wawamouse_
This review may contain spoilers
Uninteresting main story
Haven't seen the anime or the manga so I thought the stuff with the two main high school kids was pretty damn uncompelling, just to get that out of the way before I say anything else. I found it incredibly hard to get into the drama, especially from the angle of the main story. It wasn't until episode 5 that I actually felt myself paying attention to every single scene, which is not a goodl thing when there are only 6 episodes.
As someone who hasn't seen the source material whatsoever, I found the character of Uenoyama Ritsuka difficult to understand or care about. Eventually, (like, episode 4 honestly), he became a little bit more compelling to me, but there is no real indication toward his emotional state or desires through the acting, despite side characters commenting early on that he likes Mafuyu, and even his voiceover saying as much. As a viewer, I simply did not buy it. I couldn't see the chemistry whatsoever, from either direction. To me, it was just some physical touches that I guessed were supposed to read as intimate, and then Mafuyu staring unemotionally at Ritsuka and vice versa. I think the actors were... fine... and if I were to guess, I'd place the blame on the acting from Sanari (Mafuyu), because in the flashback scenes, I didn't believe the chemistry between Mafuyu and Yuki, either (Like seriously, why did this black hole of a character have people falling all over him?).
After a slow start with Mafuyu, when his backstory finally starts to get revealed, he becomes a little bit more interesting... but not by much. I could understand why he was so reserved after his backstory began to be revealed, but when the acting/character failed to follow up on the backstory reveal with... I don't know, anything interesting, I started to write him off again until, as I mentioned, episode 5, at which point I was appreciative of the added drama, even if it actually made me start to actively dislike Mafuyu.
It was pretty disappointing to see both the main characters fall so flat because their individual storylines are interesting on paper but since the characters both having the same sort of reticence, it didn't really allow for there to be any chemistry between them.
All this said, I did really enjoy the side characters, especially the older bandmates, Nakayama Haruki and Kaji Akihiko, and Mafuyu's past friend, Kashima Hiiragi. I thought their actors all did very well, and there was much more indication of something between the older bandmates right off the bat. I think Yanagi Shuntaro (Haruki) did a great job with delivering a clear sense of what his character was feeling in the initial episodes, and then Akihiko was reliably interesting in the later episodes. In general, I was much more invested in Haruki and Akihiko's interactions (nothing came of it, though, so I'm guessing I misread the situation... or it will be addressed in a second season?), and even their interactions with the two leads; the dynamic with them both as adults giving advice to two moody teens was, I thought, a fresh one. To add on to what I was saying earlier, both Ritsuka and Mafuyu as characters really only became interesting to me when they were reacting against the side characters, be it the older band mates, the other classmates, or the classmates form Mafuyu's past.
The side characters are, however, still the side characters, so it did not bode well for my overall impression of the show that as soon as the two leads were alone in a scene together, I felt my brain start to atrophy and my eyes glaze over. I can handle slow paced drama, but this just wasn't it. As the old adage goes, the worst thing a film can be is boring, and this goes for the main couple of this show.
Lastly, musically speaking, for a show about getting a band together, there isn't really much to comment on with the music. I appreciated that there was at least an effort made in having the actors look like they were playing their instruments, although the show suffers some of the usual lack of realism when it comes to musicians. I also personally did not like Mafuyu's voice at all, so there's that.
If there is a season 2 (I'm unclear if one is in the works, but it seems like there's room for it), I might tune in at some point, but it certainly won't be for the romance between the leads.
As someone who hasn't seen the source material whatsoever, I found the character of Uenoyama Ritsuka difficult to understand or care about. Eventually, (like, episode 4 honestly), he became a little bit more compelling to me, but there is no real indication toward his emotional state or desires through the acting, despite side characters commenting early on that he likes Mafuyu, and even his voiceover saying as much. As a viewer, I simply did not buy it. I couldn't see the chemistry whatsoever, from either direction. To me, it was just some physical touches that I guessed were supposed to read as intimate, and then Mafuyu staring unemotionally at Ritsuka and vice versa. I think the actors were... fine... and if I were to guess, I'd place the blame on the acting from Sanari (Mafuyu), because in the flashback scenes, I didn't believe the chemistry between Mafuyu and Yuki, either (Like seriously, why did this black hole of a character have people falling all over him?).
After a slow start with Mafuyu, when his backstory finally starts to get revealed, he becomes a little bit more interesting... but not by much. I could understand why he was so reserved after his backstory began to be revealed, but when the acting/character failed to follow up on the backstory reveal with... I don't know, anything interesting, I started to write him off again until, as I mentioned, episode 5, at which point I was appreciative of the added drama, even if it actually made me start to actively dislike Mafuyu.
It was pretty disappointing to see both the main characters fall so flat because their individual storylines are interesting on paper but since the characters both having the same sort of reticence, it didn't really allow for there to be any chemistry between them.
All this said, I did really enjoy the side characters, especially the older bandmates, Nakayama Haruki and Kaji Akihiko, and Mafuyu's past friend, Kashima Hiiragi. I thought their actors all did very well, and there was much more indication of something between the older bandmates right off the bat. I think Yanagi Shuntaro (Haruki) did a great job with delivering a clear sense of what his character was feeling in the initial episodes, and then Akihiko was reliably interesting in the later episodes. In general, I was much more invested in Haruki and Akihiko's interactions (nothing came of it, though, so I'm guessing I misread the situation... or it will be addressed in a second season?), and even their interactions with the two leads; the dynamic with them both as adults giving advice to two moody teens was, I thought, a fresh one. To add on to what I was saying earlier, both Ritsuka and Mafuyu as characters really only became interesting to me when they were reacting against the side characters, be it the older band mates, the other classmates, or the classmates form Mafuyu's past.
The side characters are, however, still the side characters, so it did not bode well for my overall impression of the show that as soon as the two leads were alone in a scene together, I felt my brain start to atrophy and my eyes glaze over. I can handle slow paced drama, but this just wasn't it. As the old adage goes, the worst thing a film can be is boring, and this goes for the main couple of this show.
Lastly, musically speaking, for a show about getting a band together, there isn't really much to comment on with the music. I appreciated that there was at least an effort made in having the actors look like they were playing their instruments, although the show suffers some of the usual lack of realism when it comes to musicians. I also personally did not like Mafuyu's voice at all, so there's that.
If there is a season 2 (I'm unclear if one is in the works, but it seems like there's room for it), I might tune in at some point, but it certainly won't be for the romance between the leads.
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