someonesproblemchild

The last 2 episodes were so much better, and now we falter with only one episode left???

It was improving so much with each episode that I had really high hopes for episode 7, but it was a bit of a letdown, to be honest. Typically, I don't think it is advisable to have the characters make so little progress with their relationship in a romance for the first half of the series, only to have two really strong episodes with loads of positive development, and then drop back several paces again. That may have worked well for a 12-episode series, but this only has 8, meaning the last episode, airing in two days, will have to make up for a significant regression now. We shall see, but I don't have especially high hopes that the last episode will be satisfying enough to make this series a rewatch for me...not with only two really good episodes.

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and it's improved again :)

I really enjoyed this episode. I was on the fence for the first half, but it turns out that...spoilers.............................................................. MC likes the ML enough to be both jealous and protective, and the ML has finally realized who MC is to him. It was really lovely to finally see decent progress being made in their relationship. This episode marks a significant turning point in their dynamics, allowing us to better determine if there is any real chemistry between the actors. There's a glimmer, but again, time will tell. I still think both actors are playing their parts quite well, and it isn't that ML has a type or that he's particularly dense, but more so that his unrequited love for the ML so many years ago left him willing to be naive in seeking that missing affection from someone similar. I'm trying to be a bit more forgiving of MC for not realizing that ML was falling for him in high school, since ML never told him, and backed himself into teasing the MC with his cronies when ML's cronies showed up unexpectedly the day he was going to confess on the school roof. Is MC going to question his own perceptions and memories of their time together in high school now? Let's hope so! Oh, and the hug made me so happy to watch :)

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Better again... :)

I don't think this will ever hit a 10 for me on any episode, but ep 4 was a solid improvement again, so this series definitely gets better as it goes. Spoilers.... The MC is still not particularly likable, but is improving very slowly. He's finally starting to be nice to the ML here and there, though it still barely moves him from being simply tolerant of the ML to being compassionate. The ML, on the other hand, is increasingly adorable, but has been likable from the start. The MC doesn't seem to even remotely understand any norms of dating, so his plan to get revenge on the ML for being annoyingly present in high school would never have worked anyway. You can't very well hurt someone by dumping them if you were already hurting them by barely even being friendly with them when dating, and consistently showing your annoyance toward them instead. Meanwhile, the ML is delighted by any shred of gentleness, since the MC won't even let the ML sit close enough for their arms to touch. At this point, I've been sticking around because the actors are good, the overall atmosphere is oddly soothing, and the ML's character is easy to sympathize with and root for. Now that the MC is slowly starting to develop some feelings other than irritation with ML, increasing hope for a decent or even happy ending for them will keep me watching.

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Got much better in this episode...spoilers, yeah.

I'm happy to say that this episode is a great improvement over the previous two, just because the MC is starting to grow and become a better person. He's been revealed as being standardly selfish in nature, which is why I haven't found him at all likable. He hasn't treated the ML particularly well despite the ML showing nothing but interest and affection toward him. Now that his selfish nature has been pointed out to him, he is starting to recognize it and seems willing to at least try to subdue that part of himself to become a better person. At the end, we have a glimmer of hope that he will begin by being a better boyfriend to the ML, and maybe not continue his ridiculous and unjustified revenge plot to date him for a month and then dump him to hurt him.

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Still only okay...

I still don't really like the MC much. He honestly just seems like he's being a jerk to the ML. Yes, it's weird and a bit creepy that the ML just pops into the MC's house to make him breakfast in the mornings, claiming the door was open, but MC hasn't really questioned it or checked the locks at night to make sure ML can't come in, so I don't know what to really make of the situation in that regard. However, the ML is literally there to make the MC breakfast, and he doesn't do anything more questionable than that, so it seems more like his behavior from high school of simply inserting himself into MC's life because he likes him is just continuing. --As far as the "bullying" from high school we see in MC's flashbacks goes, he just didn't seem to want anyone in his life at all, and that's why he was so bothered by the ML. While I get that that sets some people off, and their feelings toward people insisting on being in their lives are valid, I can't bring myself to be mad at ML for wanting to be part of the MC's world enough to insert himself into MC's day in a realistically non-threatening way. From a psychological perspective, there are significant mental and emotional benefits to having someone insert themselves into your life, even when you want to remain insular, over time. After all, humans are not solitary creatures by nature, even those who are neurodivergent. --All in all, I find the ML super likable....the MC, not so much. I am watching it on GagaOOlala, and the title info doesn't suggest any reason to like the MC, so it seems likely that this is one of those stories where the ML makes the MC a better person whom we can then grow to appreciate, if not end up liking.

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So far, it's preety good.

The story seems good overall, and the actors fit the characters well. My only complaints are that it seems a bit more disjointed than I would like, and I'm not convinced of the motivations for the MC. Maybe it's a combo of experiencing bullying in the US during most of my school years as the perpetual odd duck and of seeing much worse bullying in other Japanese shows, but so far, what the MC sees as bullying would barely qualify as annoying teasing for me. The juvenile behavior of the ML during the high school flashbacks would qualify as mildly obnoxious, but it is coming from a guy who just doesn't know how to show the guy he's attracted to that he is interested in him romantically. At that age and in that society, his behavior isn't anything that would warrant the "revenge" MC plans to take. Maybe the ML's behavior in high school will be revealed as more problematic in future episodes. If not, then I worry that the MC will never become a genuinely likable character compared to the ML for folk like me. Time will tell, I suppose.

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