Kieta Hatsukoi is a slow burn no doubt but a soothing and heart warming one. I have rarely enjoyed any high school drama this much. The actors (including the supporting ones) were perfectly cast and they acted brilliantly. Special mention to the lead couple and their expressions.
Its a simple high school drama about 4 students finding love. Ida and Aoki's relationship starts with a misunderstanding but soon becomes too real for Aoki and Ida is unsure yet hesitant to let go. So begins the journey of exploration of emotions and one's self. All through this they respected eachother's boundary and took the yes and nos with patience. Meanwhile their ever supporting friends guided them and helped them in whatever way they could to realize eachother's true emotions. Even the friends never did anything cringe worthy. The support characters helped the plot move forward. The makers also touched upon the subject of prejudice that same-sex couples face and that was a surprise as generally in BLs they tend to avoid such serious issues. But it was shown in a lighter way and it made me very happy that they did. I am all for rosey romance but would like them to further the cause of the LGBTQ+ communities. The Osts were just perfect and I have listended to them non stop. The drama managed to transport me to my highschool days.
On the negatives, the series in the middle episodes felt a bit dragging. We were seeing the same confusions being played out for couple episodes in a row and it felt a tad bit drawn out for me. Either the makers could put more content or cut the series short.
All in all Kieta Hatsukoi is a feel good drama that shows respect, patience, perseverance and pure love. I will rewatch it whenever I need to be reminded that Life is beautiful with love and innocence in it!