Kieta Hatsukoi (2021)

Very Good BL, But Left Me Wanting More...

I watched this without knowing it was a BL series. I love Ren Meguro and when I saw it after watching, “Silent,” I was intrigued. This story was really cute, enough for me to start reading the Manga series, which is also good! The initial chemistry with Ida and Aoki was great at the beginning, but it wasn't as convincing as the series kept going. I didn't feel the chemistry as much between the two characters. Also, the ending was sweet, but I was hoping for a really big bang. Something really fantastic. I hope if there's a Season 2, they pick-up with even greater chemistry.

Lire davantage

Nothing can erase my love for this show

The show starts off by informing the viewer they're about to watch a "slightly silly love story about good natured, hard-working high school kids" and I think that's probably when I fell head-over-heels into crazy, stupid love, because boy oh boy does the series ever live up to its promise!
Everything about it is excellent, from the writing, to the acting, to music... it's all spot-on.
The humour is genuinely clever, often a lot subtler than you'd expect, and had me gleefully cackling more times than I'd care to admit. The plot may be nothing new but it depicts young love in general and young queer love specifically with such care and respect I was genuinely blown away by it.
And that's the magic of this drama, I think, the sheer amount of love so obviously put into it.
Not only are the characters deeply lovable, but their relationships to one another - romantic, platonic, or otherwise - are also incredibly healthy and there is huge focus placed on the importance of open communication and being honest about your feelings both with yourself and with others.
This portrayal of deeply earnest kids learning who they are, what they want in life, and how to speak to the people they love is hugely impactful in its simplicity and, quite frankly, offers some valuable life lessons which are important and relevant to audiences of all ages.
Furthermore, the show skillfully addresses more serious topics and issues facing young queer people every day such as prejudices, outward pressures to conform, and even internalised homophobia. None of these things are used for shock value, nor do they skew the lighthearted tone of the show towards the me angsty, but they aren't trivialised either, far from it.
This story may be very tame and PG but you can tell the show-runners wanted to create something truly worth while - a genuinely good piece of queer media for young people to watch and feel seen by - and they absolutely outdid themselves in every single aspect of that endeavour.
This show is an absolute triumph and a beloved classic for a reason. It will always be very near and dear to my heart and, I suspect, once you've seen it it will quickly claim a spot in your heart as well - just go watch it already.

Lire davantage

Cute, light, innocent and hilarious!

I really liked it! I really loved my ass of and had many second hand embarrassment.
The characters great: Aoki is so cute, hilarious and precious, must be protected at all cost. Ida is very handsome, earnest and adorable. Hashimoto is really cute best-girl. I really like her friendship with aoki.

When they thought, they both liked the same guy, she supported aoki and told him they were rivals. Some might have taken their gender to their advantage, but she saw aoki on the equal ground and assured him that he wasn't weird. It's so cute, that they are so similar yet so different from each other and support each other.
Ida is such a great guy! At a confession from another guy, others are usually disgusted or are mean, but he earnestly responded him and gave it a serious thought. It was beautiful to see him develop his feelings for aoki and realising them. He is totally the "I got your back " type of boyfriend.
Aoki is sooo cute and kind and has a very silly side. He was selflessly supporting his crush to get her crush and playing the Cinderella. And he was sooo adorable, when he started to fall for Ida, like who could blame him! Even though he is a little bit of a coward, he is pretty straightforward, like when he confessed to Hashimoto that he liked her crush and couldn't support her wholeheartedly. His silly side makes him so hilarious, but also very precious.
Both Aoki and Ida deserve each other. Even with almost no physical touch, they grmy heart to flatter.
I'm really glad that I gave it a try!

Lire davantage

A must watch for those who crave a delightful and fluffy high school drama

Keita Hatsukoi has easily become my comfort
j-drama at the moment. Something about the characters and the lightness of the storyline. The supposedly over the top characters are surprisingly alluring, the crew and cast took every silly scenario and generally annoying trope and made it wholesome.

I know a lot of people commented on the lack of actual "romantic" scenes and I do agree to a certain extent, but even without a single kiss the actors were undisputedly able to deliver the very essence of the quirkiness and tenderness of an adolescent's first love.

I was genuinely happy when characters were, giggled every time a misunderstanding made their pure teenage love life just a tad messier and felt a strange sense of connection to the characters, especially Aoki and Hashimoto.

Overall, this is a fluffy high school rom-com slash slice of life by all means but nonetheless a satisfying watch, would definitely come back for a re-watch whenever I'm in mood for something sweet and light.

Kieta Hatsukoi was a gust of pleasant breeze and always made my day better.

Lire davantage

best bl drama

Kieta Hatsukoi is such a sweet drama, mixing comedy and high school romance perfectly. The chemistry between the characters is top tier. Michieda Shunsuke definitely did an awesome job acting as Aoki in here. The same goes to Riku Fukumoto as Mio Hashimoto (such a sweet girl with awesome, positive energy), Jin Suzuki as Aida (the role of a wonderful best friend) and the one who cannot be left out: Ren Meguro as Ida. Both Michieda and Meguro portrayed the two characters as such a lovely couple, perfectly working around conflicts and love. They have such sweet moments with each other. This drama is definitely a must rewatch - even if i already watched it several times. All the actors definitely did such a good job to bring out the best in each character. The plot was also easy to follow and surely fun to watch.

Lire davantage

Loved it

Guys, what can I say? I loved this show! I had it on my Viki Watchlist for months, but never watched it, because the plot sounded a bit cheesy and I’m generally not a huge fan of stories, that are based on misunderstandings. But when I saw all the great reviews on here, I gave it a shot and didn’t regret it for one second.

The story is nothing groundbreaking. But it’s a well written and beautifully developed tale about love and friendship with loads of funny moments. (When Cinderella-Aioki threw that shoe down, I giggled like an idiot.)

The characters are properly fleshed-out, realistic characters, that are not without flaws, but are respectful, easily likeable, and just keep growing on you. I have such a soft spot for Aioki, who is goofy and sometimes silly, but also so incredibly kind and just a great guy. Seeing him develop feelings for Ida, without tormenting himself because he was falling for a guy, was such a breath of fresh air and really warmed my heart. Ida on the other hand is such a serious character, but nothing but respectful towards Aioki and his feelings and we can practically see how Aioki worms his way into his heart. I loved how Idas complete face changed whenever Aioki made him smile.
And the two other main characters Hashimoto and Aida are brilliant too.
How often are female characters made to be the villains in Bl series - we get none of that BS here. Hashimoto is the kind of girl everybody would love to have as their best friend.
And Aida is that kind of buddy who is slightly clueless and can be a tad insensitive but is willing to learn and there for you when it counts.
I loved them all, including the side characters and had such a joy following the story episode for episode that I will definitely be watching this again.

There is not a lot of skinship, but it just works the way it is and I didn’t find myself missing anything.
I know this is based on a popular series of mangas and there are more stories that could be told, so I’m really hoping we will see more of this series in the future. Loved it!

Lire davantage

Pure Innocence... Experiencing Firsts and How-tos of Love together~! ♡

As Expected of Japanese way of story telling. It was silly, weird and hilarious (in a positive way) all at the same time. They've always had this unique spark and mood of their own that only them can execute and showcase perfectly.

Hmm, how do I say it... Probably a breath of nice and fresh air after being exposed to heavy plotted dramas for such a long time. This drama made me feel awkward & shy because of Aoki's silliness while feeling warm & inspired towards Ida's way of accepting and understanding things even when it's supposedly 'weird' in generals point of view.

A Production who truly invested so much effort and time to showcase and convey how 2 guys will react to their first love considering it to be rather unusual and uncommon. It was like an introduction to trial and error of love and affection.

Definitely a 'Must Watch'~!! A drama that will make you feel all the butterflies roaming all around your system over and over again.

Story - 10, Although the drama was short but it was able to showcase the proper ways of how to deal and express ones intention and affection towards another in a nice and cool manner. More so, this drama made me feel inspired and enthusiastic towards love again.

Acting/Cast - 10, Awesome set of Actors/Actresses. The one who stood out the most to me is probably Michieda Shunsuke. This guy is full of emotion and expression that I wonder how the hell does he managed to show all of them in split-seconds. Would also like to commend Meguro Ren, Fukumoto Riko and Suzuki Jin for making the Main Cast lively and complete. All of them added their own color and spice to this drama.

Music - 10, I so love all of the songs but unfortunately Johnny's still sucks in putting their songs on mainstream platforms. I was still mad on how It's not available on Spotify. Like, come on! It's 2022. I've suffered so much downloading songs before with JUMP & Kisumai. Do I have to do it all over again?

Rewatch Value - 10, Instead of saying that I would never be tired of watching this drama over again. It was more of a precious memory I would love to watch again whenever I feel demotivated and disheartened towards love. It has that 'Cheer Up' vibe you'll want to watch just incase you suffer from a heartbreak or so.

Overall - 10, It was a precious and delicate story I would love to treasure for a long time. I would love to recommend this to people who's feeling demotivated because of love and also suffering from fear of confessing and showing their affection towards their loved ones.

IF you find my reviews helpful please let me know.

Lire davantage

Fluffy and Invigorating.

I used to watch this underneath my blanket as I did not want anyone to think that I'd gone insane by seeing my demonic grin.

Highly recommended for anyone looking for some quick and fluffy drama with angelic and innocent characters.

With a meagre 22 minutes, Kieta Hatsukoi delivers a fulfilling tale of friendship, romance and comedy that was perfect to ease my tensions and bring a smile to my face. I can't remember a single episode where I didn't stop grinning. It was a form of relief after a week's worth of classes and provided me comfort while I was away from home.

***A small caveat: this drama is really good if you are interested in Character Analysis. The story goes around in circles without major developments, which is, frankly, frustrating. The final two episodes were the weakest, in my opinion.

☆ In the traditional way of Japanese Manga, the story begins with a very diminutive incident of an eraser being borrowed by Aoki Sota, who had a crush on his deskmate Hashimoto-san. Unfortunately, this silly eraser had the name of another student, "Ida". When the eraser takes a tumble to the floor, Ida sees his name on it and Aoki lies about it to protect Hashimoto-san's feelings. And thus begins a tale of misunderstandings and lies. Worse, Aoki is terrified after he finds himself falling for Ida.

☆ Pretty sure that such kids and circumstances might exist only in fictional high schools. When I was in highschool, half of my classmates were raccoons. This drama has the purest, angel-like characters whom I couldn't help but love.
Aoki was a really chaotic character, but I related to his reactions a lot. Hashimoto-san, who has her own parallel storyline, is never once a nuisance, but was truly kind and empathetic about everything.
A very silly premise to begin with, but the very essence of the story goes far more deeper than we see.

There was nothing over the top or expensive about the drama's production, which is plain and simple. But, the convincing performances of the actors, directing and the very humble story pulled me in. There might be a million stories out there that follow the exact same plot, but what makes them stand out is their execution, which was neat and precise.

☆ Now… the very backbone of Kieta Hatsukoi lies in the slow, yet steady character and relationship development. It's personally my first time seeing a character such as Ida Kosuke. He was truly kind and thoughtful, but was unflinchingly veracious. I related to his feeling of being unable to understand the concept of dating or "liking" somebody. There were often times I wondered how things would work out, and Ida literally spelled out what I couldn't express in words. His concern for his friends and classmates, his willingness to give the unknown a try and his care for Aoki were truly heartwarming to watch.

Aoki was much more self aware than Ida, focussing on minute troubles and attempting to be empathetic towards everyone. He was dramatic, going as far as getting inside a plastic trash bag and hiding himself under his hood. Scenes adapted right from the manga came to life, thanks to the immaculate portrayal of the chaotic character by Michida Shunsuke.
I reflected a lot when it came to Aoki, too. He was deeply connected to his emotions and learnt from his friends. His over the top antics and reactions added more humour and liveliness.
While Aoki was more honest and careful , he wasn't reticent when it came to confronting his own doubts about his relationship.

Hashimoto-san and Akkun, despite being secondary characters, are quite pivotal for the flow of the story. Their relationship with the leads and their own storylines, combined with their individual personalities inserted more flavour to it. And a shoutout for Ida's childhood friends and volleyball team, who, albeit not having much screen time, managed to show the depth of their friendship.

☆ The BGM, staying true to the comical genre of the drama, was often funny. There were only two songs featured and I have had them on repeat since the first time I heard them. Both Aoki and Ida belong to Idol Groups, Naniwa Danshi and Snowmen. Coincidentally, despite not being released exclusively for the drama, the lyrics were apt for the plot.

Overall, a really soft drama to enjoy and obsess over.

Lire davantage