The “Takumi-kun Series” is a romance drama that follows the lives of high school students Takumi (Yanagishita Tomo), a reclusive guy who has a PTSD from being sexually assaulted, which results in him having a phobia against being touched, and Saki “Gii” Giichi (Kato Keisuke), a popular guy who woes Takumi and helps him overcome his phobia. The series highlights the importance of friendship, and although the first movie shies away from the notion of toxic masculinity in such an important way that it highlights the triumph of friendship and love both in the romantic and platonic aspects of life. Takumi and Gii are surrounded by their friends who help them whenever they are experiencing difficulties in their relationship, and they in turn are always there for their friends. While heavier subject matters are confronted, the audience is safe in these movies as the writers do not devastate for the sake of devastating the audience.

Series 1: And the Spring Breeze Whispers

Takumi is assigned a new roommate in boarding school, who turns out to be the popular Gii, the only person who seems to understand his “human touch” phobia and is accommodative to him. Gii begins protecting Takumi against his classmates who bully him and although he makes it clear that he is in love with Takumi, Gii gives Takumi space to figure out his own feelings. Takumi quickly reciprocates his feelings towards Gii, when he realizes that his phobia disappears when he is around Gii. Nozaki Daisuke (Makita Tetsuya) is also interested in Takumi and is constantly harassing him, which leads Gii to challenging Nozaki into staying away from Takumi. Takumi realizes how much he loves Gii when the stakes are heightened by this challenge and finds himself cheering loudly for Gii as he races against Nozaki, which leads to Gii winning, and the two finally getting together.

Series 2-Rainbow Colored Glass

In the second installment of the series, Takumi (Hamao Kyousuke) and Gii (Watanabe Daisuke) are now official, although Takumi feels uneasy about Gii wanting to publicly display their affection. A new student Morita Tooru (Hiyori Yuki) comes into the picture and seems to have caught Gii’s eye which leads Takumi to spiral out of jealousy. The students find out that Suzuki Takeshi (Takahasi Yuta), who has been battling a grave illness is now getting worse and has to leave the school in order to get intensive care treatment, and as a gesture of goodwill, Gii tries to set him up with Morita, as both boys clearly like each other. Things however turn for the worst for Suzuki as he succumbs to his illness, and Morita, who never truly got to express his feelings towards Suzuki is left filled with regret. The way these events occur lead to Takumi and Gii appreciating one another on a deeper level, realizing how fragile life is and at the same time how easy it can be to take our friends for granted.

It was quite jarring how they really killed Suzuki off, I was hoping for a better ending for him, but they highlighted the reality of life sometimes, it’s not always going to be a happy ending, but Suzuki lived a fulfilling life at the boarding school with his friends, and he seemingly died content, despite his relationship with Morita not having developed as much as it could have they been more direct with each other. Of course, Suzuki’s death would have been worlds more devastating to Morita has that happened.

Series 3: The Beauty of Detail

At the beginning of the school year, Takumi and Gii are no longer roommates and this puts a strain on their relationship. On Gii’s arrival from New York, he appears to have changed his appearance and attitude, becoming colder towards Gii and deliberately avoiding him, despite the two having been in touch constantly throughout their holidays. Due to Gii’s cold disposition, Takumi’s phobia of being touched re-surfaces as he no longer feels safe, and becomes insecure about himself due to Gii’s rejection. Though the help of his roommate Arata Misu (Baba Ryoma) and Akaike Shouzou (Takiguvhi Yikihiro), who is the glue that keeps Takumi and Gii together, Takumi learns not to feel too insecure as he learns that his friends are there for him and care for him. Arata confronts Gii and informs him that Takumi’s phobia has resurfaced, which leads Gii to dropping the façade of wanting to protect Takumi and the two reconcile.

Series 4-Pure

This installment focuses on the relationship between Misu Arata (Baba Ryoma) and Kanemitsu (Naito Taiki). The two meet when Kanemitsu came to take his entrance exam at the boarding school and become infatuated with Arata. Arata, however, did not quite reciprocate these feelings, and even when Kanemitsu comes to Shidou Gakuen, he follows Arata around, but his feelings are not entirely reciprocated, despite Arata constantly teasing him and giving him kisses. The already rocky and odd relationship takes another hit when Senpai Takahiro (Yusuke Hirose), a former student comes to visit and is visibly into Arata, which devastates Kanemitsu who thinks he doesn’t have a chance with Arata anymore. Both Gii and Takumi help these side-characters get together, despite Arata still insisting that he can never be Kanemitsu’s equal, and he merely belongs to him. The relationships in this series are never just wholesome, someone seems to always be suffering somehow, however, they are able to resolve the relationships amicably.

Series 5: That Sunny Blue Sky

In the last movie, Takumi and Gii are getting along pretty well, however, Takumi has to confront his past and future, when the anniversary of his brother’s death is approaching, and his mother wants him to join the family in commemorating the anniversary by going to his gravesite. The abuse Takumi suffered, both at the hands of his brother, and his parents who neglected him comes to the surface and despite now having Gii in his life, he feels that he is not yet ready to confront this. Gii asks Takumi if he can accompany him to the gravesite, and Takumi agrees to this, as he wants to ensure Gii is more involved in his life. Unfortunately, the anniversary also falls on the same day as a snooker competition that Gii is supposed to compete in at the risk of letting their whole grade down. Takumi is upset that Gii has to miss the anniversary despite him promising to be there for him. Through the help of their friends once again, the two are able to reconcile and go to Takumi’s brother’s grave.

The way Takumi’s abuse is handled throughout the series is quite patchy, and while it may be important for Takumi to forgive his brother in order to move on with life, there is a certain levity that everyone (Gii, his parents) hold the incident, despite it having clearly traumatized Takumi to the extent that he couldn’t let anyone touch him. We are shown that Takumi has not yet quite forgiven his parents for their role in this, however, Gii also inflicts quite a lot of harm on Takumi as he constantly puts him in uncomfortable situations particularly in their sex life. This has occurred several times during the series wherein Gii insists on sex despite Takumi being visibly uncomfortable.

The series, as a product of its time, is quite an intense but interesting watch. The subject matter is sad, and we don’t completely walk away from it, there is a sadness underlying every scene we see Gii and Takumi. The bitterness & sweetness of what happens in their lives that leads them to each other is sort of comforting for Takumi, who has been through so much, and we are constantly rooting for him as the audience, to ensure that he gets his happy ending and a softer version of Gii, which he does. When they are romantic, they are romantic, and when they are sad, they are indeed sad.

Series Rating- 3 out of 5

Streaming on- Gagaoolala