This was the first BL I watched, so I held it in pretty high regard the first time that I watched it. This show has gotten a lot of hate since it's release, some of it is understandable.

Firstly, some of the actors get a lot of hate for this show but I don't think the acting is the problem. The characters in the show are pretty 2-Dimensional, we don't really know anything about them outside of what is happening in that moment. We do get some backstory with Sarawat, but it's just to show that he's been in love with Tine all this time. I love the cast so much, I think they did the best they could given their roles.

There's a lot of talk that this is more of a bromance than a BL, and I had a hard time understanding why until recently. But, I don't think it's for the reasons that many people think. First, sometimes I think people use the bromance criticism whenever there's not a lot of skinship in a drama. That's not the only reason some people call this a bromance drama, but it is part of it and in my opinion skinship doesn't make or break a drama. I think Bright gets a lot of hate for this role because he's "too straight to play a gay man" (which is ironic, because Bright isn't straight). Bright was not the one I had a hard time believing, sometimes it seems like Win doesn't feel comfortable playing a gay man. And not in a homophobic way, just in that this was his first big role and he had a hard time playing the part of a gay man. I will say, they definitely looked more comfortable playing a couple in Still 2gether. That isn't to say Win's acting is bad in 2gether, I actually think he did a great job. I just, personally, had a harder time believing Tine liked Sarawat compared to the other way around.

The unfortunate thing with this drama, was that it had a promising start and the writers added unnecessary drama in the end which ruined the drama for a lot of people. I was watching this when it was coming out, I remember watching fans' opinions change in real time because of the last two episodes. From my understanding, Pam wasn't even meant to be a villain from the books. They just made Tine jump to conclusions for no reason. I personally felt like Man and Type had a more satisfying ending than the main leads. I think the writers even recognized that, because they spent the first 20 or so minutes of Still 2gether explaining/justifying the end of 2gether.

Overall, I don't think it's the best BL ever, but it's a cute watch. It's kind of my baseline BL, simply because it was my first. It's not my favorite, but it's comforting to rewatch (as long as I pretend that it ends on episode 11).

Also, please understand that this review is based in my personal opinion.

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All time favorite BL

I've seen my fair share of BLs, but to me nothing has ever come close to Cherry Magic. Every toxic trope that BLs have, I don't see that in Cherry Magic. Granted, I've only seen two JBLs, I've mainly watched Thai BLs. JBLs appear to be on a different level, at least from what I've seen.

First, there's zero unnecessary drama. I've seen way too many shows that kind of ruined itself by adding unnecessary drama. It's a lighthearted drama all the way through. There is minor conflict in the show, and the next to last episode is a little hard to watch with Adachi and Kurosawa ending things. But like, as I said before, they don't have a lot of the toxic tropes that I've seen so many times in so many different BLs.

Secondly, it's so refreshing to see a female character that isn't a) villainized or b) weirdly ships the main couple. She's a genuine ally and supporter of Kurosawa and Adachi. Also, she seems aro/ace coded and it's nice to see some representation. I have a hard time watching some BLs because I feel like the supporting female characters are intentionally unlikeable, but they don't bring any of that here. Also, she's very intuitive and was the only one to pick up on the fact that Kurosawa likes Adachi. The only reason Adachi knows is because he read Kurosawa's mind.

Thirdly, I feel like there's so much pressure from one of the leads in a BL. There's the pressure to come out before the other's ready, or to do stuff they're not necessarily comfortable with. Kurosawa should be the standard because he is nothing but supportive and understanding of Adachi. I don't get very emotional watching dramas, but the scene where Kurosawa gives Adachi pens because he knows Adachi would be too shy to wear rings gets me every time.

The only thing I did not like about the show, was that this was the first time I didn't really care for the side couple. I don't necessarily dislike them, but I wasn't that into Tsuge and Minato. Also, apparently I'm not the only one who thinks this, Minato looks so much younger than Tsuge and it kind of weirds me out to watch. They do have their moments, and I don't hate them as a couple. I just didn't care for them as much as the lead couple.

There's almost no skinship in this drama, which doesn't bother me but I know it bothers some people. Personally, I think the two main leads did such a good job portraying a couple, skinship wasn't necessary in selling that point. I hear people complain often about the lack of skinship, but I've never heard anyone complain about the lack of it in Cherry Magic.

Overall, it's a really cute drama and I've rewatched it so many times. I've never met anyone who's seen this and didn't like the show. Pretty much, everyone I've met agrees it's their all time favorite BL.

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