There’s something incredibly beautiful about finding the person who sees beyond the mask you wear to the needy heart beneath.

Adapted from the manga Takara no Vidro by Suzumaru Minta, the Japanese BL Takara’s Treasure tells the story of an innocent boy named Nakano Taishin (Konishi Eito), who follows a young man, Shiga Takara (Iwase Yoji), to university after Takara once helped him deal with the grief of losing his pet.

All while Taishin innocently and naively finds a way into Takara’s heart.

All in all, there is little action in the series outside of the emotional journey both of these characters take. They are a perfect balance of innocence and jadedness.

Takara has been sullied by the world, his childhood marred by the greed and perfection his mother always strives for. He’s closed off and distant, and how he deals with those around him is by putting up a shield full of distrust and fear of becoming just like his mother.

Taishin is like an open book, wearing his feelings and thoughts on his sleeve. He is too trustworthy and innocent, which sometimes leads him into trouble.

Together, they make the perfect balance. Takara is the caution Taishin needs in his life. Taishin is the open love and trust Takara didn’t realize he needed until it chased him from a small town and shadowed him at university. Taishin is dangerously close to being broken inside a city drawn to his naivety, while Takara is dangerously close to being sucked into himself by whatever he’s hiding from.

And that’s what makes these two so fascinating to watch on screen.

Fire and glass are both easy to fall into. Both are tempting. Both are fragile in their own ways. While glass can be broken, fire can be snuffed out.

The relationship they form is as beautiful as the marbles Takara collects. And like the marbles, it turns their worlds upside down while also righting it in a way they didn’t realize they needed. Both men change for the better even though they still fear messing up their relationship.

But isn’t that exactly how love feels. We bring insecurities and traumas into our relationships that we fear might mess them up. Yet, the shelter we find in those relationships is too beautiful to walk away from without trying our best to make it work first.

As I said in my initial review, Takara’s Treasure may seem like a simple story, a tsundere lead pursued by an innocent deredere, but its allure is in how fragile they are and in how much these two boys need the other without realizing it inside a marble’s upside-down world where no one can touch either of them.

And that’s what sells it.

For a series that pulls you in and traps you inside the tantalizing glass Takara is so fond of, check out Takara’s Treasure now on Gagaoolala.

Rating- 4.5 out of 5