Shoebill

This was my favourite quote in the episode!

There's 1-2 extra chapters at the end of volume 2 that hasn't been adapted, so make sure to read that before jumping into volume 3.

Lol, the next arc is also quite angsty, so having 4-5 more episodes (which is not enough to adapt it) would not satisfy viewers either.

The girlfriend change is actually one that I liked. With it removed, it became Taichi running away because he thought Kohei's "as a friend" was an indication that Kohei had moved on and he was too late. I think it achieved the same effect while being a less frustrating misunderstanding.

I'm pretty sure the reason why we didn't get the camping extra is because they'd have to get not only Motoki and Tora but also Daito Shunsuke, Ikeda Ryo, Shiraishi all at the campsite overnight. Might be out of budget for them lol, since I'm sure many of them have a busy schedule. Plus they already removed Tendo entirely.

Yes, a few of us have pointed it out below too (as did some JP viewers on twitter). I don't know if it was an intentional choice or as you said filmed separately. It just came off kinda odd tbh

Hm, I get what you mean with Kohei's habit. But I think there is previously already a direct romantic link in Sai's conversation about his ex-girlfriend and his motivation being explicitly love/"koi". That's why I thought it was okay to not include the girlfriend thread.

It was! It was "daisuki" specifically.

I'm actually glad they changed it because it would've certainly made viewers even more frustrated, since they hate misunderstanding/miscommunication. There was still Taichi's jealousy about Kohei's new notetaker, which I thought was a good replacement. I thought most of Taichi's realisation of his feelings came from Sai and Maya pushing him instead of that.

Maya is one that pushed Taichi to think about his future, away from his stagnant notetaking relationship with Kohei, which lead to him working at Sig-n. And she pushed them together romantically this episode.

Certainly not a fast track BL bandwagon. This is based on an 11 year old manga that is relatively well-known and has been voted by Japanese BL readers as the top 8 "timeless classic" BL. It's also been adapted to film in 2017 before, so there was really no reason to do it again other than that they thought it was a good story and would appeal to the current audience.

Even the overall cute and harmonious camping extra has a downer moment that builds up Kohei's insecurities... we can never escape the angst 🤣

Yeah, it's really strange and made me think something might've happened during the filming/editing of that scene, or that the "off" is intentional. It didn't feel like unintentionally poor directing because every other scene in the whole drama was slow paced and shot well, it was that particular nighttime scene that was like that for some reason.

Ohhh yes. That gave me a new perspective

The setting and plot progression plays out a lot differently in the manga, but the emotional progression and dialogue is pretty much the same. There was no festival meeting orchestrated by Maya, their reunion took place in winter and they just run into each other on the streets. Taichi runs away after realising his feelings, Kohei thinks he's lost Taichi in the crowd, runs after to find him and saves him from almost getting hit by a car(!!!). And then they confess. I actually like the drama version better because there are less concidences, but the sudden change from afternoon to nighttime was odd and I'm not sure why they did that (maybe scheduling issues?). I think they could've just gotten rid of the (drama original) ending scene on the rooftop to give more time for the confession scene to breathe.

"Even if you don't need me, I still want to be with you," is the perfect confession line that shows Taichi's growth. CHOOSING to be together simply out of love, rather than loneliness or transactional notetaking relationship, is the beauty of their romance.

I wouldn't even call it "mixed" reception. Almost everyone on Twitter loves it. I would say it's the most well-received non-sequel JBL this year along with At 25:00 in Akasaka.

Obligatory warning to drama viewers that the article contains spoilers for post-drama story~

Good on you for dropping it when you realised it wasn't your thing rather than making yourself frustrated and complaining every week. The career stuff and disability drama IS the plot and the focus from here on, so it's fine to not continue if it's not for you 🤷

Look, I didn't say she wasn't rude either. OP said she was rude ALL OF A SUDDEN. I said it was not "all of a sudden" and she had a reason, good one or not, and corrected OP about manga info. I am explaining why she thought that way, not whatever you think about her actions. You are free yourself to find her a pain in the ass or whatever.