17.3 about a sex (2020)

Thoughts from an Asexual in her 20s

When most shows or movies advertise being about the teenage experience, you typically see a focus on things like first love, peer pressure, drugs, etc. And don't get me wrong, those things can definitely be a part of the teenage experience. But the topic that this drama decided to tackle is perhaps much more widely applicable. And needed. It's what sex education should be, told through the lives of realistic teenagers.

In it, there are discussions not just about sex the deed, but many things related to it (in no particular order): stigmas and pressure, sexuality, desire, terminology, self-gratification, history, STDs, harassment, birth control, periods, pregnancy, abortion, parenthood, parent-child relations, consent, feeling ready/prepared, and even where to find additional resources. It doesn't feel crowded. Nor does it feel like a scare tactic to encourage abstinence (like what was used in my own sex education). It was organic. And realistic. And grounded in real experiences I or those around me have encountered.

It was told through the lives of 3 female leads who all had to learn something or another about the above topics: a sexually-experienced and outspoken female lead, a shy and nervous female lead raised in a conservative household, and the sexually-indifferent to sexually-repulsed aroace female lead who often acts as the voice of reason for the other 2. And at the end of each episode, they come together at their favorite diner to discuss the lessons they learned and to encourage each other once again to keep learning all they can and to accept one another on their different journeys.

At first I wondered why a diner? It's so public. But I guess that was the point. It's effectively saying that this is a normal part of life. One that doesn't need to be discussed behind closed doors. Because when you leave these conversations for only private spaces, you run the risk of not having the conversations at all.

And I say aroace (aromantic asexual), despite the FL in question only being canonically labelled asexual, because she defines herself as not interested in romantic or sexual relations. It was actually my only major gripe with this story. I actually had to stop and put this on hold because the way she handled this label was incredibly irksome and disappointing to me. And I needed to give it some breathing room in order to see beyond this at all the good qualities of her representation.

Here's why it disappointed. There is a big movement in the asexual and aromantic communities to raise awareness about the differences between sexual and romantic attraction. Too often, the conflation of those terms is used to delegitimize us and our experiences. Too often, the conflation of these terms confuse those of us just trying to figure ourselves out. Too often, the conflation of these terms leads us to believing that asexuality/aromanticism are terms that almost fit, but don't. And using a phrase like "there are many ways to be asexual" does not erase the potential harm of ignoring why that movement of awareness exists. And it's even worse when the resources and adult figure informing the FL all describe the term in terms of sexual attraction - but the FL turns around and almost solely uses the term in reference to romantic attraction (instead of perhaps saying both). "It means I do not feel any desire for a romantic relationship." Like I said, it irked. A lot.

Perhaps this could be partially the fault of the subtitles though, because I do think i heard the term aromantic pop up in the spoken dialogue a few times. But as I do not speak the language, I may never know.

That being said, I related to the asexual FL a lot. Her perspective on the conversations her friends had and the pressures she overheard were a lot like mine. Her annoyances and break downs stung, because I have (and even continue to) feel them. She's comfortable with the label, and won't hesitate to support her allosexual friends and advocate for the spectrum of experiences. She's good rep, conflation of the asexual and aromantic terms aside. So it is a great start for asexual rep, and I look at this character with all sorts of fondness for existing.

But one other warning i will give though, is that this is NOT a show to binge. While it does overall have a happy and hopeful tone with great messages, it tackles a lot of heavy, sensitive, and/or uncomfortable topics and experiences. And I don't think it's just my fellow aces who will be itching to hit the exit button after too many episodes in a row. So for the sake of your ability to enjoy and appreciate the story, I highly recommend only watching a couple episodes at a time.

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♥ 17.3 about a sex ♥

This drama is about 3 high school girls who are trying to find their sexuality and more about sex topic in high school. Sakura is serious, Tsugumi is not interested to date anyone, and Yuna is experienced in dating a lot of guys. Sakura falls in love with a guy in her high school but she is still not ready to do it. Do you think at the age of 17 is early to do it?As a Japanese I think age it's very early, it's better to fall in love and do it with the right guy. Even in the age of 20s some people are scared to have sex but that's how society is in Japan. I think this drama is really worth watching as it's soft, and cute romantic ♥♥♥

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Good balance between Sex-Ed and entertainment.

A nice little sex-ed starter pack for teens, parents and anyone who works with teens... With a nice balance between educational drama and entertainment value without one taking over the other.

This drama is tastefully made and talks about important issues that are in the minds of teens all over the world in one way or another. All from double standards, toxic masculinity, gender norms, teen pregnancy, STDs, sexuality, relationships, consent, fear of showing vulnerability as a man... It does not cover all the issues facing teens but does have a pretty good palette as well as shows great character development.

What I loved about this drama was the friendship as well as the very straight forward show of how the environment we are subjected to unconsciously will affect the people within it with prejudges and what not but also how easy lie this can be changed it he person is somewhat reasonable and able to take in information to change ones mind... Showing that people can change if they want to.. and that arguments like: "well I was raised like this and I turned out fine" does not cut it...

I also liked the parents in this drama, they are definitely not perfect but they are also sexual human beings with desires... And yes they do make mistakes and learn from them. But they also show how important the presence of adults that actually listen and take responsibility for the children education is for their opportunities in life. I would much rather be an adult makes sure my kid has protection just in case, then one who shames them in to not daring to own protection in the first place.

But the best part of this is probably how the teens in this drama complete each-other, they are all so different, complex and show different ways to be a human being, all with their own strengths and flaws helping each other out...

The Bingeabilaty for this one is about 8,5 stars.

So defiantly worth watching for all who are, will be soon or come in contact with teens...

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A must watch for young people and parents.

This drama follows Seino Sakura and her high school friends as they learn about and explore different issues related to dating, sex and sexuality. They comprehensively cover all those issue that a teenager might face. It is basically everything sex ed should be in a drama.

Everyone should have access to factual information, free from bias and taboos. I feel that 17.3 About a Sex does a good job in this area. It is well-made, well-researched, well-presented in a mature, non-judgemental way. Safe for young people to watch alone, with friends or with parents. I would highly recommend this.

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Flawed

I have such mixed feelings about this!

#1.) On the one hand, I almost recommend everyone watch this drama just for having the extremely rare representation that is an AroAce lead and discussing Asexuality. On the other hand, I have to criticize the drama for incorrectly using the term "Asexual" for its FL when it should be AroAce.

#2.) On the one hand, the Queer characters are shown to come to their own conclusions regarding their sexuality. Example: Asahi, the Pan ML, mentions how he once thought he was Gay and even uses the label "Bisexual" for a short time before settling on calling himself Pansexual. On the other hand, there was this subtle idea that Queer people should be the ones comforting and easing the guilt of others. And by having a character come out solely for the person they love, that coming out is something to do for others rather than yourself.

#3.) On the one hand, the conversations between characters about sex education and other "taboo" topics are great! On the other hand, the group of girls often will start an episode being insanely judgemental about a topic only to completely open up and be understanding by the end. I felt whiplash from the sudden shift!

I would absolutely love to cover my eyes and give this a 9/10 or even a 10/10. But there are issues here that I just can't unsee.

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Sex Education with G-rated kisses

Completed - 11/2/2021

If the goal of the director/writer is to provide sex education to teenagers in an interesting, non-preachy and easy-to-understand manner, then I believe they achieve their goal. As a non-teen (and far from it), I enjoy the stories surrounding the three main teenage girls. Each episode covers a topic that is important for everyone to know and understand.

Here are some topics presented in the drama (not sure if it's considered spoilers):
1. First time having sex/Virginity - the fear and pressure experienced by both teenage boys and girls.
2. Asexuality and Bisexuality - prejudice, rumors, acceptance and understanding
3. Outing of someone's sexual orientation
3. Masturbation & Vibrators - stigma
4. STDs
5. Teen pregnancy - inaccurate information, lack of support school support, lack of sex education offered in school
6. Familial relationships - daughter/mom and daughter/father - misconceptions, misunderstandings and lack of communication

As a regular drama, the acting is decent and we have some pretty good-looking boys and girls. I do find the main girl, Sakura, a little annoying in the beginning. Her character does grow from an innocent girl, to one that is supportive of her friends and is willing to learn, understand and accept. However, I still find her not deserving of her boyfriend, Asahi Yu. Asahi Yu is my favorite male character in the drama. An eccentric boy who doesn't care about what others think of him, and very supportive of his girlfriend through actions. However, I am not sure if I like the acting of Mizusawa Rintaro. My favorite female character would be Hara Tsumugi, and how strong she is.

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EVERY TEENAGER SHOULD WATCH THIS!

Before reading I believe teenagers should watch this drama not because of sex but because it talked about it all the risk and what can happen when your not safe. It talks about women who have periods and miss out on thing because we have cramps or other health issues because of it. It talks about how women in public gets harassed all the time because some men can’t keep to them self. It talks about how teens don’t talk to parents about things that they should talk about because we are scared to even talk to them about it.

This drama is a 10/10. I highly recommend, three 17 years old going through high school and learning about sex and their sexuality’s. This drama talking about it all STD, teen pregnancy, and how not to be Peer pressured into having sex just because everyone else is. It talks about how we are sometime scared to talk to our parents about these things while in high school. I love how they talked about the LGBTQ community and how bisexual was portrayed in it. This was the first drama I believe that had the topic for asexual in it, and I’m glad they did and how they were exposing all the terms.

SPOILER……

My favorite part is in the final episode when she finally talked to her mom one on one about sex and how she was prepared and knew all the risk and about STDs and pregnancy. I love how her mom found the condom wrapper and smiled because they talked about it before and her mom was calm because she knew her daughter was in safe hands and already keen about it all.

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Why Sex?

Please tell me where and why you agree and disagree with me after reading this review.
Suggestions are welcomed.

Getting to the drama~
So, I completed this drama within a day which I something that I don't usually do but this one was mesmerizing. It's short and sweet also, the main characters and the side characters are lovely! It's a must-watch for everybody but specifically for teenage girls like me who are 15-19 years of age.

Story: 9.0
Since I decided not to give away any spoiler, all I'll say in this case is that the story was really really well-written though, there were some non-sensical mistakes here and there, it was quite fun to watch. Also, the little non-sense talks by teenage girls don't exist here!
This basically focuses on sex education which is really lacking in a country like Japan (I'm saying this since I study here). Masturbation, sex, LGTB+ communities, and other topics which are considered rather sensitive here are shown and explained very very properly. What's a healthy relationship? How to avoid sexual disease? You'll learn it all here!

Acting/Cast: 9.0
⨠Nagase Riko as Seino Sakura, I loved her throughout the drama! I totally did, though I won't say her acting was superb, she did well and she portrayed her character with feelings really really properly!
⨠Tanabe Ririka as Hara Tsumugi, she was my personal fav. female character and so, of course, it was well-played!
⨠ Akita Shiori as Minagawa Yuna did really well in acting, the stomach ache scene that she did was great!!

I really loved the acting of all the support characters but my personal fav character was Asahi Yu and of course, again, Mizusawa Rintaro did well portraying it!

Music: 6.5
There wasn't much music just a very few songs (or was it just one?).

Rewatch Value: 8.0

Overall: 8.0
(It's quite high for a Japanese series on MDL you see)
I totally recommend it.

Hope it wasn't boring.
Thanks for reading.
Lots of love <3

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A must watch if you have kids

Wow this should be a 10. The writers, crew, cast, producer's, set and the actresses and actors did an amazing job bringing this drama to real life 👏👏
This show should be shown to teenagers everywhere as a parent I found it full of so many Q & A that kids should be aware of and understand. This drama talks about loosing your virginity, understanding different sexuallity, prevention & protection from disease & pregnancy, understanding the consequences of the decision. There is only safe sex with condon & birth control or abstinence. Communicate with parents/or teacher should always be an option available to them. Due I agree with kids having sex "No" I feel kids do it as a trend like smoking "Everyone else is doing it why cant i". Some feel the pressures from a boyfriend/friends or made fun of being a virgin this is all just an excuse and they will talk about this in the drama. A Must watch.

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Educational Entertainment

This drama did amazing job educating its viewers about very important topic but also keeping it entertaining from start to the end. Sex as a topic is still a tabu in many countries, including mine. We can make fun of it but talking seriously is a whole another mission. This drama portrayed sex and sexuality in serious aspect which I really liked. Even if, I was entertained while watching I also could believe everything that was presented in the drama. Not even once I had to thought if the information they're giving is correct. This drama was extremely knowledgeable.

This drama contained sexuality, gender norms, double standards, teen pregnancy, STDs, relationships, consent, toxic masculinity, virginity, sexual pressure and fear of showing vulnerability as a male. Each aspect to the story was remarkable and clarified the importance of looking the bigger picture when talking about sex.

What I really liked about this drama is that it's not only made for teenagers but also parents and people who are dealing with teenagers should watch it. The relationship between Sakura and her mother is an example of how parents and their children's relationship can develop if they can openly talk to each other. At the beginning Sakura and her mom's relationship looked a bit tense but at the end we could see that their relationship develops more close and open when they were able to talk each other. The learners weren't only the teenagers but also the adults in this drama.

I recommend everyone to watch this! It's short so you can easily binge it in a day ;)

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A must watch not only for teenagers & parents

I can’t really praise this drama enough. At first I was thinking, is this a government financed sex education program, but even if it would be, it’s just perfectly done. It’s something that I would recommend anybody, especially teenagers and parents to watch and I would’ve been glad if such shows were available in my teenage time.

Due to only 9 episodes it can’t cover all topics, but it cleverly touches some of the most essential ones, like early pregnancy, STD’s, and of course the general misunderstandings in love and romance and the needed communication with the parents/friends/lovers.

I can’t recall a single scene that felt out of place or wasn’t done carefully in respect to the topic or persons. Yet it sounds educational it’s perfectly enjoyable, fun and tense also. The pace with the 30 min episode length is totally good.

So my only complaint is: Where’s the second season :-) ?

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