Senpai, Danjite Koidewa! (2022)

A very cute and funny BL drama let down by the writing

I am really torn about writing this review. Mostly when I decide to invest myself in watching a drama series, I mostly do so baised on the original source material. I love the original manga by Hare Shinta, the art is beautiful and it tells a simple tale of romance, burnout and finding support and love which is told from the viewpoint of the seme, which for BL tales still rare for myself to come across.

So when I saw the announcement of the drama version I was beyond excited. I was keen to see this manga converted into drama .

The result was not what I expected, but still I find this drama series very charming. I personally love this drama but I still see the flaws that this drama version has that annoys many other viewers.

Story: Yanase Jun is a talented and well respected CG artist that has worked in Canada in the past. Now working in Max pictures he has to tutor a new employee Kaneda Yuki. However Kaneda seems to be quite a cold and distance person that Yanase finds hard to get along with. What Yanase doesn’t know is that Kaneda is a big admirer of Yanase. One day after a welcoming drinking party Yanase sees a side of Kaneda he wasn’t expecting and from there their relationship slowly changes.

Casting/acting: The casting is basically THE BEST thing I will say about this series. I will say this a thousand times but Naito Syuichiro was BORN to play as Yanase, I don’t think the producers could have found a perfect being like him to play Yanase. Naito is the eye candy, the main feature of this drama series. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Naito as Yanase, he’s so attractive but he’s a great actor. Naito is the one that understands Yanase because Yanase is Naito, in the 1st half when you don’t know anything about Yanase. Naito can just emote feelings through his face and eyes alone. This series introduced me to Naito Syuichiro that I am thankful for this drama series existing.

I can’t ignore Seto Toshiki as well, because he is the other half of the couple and Naito wouldn’t have been able to carry this drama series alone without Seto. At first I was unsure about Seto casting of Kaneda but Seto won me over with his acting. The 1st half of the drama focuses a lot on Kaneda and Seto proves that he can be cute, emotional and shows the various sides of Kaneda that I didn’t know about. The combination of Naito and Seto is magical and I am thankful for this series to exist just for these two to meet and act alongside each other. I am going to be sad that this series might be the only one to see these two interact and act together in.

Music: Sadly I think the music and OST is very forgettable for myself. I don’t really like the opening theme as catchy as is, because it’s a very cheesy opening. The ending theme song is better and the clever use of hands to show the difference in distance. But the OST for the drama is ok at best, it works to suit the various emotions in scenes.

Directing: I really like it, unlike most Japanese dramas where they have this odd “yellow filter” applied to it. The lighting for this series feels bright and natural. The directing is very professional and slick. Some of the sharp camera turns and cuts I really like from this series.

Negatives: Whoever was in charge of the writing for this drama fire them and never let them write for another drama series ever again! The writing for this drama IS NOT GOOD. It is easily the source of why there’s so many flaws and loop holes and why manga fans like me are so torn over this drama. It’s such a mess of poor drama writing.

The original material exists for the writers to base the drama around, I’ve never seen such disrespect and disregard to source material that it makes me ANGRY as a manga fan.

I am so sad to what the writers did to Kaneda’s character. In the manga Kaneda did admire Yanase but he did it respectfully, only collecting magazines of him and silently parsing/admiring Yanase in his mind. Never did I think Kaneda as “creepy” in the manga. Yet the writers thought it would be a good idea to introduce unnecessary characterization to him such as owning a “shrine”, talking down on himself comparing himself as a mortal against his god and then introducing very weird and odd fetish daydreams he has about Yanase. All of these additional features the drama puts on Kaneda just makes the viewers see Kaneda as an odd and creepy worshipper. It doesn’t make it better that the writers convey Kaneda’s feelings as “unsure” making him seem like he’s NOT an adult and rather a high schooler who just found his 1st crush. It’s such a shame because Seto is such a good actor.

It’s even sadder that we DON’T GET TO EVEN SEE AND HEAR more of Yanase’s character until episode six which I find so funny and sad that the same time. Is he is main character of this series of is it Kaneda? The drama can’t decide honestly. I did like the slight changes the drama makes to Yanase compared to the manga, mostly being less touchy and forceful and shows a more innocent and maiden like personality to him. Which I find a bit odd, honestly. But it showed this really cute side of Naito so I can’t complain that much. I like the addition of the “10 things I want to do with Kaneda” it was hella cute and innocent development for drama Yanase. Maybe too innocent for my liking LOL.

I could go on with the errors of adding un-necessary additions from the drama like Benji and long distance separations. But honestly this review as gone on for too long.

Postives: AT LEAST the drama ended in a good way. I really liked the ending to this drama series, everything felt connected and complete. Directing and production is really good. Naito and Seto are amazing as their characters or not (their behind the scenes and making of videos are so fun to watch).

Overall: Senpai, this can’t be love is a cute office romance about the slow burn romance between a senior and junior in a CG work environment. The main leads are so attractive and act together well with great chemistry. However it is dragged out by the questionable script writing. If you are willing to put behind these questionable writing there is a cute light-hearted BL story to enjoy here.

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Strong beginning, mediocre middle, lackluster ending.

Not gonna lie, I thought it’s going to be more comedy based with focus on Kaneda being a massive fanboy and trying to deal with working alongside, and later dating his idol. It was not. While it still had some scenes here and there focusing on that aspect, it was mostly just an office romance, with not that much romance.

It worked so well at first. Kaneda was sweet and in the constant panic mode because of any most basic interaction with Yanase. Yanase was a nice and helpful mentor, who slowly started to see how adorable Kaneda is. And then they moved to the most basic rom-com stuff one has seen and all the spark was gone - still enjoyable, but ain’t special.

Sadly, they apparently wanted to finish with something more emotionally charged? The artificial, overexaggerated identity crisis Yanse has at some point just seemed so not fitting and out of place, I wish it was never included.

That said, the most frustrating aspect must have been the last two episodes - the fillers. This is the stuff writers add in their 16 episodes dramas when they run out of ideas. It was a completely unnecessary new chapter added at the end of the show. If they truly wanted to dive into the change of dynamics and unsureness in their current situation, it could have been quite a nice short second season - why add it at the end of this one?

Still, I did enjoy the characters a lot. Yanse was such a sweetheart and such a good boy, it was hard not to love him. He was smart, caring, trusting and hardworking. Kaneda gave me some good comedy bits that made me laugh. Sadly… the side characters were extremely forgetful. There were two female co-workers with questionable hobbies. That one guy who complained how he is not valued at work, while also not doing his work well. There was that white/half-white dude who showed up just to cause some emotional trouble. They filled the space, but that’s it.

Production wise, it was really nice. Good camera work, good set design and smooth editing. The transition between the scenes was decent and it never felt like they were completely jumping from topic to topic without caring for cohesiveness.

What was great? The outro. Expanding it after each episode was a great idea, so - to people who are about to watch - don’t skip it, watch till the end.

No complaints about the acting. I was honestly quite impressed with Seto Toshiki - he delivered both the over the top, and more subtle performance, and they both felt natural.

Overall, it’s a nice show with some fun scenes and good chemistry. Better as a binge watch.
Random side note: it had quite a few questionable falls with questionable physics.

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Big disappointment

Another drama that was destroyed by the weak writing, mediocre execution, and lacking end.

This one had an exciting start. The first three episodes were interesting and captivating. The story looked promising but everything went downhill after the third episode. It got so boring, that I had to skip every 10 seconds, plus everything became so predictable.
The story itself was kind of interesting at first but then it became so dull and basically, every episode felt like a filler episode, with no plot whatsoever. The acting was alright but it felt like something is missing most of the time. The same goes for the story. The whole drama felt like it was unfinished. Most of the scenes were boring, there was little to no story development and everything could've been done in fine episodes max with a longer run time.
The music was nothing special either.
I know that not every BL should be a top-notch series but I was expecting and wanted more from this one.

You can easily skip this one.

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Fantastic start but failed to establish good plots and romantic outcome

Japanese BLs are the home of fluffiness and cuteness since they always put a good execution and approach to playing with these elements. The show offers happy vibes during the first half of the whole episode. Especially seeing the ethereal visuals of the characters. Yanase-senpai is soothingly pleasing to be seen with the mixture of his hotness and kawainess. It is also obvious that the cinematography is nice and clean. They also offer a fresh working professional setting that revolves around the designers in the field of 3D and CG. But…

Unfortunately, the last few episodes are below-average ones with such an uninteresting flow of events. The 1-year gap seems too boring for someone who misses the other person so much. They tried to explain the reason for each character but it is still less than what I expected it to be. Somehow, they wasted the chance to give a much more effective reconciliation of feelings from having been away from each other for a year. Nevertheless, it is still good as it is but as someone who loves the first half, they should do better than this. The ending scene was cute though.

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Naito Shuichiro Makes It Watchable

Cute premise and starts out fairly strong then becomes less interesting for a couple of reasons. You might enjoy this if you're looking for something kind of cute, awkwardly funny, light & easy, and with one really good lead actor.

The most disappointing thing for me was that the sincerity of character attraction felt one-sided by the actors. Naito Shuichiro acted in-crush then in-love so convincingly. You could see the intensity and depth of emotions in his eyes and his face was full of nuanced reactions. Compared to him, Seto Toshiki felt miscast as the main character. He did okay at the beginning with the simplicity of being in awe of his idol and nervous, but his portrayal of deeper emotions fell flat. He became more and more of a disappointment to me as the series went on. (Also his bleached-orange hair didn't suit his timid/self-conscious character and was distracting; poor judgment on someone's part.)

The story itself became more boring as it started to rely on clichés to keep it going. If it wasn't for Naito I probably would have stopped watched sometime during episode 6 (out of 8).

There were more physical interactions to build tension than there were affectionate ones after the characters fell for each other. I might not have felt the lack of physical closeness as much had Seto been able to match the affection and desire Naito showed with his eyes.

I did think the end credits were very clever as they they showed a little bit more of the background scene with every episode.

There were multiple moments of second-hand embarrassment that made me cringe and want to fast-forward, but I am fairly susceptible to that. There were a few non-cringe comedic moments too.

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Senpai, this won't be love unless we speak our damn minds!

Feels like a cross between Mr. Unlucky and Star in My Mind. It starts funny and ridiculous like Mr. Unlucky, gets unnecessarily messy in the middle like Star in My Mind, then somewhat picks up again towards the end. Overall, it's still a pretty good show, but only because it's way shorter than Star in My Mind. Should this have longer episodes, it would be more of a pain to get through.


STORY : 8/10

Kaneda is a new employee at a CG company Yanase works at. While Yanase is tasked with helping Kaneda get used to the job, he notices Kaneda being cold and overly self-conscious around Yanase. Does Kaneda hate him? Or is there something more to his actions?

As this is a BL (and not a queerbaiting one), I can assure you that Kaneda isn't repulsed by Yanase. Quite the opposite! Unfortunately for him, Kaneda isn't that good in voicing his feelings, a trait which Yanase seems to share. To my utter annoyance. This drama is riddled with clichés, a "miscommunication" being the most prominent one. And it doesn't get better as time goes on. When the show is funny, it's refreshingly cute! But when it's frustrating... you want to scream at the leads for wasting your, and everyone else's time. The show presents itself very well in the beginning, which just made me think of all the potential that was wasted. For most japanese BLs, I tend to think they are too much. This one didn't hit nearly hard enough in the middle. Nor at the end, if we are being honest. It was a disappointing path to take.



POTENTIAL TRIGGERS (with minor spoilers included) :

Sexual harassment - nothing too overt. Most of it is limited to the first episode.

Obsessive behaviour - not nearly strong enough in the context it's put into. It serves as a comedic relief, in a shape of small interactions sprinkled all over the series.

Age Gap (?) - Kaneda is 25 and Yanase is 29. Both actors are 26. So, not much of a gap. That said, the behaviour patterns of the main leads are peculiar enough that you might feel like age is an issue. For some people, Yanase feels considerably more mature than Kaneda [Frankly, he really isn't].



WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE SHOW:

1. It's fairly light and easy to watch. Should feel good to binge if you are just looking for something to pass time.

2. Characters are cute. Their portrayal isn't exactly sexual, but it's sweet.

3. The OST and outro are well done.

4. It has its funny moments, and its romantic moments. It isn't just bland the whole time.



WHAT I DISLIKED ABOUT THE SHOW:

1. The main conflicts are overdone and boringly executed. I didn't feel any real tension in them.

2. It wasn't consistent. The first few episodes feel like a setup for completely different drama.

3. It relies heavily on tropes. Some of them worked for me pretty well, while others made me loudly exhale and look for aspirin.



OVERALL RATING : 7.5 /10

It isn't a spectacular drama. But it isn't tedious, either. It can get boring in small stretches, but not long-term. I don't regret watching it, but won't probably do it again. If you're just starting with BL shows, there are way better ones out there [for more serious japanese BL set in work environment, try "Old Fashion Cupcake". For a more silly one, try "Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice But To Kiss!"]. But if you are bored and have nothing left to watch, this one will suffice. And it's short. Which is always preferable for me, when compared to some thai shows that last twice as long with half the plot.




One more point I want to address (SPOILERS FOR BOTH "SENPAI" AND "MR. UNLUCKY" ) - I don't mind them not kissing in the end. It bothered me more in Mr. Unlucky, because the relationship felt prepared for it. And I thought they haven't got enough of a progress in the last episode. But with Senpai, they barely "got together" in the end!!! While circling around each other and being shy the whole show!!! Not talking to each other, basically ever! Quite frankly, the kiss would have felt pretty weird in my opinion, considering how they were behaving. And 'kiss open to interpretation' is probably slightly better than 'kiss prevented by one of the shy leads,' as far as general consensus goes.

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a middle school romance with working adults

Overall: my enjoyment waned as the series progressed mainly due to how middle school their relationship felt. I don't mind tame BL series, but it just felt so unrealistic. This is based on a manga which I haven't read and I'm reviewing the drama on its own. It's kind of between 7.5 and 8 for me. Watched on Gagaoolala.

Content Warnings: manhandling, non con picture taking

What I Liked
- the interesting opening
- how the episode numbers were cleverly hidden
- sweet moments
- funny moments such as the phone alarm
- the change in perspectives (in the beginning), was happy when we went back to Yanase's perspective at the end

Room For Improvement
- I've become used to the nervous/exaggerated acting, but it bothered me this time
- wasn't really into the very end of episode 1 with the circumstances
- I didn't like a certain creepy something at Kaneda's house but was glad he explained it a bit at the work get together
- episode 5's loud gulping and eating noises
- the cliched plot point at the end of ep 6/beginning of ep 7 and the odd way things were handled afterwards
- too many side characters that didn't add anything
- the ending felt incomplete, and didn't like the ending a la Cherry Magic

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Slow, sweet and soft romance

This might be unpopular opinion but I like this drama. It can be too slow but their frustrating mutual pinning from start to end is what made my Thursday excited every week lol I will not say it’s a good drama but it’s my favorite especially because of the casting if you are a kamen rider fan like me it’s very interesting to see this pairing together in a romantic drama.

Coming from a smutty manga, this drama went the opposite way of its source material. By going opposite, I didn’t just mean it’s being innocent romance but also the point of view. In the manga, their romance starts with mostly point of view from Yanase who was broken and insecure while Kaneda being the love interest who worship his existence and that pressure more on Yanase even more while in the drama their story is mostly told from kaneda so Yanase’s being seen as the cool and godly senpai most of the time. It’s actually quite fun to compare the different view between the source material and the drama.

Overall, this is the typical Jdrama romcom, not much to think or analyze about and I suggest viewers not to overanalyze it and expect things to be deep. I saw too many people try to make logical debate on the plot, I would say that’s not how you enjoy a simple story it will only ruin your viewing experience. Just sit back and enjoy the chaotic romance between two co-workers.

Oh the ending song and the ending sequence was so good by the way! I never skipped.

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KelpiView: A Japanese BL Rom-Com that started too well but ended too fast.

First time writing a review here, so bear with me on my incompetence! i will keep it as spoiler free and rational as possible. Do note, this is a review, thus it contains my views on the show. Please dont take it as a fact. You might have a different opinion and thats totally fine.

Overall impression :
A little bit too good at the start, which made the ending a little bit lackluster in comparison. Don't get me wrong, it was an awesome show, but comparing the starting and the ending, i was hoping it would end as good as the start.

What I liked about it:
Great talents!
in terms of character portrayals, both Naito Shuichiro and Seto Toshiki did an awesome job. Seto Toshiki's facial expression is one of the strong points of this drama as a whole.
Scenic cinematography!
not full of breathtaking views, but its aesthetic shots and camera angle works well in gluing the drama as a whole, taking wide angles to show good scenic shots.
Great music!
the ending theme song is fitting and ties to the show really well. thair love is like so close yet so far lol.

What I disliked about it:
Meh kisses.
Well, i've seen better kisses on screen to be honest, but the actors did great portraying that it was a passionate one, although it's just a lil peck.
Lackluster ending.
It has a good ending and i think if i dont compare it, its fine as it is. it was a good way to wrap up the show. But, as i mentioned, the show started out too well and too good that the ending, albeit good, seems a little bit lackluster in comparison. Though it was a sweet ending, i will not deny it that.

Did i enjoy it?
Yes, i did. a little bit too much it seems.

Would i recommend it to others?
Yes i would. If you're looking for a show to binge, this might be the one. if you're new into the BL genre and wanted to watch something as tame as Kieta Hatsukoi but with an onscreen kiss, this is the one.

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Mind vs realty 101

This is a story about an awkward and terrified boy who gets a job with his idol and uses all he has got not to let it show... And his Idol who had lost his inner glow.

While the boy is also terrified of touch the idol has lived abroad and is more of a use his body to communicate type of guy than actual words.

Both boys end up misscommunicating a lot, and as the feelings grow the scarier it gets.

We the viewers get to hear both boys thoughts and the difference between thoughts and actual actions are a lot of fun to watch. And also kind of relatable as relationships, owning up to onrs emotions and so on is really scary at times. It is also this gap that keeps me the viewer both frustrated and on my toes wondering if they ever will actually own up to their inner thoughts or not.

The side characters are mostly lovely I especially love the female co workers who come with spot on analysises of the situation and sayd the words I was thinking.

A light, easy to binge drama with lots of awkwardness, smiles and fluff... not perfect deffenetly worthy of the little time it takes to binge it, and I wouldnt have minded a few extra episodes.

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