BLISS RATING: ★★★★
“I think I’d miss you even if we never met.” – The Wedding Date
I have watched a lot of BLs but this one is one of the most confusing and perplexing ones I have ever seen. The only way to describe it is to say that it is indescribable. Perhaps it was due to translation issues or simply certain idiomatic expressions in Japanese literally are not translatable to other languages. That I am not certain of.
This story is about a love relationship between two high school boys told in a Romeo and Juliet fashion. With a lot of prose spoken by both, minus the death scene of course. It was children speaking with the wisdom of ages when we know that is not the case. I was perplexed by it all yet completely taken in by the charm and oddly soft passion with each other. As I watched this series, I felt inexplicably somber.
The class god is Takara Shun (Arata Sato) with his golden hair that looked more like rays of the sun. He is astonishing handsome. Yet, his looks do not match his personality. He is cold, distant, aloof, laconic, and generally unpleasant except to those friends around him. So many females, want him and his attention, yet he dismisses them like you would shoo away a fly on your shirt. He is reluctant to share much with others, but he feels a lot. He is capable of great love but is unable to express it for three reasons. His youthful inexperience in living, his aura of untouchability, and his expression of love only on an intellectual basis and understanding.
However, his connection to his humanity is focused on one individual who is not completely unlike him but yet is so different from him. We find that he is madly, as much as he is able to display his emotions, in love with Amagi Tachi (Oriyama Nao). Amagi is a deeply pensive with tristful tendencies. Outwardly, he seems ‘normal’ and relatable and is liked by all but occasionally teased.
But inwardly, he is a profoundly sad individual who hides his emotions and tends to shut them down and tell himself over and over he is not worthy of being loved. It all stems from his mother when he was a child essentially abandoning him both physically and emotionally. So Amagi learned at an early age to believe he is incapable of being loved and even if he was to be, it would not be a good thing for the person who does love him. Amagi is obviously emotionally stunted and therefore questions and taxes Takara’s affection towards him. He is trying to grow up.
On the other hand, Takara has his own set of walls he has built up around him. It is difficult for him to form emotional attachments because of his aloofness and standoffishness. Understandably, Amagi is unsure of how and more importantly why Takara would be interested in him. While Amagi is the first to state his likeness for Takara, it is Takara who nourishes the relationship and smooths out the bumps in the road to their relationship, but he does so mainly with a rather aloof approach.
There is indeed a back and forth between these two with trying to figure out their relationship and it vacillates so much that its depth is unknown. That is not surprising since they are indeed on different levels of fondness and readiness to take this to the next level. Takara is seemingly ready while Amagi is still unsure which is obviously based on the lack of emotional attachment to loved ones. So, he has no reference point. And he has Takara’s aloofness to contend with that sends all kinds of mixed messages to him. But ironically Amagi knows himself and is able to say with conviction as they grow closer that he is falling more deeply in love with him. Paradoxically, although Takara is very fond of Amagi and deeply likes him, I am not sure if he has internalized a love for Amagi at the level where he is willing to say it.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? The acting in this series is somewhat flat and low-keyed. But that does mean it is bad. It is just different. Japan tends to do this soft, introspective type of acting with dialogue overtones. This tends to be overused and this is also true here. But these two guys make a noble effort to give this series as much life as it can without them becoming caricatures. Arata Sato and Oriyama Nao play their parts so subduedly that they appear to be misfits in trying to fit in. Awkward, self-conscious, unsure of the relationship makes them both amazing to watch and exasperating as well. Their own misgivings are so child-like, immature, and based upon not having enough life experiences as a guide for either one of them. Perhaps they seem boring and tentative but in their eyes, they are moving along in making a long term commitment of being together without ever understanding any of it. It is a beautiful display of youthful love and they played that to the hilt. These two guys looked and acted the part of high school students, and you have to be impressed with the way their innocence guides them to finding out more about each other. In addition to the fact that they make one of the most adorable and attractive BL couples ever. They are in their one little world and their world is just the two of them.
Honestly, there is nothing deep about this series. Yet, it is presented as a psychodrama between two high school guys as us as observers. Both are sad individuals who happen to gravitate to each other with Takara obviously the stronger of the two in actions. Takara’s curtness and dismissal of people around him are seen by Amagi as an asset still. What struck me the most about this series is Takara’s complete devotion to Amagi and willingness to ride out all of Amagi’s doubts, fears, and hesitations. He has such patience with him and is willing to meet him where Aaagi is. While he says the right things, Takara has a hard time expressing them emotionally and certainly hardly ever demonstratively. Amagi on the other hand, is full of emotions that if affects and clouds his intellect.
I have no idea how I feel about this series because I did not grasp its intent or message. All I can tell you that it is a story of two rather lonely and sad high school students who connected with one another because they were attracted to each other and are in a bromance that may lead to a relationship. Both are fearful of the future and so they are trying to have one last grasp for memories before they graduate and move on with their lives.
Outcome: Uncertain.
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