School Trip: Joined a Group I’m Not Close To

A touch of archetype subversion

The story is a concise, well drawn progression of Hioki and Watarai from strangers to boyfriends. The show manages to illustrate the inner life of both of the main characters so well, that it would have been nice if the writers were allowed to go even further with more episode runtime to explore some more of the psychology and the impact of the popularity hierarchical expectations that haunts the both of them and the other popular kids as well. The switch in perspective to Watarai was especially fascinating. Watarai himself is suffocated the unwanted idol status that has been forced upon him just because of how he looks, particularly in the way that his otherwise normal actions causes the class to smack talk a classmate that he just randomly lent a pen to. He hears the shallow way people gossip about him, which is why he's so incredibly touched to overhear Hioki describing Watarai the way Watarai sees himself to Hioki's friends, as a normal guy. We see through Watarai's perspective that Hioki is not an awkward loner at all, he's actually very sociable and well liked among his school sports team friend group. His own friendship with the other guys was also only formed because they happened to be in the same class and started talking to each other because of the weirdness of being grouped together as "The Big Four" by their schoolmates though they literally never met each other until that sophomore year class.

Both Hioki and Watarai are trying to figure out things as they go and it's lovely how they are both communicative through their feelings. I love how Hioki acknowledges how brave Watarai has been making the first steps to connect with Hioki and confessing to him and Hioki steps up to bravely ask the question to solidify their relationship as boyfriends. The supportive adult of the series is Ryoto who is the older brother of one of the popular kids Morisaki. He has a rather horrific introduction in which he tricks Hioki into thinking he's been kidnapped to be murdered. That's not a funny prank to anyone let alone a teenager. Though I think guys should be shown this scene to understand the perspective of what women have to deal with and fear. Outside of that terribly unfunny prank, Ryoto notices Watarai's feelings for Hoiki and lets Watarai know that Ryoto it was nice for him to subtly let this queer kid he just met know that he's not alone.

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Adorkable

Let’s dive right in.

Our main characters are:

-Mr Popular, who appears to be a standard aloof and very good looking pretty boy, but who quickly turns out to be neurotic, insecure, high key jealous and clingy, and sick to the back teeth of being fawned over by girls like he’s a fucking zoo animal.

-Then we have Shy Guy, who is basically a very quiet guy who does his own thing with his nerdy friends but finds himself on his own after being assigned to a new classroom and is really not liking it, also he is neurotic, insecure, socially awkward, and very easily flustered.

High school, amirite?

Our side cast are:

-Three other boys who are also in the category of being fawned over by girls as if they’re zoo animals, but they’re handling it better than Mr Popular. They are also buddies with him and 100% on his side.

-Shy Guy’s nerdy friends who are even weirder than him, if that’s possible, who are seemingly terrified of the popular guys and all of them are mildly insane.

-Various girls who are waaaay too into the popular guys and act seriously bitchy to Shy Guy, and one girl who is actually not bitchy, just kinda sad, but we’ll take it.

-Finally: we have the older brother of one of the popular guys who is basically watching this nonsense play out and keeping an adult eye on everyone.

And so our story unfolds: The class is going on a school trip and they have to get into groups, and Shy Guy gets invited to join the group of Mr Popular and his buddies. Why? Because Mr Popular is HELLA into him and also too much of a coward to even talk to him. But what he does have going for him is that his buddies are (a) perceptive and (b) 100% ready to be his wingmen, and they’re all like, sure let’s invite this guy we’ve never spoken to before for no real reason, wink wink.

Hijinks ensue when it becomes clear on the trip that Mr Popular is constantly in danger of just forgetting where he is, grabbing Shy Guy, and snogging his face off. Shy Guy is adorably oblivious/confused, literally everyone around them questions why he’s even hanging out with the popular guys, and the usual tropes are played so hard it feels less like a nice cozy drama and more like a rugby match.

Anyway it’s all very romantic and it turns out as you expect, and it was exactly as awkward and stupid as high school should be so props to the writers for realism, I guess. It’s adorable enough to land on my rewatch list and a very solid, cute little series in its own right.

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Made me wish that I too, was in love

Did I start watching this because someone over on Reddit referred to it as 'School Trip over Flowers'? Yes, yes, I did. I've never watched 'Boys Over Flowers' and I never will, but I've heard about it — and that reference made me laugh so hard I decided to start Ep 1.

The story in this is nothing new or groundbreaking. It's a cliche we've seen hundreds of times before — two high school boys falling in love. One is hella popular, and the other is an awkward loner (kinda, Hioki isn't a loner per se, he just didn't have friends in this specific new class).

However, what makes this story stand out from the rest in this sea of high school BLs is how beautifully it's done. I thought I'd have to deal with miscommunication, or the utter lack of it, but that wasn't the case here. Sure, they (largely Hioki) get all up in their heads sometimes and overthink things, but they are promptly dealt with. That helps keep the story at such a great pace - it's also great for my blood pressure, but that's neither here nor there.

🚌Stand-out episodes for me were episodes 7 & 8🚌

Episode 7 - Here, we get Watarai's backstory of how he fell in love with Hioki and the confession scene. Watarai fell for Hioki in such a simple, slow, and pure way — simply because Hioki saw him as a regular dude, contrary to what he'd experienced most of his life. It was gratitude and curiosity about Hioki that eventually turned into love

I also appreciate Hioki's reaction to Watarai's confession. It's common to see the person confessed to in BLs be dumbfounded. They remain silent and will often avoid the other person as they try to make sense of the confession and their feelings towards the other person. Or even sweep the whole confession under the rug, pretending it didn't happen, till something eventually down the line pushes them to acknowledge it. I despise that trope. I 100% expected that this would be the case here.

To my surprise, it wasn't, and thank the Lord for that. Not only does Hioki acknowledge the confession, but he also tells Watarai that there's nothing wrong with him liking another boy. And that he'll genuinely take the time to consider Watarai's confession. That consideration was very heart-warming to see. Hioki is such a cinnamon roll - an easygoing and warm soul

Confessions are hard as it is. Confessing to someone of the same sex without knowing if they are of the same orientation in a society that's still very much against queer people..... Oi (I'm not pointing a finger at or highlighting Japan here, just the world in general. It isn't all that kind to queer people). The fact that Hioki rushed after Watarai to speak to him after the confession really stood out to me

Episode 8 - This made me fall even more in love with Watarai's friends. Not only did they accept that 'hey, our friend is bi', something they didn't know about before, but they also do their best to bring these two together when they sense that something's wrong.

Their teacher was right in that final episode. That friend group will probably last forever. They were so genuine not only to each other but to the new face in their group, and later to Hioki's friends. Hot, popular guys that don't fall into the asshole/bully/playboy tropes... Hallelujah. More of this, please!

🚌💐🚌💐🚌
All in all, this is a cute, long angst, low drama, slice of life story that's very easy to revisit and rewatch.

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The story remind you of the past BL Manga you've read!!

easily one of the fluffiest, sweetest doki doki bl dramas of the year!! if you’re familiar with bl manga, trust me, you’ll catch all the little details here and the acting is so manga-like too. i’ve seen kodai in SLGS before, and he’s such a natural actor and i love him so much, so i’m really happy to see him again here. also… kodai reminds me a lot of firstone (thai bl actor) especially in the earlier episodes, they look really similar. as for hideyoshi, this is my first time watching him, but i think he really nails the obsessive/stalker/psychopath vibe with those sharp eyes. anyway, their chemistry is amazing and your heart goes doki doki every time lol. high school romance really is the best ❤️

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Spoilers ahead!
This series is definitely made for those who like light-hearted bl series. I also do enjoy watching them but i feel like this series doesn't have much plot to work on. Like after they went on a school field trip, theres the beach trip then goes to a school event and they ended it off with the characters finishing their year. I just felt that theres a lot of time skip going on.

Moving on to comment on their characters, I do think their is some chemistry going on between the main character (Hioki) and the male lead (Watarai). Although, it's not that strong. It's not strong because I feel that there wasn't much in-depth explanation of their characters. Like I understand that Watarai is suppose to be the jealous, possessive type of male lead and Hioki is the innocent one but that's just it. There's not much seasoning for the characters, like if you were to make a pot of soup there would only be water, salt and one or two vegetable inside. It's not bland, but it's not good enough to the point you want to have a second serving.

I would also like to mentioned that the amount of time skips going on in this series is insane. Like what do you mean after one trip ended, suddenly its 1 to 3 months later, heck it can even be 5 months later. I would like to know what happened in between those months, I don't mind if they are undergoing their exams or having relationship issues, i'm just a curious little man. But i do understand that they probably don't have much screen time so they just have to deal with what they have.

Overall, I do find this series quite funny and enjoyable to watch. I don't really have anything else much to say because I have said what I've said. I do recommend people to give this a watch at least once, it's not because its a bad series, I do think that this is a decent series but it could be better. All i have written down is based on my experience so you don't have to agree with me. If you're reading this, thank you for reading my review hope you have a great day. Baii!

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Their cuteness is absolutely top-notch, でも。。。。。。。。

Even though I was smiling through almost every episode like a crazy person, I couldn’t give this series more stars than it deserves. Their cuteness is absolutely top-notch, but that’s pretty much what the series offers from beginning to end. It feels like something important is missing, something essential that every strong series should have.

What I truly enjoyed about this series (aside from their undeniable chemistry and cuteness) were the references. It felt like a blend of several other JBL series released in recent years. I think that’s one of the reasons it gained so much attention across different platforms.

I still hope they continue the story into their college years, but I would love to see something more meaningful, something deeper rather than just a season filled entirely with lovey-dovey moments.

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Ten big yawns in ten episodes

When this show was first airing, I decided to wait until the whole show was out so I wouldn’t have to wait a week for every episode and deal with the cliffhangers. Honestly, looking back, if I had started watching it then and had to wait for each episode, I probably would have forgotten I was even watching it and dropped the show entirely.

High ratings naturally bring high expectations, and I definitely had them. That’s why I can’t even put into words how shocked I was that the reviews didn't match what I was watching.

There is nothing special here; it’s an absolutely generic story that doesn't stand out in any way. Unfortunately, it doesn't even work as a "cozy comfort show," because it simply isn't one. The main characters are rigid, lacking any background, and they come across as empty meat suits with zero depth or layers you could admire and/or relate to. The plot is so mind-numbingly boring that staring at a literal wall would have been more interesting than this. I had to watch it at 2x speed just to get through it and form a complete, well-rounded opinion.

There were dozens of extra long scenes filled with nothing but lingering stares or strange movements from the main characters; scenes that felt excessively long even at double speed. They drag on so much that you literally forget what the scene was even supposed to be about. The sad part is that if we at least had some insight into their background, we could get lost in thought during those long scenes and wonder what was going through their heads. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible here; I just had to suffer through it and wait for the scene to finally end.

Honestly, if you watched the first episode and skipped straight to the last one, you wouldn't miss a thing. You can basically zone out for the entire series and you’d still know exactly what’s going on without missing a beat.

I don't exactly want to criticize the actors since I haven't seen them in anything else, but I do have to mention Fujimoto Kodai's (Hioki Asahi) character. I know he was supposed to be this shy, awkward, introverted teenager - BUT. He was constantly making these absolutely horrid physical mannerisms with his whole body, not just his face, and it was hard to watch. Even if it was supposed to be played like that, I just couldn't stomach it and it wasn't funny.

Overall, the acting was mid/okay and the best portrayed, most believable characters were their friends.
The only saving grace of this show was its visuals and the imaculate vibe it created. It’s the one aspect I can’t find any fault with. And I'm not even mentioning things that simply didn't make any sense in real world.

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