Love this one...
For me - the one person who makes this short series worth watching is Kakeru. Love his expressive delivery - no matter what he is saying - you want to watch and listen to him say it. When he first gets his schoolwork back and sees he has to do more to bring the grade up - his whole body tells the story. Yamato - while he does a great job - we have seen it before. I did love how he found a way to take any moment of physical contact and ask for it to be extended. Nothing like we see in Thai dramas with BLs but, just a hug or, when they are hiding - to not move for a few more moments.Kashiwagi Haru (Kakeru) reminds me of Masaki Suda from Don't Call it Mystery. Expressive and fun to watch and listen to.
Like others have mentioned - no worries of friends or, classmates giving anyone a hard time - it is just part of life - refreshing and keeps the story on track. I will like coming back to this one for favorite scenes and episodes. I have to admit that I am a sucker for when a character takes care of another when they are ill or, injured.
The main frustration is in the lazy writing and direction. Part of the reason they can't communicate their feelings is the spontaneous friends always showing up to break up their conversation or, completely ruin their plans. Where is the respect? Why didn't either of them ever say - if you could just give us a moment to finish our conversation - we'll join you in a few minutes. Why was it okay for that friend to put all their books and plans away like what they want didn't matter - without even asking. Again - lazy writing and lazy direction. Forgivable but, it explains the lower scores from other reviewers.
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Gold
It is so perfect from the secret crush to them finding love, a lot of stones in their path but love can’t be stopped once it blooms. Interesting side characters that keep pushing the mainlead to not let his chance be wasted. Of cause jealousy gives the last push to get him to act, even if he is thinking that he is the only one in love. Definitely worth to be rewatched once we get a international release date.Story, Actors, Music, Picture - all 10/10 It all fits well together, I especially loved the little glistening every time they fell more in love.
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Soothing and Memorable.
The trope of childhood friends falling in love is definitely out of vogue and dramas with recurring themes (often including the same scenarios) fail to impress, and rather irritate viewers instead.Kimi Ni Wa Todokanai falls in the same league, but with that magical Japanese touch of making the simple seem the most beautiful, this has become one of my favorite dramas ever.
The seemingly quintessential, popular and well loved, yet introverted Ohara Yamato has a deep secret: he is head over heels for his less bright and extroverted childhood friend, Ashiya Kakeru.
He refrains from confessing, but when Kakeru expresses his wish for ‘having someone special’ and actively seeks company along with his friends, Yamato begins to lose control of his carefully guarded feelings.
The shift in tone of their friendship confuses Kakeru and the two best friends are forced to grapple with their emotions.
The trope might be a cliché, but I loved every single episode.
Its concise storytelling, excellent performances and chemistry from both the leading actors, coupled with adequate runtime made this a simple, yet memorable watch.
Also, the BGMs which were ridiculously spot on, aesthetics and a sprinkle of comedy, friendships and sibling relationships made this wholesome.
All in all, I will be definitely revisiting this little journey with the characters once again.
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A Decent Attempt but the Manga is Much Better
I just finished watching the live action adaptation of the manga I Cannot Reach You and honestly, I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. The series is 8 episodes long, each episode running about 22 to 25 minutes, which already felt way too short for something that’s based on an 8 volume manga.The story follows two childhood friends, Yamato and Kakeru. Yamato has a crush on his best friend and is trying to figure out how to confess without ruining their friendship. It’s set in high school and explores their relationship as Yamato sorts out his feelings. You do get that vibe in the show and I was happy to see some of those sweet and emotional moments come through.
But they skipped a lot. Some of the most important emotional moments and character development from the original story weren’t included. If you’ve read the manga, you’ll probably notice a few key scenes missing that would have added more depth to their relationship. It really only covers the beginning of the story and ends before things get more heartfelt and meaningful.
It felt like the adaptation only covered the first half of the manga and ended right when things should have gotten more emotional and meaningful. So the ending? Yeah, I didn’t love it. I was hoping for more. If you’ve read the manga, you’ll know what I mean. There was just so much potential they didn’t follow through on.
That said, I didn’t hate it either. I was excited to watch it and I think the acting was solid. I’m not the best judge of acting quality, but the actors seemed to capture the soft, awkward tension between the two characters pretty well. There were definitely sweet moments and I appreciated the effort they put in.
So overall, I’m 50-50 on it. The live action isn’t terrible, but it feels like a missed opportunity. I’d absolutely recommend reading the manga first. It has way more depth, emotion, and closure. Watch the series if you’re curious, but just know the manga is where the real heart of the story is.
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Sweet
Pretty cute and sweet bl. Was very loyal to the manga I would say. The characters were cute and had good chemistry. The plot is simple and straight forward. Tale as old as time. Unrequited love. But they did it well. Although one thing I always dread of a bl series was disturbance. Literally everything was disturbing them just as they were having a moment or about to say something important. Their family, friends and even mother nature herself was disturbing them. So kinda annoying but still okay. Overall a pretty cute BL,Was this review helpful to you?
it’s not a tension story, more like a cute live story but it’s sooo good
ITS AMAZINGLIKE SOOO GOOD AND CUTE
THE CHARACTERS ARE MIEK JUSTS DJHEVXJXBX
AND LIKE THE WHOLE SHOW IS AMAZING
I BINGED IT IN ONE NIGHT
UTS JUST SK CUTE AND GOOD
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friends to lovers pra sempre a melhor categoria
é muito bom assistir coisas que são simples mas muito bem feitas. tem uma história linda, personagens legais e um roteiro aconchegante. friends to lovers é uma das minhas categorias favoritas pois é possível acompanhar o crescimento de um amor muito genuíno e aqui acontece exatamente isso, um amor que perdura desde a infância até a adolescência e faz a gente vibrar fielmente por ele. é uma jornada muito boa acompanhar o desenvolvimento dos personagens pois os sentimentos que acontecem na narrativa deles são muito palpáveis com relação a realidade.Was this review helpful to you?
Light-hearted with a good dose of doki doki
It's your typical best friends to lovers story which begins as a one-sided crush. The story development is predictable but the screen writing didn't make it boring. Expect the usual miscommunication and missed opportunities, and characters plagued with doubt and self-worth, as well as the "love guru" friend who helps to finally move things along.And also expect plenty of doki doki. Some scenes (e.g. the bridge scene) were shot beautifully, lighting (japanese film makers never cease to amaze me with their ability to capture natural light in all its glory), music, shots/angle, coloring. Comfortable pacing and had a nice build up of tension to create those moments that gave me butterflies in my stomach.
Overall a feel-good, light-hearted series that doesn't overdo the angst. Actors were suitably casted but a little wet behind the ears and some scenes were delivered awkwardly. A good "filler" BL series to turn to when there's a dearth of good dramas.
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"I cannot reach you" but it reached me
This BL is really cute. I liked the contrast in personalities between both male leads and the story moved at a good pace! This BL is an easy watch and very light-hearted. Perfect for a bite-sized BL and if you don't feel like watching something super heavy.I liked the chemistry between the leads too and the slow build-up was perfect.
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This review may contain spoilers
pretty sweet!
i randomly clicked on this on netflix and was pleasantly suprised! two mains are really sweet, i found the actor for kakeru very talented, he really embodied the role. also loved yui's character he was really funny and supportive. the romatic tension scenes were actually really good, they really followed the classic tropes but still were natural. especially the sleeping bag trip one that one was sooo well done.something i didn't really like though was the way yamato forgot about the kiss on the bridge. it kind of made the buildup all worthless, and i didn't really enjoy the last few episodes after that. the thing that probably threw me off the most was the overuse of the bokeh filter when anything slightly romantic happend. i understand its there to show the watcher that the scene is making the characters feel butterflies and all that but it was just TOOOO much. it showed up almost every episode more than once and it definitley took away from the emotionalness of the scenes because i was too busy laughing over the fact that omg heres the bokeh filter again! the filming and actual camera work of the bl was really good (besides bokeh..) and definitley added to the enjoyement.
though this had some flaws, over all it was pretty sweet and was of high quality.
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This review may contain spoilers
Easy watch. I saw plenty of similar plotline and I went through the same frustrations as usual. Dragged too much for 8 episodes but at the same time the development in their relationship was too quick ? I wanted to see more of their relationship and I dont like when they clear things between them in the last episode... Enjoyable because secret crush is my soft spot but nothing more. I will forget everything about it rather soon. MLs were good in their acting though! Hope to see them in a better scripted drama Was this review helpful to you?
Like a perfect manga!
This BL has been quite viral and for good reason. The couple is adorable together and the height difference further adds to this. There's something about them being childhood friends that makes the viewer naturally curious about the relationship of the two. I am very satisfied with this BL and the length of it. 8 x 20 minute episodes is great for a Japanese BL and each episode added depth. I did feel like my expectations were made a bit too high from what I saw on social media, as the BL feels very fictional and manga-like with some of the acting and mannerisms. This is highly enjoyable but it does decrease the relatability factor for me personally. The side characters were enjoyable enough, maybe not quite as much as some of the side characters in other J-BLs. I was particularly annoyed by the guy who keeps trying to get Kakeru a girlfriend, but it is realistic for a Japanese high school setting. Overall, I highly recommend this BL, the visuals and vibes of the drama are great and I am looking forward to see more from the two. We didn't get much skinship other than a cute handholding scene and two kissing scenes that didn't quite feel passionate, but I don't think this is the BL that needed that. Enjoy this drama!Was this review helpful to you?
