BLISS RATING: ★★★★★
“So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.” – Paulo Coelho
What a story! This is SO good! It is a short (four episode) series. It is like watching a movie that was simply broken into 4 parts. This is storytelling at its finest. It involves basically two characters with several supporting roles. Ito Akira (Jin Shirasu) and Nishi Yuuki (Raiku). To say that they are handsome would not do them justice. Not only do they have that ‘boy next door’ look but they are gobsmakingly good actors. They take their roles from adolescents to grown men with veracity. Their innocence, especially on the part of Yuuki, is sweet, child-like but hauntingly intense.
They have fantasy and beautiful dreams for the future. Their lives seem complete but slowly a gnawing feeling creeps into the psyche of Akira based upon the teachings of his family. culture, and what is ‘normal’. It is a story of It nearly destroys him and almost takes Yuuki to very dark places as well. It is a story of life of two misfits, lonely, and out-of-place young men from adolescence to adulthood. It is a painful journey that takes a toll in trying to find meaning. There is redemption which I will not spoil for you. Suffice to say, however, you will need a box or two of tissues to get through it.
There is such chemistry between these two that is instantaneous. There is not a lot of back story and frankly none is needed. You only CARE about them. This is one of the finest acted BL series I have watched so far. It is intense with the last scenes so powerful that I honestly had to stop watching so I could compose myself. The story is imaginative, creative, quirky, sad, beautiful, and fulfilling. You can never look at white lines on the road again in the same way without thinking of this, “Follow the line. A love one comes to see me.” This chemistry between the two remains intense and palpable throughout the series. It is the truest form of love.
The supporting roles are all so good and so integrative to the story. This story has no fillers, gaps, or holes in it. It has timelines. This entire story is based solely and wholly on Aikra and Yuuki. There are such powerful scenes in this series that I continue to play them over and over in my mind. It brought back to me quite clearly with all my self-doubts and desires to be normal how I indeed also screwed up relationships. All I can say is look up into the stars and see their beauty and wonder, then look beside you and see what beauty and wonder lies right next to you. Both are magical. That was almost lost. Do not let this stunning series go unnoticed. It had a profound effect on me.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. the series? There is both magic and pain in this story. So much pain. Jin Shirasu as Akira and Kento Nsdu (Raiku) as Yuuki carry that pain with them throughout this series. There is such an intensity to their performances that it grabs you instantly. You know, sense, feel that they love each other, and it shows; yet something else is there. These actors showed us all of that mostly in their expressions and actions rather than words. We knew what they were feeling. They made you experience yourself. What performances. Kudos and so much more.
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