. I never thought I would fall for a man. So I was surprised. But it didn't matter. As long as it's Mitchan." - Koichi

The real definition of he fell first, but the other fell harder could he applied to these two.

Superb acting from the main leads, Komiya Rio and Inoue Sora.
Once again Japan is able to present a strong plot but make it somehow emotional, a fantasy more a less realistic and symbolic and not a dark, heavy and only tragic.

The OST is great, I really enjoyed it. The intro song called Sunshower by Ayumu Imazu is so alluring given his vocals, and the lyrics so meaningful. Meanwhile the ending theme called Eternal by Aoi Kubo, is graceful and emotional at the same time.

And the whole cinematography and overall coloring of the drama too. Despite the gloom, it holds a warm filter. It focuses more on the male leads, the support characters appear for that purpose only. They don't create unnecessary drama inside of the drama, or add more complexity to the plot. They are meant for value and that's about it. The dialogues are intelligent and mostly to reveal hidden truths and relatable lessons for us the viewers to notice.

It's a mature first love drama. Not suitable for those who idealize typical romance or only want fair happy endings.
If you are not ready for a heartbreak, for a few tears, and valuable moral lessons, then this drama is not for you.

Don't let the theme or the first episode discourage you from seeing all 8 amazing episodes and grasp the tragic beauty and value that this drama holds. It's wistful, and bittersweet but there is a refined grace to it in the way it teaches it's content. To the purity of the main characters, or the soothing way they talk and how the scenes present themselves. To the pent-up emotions, confessions and revelations. To how the story unfolds. What could be truly tragic would be missing all of this, just because it doesn't settle with the overall idealization of what a love story and BL should be like, or if it has or not a happy or sad ending to begin with.

If you can see all this combined then give it a go.
Have a tissue box and heart ready, are my words of advice.

Read More

A beautiful sad love...and so much more.

First of all I just want to say that this series blew me away! If you even lost somebody you loved you can definitely relate to it. Well...to be honest even if you are luck enough to say that you've never lost a loved one, you will be moved by this story.

PLOT: Our narrator, Mitsuru, guide us through the entire 8 episodes. He starts by telling how his life changed after meeting Koichi. They were in the same class, but didn't know each other. Mitsuru is a classic smart sad loner, and Koichi a nice popular jock. Since the first time their eyes met, they fell deeply in love. Koichi did everything is his power to get closer to Mitsuru, and it took him a while to do it...but they became inseparable.

Unfortunately, while walking to school Koichi gets hit by a truck (those fucking white trucks that loves killing our beloved characters AAAHHHH **screams in pure hatred**) in front of our boy Mitsuru. Its pretty clear that Koichi couldn't have possibly survived the hit, but there he is...."alive" and breathing. Both of them go through an incredibly emotional journey.....going through all stages of grief.

The story was put together beautifully!! Their feelings were tangible....their interactions were 100% believable, even though I knew it was just a series about a walking corpse and his bf. But still it was very moving to watch those boys navigating through their loss and emotions. Definitely a MUST WATCH!

CAST / CHARACTERS: OMFG AMAZING!!!!! Every single actor hit their mark. I don't remember the last time I said that. Just beautiful work from everyone! Koichi and Mitsuru are wonderful! Supporting cast too. Zero complaints from me.

The writers are 10/10. I feel like a broken record but I am at a loss of words. Can't really describe the feeling after just watching it. You have to let it marinate a little....let the emotions settle. What a beautiful series.

Read More

Excellent show if you can handle the tragedy in your romances

Well, this show destroyed me like I knew it would, but in a good way. It was deeply sad but honest about that the whole way through, and also managed to deliver a lot of moments of joy even as it never let you forget the mounting dread. It also featured one of the most authentic feeling young romances I’ve seen in awhile.

It felt like the creators had a really strong grasp on the story they wanted to tell, and all the elements came together perfectly. The themes around grief and love and loss were clear, the plotting and pacing were precise, the chemistry from the main pair worked wonderfully, and the acting was top notch (especially the actor playing Mitsuru, his eyes are gonna haunt me).

This is definitely not for everyone - if you can’t handle tragedy in your BL or romances that don’t end HEA, you should give this a skip. But if you don’t mind that on occasion, this is one of the most poignant shows I’ve seen in a long while and very much worth the watch.

Read More

Best JBL that I've seen

It was unexpectedly beat all my top bls. I can't find enough words to explain how beautiful what ive seen. It's already near perfection, from the storyline up to soundtrack. I think it will be hard for me to recover from this one. It really set the standard so high for me, and this one will be really hard to beat in my heart.

I just also want to note that, this is really definitely not for everyone, it is not just the usual bl, it's more than a bl which has many symbolism in every details, this may be too sad and too vauge for some if you are not a fan of subtlety and slow-pacing shows (specifically what you see as usual for jbls)

Read More

AN UNDERRATED MASTERPIECE

THIS SERIES JUST RIPPED MY HEART OUT AT ENDING.... IT BROKE MY HEART FOR WEEKS AFTER WATCHING THE SERIES BUT THEN I REALIZED ITS TITLE JUST MAKES SENSE, "ETERNAL YESTERDAY". THEY ARE LIVING IN THE PRESENT BUT THEN THE OTHER GUY'S LIFE IS ALREADY SOMEWHAT IN THE PAST CUZ HE'S A LIVING CORPSE AND HIS TIME ON EARTH IS ALREADY FINISHED BUT WITH MICHAN'S LIFE AND LOVE ENERGY MADE KOICHI SO ALIVE. BUT IN THE END KOICHI CHOSE TO END THAT NICE AND MEMORABLE TIME WITH MICHAN BECAUSE IF HE STAYED ANY LONGER WOULD MEAN HE WOULD BE FEEDING ON MICHAN'S LIFE ENERGY AND THOSE AROUND HIM. HE IS SO BRAVE AND SELFLESS WHICH BREAKS MY HEART!!!!!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS JAPANESE BL MAKING MY HEART FLUTTER WITH SERIES SUCH AS "CHERRY MAGIC" THEN BREAKS MY SOUL WITH THE MOVIE "LIFE" THEN AGAIN STAB MY HEART WITH "ETERNAL YESTERDAY"❤❤‍🩹💔😭😭 THERE ARE ONLY FEW JAPANESE BL's THAT ARE SO UNDERRATED BUT SO DAMN GOOD. SOME DOESN'T NEED A KISSING SCENE AND YET THEY CAN TAKE YOU WITH THEIR FEELINGS WITH THEIR ACTING. THIS IS WHY I LOVE JAPANESE BL SERIES..

Read More

I will never forget you till the day I die. You are my Number 1.

When I watched Make Our Days Count, I was devastated and left traumatized by the ending. So if I were to describe MODC, I'll say it was beautiful and tragic. But Eternal Yesterday leaves me with a bittersweet ending. I don't think it was tragic, I wish to refer to it as a beautiful series, maybe because I already knew that it'll be a sad ending.

Cherry Magic used to be my favourite Japanese Bl because of its healthy and heartwarming story, but I think it just got dethroned 😭

God this series was well written and executed, the two leads delivered nothing short of spectacular acting. I was forming hard girl hard girl, telling myself that I won't cry , up until Koichi started narrating how they met 😭 God I broke down 😭 I bawled and I cried so hard.😭

And what Mitchan said about some people being irreplaceable? I totally agree. No matter how much time that passes, no matter the number of years that goes by, your number 1 will always be your number 1.
It reminds me of Leslie Chung's Lover 😭

This is a show that is worth watching even tho it doesn't have a happy ending. Trust me,you definitely won't regret watching it.

Read More

This was my favorite drama of 2022. I can't say enough about how much I loved it.

Was it hard to get through? Sometimes, yes. Especially as we drew closer and closer to Koichi disappearing and we were forced along with Mitsuru to understand that there was not going to be a last minute save. Koichi was going to leave and there was nothing that anyone could do about it.

A heartfelt meditation on grief and loss by increments, this show had me in a chokehold the entire time that I was watching it, and I still think about it sometimes. The acting was excellent - both Komiya Rio and Inoue Sora gave their all and it shows. Without them both being all in this drama wouldn't be half so decent. It also has maybe the best confession episode I've ever seen. I have rewatched that episode more times than I care to admit, but it's truly glorious.

The soundtrack still makes me cry, but both credits songs are amazing. I am especially in love with Sunshower.

This drama will come for your feelings, but if you can handle crying an ocean of tears, it's totally worth it. Mitsuru and Koichi's love story is beautiful, and in a lot of ways what this drama is is an ode to that kind of love and devotion - something so powerful that time itself stands still for it, if only for a short time.

Read More