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1Opposites Attract: Finally, a BL Where the Main Characters Actually Love BL!
This is the first time I’ve had more than 10+ Japanese BLs airing at the same time in one week, even more than Thai BLs, and honestly, I’m loving it. We’ve had quite a few high school BLs, but this one feels unique and has already become something special for me.Opposites really do attract! Suzuki is a loner with no friends, but what sets him apart from the usual introverted male lead is that he a huge BL fan. His room is filled with BL books and figurines, and he even writes BL novels himself. This is honestly so refreshing. We’ve watched countless BLs where the male leads start off as supposedly straight and eventually fall for each other, so having a character who already loves BL from the beginning feels so different and relatable. Suzuki is literally one of us!
Then we have the stunning Serizawa, who is the complete opposite. He is popular, tall, handsome, cheerful and surrounded by friends. Ryoto, who plays Serizawa, is absolutely gorgeous and his visuals are just beautiful. I cannot take my eyes of his stunning face!
His friend group also reminds me so much of one of my favourite BLs from 2025, School Trip: Joined a Group I’m Not Close To.
The setup might sound like another typical youth and high school romance, but the characters are what make this one stand out. Serizawa may be the popular guy, but he is surprisingly humble and kind. He carried Suzuki on his back without being embarrassed about it, and when he discovered that Suzuki had written a BL novel using him as inspiration, he didn’t mock or get angry with him. Instead, he actually praised the novel and revealed that he is a BL fan too!
I really love this aspect of his character. Usually, the popular male lead is written as arrogant, cocky or too cool for everyone, but Serizawa is completely different. He is warm, approachable and genuinely interested in Suzuki. Their opposites attract dynamic is adorable, and I love watching the extroverted and popular Serizawa slowly pull the introverted loner Suzuki out of his shell.
Another thing I really appreciate is how honest both characters are about liking BL. Normally, male characters try to hide that they watch or enjoy BL, but here we have two boys who are completely comfortable admitting it. As someone who loves BL, that makes this feel even more special and realistic.
The visuals are stunning, the music is beautiful, and I especially love the OST moments where the whole group sings together. There is such a warm and youthful atmosphere throughout the show that makes the friendship, classmates' relationship and school setting just as enjoyable as the romance.
And can we PLEASE talk about Episode 3?! It is officially my favourite episode so far! I am absolutely obsessed. When Suzuki’s ex friends from freshman year started bullying him and saying nasty things, they told him that Serizawa’s group of friends were not serious about him and were just messing with him. They also mocked him for liking BL.
Then Serizawa came out and said, “Hey, what’s wrong with that? I love BL too. What’s so weird about it? You guys are pathetic. Just because you don’t understand it, don’t trash what other people care about!”
That was honestly so satisfying to watch. Go, Serizawa! You scared those bullies away. 😂
Then Suzuki explained that he started watching BL back in high school and became completely hooked. This is literally all of us. I still remember when I started watching BL with Addicted back in 2016. I was so hooked that I read the novel five times. Now, almost 10 years later and after watching more than 500 BL series, I’m still completely hooked. 😂
But this series also taught such an important and sad lesson. Don’t mock people for the things they love, because your words can seriously damage someone’s self esteem. Suzuki was mocked for liking BL during his freshman year, so he eventually learned to keep that part of himself hidden. He wouldn’t even sing at karaoke because he felt like he couldn’t truly be himself around others.
Then he met Serizawa’s group of friends, and everything changed. They listened to him talk about BL, never mocked him, and even encouraged him to keep watching and writing if that was what he enjoyed. That is what true friends should be like. They make you feel safe enough to be yourself instead of making you feel ashamed of who you are.
My favourite part was seeing Suzuki slowly regain his confidence and finally sing in front of them. It was such a small moment, but it meant so much. After being made to feel ashamed of himself for so long, he finally felt comfortable enough to be himself again.
This series really made me emotional because bullying can leave scars that people cannot see. Sometimes, something that seems like a harmless joke to one person can stay with someone for years and completely change how they see themselves.
Overall, I love this series so much. It isn’t just giving us a beautiful love story, but also so many meaningful life lessons throughout the series. 💔
I already know this is going to be one of my comfort shows for the next 2.5 months. 🥹
If you love opposites attract, high school romance, friendship with supporting friends, introverted and extroverted male leads, popular and outcast characters, this cute and adorable Japanese BL should definitely be on your watch list.
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First impression
Green flag main lead, supportive friends, and so much more. Nice and sweet school BL.You can watch it on Viki: https://www.viki.com/tv/41641c-popular-serizawa-acts-weird-around-me
or GagaOOLala: https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/8457/popular-serizawa-acts-weird-around-me-2026
Things I liked:
1. I like the plot. While being pretty similar to so many other school JBLs, it has some aspects that are rather new, which is nice to see.
2. It's pretty funny, the humor is not cringy or annoying.
3. Friends. Nothing makes me happier in BLs than supportive friends, and Suzuki has a bunch of that now. So now I can die happy knowing that he is protected and well cared for.
Things I disliked:
1. Main character not listening and interrupting Serizawa every time he tried to speak about his feelings.
2. The typical oblivious main character. Nothing new in these types of BLs, but I find it more annoying than usual in this series specifically.
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two sweeties
Overall: a fluffy comfort series. 11 episodes? (Gaga says 11 but maybe it's 10 plus a special episode) about 23 minutes each. Airing on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/8476/popular-serizawa-acts-weird-around-me-2026-e01 and Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/41641c-popular-serizawa-acts-weird-around-meContent Warning: past bullying
What I Liked
- visuals
- sweet/caring moments
- supportive friends
- award for the best reading/writing position
Room For Improvement
- the flash forward with voice over at the start
- confused on who the 1 friend likes or if he's being protective?
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NEW COMFORT SHOW UNLOCKED ?
I love the novel so I have to compliment the author, Tsubaki Yuzu, for making such a cute and comforting story 🩷. I also adore the drama with all of my heart.The actors do such a great job and the chemistry is so sweet. Suzuki is the most relatable character for me. And I love how Serizawa is such a ray of sunshine and a sweetheart that carefully considers Suzuki's feelings every time. He's the type of extrovert that gets along with introverts too, which makes him and Suzuki so compatible. THIS is the kind of opposites attract story I really enjoy. It makes me believe in love again.
AND it reminds the audience of the importance of having friends that care about you. Takeuchi, Saeki, and Iwasaki are amazing characters too. The entire main cast is so loveable!!!
Seriously. I adore this show and it brightens my day with every new episode. I made an account just to leave this review. 🤣
I will be sad when the show ends.. We need a season 2 🩷 and more of the novel too 💕 Or I will just have to rewatch it over and over again.. which I'm okay with!
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This review may contain spoilers
I’M SAT ??
I really NEVER expected this plot. It is such an unique and interesting plot. Currently, 3 episodes aired and I watched every single one right after it’s released! Counting my days for the next episode and I love the feeling this drama gives me! It talks about Homophobia and bullying which is very realistic and happens to a lot of people. It really expresses the big topics such as bullying and homophobia well. There are many other things that I also like about this drama! The Actors. Sorry but can we like talk about their acting skills? Especially the actor of Suzuki 👏 He acts so well and really suits the character. What DID really cringe me out was the fact that Serizawa was pulling out some random English sentences and just overall, being silly. I also love the fact that the Drama didn’t just include male but female friends which is very rare in the Japanese BL industry. The girls are also really pretty and adorable I really like them! Special mention for the OST by the group RYUGUJO. It’s such a great song! I really enjoy listening to the intro BECAUSE of the great vocals 🤤 I even listen to it during my free time, I really LOVE it.Looking forward to the upcoming episodes I’m SO excited!!
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Popular Guy X Loner + One Shared Hobby…
This is looking good from the first episode. The story is interesting and there will surely more for viewers in coming episodes.I won’t get into the whole plot to avoid spoilers, but this isn’t the typical popular boy in class falls for class loner story, it’s more. There’s a twist to it, a very nice twist, and I’m wondering how the story will play out.
Curious what the twist is? How about you join the watch train as well?
(I’ll edit as I watch)
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