Takara-kun to Amagi-kun (2022)

Great Slice of Life BL

Takara-kun to Amagi-kun (2022) was great because they used defined tropes (cold, stoic guy with cute, funny guy) and brought life to the characters. My biases are, rural setting, slice of life, and odd couples, so I was bound to love it, but the acting, the setting, the friendships put this over the top.

Yes, like most Japanese BL, the intimacy scenes are not very natural, but what I did enjoy was, when one character stated his boundary, and need to move slowly, his partner respected this.

I will be rewatching this due to the overall package this series is. It may be too slow for some viewers, but it was like wrapping a gift for me.

Leia Mais

Cute and quirky.

Cute, cringe-worthy, hot in a vague way, over-the-top in other ways, but ultimately endearing and human. As in many Anime/BL works, high school is a useful construction for exploring human communication around feelings. But this series seems more sophisticated than most. Love the way competing inner monologues show the vast gaps in perception. Low self-esteem, excessive concern for others perceptions, fear of rejection, impact of childhood on ability to accept love. Some reviewers complain that nothing happens, but what is happening is entirely inside the characters heads. Characters develop a depth of love, learn what they need to do in order to build and maintain their relationship. Develop a larger definition of love that stretches beyond their own needs and even their own relationship. Love that Katori is the voice of the author/adult in the room, gently advising the characters, providing hints to the audience , and making vague snarky comments about the genre. Realistic ? No. But that's not the point.

Usually, conflicts in BL seem improbable, that real adults would never have those sorts of misunderstandings over such trivial matters. But in this case, around episode 6, I came to the embarrassing realization that I still think the way Amagi does, even at 3x his age. I wonder whether its just me (probably), and that for others, the typical BL misunderstandings are real to them.

One way to interpret Amagi's skipping around with arms waving and his continuous talking is as hyperactivity, and his constant running away (giving up) as rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD).

Maybe because I related so much to Amagi, I have a certain awe for a series that can speak to me across generations as well as cultures. Thank you Yoshino-san, Oriyama, Sato, Suzuki, Komiya and rest of the cast and crew.

Also, loved the slow beat dance club music brought out whenever there is sexual tension between Takara and Amagi. It was subtle but delightfully camp.

Leia Mais

Mignon tout plein, sans beaucoup plus

Découpé comme un manga, ce drama est plus proche du "shounen ai" que du "yaoi".
Les personnages représentent ce qu'il y a probablement de plus choupi dans les mangas BL. Une opposition de caractère entre le seme/uke, assez habituelle, un problème de communication, assez habituel, tout cela dans le cadre du lycée, assez habituel. On déjà vu ça un million de fois, mais ça fonctionne bien, probablement grâce aux acteurs qui sont presque plus adorables que les personnages qu'ils représentent. Une petite amélioration du jeu d'acteur serait néanmoins appréciable.
La série se voit très rapidement, presque trop, quelques épisodes/chapitres de plus auraient été bienvenus.
Un petit clin d’œil au personnage secondaire de Tanaka/Komika Rio, drôle et charmant, qui mériterait sa propre série (BL).
Tout cela donne un petit drama bien sympathique, comme le manga duquel il est tiré, qui sort du lot par son côté mimi. Cela reste quand même très convenu dans la conception et la réalisation.

Leia Mais

Che bellezza sta serie, sono stra emozionata.
L’ho iniziata perchè ne ho sentito parlare molto bene e devo dire che lo rifarei altre mille volte.
In generale devo dire di aver amato tutto o quasi ahaha perchè sì, c’è del cringe e non poco ma vabbè alla fine sono veramente carini assieme quindi dai non penso troppo al cringe.
Il modo in cui si sono fidanzati è stato così casuale e veloce che non ci stavo credendo ma poi mi sono ricordata che questo è un bl giapponese e quindi ho capito che così è, lo dico perchè a livello di mie esperienze con i bl giapponesi, la maggior parte sono tutti così dannatamente veloci, non ti fanno mai realizzare nulla ahahah.
Poi vabbè nella loro relazione c’è sempre stato un pò di imbarazzo ma è anche normale che carinii, poi anche troppi fraintendimenti perchè comunicazione craccata ma tutto bene dai.
Alla fine, nonostante quei fraintendimenti, si sono sempre chiariti al meglio e ciò è stato veramente bello.
Per me il fell harder della situazione è Takara, assolutamente lui, che poi entrambi hanno una personalità che oltre a essere l’uno l’opposto dell’altra, sono anche molto strane ma vabbè questa cosa è un altro must have dei bl giapponesi ahahah.
Anche se in realtà Amagi è molto capibile, porello ne ha passate molte e ciò ha definito in particolare la sua personalità, pensa sempre troppo, si fa troppi problemi e si dà troppe colpe inutili.
Vabbè non ho molto da dire quindi concludo dicendo che ho un enorme crush sin dal primo ep per Takana, amore mio quanto bello, poi amatissimo anche il migliore amico di Amagi che è stato un ottimo cupido della situazione. Consiglio vivamente la visione di questa serie.

Leia Mais

Bask in the youthful sunshine of dreams

It is really hard to watch this without grinning! There are no high-stakes here other than the beautifully blown-up agonised imaginings of the teenage mind. Lots of fluff, hugs, smiles and super supportive best friends and allies cheering them on.

You can see Japan take cues from the sleekness of K-drama here, but still retaining the moody colours of the Japanese aesthetic. The boys are styled to a T even in their school uniforms but their bedrooms still look like teenage rooms - I find the interior designed bedrooms of K and C drama Land pretty unrealistic so it’s nice to see the balance here, it really helps the world building feel more genuine.

This is a warm nostalgic breeze of a show that highlights the sweetness of first love without the drama and toxicity of high school. Perhaps it is a utopia that doesn’t exist, but it is so nice to imagine a universe where this could happen, preferably one where Takara and Amagi can bashfully smile at each other forever.

Leia Mais

Good story with disappointment as it could have great

The story revolves around 2 guys at school that meet, fall in love, suffer minor hiccups in their relationship and stay together at the end. Takara (Sato Arata) is the silent type that really cares about his significant other and is out there to help and protect him. Amagi (Oriyama Nao) is the cute, energetic kind that has his small circle of friends and enjoys every moment. He also is in love with Takara and is not not shy about voicing his true feelings although is shy in certain other matters.
Both the male leads share a great chemistry onscreen however that develops gradually and its not rather evident in the first couple of episodes. Special mention should go to supporting cast of Katori (Suzuki Kosuke) who plays the ever-helpful friend of Amagi and Tanaka (Komiya Rio) who plays the oblivious but caring friend of Takara. Katori especially plays an important role in helping the 2 leads to reconcile their issues.

Now its time to discuss the things that I didn't enjoy and the list might be long. Warning: Spoilers ahead
Ep. 1 begins with a conversation between a sorrowful Takara and a crying Amagi wherein it appears that there might have been an event due to which they are no longer in a relationship or on the verge of breaking up. This hooked me immediately as now I am intrigued to know what caused this . The scene moves to the past where we are introduced to these 2 characters and how they decide to start "dating". Now I assumed I will be taken through a journey detailing their days together and how their relationship develops further but to my utter surprise ,in a rush the issue from the beginning is revelead to just be a simple misunderstanding and they get back together. So all that crying and weeping for nothing. That could have easily been resolved by having a conversation.
And this is where the series lacks behind many other BL series with similar themes and storylines. These 2 ML do not seem to have a natural conversation. They just happen to meet daily at school, they greet each other and go into mundane topics that dont further the narrative but is just a filler to move to the next scene. Every episode is - Amagi has a simple conversation with his friends about something random, Takara and his friends talk about something generic. Amagi and Takara look at each other. Then they meet and have another conversation about something random.
So what pushes the narrative ahead if its not the dialogue between the 2 ML? Its voice-over narrations. Takara will look at Amagi and will go into a long winded voice-over narration about how he feels about Amagi or Amagi will look at Takara will have his own voice-over narration talking about the past. This is how the series progresses from one plot to the other. Its not a smart dialogue but these 2 reminiscing about something from their past.
In one of the episodes they show Amagi's past when he was a kid, ignored by his parents and that revelation and his understanding that he is always ignored and abondoned by people could have been used as a plot showing his constant need for validation from Takara about their relationship. They teased that possibility by showing Amagi speaking to Tanaka that he is the only one who is in love but nothing came out of it at the end.
On one hand we get to know about Amagi's childhood, but on the other hand we get no information about Takara. Many such opportunities of improving the story was available but it was not grabbed.I understand that this series is adapted from a manga and I have not read it so not sure if anything like this was mentioned in there. Purely judging the story presented in this series, I can state that it could have been done differently with a lot of new concepts introduced but sadly we didn't get that.
I would recommend it as a 1 time watch and should be seen especially for the supporting cast.

Leia Mais

A prosaic story about love

This is a bit of an unusual BL story that frankly I am not sure that I 'got' it. That does not make it bad; just a bit confusing. It is like watching Romeo and Juliet minus the death scene of course. They speak not as teenage boys but like they are performing in a theater-in-the-round. It is a rather enjoyable series to watch as it is so different even if I did not quite understand it. I was perplexed by it all yet completely taken in by the charm and oddly soft passion with each other. As I watched this series, I felt inexplicably somber.
You can review my complete thoughts on this series at BLBliss.com.

Leia Mais

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Leia Mais

Cuteness and fluff overload :)

This was such a cute and fluffy drama. There is no angst. There were some tiny misunderstandings in the name of feelings, but other than that it was a good and enjoyable watch.

I really enjoyed watching Takara and Amagi. They are just pure cuteness of fluff together.
I also like their friends, Tanaka and Kitori. Such good friends that ar supportive of their relationship.
The ending ost is very nice too.

Overall this is one of my favorite Japanese BL, like 30 years old virgin, and the other fluff ones.
Super cute and fluff. Such a cute high school romance between two classmates that are from different social groups, but they like and have feelings for each other :).

Leia Mais

It was kind of cute!

I binge watched this series and it was so worth it!
The main characters start off their relationship on a very unstable bases - they couldn't talk to eachother. Throughout the series they slowly build their relationship, communication and trust. It is slow, but steady and healthily developed. I liked that about it.

However the one thing that bothered me was the fact that sometimes it felt like a missed oportunity to move in their relationship. It just felt like it was stuck from time to time.
Overall a cute couple, I loved how they were the hyper introvert x calm introvert. They had a quite healthy relationship.
I'd watch it again!

Leia Mais

Serie para matar el tiempo

Es bastante aburrida. La historia no aporta nada nuevo y/o entretiene lo suficiente para valorarla más.

Los diálogos no parecen naturales y los personajes actúan extraño.

Takara y Amagi... no conecté nada. Como no me gusta el trope "amor a primera vista", difícilmente me iba a gustar esta pareja. Sin embargo, ¿cómo es entendible que Amagi se enamore de Takara con solo dos interacciones?? Si ni siquiera lo justifican y van inmediatamente a que ambos se aman, es inconsistente y poco creíble.

Otra fueron sus personalidades, las cuales creo que estuvieron muy marcadas (y para mal) en ambos personajes. Tanto que me daba pena ajena cómo actuaba Amagi la mayoría de las veces.

Es así que el único personaje que de verdad me interesó fue Katori. Me encantaría ver otra serie con él de protagonista.

Por último, no la recomiendo, y lo único que salvo son algunas escenas que me dieron risa.

Leia Mais