At 25:00, in Akasaka

A very Japanese type of storytelling

I have mixed opinions about this BL. It started frustrating me at one point, the pacing is very slow and the story almost feels like it's not progressing at all. Then I tried to look at it from another angle : how the japanese express emotions and feelings. They do it through language, through words or even through their absence. The acting feels quite rigid many times, to the point I felt like the actors themselves are just bad. The last episode kind of changed my mind, particularly related to the guy playing Asami. This is a very Japanese show in every sense, probably harder to relate to than other BLs like Thai or Korean. I still would not call this a great show, however I don't think it's as bad as some of the comments make it out to be.

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Recomendo a todos 10/10

Geralmente, eu não costumo escrever reviews sobre os dramas que assisto, mas, neste caso, sinto que preciso falar sobre este em específico.

Muitos dramas BL têm sido lançados nos últimos anos, porém este se destaca por apresentar uma proposta diferente da maioria. O trabalho de Niihara Taisuke e Komagine Kiita ao interpretar personagens que, por sua vez, interpretam outros personagens, é executado de forma extremamente competente. É nítida, por exemplo, a diferença entre Shirasaki Yuki e o personagem que ele interpreta, Takumi.

O drama constrói de maneira muito sensível a relação entre o que os atores estão sentindo e as cenas que estão gravando para a série. Isso pode ser visto, por exemplo, na dificuldade de Shirasaki em expressar os sentimentos de Takumi ao declarar que gosta de Ryouji e em como, paralelamente, em sua vida pessoal, ele começa a perceber que está desenvolvendo sentimentos por Hayama Asami. O mesmo acontece quando Hayama sente ciúmes de Shirasaki em relação a Yamase Kazuma (interpretado por Nagumo Shoma), que é espelhado no drama dentro do drama com a chegada do amigo de infância de Takumi, culminando na cena do beijo.

Acho importante destacar que nada nessa obra está ali “por estar”. A construção de At 25:00 in Akasaka faz com que tudo tenha um propósito narrativo. Por isso, é comum a justaposição entre o drama real e o drama que está sendo gravado, algo que a edição reforça com transições suaves entre as cenas e o uso do filtro de cor esverdeado.

O que acredito que algumas pessoas não compreendem é que, para Shirasaki, aquele é seu primeiro drama. Ele trabalhava em um restaurante enquanto tentava realizar o sonho de se tornar ator, e esse papel representa um grande momento em sua vida: finalmente, ele conseguiu o que sempre quis. No entanto, essa conquista também o coloca em uma situação que ele provavelmente nunca imaginou enfrentar. Ele se reencontra com alguém da faculdade que já possui um nome consolidado na indústria, alguém que, aos seus olhos, conseguiu as coisas com mais facilidade. Além disso, há a pressão de interpretar sentimentos e ações que ele nunca vivenciou na vida real.
Em meio a toda essa confusão, Shirasaki percebe que está gostando de Hayama, que, apesar de aparentar ser o “cara ideal”, ainda é visto por ele, até antes do último episódio, como parte de algo que serve apenas para ajudá-lo em sua atuação e na construção do personagem que está interpretando.

A imaturidade de Shirasaki e o fato de ele estar no início da carreira são ressaltados por diversos detalhes: seu jeito de se vestir, sua postura à mesa, seu comportamento em entrevistas e até o pequeno apartamento em que mora. Em contraste, Hayama, além de gravar o drama, possui outros trabalhos, vive em uma casa maior, demonstra etiqueta à mesa e adota um estilo de vestimenta mais casual social.

É um drama exelente, porém creio que para ter a experiência completa deve ser visto mais de uma vez.

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Yearning. We love it.

*Spoilery but will not go into the details*
As a BL watcher who tries to steer clear of the more mature romances(like this one), I thoroughly enjoyed watching this drama. They did an amazing job of showing different kinds of intimacy on screen, which I feel is somtimes lacking in some JBLs. The characters clearly respected each other. For some, the pace might be a little too slow, but as someone who loves to watch characters yearn for each other, I think the pacing was just right. It was clear from the beginning that there is a love to be explored between the two leads. And it made me want to learn more. Yes, there are a lot of misunderstandings and miscommunication, which may throw people off, but I think it works for the story. their backstories were very interesting, I like how their destinies are intertwined. I'm really impressed with how they were able to create a drama within a drama. Easily one of my favorites.

TLDR: If you love to watch characters yearn go watch this drama NOW

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25 To Life: On How Much Miscommunication Kills Mood

I blew through this series in one day, because I just needed to see how it ends. I was entertained the entirety of the show, albeit it frustrated the hell out of me with the two main characters lack of communication skills. However, the bouncing back and forth between the real love story and the series the characters are playing in was really interesting! I actually really liked how that played out. I just think we could've introduced more than just a side "love interest" into the mix. This series also made me think of a weaker version of 'My Beautiful Man', because this is also about a school love from afar turned into an unexpected love affair in present day. So I would say, watch this but watch MBM first! Also side-note, the score in this series was beautiful like holy damn.

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Pleasantly surprised!

This drama had me giggling and kicking my feet from the very first episode. It drew me in immediately, and it kept me drawn in the entire time. The moments between Shirasaki and Hayama were almost too sweet to handle. And when they weren't being sweet with each other, there was some mild angst thrown into the mix, and I am never one to complain about angst as it's my favorite plot device ever.

I watched this entire drama in a single sitting, which is quite the feat for me considering it usually takes me months to complete a 12 episode k-drama or thai bl. My attention span just isn't too great. But I couldn't tear myself away from this one, and I immediately went searching for the manga because I wasn't ready to let go of them yet.

I will def be rewatching this in the future.

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Amazing

What to say? I’m not a huge fan of JBLs but I needed something short and unfinished since this was airing during my exams time, so I decided to watch this. My opinion? WOW! This was so so sooo good!

If you want to ask why I don’t like JBL, I don’t really know how to answer this question. Maybe it’s because of their distanceness, maybe because of the fact that some BL’s I can imagine as anime but as live action it seems odd to me, maybe something totally different… I really don’t know. But I think you’ll agree when I say JBLs have something which makes them Japanese and it’s not only Japanese actors. I don’t know how to explain it but when you watch JBL, you just know it’s JBL before they start speaking. Does it make sense? I hope so…

This one as well and here I really enjoyed it. Two actors who are going to act in a BL drama? Yes, that seems like something I’d like to see, so I started to watch. Half of the series was already out, for the next half I had to wait every week, After some episodes I wanted to scream and throw things around but then I saw the preview for next ep and I calmed down. Not always, tbh, sometimes it was vice versa.

The first thing I noticed was their chemistry. It was really something. They basically kissed in the first episode. Yeah, it was that dead fish kiss where they just put their lips together but with the music and tension and everything around it made me feel butterflies. Don’t worry, we’ll get to see more than that…

The story is mostly shown from Yuki’s POV but there is one ep where you can see Asami was actually the one who fell first and also harder. And now imagine how he had to control himself… Well, maybe not so much since he was the one who came up with the idea of pretending to be boyfriends so they could get more into their characters. Maybe it was his strategy? Who knows…

They fell for each other really fast, but they lacked communication so everything took more time than it was necessary. Now, when I saw the last ep, I know it was actually a point, not a mistake or plothole. It’s exactly how it’s supposed to be and it makes sense.
They kind of remind me of Sasaki and Miyano. Asami was that cool one as Sasaki and Yuki the shy one as Miyano. Damn, I wish Sasaki and Miyano got a live action drama! It would be so good, trust me.

Ok, back to Asami and Yuki. Damn, when they called each other by their first name, it was so intimate...

During those 10 eps we actually got two bed scenes. First one was shown as Asami and Yuki’s characters and the second one was the real them. Guess which one was hotter? Just kidding, both of them were totally amazing.

The very last scene shown something which is giving a clue about season 2, so there is a small posibility we could see those two again.

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❄️ “Love in the Cold — Warmth at 25:00 in Alaska” ❄️

At 25:00, in Alaska (Japan, 2024) is the kind of BL that sneaks up on you — quiet, mature, devastatingly emotional. It’s not about grand gestures, but about two men who carry invisible scars and somehow find warmth in each other amid the cold. 🥺🤍

The chemistry between Takahashi Fumiya and Okura Takato feels real, like watching two lonely souls slowly learning how to breathe again. Every glance, every pause, every line of dialogue has weight. It’s the opposite of flashy — it’s soft, raw, and achingly human. The cinematography is stunning too: snowy streets, dim apartments, and that melancholic light that says “I miss you” without words.

This series isn’t about fantasy or tropes — it’s about connection. It’s about love that doesn’t shout, it lingers. You feel it long after the credits roll.

A love story that whispers instead of screams, but still hits like a blizzard. ❄️💔

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resenha curta

Comecei a gostar mesmo a partir do episódio 6. Porém, antes disso, já tinha uma das minhas cenas favoritas: eles deitados na cama conversando. É uma cena bem intimista e com um tom tão natural.
Meio que só comecei a gostar de verdade quase nos últimos episódios, então acredito que vou curtir bastante a segunda temporada. Talvez o meu tipo de BL japonês seja justamente aqueles em que os personagens já estão em um relacionamento, porque acho os roteiros mais desenvolvidos. Nos episódios anteriores eu sentia que os personagens eram muito sem personalidade, e a única coisa que aparecia era aquele “tímido” caricato japonês. Enfim, achei que não iria querer ver a segunda temporada, mas agora quero muito!

OBS: No começo julguei os primeiros beijos deles, mas depois entregaram beijões! As duas últimas cenas de beijo são muito bem feitas, e não parece que os atores odeiam beijar.

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