MidnightReader

To me, being a bit different from the rinse-and-repeat of Cold & Aloft Seme with an awkward, introverted Uke is already a major plus. I'm so tired of that kind of plot. We don't get a lot of Fudanshi main characters either, which was another nice switch-up. I also liked the side characters, and the dialogue was funny sometimes. They even did a different booth for the culture festival instead of the overdone haunted house and cafe! The show was far from perfect, but it did things outside the norm for a Japanese high school BL & it gets a few extra points in my book for that.

The pacing was a bit slow; each episode felt longer than it was, but at least I didn't get bored. It wasn't interesting, but it wasn't boring. It was middle of the road.

I never expect anything besides a chaste kiss in a Japanese BL, or in most Korean BL, but the overall chemistry wasn't too bad. The hugging and cuddling were very cute, and I'm a big supporter of cuddles.

The only real point of frustration for me was Suzuki not picking up on Serizawa liking him, but I tried to keep in mind that he has problems with his self-image, so he doesn't even consider himself an option. It's an overdone trope that I really wish they would drop in all drama if they aren't going to give the characters valid reasons outside of low levels of self-worth for them thinking the love interest doesn't like them. It does get frustrating.