Kimi ni wa Todokanai (2023)

I HOPE THEY REACH MORE (Audience)

A perfect reminder of that sweet first high-school love.

A quick recap. This is the story of Yamato, the perfect student who is liked by everyone, but only yearns the love of his dorky childhood friend Kakeru, whom he liked for a long time. His feelings for Kaeru grew so strong, that even if he was afraid he'd be rejected, mustered up all his courage to finally confess to Kakeru. Kakeru on the other hand discovers that he himself likes Yamato - more than just a friend, and struggled to find the perfect way to finally confess that he feels the same way for Yamato.

Short. Sweet. Too short. Too sweet. I WANT MORE.

Both main leads fit and played the role perffectly! I was even a little surprised that Maeda Kentaro took on this role, as he has already starred in a few drama and doesnt actually need the BL hype. Kashiwagi Haru is so adorable as Kakeru. There is something about Japanese drama's 'awkward' acting that makes the scenes authentic. This is how we are in real life, and the way they talked to each other makes you really feel like you are watching the blossoming of love, the coming of age, raw and somewhat uninscripted.

There are times though that I wanted to know how their peers will react if they knew that the two best friends are now dating - there were in fact a lot of scenes that i thought the secret was revelead to the world but then it was glazed over. I do understand though that this BL is not about the acceptance of the world around them, its about the personal struggle of two boys realizing their feelings for each other.

What I also love is that Japanese BLs even if they are short, somewhat feel like you are watching a standard full-length full-production drama. The music and song is amazing and i easily found myself repeating each episode twice. Overall its a 9,5 and I hope a lot more BL fans discover this wonderful of a gem.

Lire davantage

I hope that this feeling might catch up with you

The plot was a very standard best friends to lovers kind of story. We follow two high school boys that have been friends since they were little, and how their relationship changes as one starts to struggle with his feelings. There are certain things that felt unrealistic and unnecessary. I am aware that the series was not really released internationally, and the subtitles are fan made, so that is not something that will affect my ratings regarding the series. It is a shame that this was not an international release though.

I am not a fan of cinematography. Many scenes were too bright to the point of slightly blurring out the details and the faces. Some cuts between the scenes were also a bit confusing. There was also an overwhelming amount of slow-motion scenes. It just felt a bit excessive.

Ohara Yamato & Ashiya Kakeru: They have this black cat and golden retriever dynamics. Yamato is the calmer one, the more reserved and not so friendly one. Kakeru is the more outgoing one, the more approachable and more hyperactive one. They are quite different from one another, but they make it work. Yamato falls first, he has loved Kakeru for years, but has never dared to confess. He didn’t want to risk losing what the two had. But as Kakeru starts to show interest in dating, Yamato starts to struggle. I don’t think Kakeru is indifferent to Yamato either, I just think he wasn’t really considering that possibility until it hit him in the face. He was always convinced the two can be just friends, so even if there were any deeper feelings, he never admitted those to himself. The two actors had good enough chemistry, but I don’t think it was as sizzling in some other dramas I have seen.

As the title suggests, the main conflict of the story does resolve around miscommunication. The two boys are not able to express their real feelings due to fear and other factors. However, this does not mean that the characters don’t communicate well. I really enjoyed that Yamato, no matter how much he hated that, was always honest with people who confessed to him. He never led anyone on. And even when things started going south between Yamato and Kakeru and the two were forced to be honest, they were both able to express themselves.

I liked the side characters too. Especially Yamato’s sister and Hisaka Yui, their classmate. Both of them were very open-minded and accepting of the two. It also helped Yamato and Kakeru feel more comfortable and not like what they are feeling for each other is wrong and unacceptable. There will always be people who might not be very open minded, but there will also always be people who will accept you no matter who you love.

And bonus points for not making any potential female love interests into villains! That’s a plot twist I am happy we avoided.

Lire davantage

Fluffy and cute in all the best way

Nov. 7, 2023

Kimi Ni Wa Todokanai has definitely stolen my heart as one of my favourite Japanese BL series for 2023. The way this high school BL was able to captivate my heart through the amazing chemistry of our leads. I love how everything rolled along with the pacing of the plot. I've seen others mention how generic the plot is, and I do acknowledge that. But the way everything was delivered just made this show so amazing to watch.

I feel the butterflies in each episodes and I did feel the anger about the shyness of the leads when it comes to communication. But this is a high school setting BL, of course they will have that. When I was their age, I was like that too. Even now at college, I still feel that shyness in comes to saying my true feelings.

Personally for me, I never found any part of the show boring. Each week I waited for the episodes, it all felt worth it to me.

Honestly part of me also wished that I had this kind of fluffy romance when I was in high school. That sweet diabetic type of love...

Please give this show lots of love. Because amongst the other Japanese BLs I have watched this year. This one sticked out to me the most and became my favourite. Others I have dropped or finished but felt like a chore to do.

To many more of this kind of fluffy BLs to finish by the end of this year. Cheers!

Lire davantage

A homage to Boy's Love

BL has exploded in popularity over the past few years but I'm grateful for this series when it took me back to its origins as a genre (and not just because its from Japan). Kakeru and Yamato embodied the feelings, uncertainty, clumsiness and beauty of young love. They casted these two perfectly and its almost like they jumped out from the pages of the manga . There are no antagonists, no side couples; just the slow burn of trying to cross the bridge from being friends to lovers. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this series and could not find any flaws. It was made by people who have a deep understanding of the story they wanted to share and executed beautifully. The title "I Cannot Reach You" is spot on the plot but it definitely reached my heart.

Lire davantage

nice slice of life series

Overall: I enjoyed two high school friends and their changing relationship dynamics. Aired 8 episodes about 20 minutes each on Netflix Asia (and then more widely released on Neflix once it was finished airing).

Content Warnings: manhandling, dub/non con touching, punch

What I Liked
- cute and sweet moments
- few funny moments like Yamato's blocks with other people
- that Yamato did try to communicate and was clear with that teen who expressed interest in him
- supportive classmates
- supportive non cliche female characters
- character growth with not being a go between for the present
- production value

Room For Improvement
- the multitude of interruptions
- Yamato was a bit aggressive though he did apologize once
- very tropey (multiple kabedons and running scenes as examples), getting sick from the rain
- the initial reluctance in nurse's office/dead fish lip presses

Lire davantage

Platonic friends-to-lovers BL, quite disappointed by the acting

I'm quite disappointed by this BL series. Friends-to-lovers is one of my favorite trope, especially in an high school setting. On paper, this series had everything for me to like it but unfortunately I did not appreciate the drama as much as I would have wanted to.

The biggest flaw of the series resides for me in the acting. It was honestly very lacking, there is not that much chemistry between the two main males leads and both their acting feel very green. One is really too much overacting and on the contrary the other one tends to not show enough emotions and downplaying everything too much... It is a blessing that their romance stays very platonic because the tension is not there, it felt already awkward as it was, so I'm pretty sure than more skinship would have make it worse to me.

The soundtrack was good with a very catchy ending song (which was maybe used a bit too much but that I enjoyed nevertheless each time it was played). The production value of the show was pretty good as well with some nice school moments very well captured.

I would not recommend this to people because I feel that are better BL stories out there. If you really enjoy Japanese school life drama and/or friends-to-lovers trope, you might want to give it a go. It is mainly the acting that decreased a lot my enjoyment of the show and appreciation of it is pretty subjective after all.

Lire davantage

Somewhat Soothing, Somewhat Slow

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

This was a mostly sweet story about 2 teenagers coming to terms with their deep feelings for each other. It was by no means groundbreaking or fresh; but it is something that is surprisingly hard to find lately in bls - and that says a lot about the quality of the bls out there today.

It is astounding how hard I had to search to find a good quality bl of this genre and for that, it gets extra points from me. It was a bit slow at times and there were a few points that I wish they explored a little deeper - for example, the "I love you but I'm too scared to change our relationship status because I don't want to lose you" trope that was very heavily expressed throughout the episodes. But for now, this will have to do.

It didn't totally satiate my craving for fluff as it was only present in little amounts and mostly concentrated at the end of the episode but there were enough good points for me to look past that.

I also really want to call attention to one character in particular - Hosuke. He was a really good friend. He was kind and wise and never failed to give reliable advice even at times when Yamato seemed resistant to it. I really loved his dynamic with Yamato and I wish it was explored in more depth; however, considering how scarcely healthy friendship dynamics are shown in bls, this much is good enough for me.

I wouldn't be completely closed of to a second season - I feel it would be really intriguing to watch how the character's dynamics change as they mature.

P.S: Forgive my redundancy - I've had a really long day...

Lire davantage

WATCH IT NOW!

Oh my god it is the cutest thing ever!!!! When I saw it on Netflix I was jumping with joy.
The actors did an amazing job, the story kept me wanting to know more and the plot was really refreshing for me.
Ohara is the sweetest thing ever! Even though I didn't really like what he did to Ashiya, he did show how sorry he was which made me love him even more. Ashiya is goofy and sweet! I do wish he was more positive about himself, it makes me (and Ohara hehe) sad.
I hope you guys watch it sooner than later, it really is the sweetest thing I've ever seen and I'd 100% watch it again.
I also hope I didn't give too much away lol.
Anyway, have a lovely day! <3

Lire davantage

The cuteness and fluffiness reached my heart!

Been on my list ever since the pre-released announcement as it is one of my most anticipated BL shows this year. This is all thanks to the incredible pairing of the main character who gave me butterflies from their cuteness that are too soft yet gentle for my heart. I do trust Japan when it comes to executing the relevant details and personality of the characters, wherein, Yamato and Kakeru played it very well. The childhood-to-lovers trope is honestly not my cup of tea but this is an exception.

The visuals presented by the production team are stunning. Those bubble effects are whenever there’s a need to highlight and emphasize that the romantic feeling reached by the other person is wholesome. Honestly, I was expecting that this drama might reach the standard of Cherry Magic and Kieta Hatsukoi level, but unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the two mentioned dramas. Yet, I Cannot Reach You is still an above-average BL that gives us a real on-the-spot kissing scene!

I therefore conclude that Haru is the most adorable J-BL actor in the industry. His smiles had that impact of piercing your heart into pieces of joy and sunshine. I wish that both he and Kentaro will reunite in another BL project as still the main couple cause I love them that much.

Lire davantage

friends to lovers, tsundere/sunshine

Other tropes: self acceptance, self worth, high school BL, live action yaoi, soft romance, kindness

The moment I finished binging this show I was thinking about writing about it and re-watching it. This is a sure sign that I adored a piece of media. 

This is a wonderful BL.

Truly well executed, with smooth filming and lovely acting, both of a simplistic style that felt slightly more Korean than it did Japanese. It reminded me a little bit of Seven Days and a little bit of Takara and Amagi, and since these are my two favorite high school JBLs obviously I was bound to adore ICRY.

But what it reminded me of more than anything was Cherry Blossoms After Winter. Odd for JBL and KBL to be so closely linked. Like CBAW show, ICRY is classic live action yaoi.

Like the MOST classic of CLASSIC. There is even a “seme looses control to desire” scene which leads to dub con. There is an abject apology after but still - you’ve been warned. 

The premise is: smart sporty hot (and hella gay) Yamato has a long standing crush on his silly sunshine sweetheart bestie, Kakeru. Yamato is also stiff, self isolated, shy, and has only ever really managed to get along with Kakeru. I love this kind of pining seme so damn much, it probably biased me.

Unlike most uke, Kakeru starts to slowly figure out that his best friend is in love with him by ep 2 (let the chaos bisexual identity crisis commence).

So do some of the friends around them.

The story thus revolves around Yamato trying to unsuccessfully suppress his desire, and Kakeru trying to figure out if he can return Yamato‘s affection.

This biggest barrier is actually Kakeru's feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness (when compared to Yamato). Bu this is tempered by his genuine kindness which forces him into act with integrity around his dear friend's love and strive to fix everything (even himself) to prove worthy of it - whether he can ultimately return it or not.

Kakeru's struggles are pitted against Yamato‘s repressed need that keeps bubbling over and figuratively (sometimes literally) attacking Kakeru with romantic, emotional, and physical intensity.

Quick pitch:

This classic friends-to-lovers BL is everything Japan does best. Angsty. Emo. Aching. Driven by real thirst. Yamato is deeply in love with his childhood bestie, Kakeru, and has been for ages, unable to hide his ungainly damaging high school need. He wants Kakeru in every way possible and it oozes off of the screen. Kakeru is silly and a little simple, but not frenetic or overly camp about it. He is earnest, and genuinely wants to keep Yamato in his life which means giving a romance (and gayness) a fair chance. We watch him realize his affection and what form it can take in a truly authentic way. This show was impossibly kind to both of its lead characters and I felt almost honored that I got to watch something so lovely and rare play out on my screen.

I’m not gonna lie, I dithered over whether to give this a 10/10 and nearly didn’t. But there is nothing wrong with it AS A BL.

And it's so GOOD to ALL of its characters and they are so good to each other. It's quiet and because of its goodness it will get overlooked, but I LOVED IT.

It's not one of those that BL outsiders will understand, and you must like Japan's style to enjoy it. But I'm in it. It's for me.

What am I hung up over? Even the kisses are good.

10/10

I CAN'T RECOMMEND IT HIGHLY ENOUGH

Lire davantage

J-BL Gem of 2023

Oh yeah, this was the shit. This was everything and more to me. This is the kind of story I crave more in BL -- simplistic first love stories that can tug at every heartstring until you're desperately crying out for more once it ends. I Can't Reach You was a spectacular J-BL that I'm so glad I found cause this was exactly what my little soul needed.

Let's Dive In.

Friends to lovers will always be my cup of tea, but add on childhood friends to lovers and you've basically sold me. And then on top of that, it's a first love story where we get to go through them experiencing their firsts with each other. And then on top of THAT, you throw in a plot without evil scheming characters or a third wheel -- just pure fluff, and feelings. I loved this, but I think that's obvious at this point.

Oh gosh, how I loved Yamato and Kakeru. They were flawed individuals with traits and odd perspectives like that of any hormonal teenager. Seeing Yamato so head over heels was nice, but getting to go through the story and finding these little moments when you can tell Kakeru is starting to feel something too -- the longing stares, keeping little memorabilia, laying his head on his shoulder, holding hands, the sparkling eyes while he smiles -- urgh, fuck, I love that shit so much.

Everything was so perfect, it was the right mix of awkward first encounters with figuring out feelings and how to go about them. The leads had great chemistry and great connection. Off-topic, but Kentaro (Yamato) is the prettiest J-actor I've ever seen and I could write an entire essay on his essence and soft masculine power. And yes I mean the prettiest (aka hottest) sorry I don't make the rule.

I just loved the plot too. I spoke a little bit about this, but there's nobody getting in the way of the main characters but themselves. No conniving jealous person, no evil parents or siblings, no troubling third wheel. Truly just feelings and a bit of miscommunication (which they fix by the end! Gosh, I love them). And yes, there were the girls practically throwing themselves at Yamato, but they were there as a jealousy mechanism for Kakeru and vice-versa, not an actual third wheel that you would have to worry about.

I love the other characters. I loved Yamato's sister, I loved the blonde-haired dude who was pretty much their love advisor and helped move their relationship. I loved that we didn't spend any time on them coming out or Kakeru having some deep contemplation on the fact that he liked a guy or the fact that others didn't react to it either. It was just a regular-smegular love story between friends and it's perfect. This was just such a gem of a series, seriously, it was so great.

My only little negative thing to say was that I hated when the sparkles would pass by their faces, it looked like some really cheap editing, but that might just be me. Also, the subtitles weren't it for a couple of the episodes, but again, just slight nit-picking.

Ratings:

Story: 9/10 - So so good! The pacing was perfect the storytelling was perfect and we went straight into the plot as soon as the series started.

Acting: 9/10 - great! They all did really good! I won't say their acting was the best I've seen, but still did really well! I liked Haru (Kakeru)'s acting the most!

Music: 7/10 - I didn't pay much attention to it, but it wasn't distracting.

Recommendation value: 10/10 - I rarely give something a 10 out of 10, but gosh lee, this really was so good and I highly recommend it. It's good for wanting something simple and fluffy and happy. I know I'm happy!

Lire davantage

The acting is just.. so..

Easily one of the worst Jdrama BL's I have watched (or attempted to watch). It's rare that I drop dramas and even more rare that I write reviews, but I gotta write this to warn you: the acting is bad. One of the leads looks 5-10 years too old to be in highschool but I was willing the brush that aside. The acting actually gave me a innate physical reaction and that never happens. Both of the leads don't know what their characters are supposed to be feeling and in the more intense or sensitive moments, their expressions are so incredibly forced. There's not subtly. Ugh

Lire davantage