Second Chances.
I think it's time to admit that some types of mature romances aren't just for me. This was the case with this show.Miyata Akihiro, a sincere and diligent editor of a business magazine by chance gets to meet his first love, Iwanaga Takashi while working on an article. However, he is still haunted by his previous experience as a teenager with the untouchable Iwanaga sensei, who had bet on their love. Now, as adults, Iwanaga once again expresses his interest in Miyata-san, who is determined not to fall for the easy-going Iwanaga-sensei again.
The characters, particularly Miyata-san is the reason I held on until the end. He was careful and cautious with his words and actions. I was never once annoyed or angered by his choices.
As for Iwanaga sensei... I have no idea about him even after the end. There was so much more to him than what was being shown, but I just couldn't feel anything for his character at all.
I enjoyed the flashbacks, but they seemed incomplete to the story, inspite of giving some glimpse into their past, particularly Miyata-san.
Both the actors nailed their roles, and the overall atmosphere of the drama was pleasant.
It seems to be one of those dramas, which I feel had a lot of potential, but somehow managed to miss me.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A second chance at love
"I love you" aren't usually just words to throw around. They have meaning behind it, which is usually to show how you feel about someone. They're words to express your feelings. Sometimes it's thrown around carelessly, but sometimes it has true feelings behind it.Why did I decide to start it off this way? Well, in the 5th episode, Miyata hesitates so say that he loves Iwanaga due to what I believe is fear. As they rekindled their high school love, it would be reasonable to be scared to be left alone once again. Although this drama has its flaws, it also can show real life situations. Love isn't just something to be thrown around, unless your a player. The fear of abandonment is real and is understandable to why Miyata didn't say he loved Iwanaga.
As Miyata is now an editor for Iwanaga, he must try to keep their personal life from their work life. Iwanaga wants to start over again and have a chance at being with Miyata again, but as said earlier, he is scared to be left again. But when Iwanaga and Miyata share a moment, there is no turning back. One kiss turns into two, two kisses turns into three, and three kisses turns into something more than just a kiss.
What I liked about this series was definitely the chemistry. As always, Japan always has great tension between the two characters. I also enjoyed the background to get a glimpse of the past. Adding details is everything!!!
While this was a great series, there was flaws. The unnecessary characters that got in the way of their love was upsetting. I can understand 1 which is even a lot for a short 6 episode show, but more? Cmon..
Overall, as all series have, it was good with patchy moments. While more growth between the characters would've been better, it definitely wasn't something too horrible. They were cuties😸
Was this review helpful to you?
Whispering, Short, Sweet kind of Sexy
This is an easy binge, a nice pallet cleanser between heavier drama, packed with humour flirting, insecurity.In the center of this drama there is a big misunderstanding and traumas past, There to offer some kind of meaning to this otherwise easy flirtatious fluff.
The pacing is a bit fast for my taste, and I do believe they use action above words most of the time... But they did make way for some pretty sexy and fun shower and bed scenes offering us such great lines as "Do you ever think of me while you play with yourself in the shower"
A decent watch, with nothing but lovable interesting characters.
P.S. The whispers in this deserve a tag of their own.
Also the casting for the young versions was perfection.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A Journey of Reconciliation for Long Lost Lovers
“I love you” aren’t easy words to say. For many, expressing emotion through actions is much easier than putting emotion into words, especially when misunderstandings and miscommunication have colored how you feel about relationships.In the Japanese BL Love is Better the Second Time Around, adapted from the manga series Koi wo Surunara Nidome ga Joto by Kinoshita Keiko, Hasegawa Makoto and Furuya Robin takes center stage as Miyata Akihiro and Iwanaga Takashi, two men on the verge of starting over after being torn apart in their youth over a misunderstanding.
Short and full of desire, Love is Better the Second Time Around finds editor Miyata Akihiro being forced to confront his first love when he is assigned to university professor Iwanaga Takashi, a confident, suave man he’d once loved enough to elope with. A man who Miyata believed played with his feelings.
Read the complete article here-
https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/04/12/love-is-better-the-second-time-around-series-review-ep-3-to-6/
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
SUCH A COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP AND SITUATION
All in all this Drama is entertaining and in some ways very cute, what I like the most about this is the way the actors portray their characters, they are entertaining and have a very cute interaction, I must say that while most of the Japanese BL always give us very few or one kissing scene only, this drama seems there is a kissing scene in every episode ! how about that !The story is complicated, the situation is complicated, they did not even made it clear why and how they broke up from many years ago .. after watching the episodes, it was revealed that it was all a misunderstanding reason of their breaking up and MIyata suddenly throwing the phone or what was that ? after seeing the picture of his Senpai. I was actually not really impressed with the story, why did it took too many years for Takashi to come back to Miyata ? or maybe he needed to be successful first.
I was kinda annoyed at Miyata, he liked his Senpai but he don't wanna date him , they even spent the night with each other ! he only hurted himself such a complicated situation because of pride. I hated Takashi when he thought that MIyata was an outsider with his family affairs, and yet he wanted Miyata to be with him forever , such a puzzled mind ! whats wrong with him ! It ended okay so that is enough for me, I almost got angry when that guy named Kyosuke who seems the person in charge of Takashi family or someone who convinces Takashi to follow his mother , I don't know who he was , because I thought he was a rival , but thankfully not.
Miyata was Adorable and so is Takashi , the drama is not rushed, only story is complicated, but it was entertaining and cute in some ways. I don't If I will be rewatching this one though.
Was this review helpful to you?
Beautiful Plot, Rushed Pacing.
This story honestly really truly touched me for some reason. maybe because I had a lot of unrequited love stories in high school myself but everything was top notch. the soundtrack was fantastic, the cinematography was just out of this world and was so beautiful I almost teared up. the acting was pretty good and it was just a really wholesome story overall. the pacing was a bit rushed cause it only had 6 30 minute episodes which is a crime… I need these BL dramas to be longer! I will personally fight for it myself if I have too because we were ROBBED of an even more beautiful story. Nontheless it was a great drama, and I’m glad I had the chance to experience it.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
The premise of this show seemed interesting to me but I did not really enjoy the execution. I was left confused about what actually happened in the past regarding the two leads and their breakup pretty much until the end of the show (if anyone can explain to me what that picture was I'd be grateful lol). The chemistry between the actors wasn't strong enough to pull me into the story, it didn't convince me they wanted each other at all. Also hello? Was that last romantic rival an actual relative???? By the way, I actually did enjoy the first romantic rival, but that storyline kind of faded. If this was a longer show I probably would've dropped it but I stayed till the end to see how things would go. The ending didn't really satisfy me either. Was this review helpful to you?
Normal office BL
The acting is not that good and so cringe at times. Many unnatural scenes and unnecessary dialogs.. There's nothing special about their chemistry or how it progress. So many unnecessary intimate scenes just to get attention or to trend.Production is soso ... I don't find it rewatchable at all. The music is not that good and listenable. The story is very predictable and not executed well. Kinda boring for me and not planning to watch the last episode as you know what will happen already. In short, i did not enjoy watching it
Was this review helpful to you?
Smooth, solid, emotional, this drama has everything!
With a runtime of 6 episodes of 20 minutes, this drama is on the shorter side but the story leaves no stone left unturned. Miyata and Iwanagi knew each other from high school and secretly got closer together. Thinking about how it must have been to be gay at that time in Japan makes this realistic. They were supposed to run away together, but Miyata's feeling have been toyed with, and Iwanagi leaves their home town.Years later, the two meet under professional circumstances. With some cat-and-mouse play, they decide to seriously love each other once more. I will not spoil more of the plot but I love the full circle moment at the end. All of the actors are skilled and look great to boot. I wouldn't know how to make this drama any better!
This drama can be serious, funny, intimate, and it does not stop or get boring ever. The acting and visuals in this drama make it a Japanese BL classic for me. Great job on everyone who was involved in this series and thank you for this fantastic piece of cinema. Do not hesitate, watch this now!
Was this review helpful to you?
Yea.. HARD PASS
The storyline seemed interesting and the first and second episode were okay.. But the actor who plays Miyata Akihiro makes this series extremely unbearable.. He is not even pretending to be interested in his characters role.. He's tense, but definitely not in the way of the characters personality and role.. He tense in a very visible very uncomfortable way whenever their is any male to male contact in the show.. It's pretty clearly written on his face that he was very reluctantly doing this role for a paycheck or perhaps to fill out his portfolio.. The rest of the cast was great and the actor who played the professor seemed to be trying his hardest to bring the story to life, but his co-star was just not a good fit.. Overall I would say that if your interested in picking this show up don't bother..Was this review helpful to you?
Something that stays with you
A feel-good, fluffy, sexy-in-the-right-time, second chance drama that really tugs on your heart-strings and makes you feel like everything can be alright. Overall, it was an amazing watch. The only flaw I can point out is the end felt a bit rushed but that didn't take away from the story since the leads' chemistry made the whole journey very memorable.PS: The fact that there was no beating around the bush for any scene was a major plus.
Was this review helpful to you?
Unexpected gem of a story!
This is one of the best written BL stories i've seen in ages. There is coherent adult characters that behave like logical sentient human being with relatable reasons for why they make certain choices. Plot line is simple but very well done and dialogues are incredibly well written and engaging, they actually make you want t listen to what they have to say and see ho things will evolve (and yes characters DO talk about things instead of having ridiculous misunderstandings that makes you eye roll so badly you're scared your eyes will fall out of your head).Acting is great too, for all the characters form leads to secondary actors, all perfectly chosen. Differently from some comments i've also felt the chemistry and the sensual tension between the main characters from start to end, to me it was expressed perfectly and was on point. The contrast between their younger self with puppy love and all the uncertainty of a first relationship and their adult self with acquired confidence and experience is evident and again very well presented. An unexpected gem of a story that it's worth watching and rewatching too
Was this review helpful to you?
