This review may contain spoilers
refreshing story with good start but underwhelming ending
i started watching this on a whim, hearing it was one of the better jbls of 2025scroll to bottom for summary
i'll try to go deep into some things i noticed about this drama
things i liked
-interesting backstory with hayakawa and his love for music
to me it wasn't tropey and it felt original
i feel like it could have been fleshed out a little more to add more like depth to the way hayakawa acts in the beginning
like maybe they could have added more scenes with him and yama chan (forgot his full name) to make his actions later on make more sense like showing their relationship more so that the betrayal in the end hits harder
at times i could see an effort to create a complex character using his backstory but it somewhat fell flat as well for hard hitting scenes where the directors wanted us to feel something but it's not hitting the way i felt like it could have
but either way hayakawa as a character was quite interesting and was well rounded compared to some other jbls where the mc is just one dimensional
-in the beginning the music was well done, especially with the crescendos of the piano in the bgm during tense moments
or in the first episode where we see how hayakawa seems basically depressed
however one thing i noticed is near the end the choice of music somewhat felt a little out of place compared to the choices the directors had made earlier in the show
like (spoiler) at the end of the last episode we see them lying in bed together after konno stayed the night and for some reason the poppy happy music they had been playing during their kiss scenes was still playing during that calm scene
for me it just kinda threw me off and felt odd since i'm used to bed scenes like that having softer music especially in jbls
-the shots were well done, nothing felt off in terms of the cinematography which in fact i enjoyed a lot
many pretty shots with hayakawa in yellow lighting (that actor is so fine btw)
-the tension (not sexual more like just their dynamic) between hirukawa and konno was well written like hayakawa feeling happy around konno but still having that frustration with him
things i didn't like as much
-that scene with the girl in ep 1
see at first i was like chill with it cuz okay the directors wanna show that he's like unfeeling and depressed and lets himself please others
however, (spoiler) they included a scene where hayakawa imagined konno instead of the girl with him and to me i thought that scene would somewhat set up a tension later on. they did attempt it with him kissing konno later on and him constantly having dreams about him, but it felt kinda underwhelming. it was more romantic tension than sexual tension to me
more like he was realizing his feelings but the writers decided that they should start that realization with that scene, which felt out of place by the end to me because nothing between them was inherently sexual at any time
except one scene which connects to this scene with the girl
-the scene where hayakawa bursts out at konno and kisses him (TW and spoiler)
i won't say much about the actual scene but to me hayakawa asking konno that and pushing himself onto him felt so odd to me
like one second he was mad and upset at him and just frustrated and then the next second he's pushing himself onto him
like i can somewhat understand the kiss, hayakawa wanted to see konno not composed as he always was
but the question afterward really felt confusing to me
i wasn't sure if the writers wanted us to understand that hayakawa was escaping his truth again and resorting to distractions like he's seen doing earlier with a girl, or if he just wants to shake konno up more because he was frustrated and annoyed at him
either way i hope it's the latter reason because if it was the former reason , the writers could have developed that point about hayakawa a lot more
-the last two episodes (lots of spoilers here)
honestly during these two episodes i was just kinda confused with the mcs
it all felt a little fast and not as developed at the first 4 episodes
i feel like they needed to add at least 2 more episodes to flesh out that misunderstanding that hayakawa had and konno's realization
-also the new york thing, i heard that wasn't even in the novel and genuinely i wish it wasn't in the drama
-i'm sorry but the kiss/confession scene in the last episode made me cringe
like one second konno is confessing that yeah i kissed you cuz i wanted to and then the next second, like a flash of realization and suddenly hayakawa is like joking around and asking to kiss him
i felt like considering all that hayakawa went through, they should have slowed down that realization a little more and also not have made that weird dialogue where it sounds like he's asking a teacher or smth, lwk ruined the tone of that moment
it would have made more sense in a cute scene between them but this was a vital scene
also the part after he kisses him and hugs him and then says i want kisses from the last 3 years
i'm sorry i could not handle that i legit paused the drama and i was just cringing
like it could have been cute but idk it felt so odd and also a little cringe
reading that dialogue doesn't sound weird but the way the dialogue was made to be said sounded so off compared to the emotional scene he just had
that might have just been me thought but that part of the drama, if i rewatch it i'd prob skip it
in conclusion
watch this show if you want a refreshing interesting story, but don't expect much from the last two episodes
good cinematography, cool premise, amazing music, and cute chemistry too
no dumb one dimensional mcs hereeee
this bl will stay in your head for some time
Was this review helpful to you?
