Yuna-sama

Some people may say this is a drama about loneliness, others may say it is about how a person’s childhood trauma can leave them scared shitless. Others may say this is a sweet and fluffy romance. And some who will focus a lot on the kid and how this is about found family and connections.

For me, this is close to the perfect mix of all those, I think this short drama has a lot to offer to different people depending on which angle they choose to look at this. The characters are all lovable, they are lovely human beings with a bunch of flaws, fears and very different personalities that mix beautifully together to create very little drama but a whole lot of angst.

Overall, the drama was filled with adorable fluff, heartfelt moments and a bit of reasonable angst that didn't stray into too-heavy territory, just adding the perfect amount of depth and stakes for our main couple.

Those feelings were rounded out and resolved very nicely in the end as well. The pacing was perfect, and I continuously found myself thinking 'already?' whenever an episode ended.

As for the main pairing, I personally love their chemistry. There was never a single moment where I felt anyone was reaching too much, trying too hard, nor was there any awkwardness. I found myself completely convinced in the way they interacted each episode.

Everyone was fantastic, but I specifically liked Iijima Hiroki’s acting. The way he portrayed Minoru was equal parts sweet and heartbreaking: the care and absolute love and devotion he had for his brother while simultaneously struggling with the thought of no longer having that independence of someone his age was beautifully done.

Further, in the development of his relationship with Yutaka, he really did a great job in portraying that silent battle with his own feelings, how he slowly came to terms with how he felt, but still struggled deeply with it, because he so badly wanted to stay close to Yutaka no matter what, valuing his company over his own feelings, so much so that he harbored deep guilt every time he reached out even a little with how he felt, which made some moments (like the cheek kiss, the confession, the hand holding, etc.) so much more impactful, aka I CRIED. Iijima just knew exactly who his character was and brought him to life brilliantly.

Also, shout out to the actress who played Ohata Rei, Futaka’s coworker, she’s so pretty, and it was so cute when she helped Futaka with the bento and then became his friend.

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What’s so endearing about this series is that its focus isn’t on boy’s love, but on the innocence of first love and all that it entails, especially when you don’t know how to express it well yet and are consumed by teen hormones and runaway thoughts that lead to impulsive actions, then trying to backtrack when your mind is somewhat settled. That’s clearly Amagi, but more subtly in Takara.

Takara-Kun and Amagi-kun is about teen first love and also happens to feature two boys who navigate through their feelings for each other while suffering from misunderstandings. Even so, the drama portrays a healthy relationship between the main couple while still being realistic to the characters’ age, they make small mistakes and learn with them, strengthening their relationship.

The best proof of their progress is how Amagi was so unsure of their relationship in the beginning and almost broke up with Takara, but at the end when proposed with a problem that might make him want to break up, he vehemently refused to, showing how much surer of his relationship he was.

The biggest issue for me was the awkward acting from the main characters. The acting was quite stiff and awkward throughout the show (though it got better in the second half). To be honest, I liked the actors who played Tanaka and Katori better. They felt more natural to watch. If you ignore the acting of the main characters, and enjoy it being mostly lighthearted teenage angst, you’ll likely enjoy the series.

I would be so happy if I had a friend like Katori. He's kind, supportive, protective, and not judgmental. I also liked Tanaka, who is quite different compared to Katori. I initially disliked Tanaka's character and wished he would go away, but as the episodes progressed I could see that he has a much deeper character compared to the rest and I loved that his character had development within the amount of screen time he was given. I honestly wish I could see Tanaka as the main character.

When it comes to the characters’ themselves, Amagi is so likeable, Takara on the other hand I had a hard time liking him in the first part of the first episode but as soon as they explained his character I began to love him just as much. They are opposites to each other. Amagi keeps inside his social boundary and isn’t ‘popular’, he is optimistic and not afraid to share his feelings.

Takara is the extrovert but to me they switch that, as Takara is put in the role of being popular but keeps to himself inside of his circle of popularity whereas Amagi seems to be more extroverted inside his group. Takara keeps his feelings back because he doesn’t want to overwhelm others. They really are opposites and I like how the dialogue showcased that.

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The plot was a very standard best friends to lovers kind of story. We follow two high school boys, Ashiya Kakeru and Ohara Yamato, that have been friends since they were little, we see how their relationship changes, as they starts to struggle with his feelings for each other.

They have this black cat and golden retriever dynamics. Yamato is the calmer one, the more reserved and not so friendly one. Kakeru is the more outgoing one, the more approachable and more hyperactive one.
Yamato falls first, he had been in love with Kakeru for years but never dared to confess his feelings as he didn’t want to risk losing what the two had, as such, he believes that as long as Kakeru is happy then he, as his friend, would be too. But as Kakeru starts to show interest in dating, Yamato starts to struggle with feelings of jealousy. Kakeru remains oblivious to those feelings until it basically hit him in the face. He was always convinced the two could only be friends, however now he was forced to face the possibility.

They embodied the feelings, uncertainty, clumsiness and beauty of young love. They casted these two perfectly and it’s almost like they jumped out from the pages of the manga. Both main leads fit and played the role perfectly! I was even a little surprised that Maeda Kentaro took on this role, as he has already starred in a few dramas and doesn’t actually need the BL hype. There is something about Japanese drama's 'awkward' acting that makes the scenes authentic. This is how we are in real life, and the way they talked to each other makes you really feel like you are watching something more real.

I also loved Hisaka Yui’s character, he was such a supportive friend to Yamato, he was the best wingman for sure and it was overall just a very good portrayal of a healthy friendship, at times he seemed to know everything, he was like the master you go to for answers in the martial art stories.

Yamato’s sister as well, her character was also another very supportive character that helped both main characters come to terms with what they were feeling at times, her character was truly very well written. The rest of the friend group was also very good overall.

When it comes to the visuals of the series, many scenes were too bright to the point of slightly blurring out the details and the faces. Some cuts between the scenes were also a bit confusing. There was also an overwhelming amount of slow-motion scenes. It just felt a bit excessive. The soundtrack was good with a very catchy ending song (which was maybe used a bit too much but that I enjoyed nevertheless each time it was played). The production value of the show was pretty good as well with some nice school moments very well captured. The actor who played the teacher was very good, I could not hold my laugh back whenever he showed up to scold Kakeru for his bad grades.

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