BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen (2023)

Half rom-com, half meta-comedy, all charm

Aw hell they really got me with this one. I wasn't expecting to be so thoroughly charmed by this little show, but they truly won me over.
The balance between incredibly clever meta-comedy, classic rom-com shenanigans, and genuinely emotionally impactful scenes is absolutely pitch-perfect. The writing is consistently excellent, the editing is tight and precise and enhances both the comedy and the more serious moments perfectly, and the acting is frankly phenomenal.
This kind of over-the-top humour can be really hard for me to get into but here it feels weirdly natural and grounded and made me laugh out loud quite a bit.
And even if the humour isn't quite your thing you'd be hard-pressed not to fall in love with the characters. Not only are our two mains absolute sweethearts whose dynamic is highly engaging and honestly a joy to watch, they are backed up by a wonderful cast of supporting characters who are all uniquely weird but equally lovable.
I won't claim this is some sort of cinematic masterpiece which has revolutionised the genre, but for a relatively straight-forward romantic comedy, this show sort of has it all - I honestly can't think of anything they could have done better.
In short, this story is funny, sweet, feels oddly real, and is incredibly fun to watch. I highly recommend you go check it out for yourself.

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I Did Not Find It Funny

I did not find this BL funny at least not with the main couple. Billed as a comedy, I did not see it as funny or even humorous. On the contrary, I found it sad and rather lonely. In the sense, you have two individuals who are products of their culture and society that are so terrified and fearful of being open and honest with each other that because of that, they nearly lost each other in the process. I just do not understand the horror of even hinting that you like a person. This is actually a deeply interesting and moving story with profound consequences to it. There is nothing wrong with the acting in this series. It is sharp, and at times rather poignant. However, who really runs away with their subtle performances are the two respective managers of these guys. This is a cute story that should have been way better. The Japanese use the voiceover to explain a lot of the action internally with the characters which I detest. It is a cheap way for performers not to have to ‘act’. And it robs the audience of seeing anything really meaningful.

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Fresh air in Jbl fr!

this is typical soft and comedy drama, i personaly recomend it to watch when you want to laugh, the comedy is so enjoying to watch LOL the scene when akafuji is found out as a fan of hajime with those atribute when hajime went to akafuji house makes me laugh over the eps hahahaha overall this drama is bringing fresh air in jbl! and i am so glad the script that give the idea to put them live together as far i watched a lot of drama this is like first time brillian idea came with superb idea and the kiss reheseal 😚 got me blusing😅 this is super cute drama yall watch it and thank me later.

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Machi Suzuri must be proud!

For a Manga released on Twitter in 2020 and becoming a beautifully executed short series (3 episodes), Machi Suzuri must be beaming as its writer and illustrator.

There is only 3 episodes of 45 minutes each that made it extra difficult for the director to provide such a concise but well told story.

it is a small production but it showed a well executed short series. The story from beginning to end smoothly flowed, the artists acted well within their characters (so close to the Manga character I am seeing what I read being played in front of me). The wardrobe was just right, supporting cast made the main characters able to tell their story with clarity, and the set was simply done to meet the scene setting.

It is so far the best Japanese short BL series I have watched for a long time.

This is a highly recommended watch for anyone who enjoys BL genre, and even for those who don't but open to the idea.

Screenplay was well written, directed well, and roles were portrayed marvelously.

Thanking the production staff and producer for investing in this series.

#MangaSeries #BL #JapaneseBL #GreatBLSeries #2024BL

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Só 3 eps?

Ultimamente estão criando umas séries BL tão curtinhas... essa só teve 3 eps e deixou um gosto de quero mais.
Trata-se de um bl sendo gravado dentro de um bl, onde um dos atores é mais experiente e para conseguir atingir o grau de química necessário, foram convidados a morarem juntos por um tempo, uma vez que teriam uma cena de beijo e a química era importante. A série mostra um pouco do fan service que os atores precisam fazer, eu amo quando isso acontece, pois mostra às pessoas que idolatram ships que o casal é real apenas na imaginação delas, com raras exceções.
O roteiro é bem leve, fofo, não existem conflitos absurdos, o único conflito é a auto aceitação da sexualidade por parte dos protas, e isso acontece de forma natural, apesar de muito curta, a série desenvolve muito bem o relacionamento dentro dos 3 eps. De fato eu esperava um final mais "quente", mas até isso a série citou quando cortou o beijo dos protagonistas alegando que a série para ficar completa não precisava do beijo.

Enfim, gostei muito, não tenho reclamações, a ost é linda e eu espero uma segunda temporada.

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Too short imho, but still cute.

That was refreshing and funny without being forced to be funny.

I think a fourth episode would have helped, because it felt sometimes a bit rushed or at least 5 minutes more would have been a godsend. Also when they always talk about the "kissing scene", they should have played out exactly this scene as finale and not only hint it at the end of the credits.

Otherwise the two managers were hilarious and I felt in the first episode they have a more intimate connection, so really well done. Also the supporting cast did a very good job.

The story is more original compared to most, executed so brilliantly. I had laughs and some tears, so I can only recommand to binch watch this short series.

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Perfect!

This drama has everything, it is funny, romantic, the actors are handsome, the supporting cast is great, the length is just right and it is simply so entertaining! I thoroughly enjoyed this drama and hope to see more from the two leads. While there are only 3 episodes, the total runtime is around 2-3 hours which is similar to the usual 6 episodes of 20 minutes. I don't think they could have added more to increase the length of the drama, but I wouldn't complain if it was longer.

This drama does feel quite anime/manga-like, which makes sense since many dramas are based on mangas. There have been other BLs that were very manga-like in their vibe in a more superficial meaning, but this one is simply enjoyable. I recommend you to watch this right now! Japan's streak on making great BLs is continuing :)

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BEST BL COMEDY

I didn't read the manga so I thought this would be a love-hate relationship. Because I thought Akafuji really hated Hajime at first, but it turns out he's a fan of Hajime. I think this is the best BL comedy I've ever watched, I always laugh when watching every episode. Their chemistry is very cute!!! Akafuji is very good and Hajime is very cute, I really like them.
Too bad there are only 3 episodes. I hope this can be made into a season 2, I really miss them. I highly recommend this!!!! I think you can recommend this to people who don't watch BL, because I'm sure they will like the comedy!!

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I loved this series!!!!

I watch a lot of BL and have never actually written a published review but I had to for this one! I just finished it like 10 minutes ago and it was amazing! So sweet and the chemistry is insane! It’s nothing too intense, but it also has such great backstory and emotion! It is so funny and the two leads are amazing! I need these two in more dramas! The entire cast did amazing and it was so well put together for such a short show I was really pleasantly surprised. I could write an essay about this little series honestly, but I’ll just say you should definitely check it out!

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WAY TOO SHORT

This story was so cute and funny! I need 10 more seasons!

Hajime is a former child actor, who struggles to get people take him seriously in the industry. So he's really happy to hear when he gets cast as a lead actor for an upcoming BL drama. His co-star and love interest is the popular actor, Akafuji.

Hajime is generally a very sweet, kind person and he is happy to meet Akafuji on set, but no matter what he does the other seems to ignore him. This is a serious blow to Hajime's already fragile self-esteem, and accepts the fact that Akafuji is just too popular to ever think of him as his equal. However, as they both seem a bit stiff and have trouble with portraying the chemistry between their characters on set, the director jokingly suggests that they should move in together. Maybe even sleep in the same bed, just like the characters they play. Hajime who has been trying to befriend Akafuji is very much open to the idea but to everyone's surprise Akafuji is even more into it. So they end up moving in together for a little while, and get to know each other better. The real shocker comes, when the story introduces us Akafuji's POV as well and we learn, that he hasn't been avoiding Hajime because he looks down on him.. quite the opposite.. he has been a fan of Hajime's acting for a while now. "Fan" as in: he has a shrine dedicated to Hajime with all his merch...

As they start to get used to living together Akafuji realizes that Hajime is a real person, not just some unreachable idol, and that he also maybe started to have real feelings for him.

There were many really sweet and funny scenes, and some 4th wall breaking scenes that involved the drama shoot where these two work. Like, coming with excuses about how they can practice lines their characters would say only so they can flirt with each other, and Akafuji asking Hajime to "practice" for their kissing scene and Hajime being really disappointed when the kissing scene gets cut..

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