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This review may contain spoilers
While I'm wary of the potential of BL about BL fueling, subconsciously or not, fans' fantasies about strangers' sexualities, I've enjoyed Japan's comedic use of the scenario to have a good laugh at itself. BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen in particular is both solid Japanese introvert BL and excellent spoofing of its tropes.
Quite opposite to that, 25 Ji Akasaka de's use of the scenario allows it to lean heavily into its characters' self-conscious introversion, two young men who both feel all of their feelings intensely and struggle to express them outwardly. Acting is a way to get outside of themselves but also exposes them to new vulnerabilities. Their work on the series gives them the experience of behaving as if they were together and thus the space for their feelings to develop but also clouds their understanding of what's going on between them. Neither of them have the confidence to believe that the other's actions are more than a senior helping his junior get into character.
Shirasaki is as he is, whether that's from general social awkwardness or neurodivergence. He's thrown in at the deep end with this first acting job, after years of fruitless auditioning (throughout all of this, there's a lot said with a single line or expression). I don't know how much of it was camera-work, hair & make-up, or simply Niihara's skill as an actor, but he visually changes through the course of the series. It's not just his hair going from disheveled to tidy but something in his face. To play a novice actor who grows, perhaps not in confidence, but in experience? Well done. Komagine too, who told so much through his face.
The awkwardness in their early physical contact some complain about - if you watch it again, pay attention to how it shifts. They are telling a story with how they touch each other.
Years long infatuation is a useful but over-used convention. It's employed well here, adding both to Hayama's characterisation and intensifying his feelings quickly, which allows for greater emotional depth within a short run-time. They hold back explanation but it was always there in his expressions. The reason for it - that Shirasaki is the only one who sees Hayama for his acting rather than his appearance - matters a great deal.
Because this is about two young men, both needing to be seen and valued for who they are, both unable to see and value themselves, finally finding that in each other.
Quite opposite to that, 25 Ji Akasaka de's use of the scenario allows it to lean heavily into its characters' self-conscious introversion, two young men who both feel all of their feelings intensely and struggle to express them outwardly. Acting is a way to get outside of themselves but also exposes them to new vulnerabilities. Their work on the series gives them the experience of behaving as if they were together and thus the space for their feelings to develop but also clouds their understanding of what's going on between them. Neither of them have the confidence to believe that the other's actions are more than a senior helping his junior get into character.
Shirasaki is as he is, whether that's from general social awkwardness or neurodivergence. He's thrown in at the deep end with this first acting job, after years of fruitless auditioning (throughout all of this, there's a lot said with a single line or expression). I don't know how much of it was camera-work, hair & make-up, or simply Niihara's skill as an actor, but he visually changes through the course of the series. It's not just his hair going from disheveled to tidy but something in his face. To play a novice actor who grows, perhaps not in confidence, but in experience? Well done. Komagine too, who told so much through his face.
The awkwardness in their early physical contact some complain about - if you watch it again, pay attention to how it shifts. They are telling a story with how they touch each other.
Years long infatuation is a useful but over-used convention. It's employed well here, adding both to Hayama's characterisation and intensifying his feelings quickly, which allows for greater emotional depth within a short run-time. They hold back explanation but it was always there in his expressions. The reason for it - that Shirasaki is the only one who sees Hayama for his acting rather than his appearance - matters a great deal.
Because this is about two young men, both needing to be seen and valued for who they are, both unable to see and value themselves, finally finding that in each other.
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