AbsoluteBL
chronic traveller
friends to lovers, tsundere/sunshine
Other tropes: self acceptance, self worth, high school BL, live action yaoi, soft romance, kindness
The moment I finished binging this show I was thinking about writing about it and re-watching it. This is a sure sign that I adored a piece of media.
This is a wonderful BL.
Truly well executed, with smooth filming and lovely acting, both of a simplistic style that felt slightly more Korean than it did Japanese. It reminded me a little bit of Seven Days and a little bit of Takara and Amagi, and since these are my two favorite high school JBLs obviously I was bound to adore ICRY.
But what it reminded me of more than anything was Cherry Blossoms After Winter. Odd for JBL and KBL to be so closely linked. Like CBAW show, ICRY is classic live action yaoi.
Like the MOST classic of CLASSIC. There is even a “seme looses control to desire” scene which leads to dub con. There is an abject apology after but still - you’ve been warned.
The premise is: smart sporty hot (and hella gay) Yamato has a long standing crush on his silly sunshine sweetheart bestie, Kakeru. Yamato is also stiff, self isolated, shy, and has only ever really managed to get along with Kakeru. I love this kind of pining seme so damn much, it probably biased me.
Unlike most uke, Kakeru starts to slowly figure out that his best friend is in love with him by ep 2 (let the chaos bisexual identity crisis commence).
So do some of the friends around them.
The story thus revolves around Yamato trying to unsuccessfully suppress his desire, and Kakeru trying to figure out if he can return Yamato‘s affection.
This biggest barrier is actually Kakeru's feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness (when compared to Yamato). Bu this is tempered by his genuine kindness which forces him into act with integrity around his dear friend's love and strive to fix everything (even himself) to prove worthy of it - whether he can ultimately return it or not.
Kakeru's struggles are pitted against Yamato‘s repressed need that keeps bubbling over and figuratively (sometimes literally) attacking Kakeru with romantic, emotional, and physical intensity.
Quick pitch:
This classic friends-to-lovers BL is everything Japan does best. Angsty. Emo. Aching. Driven by real thirst. Yamato is deeply in love with his childhood bestie, Kakeru, and has been for ages, unable to hide his ungainly damaging high school need. He wants Kakeru in every way possible and it oozes off of the screen. Kakeru is silly and a little simple, but not frenetic or overly camp about it. He is earnest, and genuinely wants to keep Yamato in his life which means giving a romance (and gayness) a fair chance. We watch him realize his affection and what form it can take in a truly authentic way. This show was impossibly kind to both of its lead characters and I felt almost honored that I got to watch something so lovely and rare play out on my screen.
I’m not gonna lie, I dithered over whether to give this a 10/10 and nearly didn’t. But there is nothing wrong with it AS A BL.
And it's so GOOD to ALL of its characters and they are so good to each other. It's quiet and because of its goodness it will get overlooked, but I LOVED IT.
It's not one of those that BL outsiders will understand, and you must like Japan's style to enjoy it. But I'm in it. It's for me.
What am I hung up over? Even the kisses are good.
10/10
I CAN'T RECOMMEND IT HIGHLY ENOUGH
The moment I finished binging this show I was thinking about writing about it and re-watching it. This is a sure sign that I adored a piece of media.
This is a wonderful BL.
Truly well executed, with smooth filming and lovely acting, both of a simplistic style that felt slightly more Korean than it did Japanese. It reminded me a little bit of Seven Days and a little bit of Takara and Amagi, and since these are my two favorite high school JBLs obviously I was bound to adore ICRY.
But what it reminded me of more than anything was Cherry Blossoms After Winter. Odd for JBL and KBL to be so closely linked. Like CBAW show, ICRY is classic live action yaoi.
Like the MOST classic of CLASSIC. There is even a “seme looses control to desire” scene which leads to dub con. There is an abject apology after but still - you’ve been warned.
The premise is: smart sporty hot (and hella gay) Yamato has a long standing crush on his silly sunshine sweetheart bestie, Kakeru. Yamato is also stiff, self isolated, shy, and has only ever really managed to get along with Kakeru. I love this kind of pining seme so damn much, it probably biased me.
Unlike most uke, Kakeru starts to slowly figure out that his best friend is in love with him by ep 2 (let the chaos bisexual identity crisis commence).
So do some of the friends around them.
The story thus revolves around Yamato trying to unsuccessfully suppress his desire, and Kakeru trying to figure out if he can return Yamato‘s affection.
This biggest barrier is actually Kakeru's feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness (when compared to Yamato). Bu this is tempered by his genuine kindness which forces him into act with integrity around his dear friend's love and strive to fix everything (even himself) to prove worthy of it - whether he can ultimately return it or not.
Kakeru's struggles are pitted against Yamato‘s repressed need that keeps bubbling over and figuratively (sometimes literally) attacking Kakeru with romantic, emotional, and physical intensity.
Quick pitch:
This classic friends-to-lovers BL is everything Japan does best. Angsty. Emo. Aching. Driven by real thirst. Yamato is deeply in love with his childhood bestie, Kakeru, and has been for ages, unable to hide his ungainly damaging high school need. He wants Kakeru in every way possible and it oozes off of the screen. Kakeru is silly and a little simple, but not frenetic or overly camp about it. He is earnest, and genuinely wants to keep Yamato in his life which means giving a romance (and gayness) a fair chance. We watch him realize his affection and what form it can take in a truly authentic way. This show was impossibly kind to both of its lead characters and I felt almost honored that I got to watch something so lovely and rare play out on my screen.
I’m not gonna lie, I dithered over whether to give this a 10/10 and nearly didn’t. But there is nothing wrong with it AS A BL.
And it's so GOOD to ALL of its characters and they are so good to each other. It's quiet and because of its goodness it will get overlooked, but I LOVED IT.
It's not one of those that BL outsiders will understand, and you must like Japan's style to enjoy it. But I'm in it. It's for me.
What am I hung up over? Even the kisses are good.
10/10
I CAN'T RECOMMEND IT HIGHLY ENOUGH
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