Falling in love differs for everyone, and not everyone knows or cares to define it.

Especially when it’s first love.

The Japanese BL Your Summer, My Storm stars Fukada Ryusei as Takemiya Natsuki, a high school senior who begins the summer dealing with a breakup, disappointing entrance exam scores, and uncertainty about his future. When his older sister, Takemiya Rio (Tanabe Momoko), asks her university friend Kobayakawa Sota (Ukisho Hidaka) to tutor him, Natsuki initially isn’t thrilled. But reluctant study sessions slowly become something neither of them expects.

For Natsuki, that means realizing he’s falling in love for the first time, and that the person he’s falling for is another man who he also believes happens to be his sister’s boyfriend. At the same time, his growing fascination with weather and clouds begins pointing him toward a future he hadn’t known he wanted.

When I first started Your Summer, My Storm, I was wholly prepared for heartache. What I wasn’t prepared for was falling in love with the entire cast.

Plot twist: Sota isn’t actually Rio’s boyfriend the way viewers are initially led to believe. But Natsuki mistaking him for her boyfriend certainly added an interesting dynamic to the story, especially because it opened the door for Natsuki to communicate more honestly with his sister. What initially seemed like something that could come between them instead became part of what brought them closer.

And that relationship is only one part of why I highly suggest checking out every single actor involved in this series. While this review will center mainly around Natsuki and Sota, all of the characters, and the actors and actresses behind them, deserve a shout-out for creating such memorable and lovable characters. In Your Summer, My Storm, it truly takes a whole village to make this story work, and every actor made sure that happened.

This isn’t a typical BL series. It isn’t focused as much on romance and the intimacy of romance as it is on realizing feelings for the first time. And learning that sometimes feelings don’t need a label. It’s focused on Natsuki’s realization that he’s fallen in love, that the person he’s fallen in love with is a man, and then explores how he and his family come to terms with that.

And I love that.

I love that Your Summer, My Storm focused on the feeling of falling in love with the same sex for the first time and explored the relationships in Natsuki’s life alongside it. We see the support he receives from his mother, his sister, and his friends, while his father has to take his own journey toward acceptance before he begins to understand as well.

While we don’t see as much family interaction from Sota, we do learn that his family life isn’t great. So, while Natsuki is realizing his feelings for Sota, Sota is finding something of his own. A family in Natsuki’s family. True friendships in the people surrounding Natsuki. And a place where he feels like he belongs.

That’s part of what makes this story work so well for me. Natsuki isn’t the only person changed by falling in love. So is Sota and, honestly, everyone around them.

In the finale, viewers are left with an open ending. Natsuki and Sota have fallen in love with each other, and while they don’t necessarily define what that means, we know from Natsuki’s confession earlier in the series and Sota’s reactions throughout that they’ve become more than friends.

After all of the revelations, Sota leaves for the UK for school. Natsuki is preparing to go to college to study meteorology. And the two of them stay in contact while each pursues his own dreams. There’s no kiss. No promises made. But I found that beautiful somehow.

While we don’t know where the story will take Sota and Natsuki, we do know these two not only found love with each other, they discovered their dreams, their purpose, and family. All while working to figure out their hearts.

And I loved every moment of it.

I would absolutely love another season, one that explores what happens two years later when Sota returns to Japan and Natsuki is in college. Will being apart change how they feel about each other?

Or will those feelings grow even more once they’re back together?

I’d certainly watch to find out.

But even if there isn’t a second season, I love the thought behind Your Summer, My Storm and how falling in love for the first time not only changed Natsuki’s life, but Sota’s as well, while also bringing Natsuki’s family closer together. First love doesn’t always need promises. It doesn’t always need a label. And it doesn’t always need to tell us exactly where two people will end up. Sometimes it’s enough that falling in love helps them discover where they want to go.

For a series about first love, found family, and reaching for your dreams, check out Your Summer, My Storm, now streaming on GagaOOLala.

Rating- 4 out of 5