It can be much easier to admit feelings while hiding behind a character who’s supposed to feel them than to admit them to someone real who has the power to break your heart.

That’s precisely the kind of safety Hayama Asami (Komagine Kiita) hides behind when he offers to fake date his new costar Shirasaki Yuki (Niihara Taisuke) in order to help him learn about love.

In the Japanese BL At 25:00 in Akasaka, adapted from Natsuno Hiroko’s manga series 25 Ji, Akasaka de, the lines between art and life begin to blur for insecure but passionate rookie actor Shirasaki Yuki (Niihara Taisuke), after he lands a role in a BL drama opposite a famous actor he knew in his university days, Hayama Asami.

As the series unfolds in an interesting alternating POV that highlights both characters’ insecurities and growing feelings, viewers are thrown into an intense look at the unrequited love for Shirasaki Hayama has carried since university while Shirasaki discovers love for the first time with Hayama.

Communication isn’t Hayama and Shirasuki’s strong point, but the misunderstandings that develop between them highlight what each of them is truly afraid of: rejection. And it’s not only in love. Both men are passionate about acting, and while it seems Hayama has succeeded in the field he loves while Shirasaki is still fighting for it, the truth is both are unsure of the path they’re on, each taking tentative steps to capture a dream that manages to collide with feelings neither expects.

Especially love.

Hayama first falls for Shirasaki in university after Shirasaki unwittingly becomes the first person to see beyond Hayama’s appearance to the acting talent he harbors. This becomes Hayama’s validation to reach for a dream he hadn’t realized he wanted.

My favorite thing about At 25:00 in Akasaka is that, even though both men fall in love with each other while realizing separate but similar dreams, the drama focuses as much on what they discover about themselves as it does romance. Hayama may have first found validation in Shirasaki while in university, but it takes rejection and heartbreak to find validation in himself, to look within to rekindle his passion for acting rather than depending on the validation he’d always looked for in others.

The same goes for Shirasaki. While he finds the strength and inspiration he needs to step into a romantic starring role in Hayama’s patient guidance throughout their fake relationship, it takes losing that to find the strength and talent he’s always had in himself. It takes losing that to notice the support he’s always had from the people who believe in him.

So, while At 25:00 in Akasaka is a love story with a happy ending, it’s much more a story about learning to love oneself before being able to truly love someone else. And that is inspiring to watch on screen, especially for those of us burning with a need to succeed in something we fear we’re not good enough to succeed in. It’s nice tuning into a drama for the romance. It’s even nicer when the romance on screen manages to do more than make its viewers fall in love.

For a series that dives as deeply into the people behind the romance as it does the romance itself, check out At 25:00 in Akasaka now on Gagaoolala.

Rating- 4.5 out of 5