Welcome to my Saturday blog post, where I give thoughts on dramas I’m watching, whether at the beginning, middle, or end. Whatever I want, because I’m petty that way.
This week, I recapped episodes 25-26 of The Prisoner of Beauty. The poet is back. *sighs*
I also started Goddess Bless You from Death with episodes 1-2. The creepy murders and psychic-witness-protective-cop combo have me pretty well hooked. Join me?
What did I watch this week? I’m in Japan with two initial reviews of BLs. Let’s start with the show I’m less in love with:
Therapy Game – セラピーゲーム – 2025
Currently airing Japanese not-revenge BL, I’m at 3 out of 9 episodes.
A young man, bitter about love, has his hopes raised by a drunk man at a bar and dashed the next morning when they wake up in bed together.
This one is giving me unfortunate flashbacks to disappointing shows
Which is too bad, because the premise is one I can get into. Based on a popular manga series with the same name, we’ve got a prickly, cynical guy and a sweet, kind, straight guy. They meet at the LGBTQ+ bar our prickly guy frequents, where our straight guy is drowning his sorrows after being dumped.
Even drunk, straight guy says exactly what prickly guy needs to hear, and they end up in a hotel bed together. But the next morning, straight guy has no memory of anything they did together. I suspect they didn’t have sex and prickly guy is keeping that secret because he’s Very Upset. Upset enough to vow revenge via winning the straight guy over and then dumping him.
That vengeful premise, and how quickly our prickly guy seems to forget it, reminds me of another JBL I recently adored. But this one isn’t drawing me in the same way.
For one, we’re back in the land of chaste kisses, which, given they start with a strong sexual attraction to one another, feels off.
For two, nothing about the bright lighting and constant medium shots creates a feeling of intimacy or romance. Our guys are cute, they’re saying sweet things, they’re giving each other long looks, and I’m not feeling much.
We’re only three episodes in, there’s time to win me over
Also in the positive column are some old friends. We’ve got the adorable chibi lead from Takara’s Treasure as a friend, and the big puppy lead from Living With Him as a brother. Those were shows I enjoyed.
And I like the journey our leads are on. Our straight guy, after the initial shock, is charming and earnest in the way he’s exploring his sexuality and attraction to this other man. Our prickly guy is revealing sweet vulnerability as he’s drawn in by his partner’s open, honest attitude.
So it’s one I’ll finish. We’ll see if I can get past the lighting.
Next up is a tropey-tropey-tropey show that I am just eating up:
School Trip: Joined a Group I’m Not Close To – 修学旅行で仲良くないグループに入りました – 2025
Currently airing Japanese high school BL, I’m at 4 out of 10 episodes.
A high school kid joins a group he’s not close to on a school trip.
We’ve got all the standard ingredients of a Japanese High School BL here. There are no surprise bursts of unexpected flavor. Yet, it’s the perfect savory comfort food.
So we’ve got 4 hot guys and one other guy
Our main point-of-view character is other guy. However Japanese school works, he’s in a class where he has no friends and has failed to make any in the short months since the year started. Now it’s school trip time so the students have to form their own groups, but he has no group.
Unexpectedly, he finds himself invited to join the 4 hottest イケメン・ikemen in school.
Part of what I love about this show is our Ordinary Guy’s reaction to just about everything that happens to him. He’s mildly put upon and not thrilled to be invited into the hot, popular group. He’s more like, “wait, what, why?” From then on, he’s mostly bemused by his new hot companions and the way they treat the world and the world treats them.
As it turns out, despite their immense social media following, our hot guys are pretty nice, average high school kids. One of them in particular is very attentive and nice to our Ordinary Guy.
Which is good, because Ordinary Guy is also overly nice himself. Rather than go against the group or just say what he wants, he has a habit of going along with things. This leads to him putting himself in uncomfortable and awkward situations. Which leads to his Hot Guy stepping in and rescuing him.
Which leads to me placing a hand over my heart and letting out a little happy sigh.
I’m unusually curious if/how the character’s sexuality will be addressed
Anyone who watches BL/GL knows there’s a real spectrum of how they address society at large. Some shows depict the real-world issues that LGBTQ+ people face. Some don’t. Sometimes it’s no issue because it’s no issue, no one cares. Sometimes it’s no issue because everyone is gay anyway.
We know that our Hot Guy had a girlfriend once, but he has also been pretty un-shy about expressing his interest in Ordinary Guy. Ordinary Guy notices, but either isn’t or doesn’t want to put the pieces together for why it might be.
I’m curious if his somewhat detached-and-yet-eager-to-just-get-along attitude has to do with an awareness of his sexuality. Does he feel like an outsider because he knows he’s gay? Or is that just his personality?
Given the sweet, light nature of the show, it’s entirely likely it’s just a non-issue, and I’m reading too much into it.
Whether it goes deeper or stays light, it’s got me
It’s a reminder of why I watch these high school BLs, even though I hated high school, and the plot amounts to “and then they rode on the merry-go-round”.
This isn’t Punk’s Triangle, it’s not different and exciting. But I’m also not bracing myself for any angst.
It’s a romantic, stress-free depiction of a time when most young people are first becoming independent and taking the world on their own. And in this version of the world, everyone is nice and the discovery of those firsts is full of wonder, surprise, and delight.
It’s a world I don’t mind living in for 10 episodes of 20 minutes each.
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