My Beautiful Man Season 1 – Recap, Review and Book Comparison – Complete

Also known as My Beautiful Man Season 1

A 2021 jdrama BL about Hira, an extremely introverted young man with a stutter, and the beautiful man he is obsessed with, Kiyoi.

You can watch the trailer here.

Country: Japan 
Local Title: 美しい彼
Year Released: 2021
Number of Episodes: 6
Genre: BL

Season 2 is recapped here.

The My Beautiful Man: Eternal movie is reviewed here.

Main Actors:

Hagiwara Riku as Hira Kazunari
Yagi Yusei as Kiyoi Sou

Pre-Recap Thoughts:

Utsukushii Kare Season 1 gets a lot of credit for motivating me to improve my Japanese. The story of Hira, a strange and embarrassing mix of awkward introversion with determined strength, and Kiyoi, a determined and ambitious selfish young man frightened of being vulnerable, caught my whole heart. They are such a unique pair, and the dynamics between them are so unique and complex. On the surface, it seems like confident, beautiful Kiyoi should have all the power in the relationship. But, that’s not how it turns out.

When I learned there were books, I immediately bought them and started struggling to read them with my intermediate-level Japanese.

Hot take, the books are better than the drama. Hira is so introverted and his internal thought process is so interesting and fantastical, there’s only so much VO they can use in a visual medium. Kiyoi is more straightforward but still complicated enough, and I think in the writers’ efforts to make various actions and reactions make sense, Kiyoi came off worse. Not that he isn’t a jerk, but he’s not THAT much of a jerk.

Still, I think the drama did an excellent job, considering the short length and what appears to be a small budget, in conveying the story. They kept in a lot of great details, kept the basic larger structure of the novel, removed the sex, and pulled together something that conveys the most important parts of the book.

With my recaps, I’ll talk about what I liked, what I didn’t like, as well as how it is different from the book.

I’ll try not to spoil anything in Season 2, but I can’t promise something skipped in the earlier books that I mention here won’t be brought up somewhere in the movie.

Recap and Thoughts:

Final Mostly Non-Spoilery Thoughts:

My rewatch confirmed what I remembered, that the too-short series is a strong adaptation of the novel with a few problems that will never stop bothering me.

The biggest problem is the run time, six episodes are not enough to do any kind of deep story, let alone the complexity that is Kiyoi and Hira’s relationship. Kiyoi doesn’t get enough screen time to really understand him and on top of that, some baffling changes were made from the book that makes him less sympathetic. I wish I could talk to the production/writers and learn what their logic might have been.

Despite that though, Hira and Kiyoi are just some of the most interesting characters in any kind of romance and their relationship reflects their uniqueness. The show manages to capture the magic of their personalities and interactions, allowing the audience on the entertaining ride that is their awkward beginning. It’s well worth watching.