Renai Rubi no Tadashii Furikata (2025)

9/10 When Hate Turns Into Love

9/10 When Hate Turns Into Love
The Proper Way To Write Love isn't actually as bad as some people claim, but it does have noticeable plot holes, and a few scenes feel pretty boring.
I know it's fiction, but part of creating a good series or movie is making the storytelling believable. That's why it felt unrealistic that Natsuo was already into Hiro from the very first episode. Even if he said it was "love at first sight," no normal person would ask a stranger to date them the second time they meet - that would probably freak anyone out.
Another thing: they've already hung out several times and even dated, yet they still haven't exchanged phone numbers? That just doesn't make sense. And I still don't get why Hiro pretended his hand was injured when the show never explains how it supposedly happened - especially since he was faking it. Even though the series is short, there are fillers and scenes that don't really serve a purpose.
I did enjoy the rivalry/love triangle in episode 5, though. It added some much-needed spice to the story. And honestly,! have to admit that I enjoy dramas like this just as much as I love wholesome, fluffy ones.
It's pretty shameless that Hiro's former classmates are still criticizing him even though they're already adults. They still act like high schoolers, which feels unbelievable to me.
Conclusion: I see the series as a revenge story with a twist:
Hiro ends up falling in love with Natsuo. The plot may start with revenge, but the genre evolves along the way - and I really love Hiro's character growth. Natsuo, on the other hand, is a walking green flag. Hiro probably just misunderstood him back in high school.
Overall, it's a watchable series and good for killing time, but nothing groundbreaking.

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A weak manga improved but it could not reach "the proper way"

The story starts as revenge story, but even half way through the series we all know it's not about revenge anymore. It's about the struggles and misunderstandings of Hiro who has to come to terms of his feelings. It's more a coming of age story then anything else. In contrast Natsou always was clear in his feelings but he did most things wrong to the person he already loved in school. Not only by peer pressure but he could not express his feelings at all.

The original manga was just a side story and a very short one at that. It did not really explain a lot or had a big scope to go on. So this series struggles a bit to fill in the gaps. It seems that Hiros only changed his appearance to be another person, but he also changed to be more outgoing and to be able to talk to people. That's why I think he choose to be a hairstylist/hairdresser because he has to interact with people. He emanates confidence in his job but he is still struggeling outside of it.

While we got two episodes per week for 1 through 6, we had to wait a week for the finale. At least the finale did boost this show in the end and the NC scene was more than unexpected from a JBL. No dead fish kisses was refreshing after some shows lately, which failed to go "the extra mile". A special bonus for me is that the height difference and characters impressions were reversed for the top/bottom expectation. That was a nice touch.

Production was well done, acting was very good even when I thought Natsou looked a bit old compared to his partner even when they are the same age in real life (The story plays out 4 years after graduation, so they should be around 22). Or the other way around, Hiro was the more believeable character in looks and acting. The story struggeled a bit doing a good job, because Natsou seems a bit too dumb not to catch on early and also the pacing is sometimes choppy in some episodes. The struggles for Hiro were very well expressed. Overall an enjoyable show which did not do the stereotypical BL things and even when you could count it as "enemies to lovers" tropé. It tried very hard not to go in any clichés. For me it feels more realistic compared to other shows and that's why it's worth a watch.

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