Starring Sato Arata and Oriyame Nao as main leads, Takara-kun to Amagi-kun is a high school drama about, well, high school. Of course, the shots, the picturisation, and the direction in itself were good. I thought the dialogue writing was fascinating as well, but their delivery did not sit right with me. The depth was missing. It was not all bad though, it was a cute story about two high school kids. You can definitely go for it if you want to watch pure fluff.

Let us talk about the characters. Amagi, a bright and energetic kid who is well-liked by almost everybody, falls for the school’s ‘it’ boy, Takara. That is what was initially shown anyway. But as the series progressed we delve deeper into the characters and realise that they both had mutual feelings for each other, and it was just that Amagi confessed first. The confession comes out of nowhere and it feels a bit awkward.

Amagi had a tough childhood, and that is where his issues start. A quiet child, he did not speak much, and that bothered his parents. His mother sort of left him to live with his grandfather, and whenever he had to go back and visit her, he would realise how different they were. Mother and son had nothing to talk about. From that failed relationship, he had trouble forming deep bonds, which can be seen in his relationship with Takara. He would often assume things on his own, his fear playing with his head and would start pulling back before the other person could. However, he worked on his issues and there was a positive development in him.

I did not think they did enough justice for Takara’s character. He was cold and dark but deeply in love with Amagi. Amagi often had trouble understanding what Takara meant, which would often lead to misunderstandings. What sometimes annoys me about BL series, in general, is that problems usually get blown out of proportion. This happens a lot in this series. Because Takara is not good at communicating his feelings, Amagi feels insecure and misunderstands him. Many times I thought they would just break up because of a lack of communication, but they persisted, which was good. The majority of the episodes start off with a relationship issue, frequently due to some miscommunication. Additionally, the editing is not very helpful.

Also, the acting of the main characters was just so awkward. Initially, I thought that it was because of the translation, but that was not the case. Their interaction was simply awkward and oftentimes would feel forced. The side characters Tanaka and Katori were better. I adored the way the show presented them. If I had a friend like Katori, I would be very pleased. He is considerate, encouraging, safeguarding, and uncritical. He understood Amagi better than Takara, and he would often help him figure out his feelings. I also enjoyed Katori and Takara’s interaction. How Takara would fangirl in the most Takara way in front of Katori was simply pure. Tanaka, on the other hand, is very different from Katori. One thing they share is that they both care about their friends. I didn’t like Tanaka’s character at first, and to be honest, I am still annoyed. I wanted him to disappear, especially after the borderline predatory way he behaved around Amagi in the second half. Consent in BL is a very grey area. What is acceptable, and what is not? As the episodes went on, though, I realised that Tanaka had a much deeper personality than the others, so I was able to overlook his behaviour. The matter of dubious consent used to be very common in older Japanese BL shows, but it is slowly changing. The way Tanaka behaved seemed to be a slip-up and should not be shown again. Yet, I could still find Tanaka more interesting than the main characters.
Overall, this is an okay watch. If you want to watch pure fluff, with a medium storyline and no stress, this is it.

Rating- 3.5 out of 5

Streaming on- Gagaoolala