In theory, it’s been less than 2 years or so between watching the series and watching the movie for me. Still, during that time, there have been several releases in Eastern media as a whole which raised my personal bar of what I can expect of lgbtq+ content in them. So, knowing what I know about the show (and I mean season 1, I avoided the “2nd”), I was worried the movie might not hold up after that time had passed.

I have to say that, overall, I enjoyed the movie more than the show.

The movie was able to successfully continue where it left off, when it comes to the main couple, instead of falling back on the same narrative the show used. The debacles of the series, the doubts about identity and the nature of the relationship, are gone from this, and Haruta and Maki have issues and concerns that, even if still rooted in their characterizations and instances of miscommunication, respond to a plot advancing and not falling behind on safe paths already done by the series.

The two characters that arrive, Shison Jun’s and Sawamura Ikki’s, are a lot more amenable than I thought when watching the trailer, and their natures develop throughout in unexpected ways. Both are good actors, so that lifted up the standard.

My biggest issue with the show (maybe it’s just me) was the boss’ character. I felt that using comedy derived of lack of consent situations and a caricature of homosexuality didn’t work in this show, although I understand that it might have been a safer bet to include a caricature instead of outright dealing with lgbtq+ subjects in the open, without the “satire” persona to distract some audiences. This is also why I skipped the Sky series, because the part they kept was this dynamic.

In this movie, it’s less bothersome. It’s not gone, but it’s not as bad. At first, it was going really well, and I realized that, as long as they allowed the boss to have his own narrative, it may be alright. But they couldn’t let go completely from this shtick, and to do so they had to retort to very nonsensical camp, which didn’t ruin the movie but, considering there was SO MUCH MORE going on, I have to ask if it was really necessary.

There are tropes, yes, but I feel that this movie took the fact that it is an mlm piece of media more seriously than the series, which allowed Haruta and Maki to have conversations in which they realistically put out there the limitations that Japanese society would set if they want to “marry”. So far, I've seen this only in jdramas like What Did You Eat Yesterday?, while much of what is considered “BL content” just leaves it at a ring and vague promises, which is what the series was going for. The fact that they talked about it, that their future together was realistically explored to an extent, made me feel that they took themselves more seriously and that the show is standing firmer on the subjects it portrays. Without losing nonsense and comedy and all that stuff people like about the series.

The female characters are a bit lost in this one. One thing I liked about the show is that they had very good female characters, which is something regular "BL" storylines lack of. In the movie, some of them show up but not as primarily as in the series. It can be understood, though, because of the lack of time (I’ll leave out the discourse on Kaneko Daichi barely scraping legal age between the series and the movie and the relationship they put him in). I really liked the character of the chairman’s daughter and wish she would have been treated better, but we can’t have everything.

I don’t think the histrionic moments and overall energy of both the series and the movie are for everyone, but the movie gave the series the step forward it needed, introducing more substance to the main relationship, which I genuinely wish had been even more focused. Because even as a step forward from series one and advancing in its narrative, there's still hesitance towards abandoning certain “safe” tropes, and the movie didn’t need some of them. When you have the personal relationship issues submerged in a) new characters that are important for the plot, b) the boss’ antics being partially back, c) the campy plotline that has genuine emotional moments but also explosions and guns, d) most characters from the series showing up at some point or another; you wonder if maybe the audience would have responded to it just as well with a little less of all of that and a little more of the core relationship that has become so interesting and refreshing.

Because it’s refreshing to see, even with all the camp and nonsense, a relationship between two people in their late 20s/early 30s figuring out life as they go and their identities as well. That’s the heart of this series, I feel like. And it works because both Haruta and Maki as characters work together. Even if Tanaka Kei is sometimes at a 10 for too long.

All in all, I enjoyed it, more than the series, and I’ll probably watch it again. If you liked series 1, I think this is a must watch for you. If you want more down-to-earth-dramatic type of dramas and you are not familiar with or fond of jdrama humor, it might be a complicated one to navigate, but it still has genuine moments I think you’d enjoy.

If they want a series 3, or another instance of this, they better continue where this left off and ditch the AU ideas, because this is where it’s at.