Life Senjou No Bokura (2020)

Exceeded Expectations

Completely exceeded my expectations, especially for it only being 4 episodes...

The story was well written for the time of each episode, they definitely could've delved deeper into their relationship and the way the couple lived their life throughout the show - but it didn't deter from my overall enjoyment of the series.

I absolutely adored the first episode, my favourite by far - It was so cute and made my heart happy and warm.

The actors did a phenomenal job portraying their characters throughout their lives; the struggles and reality that comes with age is something that will hit us all eventually, so seeing how they portrayed the difference between childhood innocence to societal expectations was realistically executed in my opinion.

This brings me on the breakup, whilst it was easy to hate Akira for what he did and how he did it, I can't say I don't understand why he chose to break it off. From the beginning, we saw how his parents put the expectation of a 'normal' life onto their son, furthermore pressured by the indifferent attitude of his older sister. His point of view, although completely unfair to Yuki, was one I completely understood.
The exhaustion that came with trying to appeal to societal expectations, understanding his true feelings and dealing with it head-on is a step that not many closeted LGBTQIA+ people can take - so I'm beyond happy that we got to see this and their reunion.

The music throughout this show was so good, enough to have me looking through Spotify for the soundtrack - especially the intro song (Go Through, Grow Through by Ryu Matsuyama)

I went on to read the manga after I finished the show, which left the story bittersweet for me but added to the overall realism it depicts.
Definitely recommended to those who enjoy a sweet romance, played through the struggles of modern-day expectations.

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This one was okay

This BL was pretty good, but not my favorite. The couple was honestly a little toxic, but I understand why.
First I just wanna point out,
WHEN I SAW THE MODC PEOPLE I FLIPPED, LIKE, WHY WERE THEY THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE BUT I LOVE THEM.
Anyway,
Akira was kinda mean, I do get where he's coming from but there were other ways to handle how he felt because he hurt Yuuki really bad in the end.
I was a little upset that Yuuki forgave him that easily, but I do like the happy ending. I was really happy to see how Akira stood up for his sister and himself. He was so caught up in being normal, that he didn't realize that he was unhappy with Shiraishi and would be happier with Yuuki. But when he did, at least he didn't lead her on any further and I was glad to see she ended up happily in the end.
Akira thought he could make himself 'normal' if he forced himself into a 'normal' relationship, but he just ended up hurting himself, Yuuki, and Shiraishi in the end. I honestly feel bad for Shiraishi, she didn't deserve to be led on and used as a bit of a rebound, but at least she ended up with someone good for her.
As for Yuuki, I was a little upset that he forgave Akira so easily, because I think Akira hurt him badly, but I was glad to see that Akira could get over himself enough to go back to Yuuki and be happy.

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A refreshing, enjoyable love story with wonderful acting

You never know who you will cross lines with in your life and how they could possibly change you forever

I thought this story was just so beautiful; the concept of walking down the street lines and meeting the love of your life sounded ridiculous to me at first. And the way it was depicted was very light-hearted and humorous even. While watching, I found myself laughing at their youth and I was swept along with them through their journey of life and progression of their relationship. You will most certainly find yourself giggling at their silliness and naivety in their youth, and even feeling their burdens and stresses and they grow up and hold more responsibilities. The way this story unfolds and is told is done so in such a beautiful way. This is such an emotional ride and I do think in the end it was definitely worth it. What a wonderfully produced story with great acting and directing, I highly recommend it for BL fans! If you've ever wanted to see a story across someones life span, this is a beautiful depiction and story for that :)

For the acting in particular, I think that as the years pass and the characters grow the actors did a really good job of showing their growth and maturity, even change of mindset and attitude. Through their actions you can sense their personalities and even through what they are passionate about. I do wish there was more character development and focus on each of them individually, but with so many years to cover it is understandable how sacrifices in character development must be made. I will say, though, REALLY good acting shows through and reveals their personalities even though it is not explored as much. The biggest criticism I would have is probably the pacing towards the end, but there is just so much to tell in this story (so many years to cover) that the end rushing was inevitable and the credits do show more (without spoiling or revealing too much) so I was satisfied with that.

In summary, an adorable love story that will take you on an emotional roller coaster- I felt like so many frames were beautiful & artistic enough to put in a frame and admire. I had to pause sometimes to just take in all that was happening and the directing/artistic touches definitely helped to make this story even more beautiful and enjoyable experience. I have read the manga and I think this is true to adaptation and really shows their relationship accurately. I do wish they did explore the feelings of each of them a little bit more individually (it seemed to be more from one perspective, although this may be done on purpose) just for balance but this is my personal taste. Definitely check it out if you haven't already!

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Storytelling at its Finest

What a story! This is SO good! It is a short (4 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. To say that they are handsome would not do them justice. 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. My full review is at ppbongi.medium.com.

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Amazing! I love to see how they grow over the years and how their relationship evolves and goes through the ups and downs of life.

The actors are amazing! They portray the emotions superbly and show the age changes and growth of the characters very well.

This controls the viewers emotions very well. It successfully makes you laugh, smile and sob heartbrokenly. I think the inclusion of the turmoils of growing up grounds this more in reality than others which makes it a lot better.

I also love the soundtrack! It is quite dramatic which makes it fit so well! I listen to it all the time!

The cameo appearance of another popular BL couple was a delightful surprise.

I would definitely rewatch this! (And I have multiple times already).

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I WOULD RECOMMEND

I'm writing this as someone who read the manga, I don't know if everyone agrees but I gotta say the mini series was successful. They covered the main parts in the manga. The acting wasn't awkward, I'd commend them for it since they've never been in a BL genre before right? I've enjoyed the series and cried many times. That's the same scenes where I cried in the manga. I'd definitely recommend this to everyone who's looking for a good and realistic BL!!

I guess, I've heard it somewhere but not too sure. They'll be doing some special episode for this right? Wherein they'd include the ending of the manga.

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Have tissues with you!

This series conveys an important message about the true value of individuality and self identity as it applies to love in a beautiful way. The most beautiful part, in my view, is that there are clear and realistic struggles so it really helps make this story more relatable. I am not someone who cries during shows or movies (which normally gets me scolded by friends when we watch sad movies haha) but the raw emotion and pain that the actors were able to deliver made my eyes water. I truly recommend this series to everyone whether they usually like boys love series & movies or not does not matter.

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So, this is my very first japanese’s bl series ever! After I saw recommendations from one of my subscription youtube channels, I haven’t seen 3 of their series and this bl series was one of them.

Honestly, Japanese are the least county that I want to see abour ther movies or series. Except somebody give me a hundred reasons to watch them. But every time I watch japanese movies or series none of them are bad. So I think this could be my way back to love their cinematic.

In my experience, I would agree some of the points from the series especially from Itou’s perceptions. It feels like, I’ve been there long time ago with my very first “love”. Actually, one of my friend said like Itou did.

Now I need more series for another distractions ?

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Both the drama and manga broke me.

Story: Yuki and Akira go to different schools but they often bump into each other as they both like to childishly walk on the white lane lines separating pedestrians from the moving traffic. Not willing to step out of the line, they would both hug and move the other to the opposite side so that they can continue walking on the lines to wherever they were heading to. Doing this for years, they became close friends. Akira ended up falling head over heels for Yuki, and throughout their entire time together , Yuki reciprocated. The drama shows how Yuki and Akira, went through struggles in life together, from going to University, to looking for jobs vs chasing their dreams. Akira was always the more practical one. Grow up, go to Uni, get a job, live a normal life. While Yuki has always been nonchalant, expressive, thoughtful and very caring towards Akira's conflicts. After 8 years of being together, all the happiness and comfort started brewing storms within Akira making him question his goals in life, whether or not being in a homosexual relationship would actually bring any fulfilment to him. Although the break up was tormenting for the viewers , it was a turning point for Akira to start realizing what a douchebag he has been , and he even came out to his family while desperately trying to look for Yuki , who disappeared after the break up. I read the novel after I finished the drama and they did grow old together until they both died of old age. I was emotionally gripped. Whether or not you are gay, or whether or not you can relate to the struggles in the LGBT community, the height of bittersweet emotions in this cinematic masterpiece would still grip you to your seat, making you question everything you know about life itself.
Acting: The acting is on point. I felt the pain, the happiness, the bliss, the love. I felt Akira's infatuation with Yuki, Yuki's respect and never ending love for Akira and Akira's struggle with trying to be normal. They picked the right people for the roles , the right music, the right visuals and no scene was a waste of space.
Overall: Although the show was fairly short, it did not need to be long as it captured everything we needed. This covered more depths than a 30 episode drama ever would. Not to mention Wayne Song and Huang Juan Zhi even made an appearance at the end, giving us History3:MODC fans a reason to celebrate XiangHaoTing and YuShiGu's love all over again. This is hands down the best BL I have ever watched.

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Emotional storylines

I love this drama soo freaking bad! The storylines very smooth, n there's one vibes that give me warm pleasure. I don't know that one line will change our lives. They had such a cute imagination that makes me giggle everytime they talk about it. But I'm crying badly when Akira wanted to have a "normal" life. Yuki must have a hard time. anyway, I'm so happy to watch this and definitely will watch this again!!

I know my rating is kinda over. But, this drama really related to our lives *not at the line part.hehe* when we wanted to be the one that we loves but our society doesn't let us. It is so hard. So we should make it private and end up hurting ourselves. I hope there's drama like this published. But if there's part 2 or something I'll definitely support it!! Enjoy watching everyone

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Rational and Irrational Decisions. Character Development and Missing Information

This show gave me a strange feeling. It started out cute and sweet. Towards the middle, we started to see the cruelty of the real world.
A typical emotional, intense Japanese style drama.
Of course I liked the ending, but my instincts kept screaming that this couldn't happen in real life.

As logical as Itou's desire to leave Nishi and establish a normal life, it was just as illogical for him to defy his family and be forgiven.
When I looked at Nishi's character, no matter how emotional he was, he was generally a positive and full of life. Someone who can live his pain to the end and recover himself after a while. It's hard to believe that he hasn't gotten over Itou for years.

Of course, since the series was very short, we needed more information about Nishi's character. If they are predisposed to a dependent personality and haven't overcome it because of that, I understand, but they needed to show me that.

If this had been a longer series, something tells me I wouldn't have liked Itou. He seems like he could be someone who gets repulsive the more you get to know him.

He was cute and sweet again. I'm happy I watched it.

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