This review may contain spoilers
I always come back
The 1st time I watched this was in April 2023, now in Oct 2025, I cannot count how many times I've rewatched this - which is a big deal in my world since I don't reread books and neither do I rewatch shows
What I love about this show (plus the 2nd season and the movie) is the complexity of the characters. What at 1st looks like a toxic bully romance, overtime (basically after ep 3) reveals itself to be more complex than that. It is a story about 2 layered characters. Both of them feel like they don't quite belong in their respective worlds and somehow fit in each others'.
Hira has been bullied for most of his life because of his stuttering. He also doesn't like or find anything beautiful, and also feels like he doesn't belong in the world, so he withdraws from it, hiding behind his camera. Till Kyoi casually strolls into his life and upends it. Makes him find the one beautiful thing in this life and want to be more than he's ever been. He doesn't know what do to with all that other than the fact that he wants to be near Kyoi, but also that being near Kyoi and trying to reach him hurts.
Kyoi, on the other hand, comes off as cold and dismissive, but that's because he felt rejected by his immediate family. Even the people/friends who flock to him always want to use him. He is beautiful, and people are drawn to beautiful things. That's until he meets Hira, and for once, he finds someone who seems to see him. He looks at him with this revelence he's never experienced before and somehow just wants him for him, and our Kyoi -who's always wanted that thus why he wanted to be a celebrity- has no idea what to do/make of that.
Now take these two characters, throw in a whole lot of ego, emotional immaturity, miscommunication, and time and you get this incredible story that draws you in - just like how they are drwan to each other depsite their best efforts. The pacing and acting are also top-notch, which is why I always and will always come back
What I love about this show (plus the 2nd season and the movie) is the complexity of the characters. What at 1st looks like a toxic bully romance, overtime (basically after ep 3) reveals itself to be more complex than that. It is a story about 2 layered characters. Both of them feel like they don't quite belong in their respective worlds and somehow fit in each others'.
Hira has been bullied for most of his life because of his stuttering. He also doesn't like or find anything beautiful, and also feels like he doesn't belong in the world, so he withdraws from it, hiding behind his camera. Till Kyoi casually strolls into his life and upends it. Makes him find the one beautiful thing in this life and want to be more than he's ever been. He doesn't know what do to with all that other than the fact that he wants to be near Kyoi, but also that being near Kyoi and trying to reach him hurts.
Kyoi, on the other hand, comes off as cold and dismissive, but that's because he felt rejected by his immediate family. Even the people/friends who flock to him always want to use him. He is beautiful, and people are drawn to beautiful things. That's until he meets Hira, and for once, he finds someone who seems to see him. He looks at him with this revelence he's never experienced before and somehow just wants him for him, and our Kyoi -who's always wanted that thus why he wanted to be a celebrity- has no idea what to do/make of that.
Now take these two characters, throw in a whole lot of ego, emotional immaturity, miscommunication, and time and you get this incredible story that draws you in - just like how they are drwan to each other depsite their best efforts. The pacing and acting are also top-notch, which is why I always and will always come back
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