My biggest takeaway from this movie is that Shun and Mio’s relationship is notably messed up and incredibly depressing. Is that what people find appealing about this series? It does not seem so; from reading reviews, its appeal most often lies in “realistic representation”, personal relatability, and a supposed dearth of toxicity. I do not care much for those things; I just want convincing romantic writing, but there was a jarring lack of buildup. Was that the point? Was the gap meant to draw attention to how egregiously desperate Mio is because of his loneliness and life circumstances, and how Shun possibly thinks he’d never be able to find anyone else who’d naïvely accept him to such an extent? Is this supposed to make me intensely uncomfortable when they show intimacy? If anything in particular, was the usage of the “oh, I know you actually want this, so I’m going to veto your refusal to consent” trope meant to be exciting, disgusting, or both? The answer does not matter, for there was not enough chemistry and development between them to make it remotely tolerable or interesting (for me). It feels like the writing shoots for melancholy and drama just for the sake of it, which is not something I can appreciate.

Unfortunately, attempting to portray the effects of discrimination does not automatically create depth. It may have depth in other areas, though—the extent to which their relationship is messed up made it easy to find potential for analysis—but it has mostly just left me dissatisfied. As for the age gap, they get together as adults after a timeskip; cool, but in my opinion, the way that element was executed and treated was disconcerting. Feel free to think differently, but it’s hard for me to read it in any other way. The story wouldn’t be as exuberantly deranged without that element, though, so maybe they made it creepy on purpose? To excite those who relish in the disturbing and downcast (i.e. realistic) without requiring extra layers to do so?

Anyway, in terms of art, there were pretty backgrounds. However, I’m not a fan of the overall style because I hate it when adult or older teen mcs look like little kids, especially in BL. I don’t necessarily think it’s creepy in all cases; it’s actually an interesting choice given the history of the genre, but I don’t personally find it appealing. Also, the animation was jarring at times, and the cats’ eyes threw me off. Thus, I don’t feel inclined to compensate many points in the art department. As for the quality of adaptation, I will be generous: the writing/pacing is not its fault but that of the source material, which the anime only improves upon by being slightly prettier. It almost got a bonus point for tempting me with the presence of a superficially refreshing f/f couple, for their exuberant presence in the same home as someone as repressed as Shun provides some context for Mio’s frustration (among other things). However, they treat Shun’s infatuation with Mio when Mio is still only 16-17 as normal and cute. I do not have confidence that minor-adult relationships will be explored in this universe past this point, and where its exploration currently stands is not compelling. Thus, I have elected to revoke half their bonus point, so as to echo Shun’s revocation of Mio’s right to verbally refuse to consent.

Ultimately, aside from the incredibly short list of mentioned positives, I do not like anything about this series. I have even more disdain for the fact that people feel the need to parade this series as wholesome and realistic to justify their enjoyment of it. In assuming for the sake of my own analysis that it is rich in (depressing, intentionally messed up) subtext, I may be giving it the benefit of the doubt. However, even rich subtext can be tarnished by what appears at surface level to be subpar writing, especially in the departments of pacing and character development.

(note that i don’t exclusively accept safe, “wholesome” bl; one of my favorites is bad boys, happy home, which is MUCH darker than this and has similarly problematic elements. the difference between them is that bbhh’s writing and art actually appeals to me. if you have a disdain for being wrong, please refrain from attributing my take to puritanism, and instead reread the previous paragraph.)