Also known as My Beautiful Man Season 2
A 2023 jdrama BL about the continuing romantic relationship between 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 シーズン2
Year Released: 2023
Number of Episodes: 4
Genre: BL
The My Beautiful Man: Eternal movie is reviewed here.
Main Actors:
Hagiwara Riku as Hira Kazunari
Yagi Yusei as Kiyoi Sou
Pre-Recap Thoughts:
The 2021 drama got me a little obsessed with this couple. They are so unique and so extreme and the power dynamics between them are so unusual. Hira, as the outcast, bullied, stuttering loner who is obsessed with Kiyoi, would typically be the one at a disadvantage power-wise. Any other story would have him relentlessly pursuing Kiyoi and getting turned down.
But instead, Hira decided he had no romantic chance with Kiyoi, and contented himself with the role he felt he deserved, a kind of underling-fan. But Kiyoi, while dreaming of becoming an idol that everyone loved, also fell in love with Hira. Only to discover himself in the strange position of having to convince a very dense Hira that he likes him back.
In that way, Kiyoi became the pursuer, with Hira the one with the power to make the relationship happen or not.
While trolling MDL comments at the time of the first series I discovered that the drama was based on a book, a book with two sequels. I was just getting back into learning Japanese, and can credit these books with inspiring me to work harder to up my fluency, especially with reading. [With a lot of help from various translation apps and a Japanese tutor] I’ve read the first two.
To me, the books are better than the drama because of all the inner thoughts and extra details that the pages can hold that a 6 episode drama couldn’t. Some of the changes the drama made I could see the reasoning behind (budget reasons or needing to condense the story) and others I could see the reasoning behind but disagreed with. At some point soon, I think I’ll go back and recap the first season along with comparisons with the novel.
But first, since this series just started, I’ll recap each episode and give my thoughts as usual including comparisons with the books.
Recap and Thoughts:
Final (mostly non-spoilery) Review:
I found this season disappointing but not terrible. There wasn’t much of an arc for the characters and a lot of people were introduced without going anywhere. There were some characters that seemed to show up in case we missed them but didn’t do much else. At times it felt like a “best of” from the end of the first book/second book, tossed onto the screen with nothing holding it together. To be fair, there was little chance of it being as good as the books, but it’s also not as good as the first season.
Really, it felt like a special, not a season.
The thing I liked least was that Hira turned into more of a comedic character, losing some of the depth that made him so interesting and complex. Maybe they were trying to soften him and the whole story, but it didn’t work for me.
That said, I think if I’d gone in expecting something more like a special, that wasn’t going to follow the books but instead set up the movie, it would have eased some of the disappointment. Hira and Kiyoi are still an adorable odd couple and it’s fun to see them navigate their new relationship and grow as people. I always enjoy seeing a couple after they’ve gotten together and have to figure out how to live with each other.
If you watched and enjoyed the first season, I think there’s no reason not to watch this one. Just keep your expectations very medium.