Utsukushii Kare (2021)

truly matched each other's freaks

I'm conflicted writing this review because I loved this drama not because of the story itself but because of how unintentionally funny this is.

So the story is about a guy with a stalkerish tendency who falls in love with a guy whose insecurity is almost as intense as his ego. Both of them can't properly talk which makes an absolutely hillarious series to me.

The love story itself feels very juvenile and really does give you secondhand embarassment. However, for me the secondhand embarassment quickly turned into comedic gold. Everytime either one of them does something insanely stupid, I literally fall out of my seat laughing. Please do watch if you're needing a laugh.

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Complex, fascinating characters

10/18/2022
Rating: 9.0

Pairing Type: quiet, shy mc x popular, tsundere ml; stuttering mc; bullied mc (not severe); obsessive mc

Tropes: school life; time-skip (midway through); high school; college; acting; obsession; second lead syndrome

Triggers: bullying (ie teasing, no severe physical abuse); toxic relationship; ideations of mass shooting (nothing graphic but a gun is depicted)

Heat level: 2/5 (behind closed doors); characters are intimate but love scenes are behind closed doors

Re-watch: will likely not rewatch

I can’t believe I didn’t watch this just because some of the comments people left scared me off. This was surprisingly really well done.

I should note, the lead’s relationship is not healthy. Someone commented that this is controversial without anything controversial actually happening and it is very accurate.

Both characters are flawed individuals. Kiyoi is narcissistic, manipulative and selfish. Beyond Hira’s stutter, he’s obsessive and puts Kiyoi on a pedestal. A perfect combination for an absolutely toxic relationship.

I thought the episode in Kiyoi’s POV was necessary and well done. We see how he first becomes interested in Hira’s devotion to him and how he manipulates Hira because of these feelings. However, as his own feelings grow, he wants Hira to see him as a person rather than an ideal. Like wow, the psychology of these characters is really well written. You can also tell, to some extent, that Kiyoi is mutually obsessed with Hira in his own way.

It’s not healthy, but it is fascinating.

Totally got second lead syndrome. Hira’s secondary love interest never had a chance but damn was he lovely and damn did he make me cry.

These two people would definitely be better off without each other, which is why I probably won’t be watching this again. But I really did feel like this story was well crafted with complex and interesting leads. Would recommend.

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strano ma particolare

Questo è uno dei bl più particolari mai visti.
La loro storia è strana e insolita, una storia dove Hira è innamorato pazzo di Kiyoi, in modo tale da vederlo come irraggiungibile. Hira chiama Kiyoi “Re” e si considera suo servo, lo venera come un dio, lo ama ma non comprende i suoi sentimenti come accesso a una possibile relazione ma comprende i suoi forti sentimenti come semplice servo e osservante, osserva ma sa che non può avere quindi non lo immagina, così tanto da pensare che non può avere né speranze né una relazione con Kiyoi.
Penso che questo concetto di amore sia super sbagliato, Hira vede tutto come una gerarchia dove i più bassi non possono ottenere ciò che vogliono, di conseguenza rimane bloccato al semplice osservare e esprimere i propri sentimenti, non ha mai pensato di poter avere una relazione alla pari con il suo amato Re. Quest'ultima cosa fa arrabbiare Hira che invece ha una visione dell’amore secondo me più giusta, e capisco questa sua rabbia, fortunatamente poi glielo fa capire e fila tutto liscio.
Oltre questa cosa di base devo dire che la loro storia è un pò impossibile, Hira è innamorato ma non osa e Kiyoi lo ama ma non lo capisce quindi quando è imbarazzato per i complimenti di Hira, lo chiama “disgustoso”, sta cosa non mi piaceva all’inizio, diciamo che non è una delle parole più carine da dire ahahah, ma dopo che ho appreso il perchè la dicesse ho capito che era solo un modo particolare che aveva con Hira per “dichiarare” in un certo senso il suo bene, il suo amore per Hira.
Riguardo poi l’amico di università di Hira, devo dire che mi è dispiaciuto per lui, amava molto Hira ma purtroppo il cuore non cambia così facilmente, e devo dire di averlo amato per il fatto che nonostante il suo essere stato rifiutato, è andato ugualmente da Kiyoi a fargli capire che Hira lo amava molto e addirittura ha creato loro l’opportunità di chiarirsi. Veramente un ragazzo dal cuore d’oro. In generale questo bl mi è piaciuto, certo è un pò molto strano ma vabbè consiglio ugualmente in quanto molto corto.

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Unique, Painful & Brilliant

A film is not written to protect the audience from unpleasant paths to love. Utsukushii Kare intends to drag you through an unpleasant, and dysfunctional relationship, which I would argue, honestly reflects the often screwed up nature of first love.

The brilliance (but also risky) in this work is in how it's structured, only letting us in Hira's world to start, and then surprising you by bringing you into Kiyoi's world to bring the story together. The result is, yes, an at times uncomfortable watch, but ultimately achieving beautiful moments.

All of this to say, watch this series. Withstand the tough stuff, and remember, characters must be flawed. By the end you'll get what's being shared here, and I think, most will enjoy it. Thanks.

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What A Beautiful Set Of Bois

Had no idea what I was jumping into with this one. I've had mixed reactions to Japanese BL's. Loved ones like "Cherry Magic", "Love On The Line" and "The Novelist" , but sometimes they get quite repetitive. As well as now really showing the leads dynamic very well, aka they don't have much chemistry. Well this show definitely was a pleasant surprise!

First things first. I really like the animation aesthetics in this. They really added to the storytelling, it also made me think of "Heartstopper". I love how our main character Hira is so shy and awkward. He really is one of the most awkward main characters in a BL I've ever seen and that's saying something! So high praise to the actor. Though one plot device with the character I didn't like. I understand the violence symbolism of the gun motif was him expressing his inner thoughts and feelings. However, it was still too much lol. I live in America, that sh** is too serious.

Kiyoi's development with Hira is interesting. I saw little nuances of him liking him back from the start. Sticking up for him, the little smiles and wanting to just be around him. So I could tell something was up from the beginning, which is a good thing. It shouldn't just be completely one sided infatuation. I love that ep 5 is completely dedicated to Kiyoi and his backstory. We saw everything from his POV too now which is what I wanted. I also love seeing Hira kicking booty in this episode! We got to see our shy boy screaming and I loved it. At first I thought their first kiss seemed so out of left field, but if this is how Kiyoi has been feeling this entire time. Totally makes sense now. Boy is in love and the jealous type! I was frustrated thinking Kiyoi needed to stop being so chill or acting chill about everything. However ep 5 on explained this very well and I understood where he was coming from in his reservations.

Moving on. The intro of Koyami (our official love triangle boy) was interesting. I really like him and he clearly likes Hira a lot. So I felt conflicted. But because the love Hira has for Kiyoi I knew the switch up could never be. However, all I'm saying is but THE TINY CAKE Hira got himmmm. So sweet! The final talk between Hira and Koyami hurt my heart, but it was really well done. Koyami is genuinely also a good person, like he wants Hira to be happy, Koyami FOR THE WIN. It was nice to see the other love interest not be shady for a change. We got our happy ending and I hope Koyami gets a boo too! He deserves it.

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very toxic

this show has a lot of cute moments and i think the actors have good chemistry, but it is really tough to ignore the very toxic nature of their relationship. i understand that shows are not real life and they can explore an aspect of toxicity without people actually having that in their relationships, but it crosses a line and becomes hard to watch at points. i think if at some point the character fundamentally learned to change their view, this would receive a higher rating. unfortunately the sequels only doubled down on the toxic parts so take that into consideration. with all that said, I would not mind seeing these actors in completely new story.

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A Plot with a different Twist

This was a very lovely drama that I started watching a couple of times and was finally quite happy with it when I finally saw it through. We have a family member who stuttered from when he could first mouth words and through high school. It can be a very frustrating disability. Fortunately, he outgrew his and is now a middle school principal. This drama handled it quite well and accurately. The protagonists had such great chemistry. You couldn't help but love both of them. They had an air of naivety and in their own way expressed it in two totally different ways, one like a child and the other with a bit of anger adolescence. I've completed watching it but will watch it again as soon as I'm finished with this review because it is such a short drama and I enjoyed it so much the first time. I always write my reviews before reading others because I don't want to be influenced by other's feelings. I honestly don't care if someone liked a drama or disliked it. After all that's why we were given minds of our own. I hope you give it a shot and get some enjoyment out of it.

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