Darknyx

Sweet and Hilarious

We're Both Grooms keeps the story short, simple, and hilarious.


STORY:

On their wedding day, Seto Ryosuke and Aikawa Mizuki encounter a huge problem... Ryosuke hasn't told any of his family and friends that Mizuki is a man!

We're Both Grooms keeps the story simple by starting literally on the wedding day. We learn that Ryosuke hasn't told his family that Mizuki is a guy. Mizuki tries to help Ryosuke, but it's too late and the ceremony must start. As the doors to the ceremony open, so does the hilarity of Ryosuke's homophobic father vs Mizuki's supportive father.

The comedy isn't too over the top, but there are some moments that are too funny it's cringy moments. However, we are treated to some wholesome scenes sprinkled in here and there. The best thing I can s ay is watch it, you'll enjoy it.


Ryosuke x Mizuki

Because it starts on their wedding day and finishes on their wedding day, there isn't much to analyze about the couple. We do get flashbacks and insights into their relationship, but it's not too deep. Also, we get more insight into Ryosuke's background simply because the story focuses on his family's reaction to his coming out.

Ryosuke is an elementary school teacher who always wants to please everyone, while Mizuki is a lemon farmer with a past of failed relationships. Mizuki just wants to fall in love and be happy, while Ryosuke wants to be the perfect man for Mizuki.... Which brings us to the problem. Ryosuke wanted to please Mizuki by marrying him, but he also doesn't want to disappoint his father.

Ryosuke and Mizuki really do suit each other since Ryosuke only thinks about Mizuki. Mizuki also is great for Ryosuke since he's more than willing to take things slow and go at Ryosuke's pace. I do think Ryosuke needs to be more open with Mizuki and they both need to have more communication, but it does seem like all things work out after the wedding, so they seem great of each other.


OVERALL:

We're Both Grooms is hilarious! I do wonder why neither families met before the ceremony because this would have saved everyone the drama, but if they met the two probably would have broken up and never gotten married.

Either way, I recommend watch this. It's hilarious!

Read More

This Film RUINED the Manga... Watch the Anime!!

The anime was so much better!!!!

This film doesn't even do the manga justice.
It's a plot hole festival!
It makes the manga look bad. Go watch the anime!

~~~ STORY ~~~

This is what happens when you try to fit a full manga series into 90 minute film. You get a crappy film that is rushed, full of so many plot holes, and isn't true to the original story. In fact, this film makes you so confused and irritated!

I just finished watching the anime, and watched this film the day after finishing the anime. I have never read the manga, but the anime was very suspenseful and kept be on my toes. It wasn't the best suspense, horror, mystery anime out there, but it was enough to get me invested. The anime was interesting enough to make me curious about the film. This film did a terrible job at telling the story of The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window, that I regret watching it... Which sucks because Shison Jun and Okada Masaki are some of my favorite actors.

~~~ WHAT THE STORY SHOULD HAVE BEEN ~~~

Kosuke Mikado has always been terrified of ghosts. Why? Because he has the ability to see them. When he was 4 years old his father went missing, only leaving behind a jewelry box.. Strangely, no one, even his mother, remembers his fathers name or face. One day an exorcist named Rihito Hiyakawa arrives at his workplace. Hiyakawa saves Mikado from a ghost before turning to him and saying "You're my Destiny."

After that incident, Mikado is forced to work for Hiyakawa solving bizarre cases related to the supernatural. However, they keep running into the name Erika Hiura. As the duo investigate, the secrets behind Hiyakawa keep piling up, and it all might have something to do with Erika Hiura and Mikado's missing father's jewelry box.

~~~ WHAT WE GOT ~~~

Mikado is terrified of ghosts and can see them. One day Hiyakawa comes in and forcefully makes Mikado work for him. They repeatedly come across the name Erika Hiura during their investigations, but Hiyakawa doesn't care. Even when her body guard kidnaps them to help save her, he doesn't care. Mikado chooses to ignore Hiyakawa's wishes and investigate Erika Hiura and the bizarre cases himself. He learns that Erika Hiura is just a pawn. She is being manipulated by "Sensei," who is a leader of a cult. Mikado somehow ends up working with Hiura only to discover that Hiyakawa mass murdered the cult in the past after they mistreated him. The End!

Are you confused? I am.

~~~ WHAT's MISSING ~~~

Aside from an actual storyline? Everything!

Plot - The film tried to condense the plot so much that everything great about the plot of the manga/anime was missing. (Remember, I am going off the anime since I haven't read the manga.) The plot revolves heavily around Hikawa and Mikado. Hikawa's motivation is to make Mikado never leave his side. Meanwhile Mikado just wants to help and stop people from dying. As they solve cases Hiyakawa's strange and mysterious backstory unravels. Everything is linked to Erika Hiura, the cult, and "Sensei." Even Hiyakawa and Mikado aren't safe from "Sensei's" grasp. Hell, even Mikado's mom isn't safe from "Sensei." Everyone is a pawn in "Sensei's" master plan.

That being said, the film tried to cram all of the cases related to Erika Hiura and "Sensei" into two very short cases. They even tried to cram Hiyakawa's elaborate and tragic backstory into a minute. They didn't even touch upon Mikado's special abilities and why he can see ghosts. They talked a but about the power of words, but they didn't do into detail about it, or why Erika Hiura used her name in the curse. The worst yet, was that they just had Mikado sign a contract to Hiyakawa, and showed that Hiyakawa was manipulating him without even explaining why Hiyakawa did that and even use the power of being connected to each other.

The whole point of The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window is the bond between Hiyakawa and Mikado, yet the film did nothing to show it. They are supposed to be spiritually bonded together which is why Hiyakawa is jealous of everyone that can "touch Mikado's spirit." Mikado also can't seem to leave Hiyakawa alone, despite finding him strange. They have a strong bond together which is why they exorcize ghosts together. Even when the Hiyakawa misunderstand Mikado's intensions and acts out on his own, Mikado get upset at Hiyakawa, but he still wants to save him. However, the film made Hiyakawa out to be the pseudo villian, and all Mikado had to do was talk to Hiyakawa for a bit and great film over. They didn't even attempt to solve who "Sensei" was, why Erika Hiura was working for him, and what in the world the cult was. They just introduced everything and "Hey, Hiyakawa mass murdered the cult in the past because they were abusing him, so the end. You don't need to know who 'Sensei' is and why he did it."

Characters - All of the characters are watered down and just plain messy versions of themselves in the film. Other important character are straight up missing.

Mikado Kousuke - The key to everyone's heart. He somehow has the power to help everyone heal and fix their issues. He is also deeply tethered to "Sensei" even if he doesn't know it yet.

Hiyakawa Rihito - A man who was abused and manipulated since birth. He has the power to forcefully punch away ghosts. He was born and raised by the cult as a god, to get rid of their impurities. He was never given or shown any type of kindness or love. He believes Mikado is his destiny. He will do anything to keep Mikado next to him, even if that means bonding and tying Mikado to him forcefully.

Hiura Erika - A teenage necromancer, who was sold to "Sensei" and the cult by her father. She is forced by "Sensei" to curse people to fuel his master plan. She hates "Sensei" and wants to run away and be free from his grasps and her own power.

Hiroki Hanzawa - A cop who helped Hiyakawa after he mass murdered the cult. Despite his rough demenor, Hanzawa has a soft spot for Hiyakawa. He doesn't believe in the supernatural, but constantly asks Hiyakawa for help solving unsolvable cases.

Kazuomi Sakaki - Erika's yakuza bodyguard, who was only in the film for 1 minute. He looks cold and scary, but he's actually a really caring guy... at least for Erika. He hates everyone that tries to hurt Erika, even her father and "Sensei." He would save Erika from her hellish fate if it weren't for the fact that he would be killed if he tried to help her escape. He becomes an important character in the later half of the manga/anime. He tells Erika, "If you're going to escape. Take me with you."

Keita Mukae - An exorcist who was cut from the film!!! Like Hiyakawa, he can exorcize ghostss, however his tactic is to talk to them to ease their minds before exorcizing them. He's very good with establishing bonds with people and ghosts.

"Sensei" - A selfish man who manipulates people and ghosts for his own selfish gain. He has Hiura Erika do the dirty work, so nothing can be traced back to him. He has a fear that if people find out his name and face they will destroy him. He has pure hatred for Mikado.

~~~ IS THIS BL? ~~~

The film is not, but it's supposed to be. The film version of Hiyakawa is too stoic and doesn't get jealous of Mikado at all. In fact, he doesn't even bother to force his way into Mikado's spirit. Even Mikado doesn't care enough about Hiyakawa to prioritize his safety. They don't even touch on the fact that Hiyakawa called Mikado his "destiny" in the first scene. Also the exorcism isn't as sexual at it is in the anime/manga.

The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window is published by a BL magazine and is classified as such, but the anime was more Shounen Ai than BL. However, I'm not sure if the manga explicitly makes that distinction. In the anime, it's clear that Hiyakawa is in love with Mikado to the point of obsession. Mikado clearly has feelings for Hiyakawa, but it's unclear if it's romantic or not. Either way, they do have a spiritual bond that is stronger than everyone else. Also, they both occasionally do and say things that make other people question whether the two are dating or not.

Also, the exorcizing that Mikado and Hiyakawa do together is very intimate. Then exorcizing ghosts, Hiyakawa explains that isn't supposed to feel good because it's cleansing the air. The more of their spiritual power they use the better it's supposed to feel. When Mikado compares it to sex, Hiyakawa agrees that it's similar. In the anime, when they do exorcizing together, they are both exhausted and disheveled after... Like they had gone a few rounds together. Usually Mikado is slumped over Hiyakawa. Also Hiyakawa bites Mikado occasionally because he "get's too into it." That being said, when Mukae and Mikado exorcised together, Mukae was respectful and held Mikado's hand. He didn't force his way into Mikado's soul.

~~~ OVERALL ~~~

I really liked the anime, but the film was terrible. While I wasn't really expecting the film to incorporate the BL aspects of it, I was expecting a decent horror/suspense film. I got none of that.

This film was full of plot holes and didn't even manage to tell a decent story. There was no plot at all! This film was created by a big name company with big name actors, yet how did the film not manage to have a decent plot? They really tried to rush through the whole plot in 90 minutes and failed spectacularly. They didn't even solve the mystery that they were setting up to be the big climax.

Do I want a sequel? No.
Do I want a TV series? Maybe... Actually no. While I think the plot of the manga is more suited for a TV series, rather than movie. I think that since the exorcism and spiritual bond aspects of this story are very abstract and sexual in nature, it would be very difficult to show it in live action. The anime was great since we could see the different planes and the abstract nature of the bonds, everything was unrealistic. It would be hard to show different realms and bonds to each other's hearts without lots of CGI.

I personally think The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window should have been left as a manga/anime and never turned into a Live Action Film.

Read More

Short High School Romance Done Right!!!

It was so cute!!! Super short! Super cute! Super romantic!!

This is how to do a cute and simple high school romance drama!!

•❅✧❅✦ STORY •❅✧❅✦

The plot is super simple, the popular boy is in love with his childhood best friend. We've seen it a thousand times, but this time it's so cute, so romantic, and so innocent!

Kairi is in love with Nanami, his childhood friend. He is a puppy lover dispite his tall stature. He is super cute, super clingy, and super innocent, and 100% in love with Nanami. Nanami is kind and sweet with Kairi. While he is clueless, he isn't dense. He picks up that Kairi may feelings for him, although it takes him time to figure out how he wants to deal with it.

The plot isn't dramatic or anything, just the two boys trying to figure out how to handle their relationship. It's very cute, simple and fluffy.

•❅✧❅✦ OVERALL •❅✧❅✦

I recommend watching it. It's super cute and fluffy; and leaves you feeling cute and bubbly after watching it.

The total runtime is about an hour, so if you have an hour to spare, please watch it. While it isn't anything overly dramatic or anything spectacular, it is very cute and will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy after watching.

Read More

It's More About Character Growth than Romance

To be honest, the whole drama feels like one episode of the "Boys Dormatory" and that there are supposed to more episodes before and after it... But does that hinder the drama? Absolutely not!

•❅✧❅✦ STORY •❅✧❅✦

The drama focuses on our two MLs who live in the dorms. Koyanagi is a cooking enthusiast, who does care about anything except for cooking, and Takizawa has been abused by his father his whole life, so he is scared and withdrawn from people. They are both considered "oddballs" or "strange people" or 変わり者 or 変人 in Japan, as they act differently from "normal" people. After moving in, Takizawa slowly starts opening up to Koyanagi, as Koyanagi unintentionally breaks down his walls with his unconventional methods of trying to befriend him. Meanwhile, Takeru, who has a crush on Takizawa moves in. He also breaks down Takizawa's walls, abit more forcefully than Takizawa would like. This leads to Takizawa discovering more about himself. This is the core of the plot.

The drama is all about Takizawa's growth as a person, rather than his romance with Koyanagi. There are a few "romantic" moments here and there, but the bulk of the drama is about Takizawa learning to overcome his abused past and learning to open up to people.

If you want romance, there isn't much in this drama. It's mostly about self discovery. However, the drama is very light-hearted despite the subject matter, so it's a fun watch!

•❅✧❅✦ THE "ODDBALL" CHARACTERS •❅✧❅✦

All of the characters, except for the dormatory leader and Takeru, are "oddballs." None of them would be considered "normal" by Japanese standards, which is why the drama feels like it is one episode out of the "Boys Dormatory."

It feels like there is supposed to be more episodes focusing on the other characters coming up after Takizawa and Koyanagi's episode finishes. The story of Takizawa and Koyanagi wraps up decently, but Koyanagi's background and his POV of the relationship aren't revealed in detail. Only hints are given, which makes us curious to see if there will be a season 2.

At the same time, the supporting and background characters also leave an impression, even if they are just standing around! The two other dorm-mates, the fitness guru with an afro and the kimono wearing guy who seems intune with ghosts, leave quite an impression even through they barely on screen. As for Takeru and the dorm leader, we are naturally curious about their lives too as we are given glimpses of their lives through their interactions with Takeru and Koyanagi.

•❅✧❅✦ OVERALL •❅✧❅✦

The drama is too short, yet just right at the same time. The drama wraps up all ends nicely, but at the same time it feels like there is more to come. It's light-hearted and cute, leaving you wanting to see more of this dorm's shenanigains after the drama ends.

Read More

It's All About His First Awkward Gay High School Love!!

If you don't like the awkward moments and prefer sexy and romantic, sorry but go find a love story about experienced people. These students are new and awkward, and it's okay!! That's what this drama is about!! It's about learning and growing up!!

Some might not like how awkward the kissing scenes are, or how awkward the characters are with each other, but they are high school students and it's their first time experiencing everything. Of course it's not going to be all sexy and romantic, it's their first time! Everything is awkward and it works!!!

•❅✧❅✦ STORY •❅✧❅✦

Personally, I would have rated it higher, but I didn't like the ending. The ending, while it was nice, it felt like there was an uncertainty to their future. Ending it on Sui's high school graduation without any mention of how they are going to handle the seperation didn't give us hope. Even one scene of Sui in college pick up Harutora or vice versa would have made everything better.

Anyways, on to the review of the plot. The plot isn't bad. It's about Harutora bringing Sui out of the shadows and helping him accept himself. Sui goes from being subtly bullied, to slowly being empowered. He doesn't make any grand changes. He takes slow baby steps as he grows more confidence and self esteem. Most of the time he is himself in front of Harutora, but reverts to his mouse-like self around others. While it can be a little frustrating to watch, it does show how much trust he has in Harutora.

As for Harutora... I wasn't really happy with Harutora. He brought out the best in Sui and seemed to want Sui to announce their relationship throughout the whole drama, but he never took any initiative to tell Sui he wanted to announce their relationship. Despite advocating for Sui to love and accept himself, he never really spoke about his own problems. Throughout the drama, he encouraged Sui to open up and tried his best to cater to him, which worked well until Sui became confident in himself. Once Sui became more confident and stepped out of the shadow, Harutora slowly found himself being upset that his relationship was hidden in the shadows, despite Sui being openly gay. I was waiting for Harutora to open up and express his dissatisfaction with it to Sui, but he never did. He only kept it to himself, which is why it was frustrating to watch. It was also the reason why I was disastisfied with the ending. If he had asked Sui to announce their relationship, or even if he announced it, I would have believed that their relationship would last past Sui's graduation. But because their announcement was never announced to their friends, it's hard to believe they lasted long.

•❅✧❅✦ OVERALL •❅✧❅✦

Other than my nitpicking of Harutora and the ending, the drama was a fun watch. Watching Sui grow more confident in himself is really empowering and great to watch. However, you do have to remember they are high school students because there are lots of awkward moments, which if you remember their ages and that this is their first time experiencing anything, it fits in well. If you are expecting beautiful kiss scenes then this isn't it because it's awkward, but the awkwardness fits the theme of the drama well.

Read More

The Actors are Hot.... But the Plot Could Have Been Better

This movie tries to point out that there is more to a person beyond their pretty face, but ironically, the actor's pretty faces are the only thing keeping this movie alive.

•❅✧❅✦ STORY •❅✧❅✦

The plot revolves around our FL learning that her online crush is more than a pretty face. Which could have been a great plot with the theme of "there's more than meets the eyes" but sadly nothing really happened. Most of the movie is spent fawning over our ML's looks and we don't really learn much about our ML. He verbally says his looks are the cause of his problems, but we don't really see him battling any inner demons or being hindered by his looks in any ways. Because of this, it's hard to believe he has any real problems because of his looks. All we end up seeing is a guy who claims he has low self esteem.

Similarly, our FL doesn't really do much to help our ML with his issues. She still fawns over his looks and says she loves his personality, but that's it. There is no real situation where she can prove her love for him is not just his looks, so everything just seems superficial.

•❅✧❅✦ OVERALL •❅✧❅✦

Despite my complaints about the plot, the movie was fun to watch. If you don't think too hard about the plot and just gush over the hot actors and actresses, the movie really isn't too bad. The movie is based on a shoujo manga and it's target audience is probably middle and high schoolers, so it could be a fun watch for them. However, if you are looking for a movie that sticks to it's theme and delivers quality storylines, then this movie isn't it.

Read More

A Nice BL, But Something Felt Off

Here me out, I actually think the BL was very nice. It hit all the benchmarks for my expectations of a BL... But something felt like it was missing. I think it might be the plot... or the lack of any drama for the couple.

•❅✧❅✦ STORY •❅✧❅✦

The plot of the drama is simple, they change seats and the hot guy sitting behind him suddenly confesses to him. The plot is straight forward and the drama delivers on it. However, there is barely any obstacles for the couple to overcome. In that aspect, while the drama was cute and fun to watch, there wasn't any real climatic event for them to overcome and show off their love. Similarly, none of the leads were overly romantic, so there was no real rug at our heartstrings. The drama seemed to play it safe, which made a nice drama, but something did feel off when you look back and think "is there any rewatch value to this?"

•❅✧❅✦ OVERALL •❅✧❅✦

I really enjoyed the drama, but something really felt off after watching it. It felt like something was missing, and thinking back, there is little rewatch value because there is no real "drama" in this drama. Everything felt safe, which while it makes the drama a nice watch, it doesn't make the drama a masterpiece.

I did enjoy watching the drama, but I won't be rewatching this anytime soon.

Read More

All That Build Up for an Ambugious Relationship with "No Real" Happy Ending.

The drama itself was a fun watch. The actors were great and even the story was amazing... Until they had Sota leave for the UK while their relationship was left ambigous.

•❅✧❅✦ STORY •❅✧❅✦

The story is great. A younger brother falling for his sister's boyfriend after he starts tutoring him. He and his tutor hit it off instantly and they become close friends. However, the more they meet, the more he realizes he likes him... But he shouldn't because his tutor is his sister's boyfriend.

All of this heartache and struggling is interesting to watch as he clearly likes him, but makes excuses for his feelings. But the story starts to go downhill when we actually learn that his sister's boyfriend was actually her boy-friend, as in male friend, and they are not dating. Theoretically, this is where they should start dating and the real romance begins, but that is not the case. Their relationship starts to fall into the "I don't know if I like you as a lover, friend, or if what I have for you is admiration" category. Which isn't too bad if they actually end up dating, but in the last episode, Sota ends up going to the UK for 2 years to study abroad and there is no epilogue for his return. (IDK if there is one in the special ep as I haven't watched it yet.) Natsu also makes a speech about "it's okay if their relationship is ambiguous" which leaves us wondering if they really will end up dating in the future. But there is no certainty as Sota leaves for the UK and nothing happens.

•❅✧❅✦ Overall •❅✧❅✦

The drama was great until the ending ruined it. I was invested and cheering for them up until the end and felt betrayed when Sota left for the UK. It was so sudden and random. It also ruined any great image I had for him because I would have thought he would have treasured his new relationship with Natsu and his family because his own family seemed to be messy. But anyways, the ending was disappointed. It's a real waste of potential because the actors were amazing and they had me hooked.

Read More

We Can Finally Relax with the Couple After their Complex Relationship in the Drama.

The drama was very mature and bordering dark, but this special episode does a 180 and gives the couple (and us) sometime to breathe and soak in their relationship.

•❅✧❅✦ STORY •❅✧❅✦

After the MLs have finally settled down and figured out their complex relationship, this special episode serves as an epilogue and is very relaxing.... Notice how I said relaxing and not romantic. There is very little romance, just a wholesome slice of life and some possible forshadowing for the relationship the two MLs with have in the future.

In the episode we meet the ML's former manager's boyfriend. They are two older gays in their late 50s and early 60s. The two MLs interact and seem to long for the relationship the two older gays have. The entire episode is relaxing and warm. A big contrast to the drama, which was very tense and dark. The episode seems to show that their relationship has calmed down and isn't as turbulant as it was in the series.

•❅✧❅✦ Overall •❅✧❅✦

This special episode is a glimpse into the future of relationship. Both MLs have settled their complex relationship and made it simple. They have calmed down. And the two older gays seemed to be a forshadowing into what their relationship will look like in the future.

Read More

A Mature Drama Without Any Whimsy

The drama is very mature and almost dark. The only thing keeping this drama from turning dark is the ML's bubbly personality once he regains his footing in life.

•❅✧❅✦ STORY •❅✧❅✦

The plot is very interesting. Since high school the ML's "servant" had been waiting on his hands and feet. Even as they grow up and go into the world of business, they keep their relationship the same. Once the ML falls from grace and his "servant" maintains his status as the president of a security company, the ML starts to feel like he's hit rock bottom... Only to be brought back up by his "servant."

The story is very complex. Aside from the business aspect, the relationship between the two MLs isn't simple. Their relationship is so complex, even they don't know what to call it. Bully, and victim, master and servant, lovers, sex friends.... what is the right word to call their relationship? From our ML's POV their relationship started out as master and servant that bordered on bullying. From our "servant's" POV their relationship was always more complex and played into his kink (which I don't think he realizes he has.) The whole story is about these two navigating their complex relationship while also helping the ML regain his footing in life.

•❅✧❅✦ OVERALL •❅✧❅✦

The drama is very mature despite the ML's bubbly personality. If you are looking for romance or light hearted whimsy, you won't get that until the special episode. The drama itself is very interesting, but mature. A good watch if you like mature and almost dark concepts.

Read More

A Short Situational Drama

It's a cute situational drama that you can watch on your down time.

•❅✧❅✦ STORY •❅✧❅✦

Because it's a short situational drama nothing really romantic or dramatic happens. The plot literally revolves around our ML starting a new job and meeting a senpai that catches his eye, and that's it. There are a few cliche trips and falls that out them in odd situations that turn "romantic" in the eyes of our ML, but other than that no real build up. Everything is in the POV of our ML, so we don't see what the senpai thinks about our ML. However, this is a short situational drama, so it doesn't really bother me too much as the drama did what it set out to do.

•❅✧❅✦ OVERALL •❅✧❅✦

If you over-analyze the drama, then yes, it's a short low budget drama with a cliche and subpar script. But if you actually take the drama at face value and view it as a short situational drama, it actually gets the job done. It wasn't bad, nor was it good, but it did keep me occupied for 30 minues. So, in that aspect, it did get the job done.

I enjoyed watching watching this short drama. It probably won't be rewatching it ever again, but it did accompany be during my lunch break and I had a good lunch while watching it.

Read More

Interesting Concept, But The Run Time Was Too Short For What It Tried To Do

The run time was too short, but it was captivating.
However, too much time was spent on the plot twists and not enough time on the romance.

•❅✧❅✦ Story •❅✧❅✦

The plot was intersting. A fan meets his favorite streamer offline and "falls in love" only to get threatened by his manager and stalked by the streamer's stalker... I put falls in love in quotes because we hardly see the romance, aside from Kei gushing over his crush as a fan.

The plot primarily focuses on Kei being harrassed and stalked by Tenya's stalker and manager. At first we are led to believe the manager is the stalker, but we later learn it is Tenya's stalker. The whole "stalker" manager bit was great until the manager backs off and starts to support Kei for no reason. As for the Tenya stalker, the storyline was great and we need more of it... But the romance...

The romance was barely there. Too much time was spent on the stalker incident that there the two MLs barely spend time together, let alone have any romance. We know Kei is in love because he gushes over Tenya the whole time, but we barely see anything from Tenya... Until the end... Which is another plot twist in itself because we learn that Tenya stalked Kei. But that whole plotline went no where because it was brought up in the last episode... a two minute episode... So yeah.... I would love to see more romance.

•❅✧❅✦ Overall •❅✧❅✦

The drama was interesting. It kept me on my toes, wanting more. However, it left a lot to be desired. I want to see the second season because I am curious to see Kei and Tenya's romance, but at the same time, I won't be rewatching this series. I already know the plot and there isn't any romance for me to rewatch and gush over.

Read More

A Nice Drama with a Very Supportive Group of Friends!!

Everyone needs to have friends like Serizawa's friends!!!

Everyone in the friend group, from the boys to the girls, are very open minded and friendly. No one has prejudice towards anything. They are all supportive of Serizawa and Suzuki regardless of their love for BL or how stupid their actions are. The group creates a safe space for everyone that watching their interactions makes you comfortable and feel good watching. So, while Serizawa and Suzuki's romance is cute, personally, I think Serizawa's friends really are the heart of the drama.

•❅✧❅✦ Story ✦❅✧❅•

Serizawa and Suzuki's romance is adorable. Serizawa is the puppy seme male lead, while Suzuki is the loner and dense uke. From the start it's quite obvious that Suzuki isn't a loner or awkward because he wants to be. He is a the awkard and loner outcast because the friends he made the previous year have traumatized him for his love of BL and he is still navigating through the shock and trauma. And Serizawa, who is clearly outgoing and filled with positive energy, is the light in Suzuki's world from way before they become friends. Even as Serizawa and Suzuki become friends, it's quite clear that Serizawa has a thing for Suzuki. The loving gaze, to the hurt expressions, Serizawa really wears his emotions on his sleeves. Even through the hurt, Serizawa is positive and always helpful to Suzuki, something that he has in common with his friend group.

Serizawa's friend group really stole the show! They are always understanding and supportive to both Serizawa and Suzuki, regardless of the situations. They make everyone feel comfortable, even comfortable enough for Serizawa and Suzuki to confess their feelings for each other in front of the whole group. To be honest, if the friend group wasn't as supportive and able to create a safe space for Serizawa and Suzuki, they would have never gotten together. They probably would have just been classmates until they graduated and been each other's "one that got away." Serizawa and Suzuki bond over their love of BL novel, and the whole friend group also reads or has read BL, so they have no problem with Serizawa and Suzuki talking about it, or getting togther. They just seen it as the norm, so while Suzuki's former friends created a toxic environment for Suzuki and made him feel wrong and comfortable, Serizawa's friends make everyone feel welcome and safe.

•❅✧❅✦ The Taboo Subject: BL ✦❅✧❅•

While the drama does not go full on into the subject, it does lightly discuss how the BL genre is something that is very commonly read (or watched), yet embarrassing to discuss for men. Suzuki is ostrasized from his former friend group for enjoying BL openly, which is something society expects. Yet when Suzuki meets Serizawa and his friend group, he is surprised to learn that everyone in Serizawa's group has read or watched a BL at some point. They just don't openly discuss it.

Despite not going fully into the subject, the drama does great in showing how the times have changed. BL still isn't widely accepted, yet many people have at least read (or watched) BL and enjoyed it at some point in their life. It's not embarrassing, just not a topic that is openly spoken about yet.

•❅✧❅✦ Overall ✦❅✧❅•

The drama is a fun drama to watch. It's not something that you would probably put on repeat 200 times (maybe just something you will come back to rewatch every once in a while), but it is a drama that you will enjoy watching and feel good watching. The positivity and support from Serizawa and his friends will really put you into a safe and comfortable space. Also the OST is something that you will have repeating in your head for a few days after watching is.

Read More

All the Romance Comes at the End!!

Another reviewer wrote "All the Cliche's In One" and I have to agree! It seems like the scriptwriter threw in all the drama in the beginning and forgot to put in romance scenes, so they just added them into the epilogue.

That being said, the drama wasn't too bad. If this series was a full length drama with more time, I think it would be an interesting watch.. However, as it is, if you can get past some of the scenes or information that gets skipped or skimmed over and just go with the flow, it's actually an interesting drama. But, it's very obvious that the series didn't have enough time to tell everything with all of the skips they had.

•❅✧❅✦ Story •❅✧❅✦

The plot is actually very interesting. A CEO candidate fighting against his family for his place in the company, has trama with people touching him. He has a one night stand with a regular office worker and becomes obsessed with him. He tries to claim the man while also trying to claim his spot within the company.

At a glance, the plot is very dramatic. There is lots of scheming and ploting against each other... But as the series is short, we see lots of the schemes and counter-schemes, but we rarely see the immediate impact of the scheme. We just get told the after effects. Also, because of time restraints, lots of the romance between the men is cut short, especially during the power struggle. All of this isn't bad, as it is still interesting to watch, but it does leave the audience wanting more, especially in the romance department.

The romance between the two male leads comes all at the end, during the epilogue. During the build up and climax, we can see their dynamic and romantic potential, but we don't actually see them falling in love. Lots of that seems to be happening off screen. We see lots of "I will protect you" moments, but little romance. All of that romance comes at the end... And maybe because the first half was so dramatic, once we hit the epilogue and all of the lovey-dovey scenes, it does seem to be a bit draggy. We can't complain since these are romantic scenes, but it does feel draggy.

•❅✧❅✦ Overall •❅✧❅✦

The series is an "enjoy it once, but don't need to rewatch" type of series. The plot is interesting and the two MLs are good looking with decent acting, but due to all of the skips the scriptwriter needed to make in order to make this into a short series, the plot does leave us with many things to be desired. I really wish we could see those scene that they skimmed past, but sadly there wasn't enough time for it.

I did enjoy watching this drama, but I don't think I will be rewatching it any time soon.

Read More

Lots of Potential, but Fell Flat because of it's Too Gloomy

•❅✧❅✦ Story ✦❅✧❅•

Smells Like Green Spirit had the potential to be a really thought-provoking drama with all of the themes it decided to tackle, but it really fell flat with its gloomy atmosphere and rushed ending.

The drama tackles the theme of sexuality in the 90s. They also sprinkled in some of the usual troupes of bullying, societal pressure through neighborhood gossip, and coming out. There was also a little bit of sexual assault thrown in the mix as well. Just by reading all of the themes, you can tell they are not happy themes at all. It’s all doom and gloom, and with only 8 episodes it’s hard to insert many happy moments. It seems like Mishima is constantly facing some sort of gloomy trouble that he can never catch a break to be happy. And this is what is missing from the drama.

Every episode seems to be gloomy with no happiness that we end up feeling bad for Mishima. Even the ending, which is supposed to show Mishima being happy, no longer struggling with his sexuality, is rushed and crammed into the last few minutes. Even his cross-dressing nature is lost that when Mishima is shown as a drag queen model, we don’t even know if it is actually him or not. It’s sad, since this could have been a good coming of age drama!

•❅✧❅✦ Themes ✦❅✧❅•

Smells Like Green Spirit tackles many themes including sexuality in the 90s, bullying, societal pressure, neighborhood gossip, coming out, and sexual assault. The most prevalent is the reality of sexuality in the 90s and societal pressure through neighborhood gossip.

The drama focuses on each theme they try to tackle though gossip from the neighborhood. We then learn about the truth of the situation through the characters they are gossiping about. It’s really sad because on more than one occasion, the characters change their course of action after hearing the neighborhood gossip. Kirino can’t even live his life freely because his mother bends to the pressure of society and he doesn’t want to disappoint her. He even went as far as trying to run away, only to be pulled back because the neighborhood gossip hit his mother and she collapsed.

I could go on and on about each theme, but the neighborhood gossip really pissed me off while watching because it was so accurate to how the Japanese bend to the pressure of their social image, even in this day and age!

•❅✧❅✦ Overall ✦❅✧❅•

Smells Like Green Spirit could have been a thought-provoking drama, but it kind of fell flat for me with it’s doom and gloom. Other people really seem to give it high regards, so I guess it’s good. Maybe I just have really high standards. Or I just found it too gloomy to see the positives of this drama.

Either way, I think the drama was nice, but it’s not something I would ever watch again. I honestly don’t even feel like reading the manga since it’s more gloomy than happy. Overall, it’s a decent coming of age story, but it’s really not for me.

Read More