High school can be a difficult time or a great one, depending on the personal journey of each student. It’s either a time you never want to forget, or one you wish you could bury and never think about again.

That tension is at the heart of School Trip: Joined a Group I’m Not Close To, the new Japanese BL adapted from Kakuregi Uzura’s novel Shugakuryoko de Nakayokunai Group ni Hairimashita. The story follows Hioki Asahi (Fujimoto Kodai), a second-year student separated from his close friends during the dreaded school trip group selections. Left on his own, he’s unexpectedly invited into a group of the school’s so-called “Four Heavenly Kings,” a group of popular, handsome boys admired by everyone. Among them is Watarai Tsukasa (Kan Hideyoshi), who quietly takes Hioki under his wing, and the two slowly begin to grow closer. Rounding out the Kings are Morisaka Naoya (Sakuragi Masaya), Nakasato Haruki (Fukuda Ayuta), and Hotta Hayato (Shimizu Kairi), each of whom adds their own dynamic to the story.

Any youth drama told through the lens of an awkward, less popular student resonates with me instantly, probably because it mirrors my own teenage years spent mostly trying to go unnoticed, minus the group of impossibly cool classmates, of course. Hioki feels like the kind of character I once was: quiet, introspective, and prone to long conversations in his own head. That made it easy to slip into his perspective and feel the awkwardness of suddenly being pulled into a world where he never expected to belong.

And that’s what makes the budding romance so sweet. I came into School Trip expecting a lighthearted youth drama with just a touch of angst, and that’s exactly what the first two episodes have delivered. I haven’t read the novel, so I don’t know how deep the story will eventually go, whether secrets will unravel or if the drama will darken, but right now, it’s giving me the kind of warm, fluttery first-love energy I was craving.

What truly elevates it, though, is Watarai. Watching him work so earnestly to reach Hioki, who doesn’t believe anyone would ever choose him, is utterly endearing. Beneath his popularity and confident exterior, Watarai himself feels like someone a little hidden, someone who is seen by everyone but perhaps not truly known. It makes every moment he shares with Hioki quietly electric, from small gestures to stolen glances.

Honestly, every exchange between them has made me grin, laugh, or let out a small, embarrassing giggle. After a lineup of emotionally heavy dramas lately, School Trip feels like a light reprieve, a heartwarming youth romance that is already touching my heart.

I’m looking forward to Watarai and Hioki becoming more familiar with each other.

For a series that will make you smile and root for love on a school trip and beyond, check out School Trip: Joined a Group I’m Not Close To, now streaming on GagaOOLala.

Rating- 4 out of 5