Our Youth

I loved it! 9.5

Am I the only one who thinks that flaws in characters make BL even better? A lot of people enjoy BL because of the vulnerability the characters carry. For me, my all-time favourite BL is Our Youth. It’s the kind of BL I always recommend to people who like emotional, character-driven stories.
Our Youth follows two students—one a troublemaker, the other a perfect student—played by Minase and Hirukawa. The story unfolds when Hirukawa, the troublemaker, transfers to Minase’s school and ends up living on the same route as him.
Small spoiler: Hirukawa is a victim of domestic abuse. I won’t say more because I don’t want to spoil the experience for you. Now let me talk about the things I loved about this BL.
1. The stillness
This drama carries a beautiful stillness—calmness mixed with inner chaos. I loved how the scenes unfolded slowly and quietly, letting emotions breathe.
2. The acting
The actors truly became their characters. I’m not talking about their handsomeness (though they are handsome). Their performances felt natural and honest.
I especially loved Hirukawa’s duality—fearless on the outside, painfully vulnerable in front of Minase. You can see everything in his eyes. In some scenes he says one thing, but his eyes reveal the truth: he wants to scream, to tell Minase everything, but he’s terrified of losing him.
Minase’s actor was just as good—perfectly portraying annoyance, happiness, and the quiet loneliness shaped by his parents’ divorce. You can feel how much he enjoys Hirukawa’s company even when he won’t admit it. And those final scenes… when he finally meets Hirukawa again, the emotional shift was so perfect and unforced. It didn’t feel like a typical BL—this one stayed with me. I watched it in 2024, and if someone asks about my favourite BL, it’s always Our Youth.
3. The writing and direction
I don’t know the details about the team, but everything looked and felt amazing. It was like I was fully inside their small world, watching their private little universe unfold.
4. The character arcs
Every character was going through something. They felt human—flawed, real, hurting, growing. I loved how each arc slowly revealed itself.
If you’ve watched My Beautiful Man, definitely give Our Youth a try. It has a similar storytelling style, but I’d say Our Youth is even better—deeper, more melodramatic, more bittersweet, and overall more emotionally rewarding.

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Underrated

Theres only a handful if shows i consider 10/10 and i watched a lot of them.
This was one of the most beautiful stories I've seen. Style is a bit indie/ low budget but i love it, it makes it look like real life, a real story.
Bith mains dont have a happy family life, Minase's parents are never around so he's neglected at best. Harukawa has an abusive drunk father so he starts spending nights at Minase's house and they get close.
They're together in high school class so its a young love. The story lasts until their college days so we see characters grow and change as they reconnect with each other.
It made me cry at times because it shows abuse, but also cry happy tears at how pure they love is.
I really loved this show and i dont know why more people dont talk about it!

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Beautifully Poignant.

I dropped this drama twice back while it began airing as it made me fall asleep 2 minutes into the story. The overall bleak atmosphere and the inner monologue did not help, as it reminded me of Eternal Yesterday.
Setting that aside, I began to watch it after people who follow Japanese LGBTQ+ works kept posting about it.

Minase Jin, a paradigm model student who stays away from trouble and leads a carefully planned monotonous routine, has his life shaken when he accidentally stumbles upon a secret harboured by Hirukawa Haruki, the infamous delinquent of his class.

I think the charm of this drama lies completely in how the emotions are slowly built up and conveyed across the screen in that simplistic fashion that Japan has. The story is not groundbreaking by any means – but as someone said, this drama is not looking for fans, it is an art.
Both the leading actors pulled off their roles beautifully. Especially Motojima Junsei in the last three episodes, where he had to cry a lot. Though, I was a bit surprised that they cast someone who had played the younger counterpart of a character just the previous year. (Tokyo in April.)

Almost everything is from the point of view of Minase, who is a rather unconventional male lead, had he not been the narrator. Eight out of 10 episodes is a series of flashbacks where he recounts his times with Hirukawa Haruki as he pens a poetic letter in which he relates his emotions akin to being lost in the very vast sea.
Hirukawa was a much more easier character to understand.
But, I liked how they portrayed the emotions of both the teenagers – it was not all pretty and polished, but rather gritty and bumpy.
It doesn't just focus on the romance, but how it affected both of them and shaped their lives in some way - the good or the bad. I could relate to moments where characters repeatedly ask Minase to stay away from trouble. Minase himself uses the word "bystander" to describe his part in Hirukawa's life, something that he could not easily control.

I've read the webtoon, but liked the changes made for the live action.

A round of applause for everyone who worked on bringing Miseinen to life, because, honestly, it would've been one of the most boring dramas in existence if anything had gone wrong.

Yes, it's a very simple drama, but the emotions and hard work that went behind it is evident.
I hope that this drama somehow manages to reach somewhere or the right person amongst its journey in the deep ocean.

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Good drama, bad actor

Let me first clarify that my positive review of this show in no way means I condone the actions of Kamimura Kenshin. It is of course often very difficult to separate the art from the artist, but since he only represents one part of this whole production, and the rest of the cast and crew are not at fault, I think it is possible to judge the show on its own merits.

This show is a lovely look into the difficult lives of two very different teenagers and how they find solace and connection with one another. It's very well written, the performances are all spot-on, and I really enjoy the tight editing and well-thought out pacing. It's also an interesting (if sometimes unfortunately shallow) look into the cycle of abuse and those who perpetuate it.
The highlight for me personally though, is the relationship development between the two main characters. Their intense fascination with one another, the anxiety-inducing see-sawing between open affection and closed-off guardedness, their tentative yet earnest attempts to support one another - it all comes together perfectly into an achingly realistic depiction of the lives of two lonely queer teens which will certainly hit close too home for many queer viewers.

The one thing I wish they had done differently is the fact that none of the abusers in the show ever face real consequences for their actions, nor do we get to see the characters ever directly stand up to them. However I am also aware that that would have left less time for building the characters' relationship, so I can't begrudge the film-makers this choice.

All in all I highly recommend this show to anyone looking for a good romance drama which touches on some deeper, more difficult topics, or to those looking for a touching, yet largely realistic coming of age story.

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A beautiful masterpiece

Absolutely the best drama I've ever watched. I loved every second of this series and cried multiple times throughout the whole thing.

I especially love how this series took the bad boy and nerd kid trope and switched it up by turning the personalities and dynamics around with the bad boy being the golden retriever and nerd kid being the black cat. It brought a refreshing perspective into the pretty overused (but still amazing) trope.

The cinematography in this was so breathtaking and I loved the soundtrack so much.

10/10 experience would recommend.

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No Misunderstandings, No Love Triangles – Just Pure Connection

This BL series was truly one of a kind—I absolutely loved it! The chemistry between the leads was unmatched. The tension between them was electrifying, yet they could talk about anything with ease. Their love story unfolded naturally, without any unnecessary third-party interference. It was just the two of them against the world.

Even after being apart for a long time, you could see the love in their eyes when they reunited. They slipped back into each other’s lives so effortlessly, as if no time had passed. I especially loved how they discussed marriage and whether to go public with their relationship. Their conversation was handled so gracefully—mature, mindful, and free of unnecessary misunderstandings.

This love story was incredibly smooth. Even when they faced struggles in their personal lives, they became each other’s safe haven, their cure.

I really, really loved this BL series. Japanese BLs never disappoint me!

Rating: 9.5/10 ; (-0.5) for some dead fish kisses :)

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