BLISS RATING: ★★★★+
“Together with you is my favorite place to be.” – Quote from Cute Boyfriend Quotes
Superficially, this series is cute and adorable and very entertaining but true to Japanese custom, there is a hidden undertone layered deep within the subtest of this smartly done tale. The Japanese have a way of expertly taking two modest characters and turn them into figures greater than what they are in a such a quiet manner that we do not even realize what is happening. In a way, they become unwitting stewards.
Stewards in the sense each is an important someone who leaves a positive impact on the other, if for no other reason than simply because it is the right thing to do. These two young men, tacitly and effectively, are the epitome of that distinction. Without complaint or bitterness, they did what they had to do and put the needs of others always before their own. That made them paladins.
Natsukawa Ryota (Sakai Sho) had to become the main caregiver for his two younger sisters. However, it has now become his time to be alone. He was accepted in college and was looking forward to having ‘me-time’. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Their family friend thought it would be a good idea to pair their two sons together to save money on rent for living expenses. While Ryota knows Tanaka Kuzuhito (Sato Ryuga) since they had been friends from the past, Tanaka harbors deep feelings for Ryota but hides them. Although Tanaka is popular and is quite handsome, no one, including Ryota can figure out why he does not have a girlfriend. Ryota, on the other hand, is way more reserved and shyer. And honestly does not feel comparable to Tanaka.
But Ryota wants to help Tanaka figure out why he does not have a girlfriend and so they pretend to go out on a ‘date’ so that Ryota can help assess what his foibles might be in hindering him from maintaining a girlfriend. During this time, Tanaka confesses to Ryota that he does not want a girlfriend. The reality is that he likes Ryota but does not want to ruin their friendship by trying to make Ryota like him back. Ryota’s feelings are mixed yet deep down, he knows he also harbors strong attachments to Tanaka.
This then becomes a beautiful story of not only their love for one another but a linear story of self-discovery.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? This is a well-acted series accented in toned-down annuals. We watch as each grapple with trying to understand what love is and whether or not the other can contribute to the relationship. The acting is replete with emotional peaks and valleys that gives these characters a sense of relatability to their struggles. Both Ryota and Tanaka are vulnerable individuals and really do wear their emotions on their sleeves, as the expression goes. We know they are both deeply in love with each other, yet they stumble along inadequately trying to express how they feel without saying directly how they feel, especially on the part of Ryota. Still, there is one who, like a puppet master, keeps manipulating the two of them. While a small role, he manages to make it big. Haruna Keita (Sawamura Rei) pushes the two together under the pretense that he is an observer of people, and he knows what is going on between Ryota and Tanaka. And he is correct. Yet, underlying it all is perhaps a desire to make Tanaka happy, which he knows he cannot do. So, he is willing to step aside for one that is. Tanaka undoubtedly will never appreciate the sacrifice Keita made to solidify the two being together. Through Sawamura Rei’s acting, Haruna Keita becomes a forceful character who pushes to the line but never crosses over it. He is an interesting character to watch.
For the most part, this is a remarkably effective series that is laidback but for good reasons. They are loners, lack confidence, and perhaps, both feeling as if perhaps they are not worthy of the other. The series is way too short to really develop any strong character intensities to them but when, for example Ryota, says he is lonely, he brings a certain gravitas to that feeling.
Yet, unfortunately as with a lot of Japanese BLs of late, the timidness of wanting to take the love making just a tiny bit further is frustrating. Small pecks are simply not how men kiss or express love, even for Japanese men. I happen to know from experience. So, stop being so craven. Conveyance of loving for one another through words is great, but if you are going to level up these series, you must add some degree of physicality to them. I am not asking for cultural or societal norms to be broken or offended, but really. Would Japanese society completely crumble if you have a few passionate kisses or hugs between men who are in supposedly in love? And alone?
The verbal expressions seemed heartfelt, and the acting playful and appropriate at times. While at other times, it became pensive and quiet and then reverted to the standard and trope-like expressions of childish and infantile behaviors to convey love, even when the two of them were alone. I do wish the story would have dignified their relationship with a bit more adult-like acting and behaving, rather than relying on clichés.
This is not a typical love story. You have two rather insecure reserved young men, timid and quiet, who deserved to be seen in a more dynamic light. Let us see something that is more than a show of pretending to be gay. Please let them also be seen as sexual lifeforms as well.
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