The invisible boundary between adulthood and childhood feels like a sacred place. And, in truth, it is. It exists in that moment when we prefer things to stay the same while also wanting to shake things up a bit.
It exists in that moment when we are tired of holding back but also scared of moving forward.
And that’s precisely the moment Asakura Sakura (Kura Yuki) finds himself in. He’s standing on the precipice of adulthood while harboring unrequited feelings for his best friend, Nagase Yuma (Mizusawa Rintaro) in the Japanese BL I Only Want to Keep Looking at You (Kimi no Koto dake Miteitai). Adapted from the manga of the same name, this story is a special that spins off the live-action film adaptation of Kaori Tsurutani’s BL Metamorphosis.
And it left me feeling hopefully bittersweet.
At only four episodes, this coming-of-age special touches on the importance of cherishing life as it is in the moment, from friendships to relationships to family.
Because one day, it could all be gone.
I Only Want to Keep Looking at You isn’t a sad drama, and it doesn’t have an unhappy ending. But it does carry that sense of foreboding change that growing up gives us. Once we enter adulthood, we look back on life and wish we could grasp onto the good things, the stuff that made us happy, even as we want to forget about the things that made us sad.
To carry that vein of sweet yet foreboding emotion throughout the entire series takes creative writing and a keen sense of how human emotion works.
Although the story follows the quiet, subtle romance that blooms between Sakura and Yuma, it isn’t a romance-focused series. It’s a slice-of-life look at what it means to straddle the border between being young and free and adult responsibility. And yet, it also includes a romantic side story with married teachers Nakayama and Ishino to show that growing up doesn’t always mean giving up being young.
There isn’t a lot of action and there’s very little angst, but it’s got a lot of heart.
For me, this drama was all about storytelling. Although it’s a live-action portrayal of a beautifully told story, it felt like I was sitting next to my grandmother’s red recliner, listening to her tell me about growing up overseas while crocheting whatever project she was working on. She was a very vivid storyteller, so vivid that she painted pictures in the air with her words.
And I Only Want to Keep Looking at You felt like that. It felt like watching someone paint a story in the air with words.
And it left me with the same bittersweet feeling my grandmother’s stories always left me with. Because, deep down, I knew she only told them to me because she was trying to hold onto them. I didn’t know then that she had Alzheimer’s.
Life is short. Moments come and go. And I Only Want to Keep Looking at You is all about hanging onto that for as long as possible.
Check it out now on Hulu Japan or on Furritsubs.wordpress.com
Rating- 4 out of 5
Fan-subbed links-
The BL Xpress 
you wrote such a beautiful review…. i watched the series without knowing anything. it start abruptly and end as well. i want to cling to their story more but i still don’t want to… it so beautiful that i don’t know what to say…. i feel sorry that your grandmother has Alzheimer….. keep writing this beautiful reviews thank you
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a sweet and slight entry- almost could be bromance as one of the leads- while being dorky and childlike- doesn’t really seem to develop as an actual human and stays kind of manga.
The lead from His (which I much prefer as a coming of age story and for the following more adult later in life movie)
Yuki (Sakura) was wonderful as a lead in His and his eyes continue to express volumes here. The teachers and everyone is cute and quirky.
An enjoyable and warm view.
3/5 for me.
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