Utsukare, a brave bl showing flaws , and not in a cute way

Anyone who has watched bl in the past couple of months knows , having a perfect couple with zero flaws seems to be the popular demand. Any sort of flaw can be dissed by bl fans , and bl shows with perfect characters having the best relationships are always far more appreciated and popular.

Utsukare is nothing like that. Utsukare is a show about two flawed teenagers with problems and insecurities due to how they grew up. Both of these characters act exactly as flawed as they are. At the same time , this show isn't as dark as some people want to pretend .


"" my thoughts about the show""

1-If you are in to fluff , perfect characters who are cute together for most of the show , this isn't a show for you. The characters in the show are more realistic than someone who came right out of a fairy tail. They have some problems.

2- The Character flaws in the show are supposed to make the audience feel uncomfortable. If you are looking for a show that has character flaws that look nice or tropes such as bad boys who look cool or shy boys who are adorable this isn't a show for you. Most people who have watched this show , including myself , felt uncomfortable by the way the main leads acted specially in the beginning. The bad boy in the show isn't cool and the shy boy in the show isn't cute. This show treats flaws more realistic than some other shows and will make you realize that the characters are indeed , flawed and it's not a good thing.

3_ The characters in the show are complex and demands a rewatch to understand them better. Most people who liked the show including myself , ended up rewatching just to see stuff we didn't understand before.

4- Messy Highschool life , power imbalance , bullying , loneliness , lack of self esteem and backbone due to being bullied, miscommunication and being unable to show vulnerability and abandonment issues are shown and "criticized" in the story .

5 - If you are in to some sort of kink this probably isn't the show for you. I've seen a couple of people trying to point out kinks like Sadism/Masochism in the show and that's not true at all. This show deals with power imbalance in the very beginning of the show but that's only temporary and it's later criticized . That's not their dynamic at all.

6_ Don't expect either of the characters to play knight in the shining armor for the other characters problems. These character won't simply make each others problems go away by just existing even though , they make life better for each other to a certain degree but they also make mistakes .

7_ There is character development for both of them in the show , but don't expect the characters to do a 180 degree change and become entirely different people. Change is hard and is not sudden. Even the development in this show is more realistic than some others.

8_ Despite all the flaws , there is still a certain cuteness to their friendship . We have two flawed and lonely souls , who like each other. They feel less lonely and smile more when they are together, One of them gains slightly more confidence and the other feels loved despite his abandonment issues. This show isn't all that dark . We see them spend a decent amount of time together specially during high school. They get to know each other better, and have fun .

9- They are unconventional together, but they are not toxic. A toxic relationship is something that hurts the people in it. Our main characters , despite having issues and making mistakes, help each other a little bit and try to be respectful as friends as much as they can. One of them , has the power over the other but tries not to abuse it further than small errands because this guy wants to spend time with the other.
The other one , likes the other a little too much , but the moment he feels like the other person is uncomfortable , he tries to apologize and stop his admiration.

10_ This show DOES NOT romanticize their flaws. The two main characters , are not allowed to even have a romantic relationship until they try to be better to a certain degree and "communicate". The problems that these characters have are mostly criticized and not glorified or romanticized . Even their friendship was in danger due to their issues.

11- Change of perspective/ dynamic. I've seen some people be surprised by this one so I feel like mentioning it. You may feel surprised later in the show if you don't pay enough attention to how these characters act in the beginning. This is one of the reasons why I feel like this show has high rewatchablity value because you need to read between the lines to understand the characters better. one time is simply not enough for many people to understand them.

12- Acceptance , respect and consent are a part of the show which makes it so much better. These two , show a certain amount of respect and acceptance towards each other person and their flaws even after they make mistakes. It shows than you can love a person with flaws and criticize it at the same time.

13- Silly moments that are either weird or super adorable .

14- 6 episodes are too short for these two. We could've gotten at least one more episode showing their growth a little bit better but this show still did a fine job with what it had I suppose.

15- Great final episode. I honestly feel like most people agree with this one. Even a few of those who claimed they didn't like the show or the couple , still admitted that the finale was satisfying. Some people even claimed that the couple won them over after the Finale , so even if you didn't like the couple in the beginning, I still recommend continuing until the end. Since some people ended up really liking it by the end , there is a chance that you might feel the same way.

16- decent performance by the actors, Yagi surprised me and Hagiwara is a natural. Also fine music.

17_ Mistranslation also hurts the story a little bit. I recommend watching the show on Viki for better subs

I hope my review helps :)

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