Living with Him (2024)

Hits Home really well

At first I kinda found this project boring but as it progressed I found myself getting attached to the characters. I also really liked this drama because it made me borderline emotional because I’m a softie for human affection and a lot of the stuff these characters said/went through is so relatable. it’s such realistic story and I really enjoyed it for that reason alone. The soundtrack was also on point; there were so many instances where the music would just come in at the perfect time and it would make a beautiful cinematic moment. I do wish this series was a longer (that goes for all BL series) because I think it really would’ve benefited more story building but nonetheless it was a great product, and I am so glad to be seeing the BL genre taking off!

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um pouco decepcionante

quando o Bl estreou eu fiquei muito animado com a história, sou um grande fã de friends to lovers e vi um grande potencial mas acabei ficando desanimado no meio da história. não que ela tem ficado ruim ou coisa do tipo mas ela parecia andar em passos quase lentos demais. você conseguia ver que ela estava se encaminhando para algo mas esse algo nunca chegava. fiquei feliz que o último episódio as coisas se acertaram e ainda deu para vibrar um pouco com o casal. mas eu sinto que eles poderiam ter feito a história caminhar para um lado mais romântico e interessante de se acompanhar

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How do romantic feelings change a friendship?

Living with Him is a slow-paced, slice-of-life, friends-to-strangers-to-roommates-to-lovers story. It's one of those very gentle J-BLs which are not so much about the story but more about the characters.

The strength of this drama lies in how it is showing the dynamics of two childhood friends who are most comfortable together when they just live in the moment, don't think about what they are to each other, don't think about how others perceive them. As long as they are in their own world, everything is fine. It's when one of them starts to overthink things as well as when they think about what they are to each other that this closeness falls apart, and suddenly there's this chasm that they feel can't be overcome.
But they want to be near each other, so they try to find that balance, only to lose it again in the next moment. And this is what makes the drama interesting, not the plot but the change of distance in an evolving relationship.

The actors are quite good at showing this; unfortunately the story telling is quite different. It doesn't manage to build up the kind of tension the premise deserves, everything feels a bit flat. The scenes where Natsukawa and Kazuhito are very close to each other have the same overall feeling as those where there should be uncomfortable distance.

What also does not help is that Natsukawa is not a consistent character -- he says he is glad to be free of his obligations to his younger sisters but proceeds to fill exactly the same role in his new household with Kazuhito. And the question remains: After he realizes his feelings, what is holding him back? This is more than just the usual Japanese communication difficulties. Does he think he's not worth it? As the one who took care of two sisters for years, and seems to be mature beyond his age, his sense of self-worth shouldn't be that low. Does he have some internalized homophobia? Then it should have had more room than just that small scene.
In my opinion, a focus on one solidly developed inner obstacle and a consistent characterization for Natsukawa would have helped a lot.

The drama is worth watching for the change in distance romantic feelings can bring to a life-long friendship, just be aware that this is definitely not fast-paced, and much of what happens seems very mundane.

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Remarkably Laid Back Series

Superficially, this series is cute and adorable and very entertaining but true to Japanese custom, there is a hidden undertone layered deep within the subtest of this smartly done tale. The Japanese have a way of expertly taking two modest characters and turn them into figures greater than what they are in a such a quiet manner that we do not even realize what is happening. In a way, they become unwitting stewards. Stewards in the sense each is an important someone who leaves a positive impact on the other, if for no other reason than simply because it is the right thing to do. These two young men, tacitly and effectively, are the epitome of that distinction. Without complaint or bitterness, they did what they had to do and put the needs of others always before their own. That made them paladins.

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Heartfelt Romance between Childhood Friends

Overall, I thought this show was quite good in relation to other JBLs that we have been seeing over the years.

I thought the story was well-written and really wholesome as I could feel the sparks of love between the two co-stars. The flashbacks of their past really helped to add to the context of show and made it very enjoyable as we got to see how Tanaka's love for Ryota all began. Though, I do think that the flashback we saw in Episode 7 could've been featured earlier just so that not a lot of time was wasted scenes leading up to the confession.

I do not know if this was in the manga but one part of the story that, I think, really needed some tweaking was Episode 7 where we had the running scene and the episode ending with Ryota going home. It would have been a lot better if they decided to extend episode 7 so that there could have been a confession there instead of in episode 8. It would have felt a lot more natural and the last episode would have spent time entirely on the two being together. Moreover, the pacing of the show was far too slow, making it seem more like a story of two best friends than one of a romance (I am sure many will argue with me here but I'd say that this show spent too much time establishing that they were very close (even though this could have easily been done via flashbacks)).

As others have pointed out, Ryota's character was a little irritating but I think keeping in mind that he was written to be a relatively low self-esteem character, it was okay. I wouldn't say it was amazing but it was not bad. It's clear that the actor playing Ryota (Sho Sakai) is talented and did a great job embodying the modest Ryota. The same goes for the actor playing Tanaka though I'd wish that some scenes would be less awkward (e.g., Tanaka's slowed reaction to Haruna in the last episode).

Contrary to what others have said, I do not think the open-endedness of the show was bothersome at all. While some questions were left unanswered (e.g., how Ryota and Tanaka choose to spend the rest of their lives together, whether the girl knows that they are together, how Ryota's sisters would handle their relationship, etc), there were some that were tacitly answered at the end of the show. For instance, the yukata scene in episode 8 where Kazuhito's mom already knew that they were for them was good enough for me to know that Kazuhito's mom supports their relationship. I think the gazes from Ryota's mom also speak volumes on this. Dialogue on that was unnecessary, the audience just knew it.

The music was great, it was catchy and made for an enjoyable OST. The opening theme song is especially catchy and well-suited to the theme of the show.

Given how slice of life it was, I may rewatch the show just because it was fun. It was adorable seeing them together at the end.

In the future, I will likely use bullet-points instead to write my reviews.

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普通の大学生同士の恋愛

私はこのドラマが大好きです。
おそらく、この作品は凄く日本的な作りかもしれません。
本人達の感情の変化に重点を置いたストーリーになっているため、もしかするとペースが遅いと思う人もいるかもしれません。
でも、私はそのゆっくりとしたペースがこの作品に合っていてとても好きでした。

カズヒトとナツカワは、幼馴染で子供の頃からずっと一緒で仲の良い友人だったにもかかわらず、中学校でクラスが離れ、高校では別のところに行くことで、物理的にも離れます。
これは、必然的に距離だけではなく気持ちの面でも全部の距離が離れることを指します。

カズヒトは、おそらく前からナツカワに対し特別な思いを抱いていたけど、離れたことでその気持ちはいったん落ち着きます（消えたわけではありません！）。
日常的に一緒にいることが無くなると、人の気持ちが落ち着くのは普通のことです。
しかし、高校で偶然ナツカワの姿を見かけた時に、自分の中の特別な感情がぶり返します。
そして、一生懸命取り組んできた野球が出来なくなってしまい絶望した時に、ナツカワに会いに行く。
恋人になりたいという想いではなく、そこには純粋な恋心だけがあります。

ナツカワは、性格的には非常に人に気を使い、色々と考えを巡らせるタイプです。
なので、人の変化には気づきやすい。
しかし、その分自分の感情には鈍感なタイプで、カズヒトへの気持ちがどの種類の好きなのかすぐにわかりません。
カズヒトを好きだと自覚したあとも、カズヒトの将来のこと、周りからの目（残念ながら日本はまだ同性愛者に対して寛容じゃない人が多いです）、家族や友人について考え「好きだ」と言う気持ちを伝えることが出来ません。

ここで、カズヒトの友人ハルナが（彼のキャラクターは面白いです）良いアドバイスをします！
８話はとても良いシーンだらけでした。
彼らの想いが通じ合った後の、初々しいキスは最高です。

このドラマには、ドラマチックな展開がそれほどありませんが、日本の大学生の友情や、恋愛模様をよく表しており（少し純情すぎるかもしれませんが）、私には馴染みのあるものでした。
原作が漫画なので、少し漫画寄りのストーリーにはなっていますが、そこもJBLぽくて良いと思います。

カズヒトとナツカワが、これからもずっと仲良くいられることを願っています。

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Not life-changing but a good watch if you're into the friends-to-lovers trope

Mmm. What to say?
It's cute. The actors do a decent job, and they have decent chemistry. Some of their scenes are *adorable*, like I'm talking lovesick stares and forehead touches and all that jazz.
I think the series gets more and more mid as it progresses. I guess it didn't really make sense to me why they weren't communicating properly at the end, when they both knew they liked each other. They kept being dramatic and not talking and I was just like ??? Just fking tell him ??
Maybe this is just a cultural difference but in every Japanese BL I've watched it feels like the main couple don't ever feel fully comfortable around each other -- they keep talking formally and apologizing for everything and walking on eggshells not to offend the other. When they confess, it still feels as if they're both expecting the other shoe to drop. Then again, maybe this is my Spanish ass that's used to couples being wayy more affectionate.
Also. Honorable mention to Haruna, my man, my boy, he was trying to get those two dumbasses together by any means available to him and I love him for that. What a great friend.
I'd like to add that the ending was *so* open. So much so, in fact, that I didn't notice the series was over lmao. I want to know, how do the friends react? The family? The sisters?? This is one of the issues I have with couples getting together at the last minute --you don't get to see them after that, being domestic and all that. It's so sad. And it still didn't fail to give me whiplash, going from Natsukawa being confused to both of them openly declaring their love for each other. It happened so fast, didn't it?
Maybe I'm too cynical. Idk.
But yeah, that's that. It's a light series, easy to watch, and it won't wreck your brain or make you feel uncomfortable. But I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it or watch it again.

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So Cute!!

If you are looking for a BL series to make you feel good, this is the one. This series was very cute and fluffy. Yet another good example that you don’t need a lot of episodes to tell a great story. The script was very well written and had a nice even pace. The cast was awesome and did a great job with their characters. It had just the right number of characters for an 8-episode series. You get just enough of everyone’s backstory without taking too much screentime. It was very refreshing to see an ex-girlfriend not placed in the crazy/evil stereotypical role. The only minor negative aspect for me was it had some shaky camera work at times.

Random Note:

The timing on the English subtitles on GagaOOLala were too fast at times. I had to pause many times.

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Only if you have nothing else to watch...

Well, this year's japanese bls have been more of a miss than a hit! And this one unfortunately is on the miss side!

It is a cute slice of life, childhood friends to lovers, unrequited long-time crush, an endless string of clichés and repetitive tropes filled drama. Mind you, it was not bad but it was completely forgettable and something we have already seen so many times.

The actors had zero chemistry and the kisses were not even pecks, so why bother? The characters were also clichés: a former baseball player Kazuhito, cold and taciturn apparently emotionless but actually hiding his feelings really well. The other one was the opposite: jumpy, confused and indiscreet. It was so painful to watch when he was prodding the baseball guy about his love life, asking increasingly rude questions and even offering to sort it out for him and get him a girlfriend. Ryota is indeed a very unlikeable character. He seems young and cheerful but is actually immature and impolite and completely unaware of his surroundings: "Read the room, Ryo and shut the fuck up!"

The most interesting character was Haruna, baseball guy's best friend who cunningly pushes the two towards each other, inciting them to finally talk. I want to see a drama where he's a main character.

The baseball guy was too cute (I want to see more of that actor!) the other one was too creapy. Towards the ending, I kept thinking of Cherry Magic, thai version, where Achi accepts Karan's feelings out of gratitude but still very uncomfortable together. I had the same feeling here, less pronounced but still present: Ryo still seemed very uncomfortable...He was also worried for a long time about the acceptability of their relationship and even though Haruna explained some basic truths about Kazuhito, he semed more interested in keeping a roommate than getting a boyfriend. Very ambiguous!

Forgettable plot but well produced without major problems unless you count boredom.

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