#KIMI TO NARA KOI WO SHITE MITE MO

[jimmysea]

Please listen to me.

KIMI TO NARA KOI WO SHITE MITE MO (2023) 君となら恋をしてみても dir. Matsumoto Hana

#kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #if it's with you #narakoi #jdrama #jdramaedit #ryuji x amane #marigif #amane my babyyyyyyyy #this show is so so so good

[dramascene]

The way I feel now is not quite enough to say I like you in the same way you feel for me. But... I think... if I could meet someone because I want to it would be good if it was you. If that's the privilege of being a lover... then I want to date you. — IF IT'S WITH YOU | EPISODE 5

#kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #if it's with you #jdrama #japanese bl #jdramasource #couldn't stop grinning like an idiot this entire epi #feel good drama of the year #going to miss these boys! #dsgifs #*

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

#japan is spoiling me #taikan yoho #kimi ni wa todokanai #kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #my personal weatherman #i can't reach you #if it's with you #japan bl #japanese bl #bl series #rosygifs #rosygifsjbl

[connorjesup]

It's getting dangerous now! I won't be able to hide it. KIMI TO NARA KOI WO SHITE MITE MO (2023)

#if it's with you #kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #hyuga wataru #okura takato #jdramaedit #tobelle #userbillkin #yamasuge ryuji #kaido amane #amane x ryuji #show: if it's with you #my gif #flashing gifs for ts #quan prob wanted a gifset per ep but watch me put 4eps in one oh hiiii

[thasorns]

KIMI TO NARA KOI WO SHITE MITE MO (2023) 君となら恋をしてみても, dir. Matsumoto Hana

#kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #hyuga wataru #okura takato #jdramaedit #jdramasource #jdrama #lextag #usermare #tuserfaiza #zeystuff #gif: ktnkwsmm #IT WAS SOOO GOOOD #I CANNOT BELIEVE I NEED TO LET THEM GO :((( #I'M JUST GOING TO MISS THEM

[taikanyohou]

"Is it wrong?"

KIETA HATSUKOI (2021) - Episode 5. KIMI TO NARA KOI WO SHITE MITE MO (2023) - Episode 5.

#kieta hatsukoi #if it's with you #kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #asianlgbtqdramas #asiandramasource #asiandramanet #dailyasiandramas #jdramasource #* #faiza gifs #yeah this took me back to kiekoi RIGHT AWAY.

[zhaolusi]

Kimi to Nara Koi wo Shite Mite mo (2023)

#Kimi to Nara Koi wo Shite Mite mo #jdramasource #jdramaedit #jdramagifs #userdramas #dailyasiandramas #asianlgbtqdramas #lextag #usertoptaps #maregifs #gifs #mare23 #what a first meeting 10/10

[lunaylin]

amane! there you are.

#this show is so hard to color sometimes rip #jdrama #jdramaedit #asiandramasource #asianlgbtqdramas #asianlgbtqsource #usergay #mlmsource #boyslovesource #kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #君となら恋をしてみても #narakoi #if it's with you #amane x ryuji #ryuji x amane #hyuga wataru #okura takato #*gifs #*narakoi #anialook #tuserfaiza

[thii-nii]

"I want to see more of Ryuji-kun's expressions."

#kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #君となら恋をしてみても #if it's with you #jdrama #hyuga wataru #okura takato #soomedits #loved this scene very much!!

[jimmysea]

Ryuji-kun. Mmh? Can I kiss you?

KIMI TO NARA KOI WO SHITE MITE MO (2023)

君となら恋をしてみても dir. Matsumoto Hana

#kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #if it’s with you #jdrama #jdramaedit #long post #ryuji x amane #this whole scene had me kicking my feet under my blanket and giggling like an idiot #i love them so muchhhh <33333 #marigif

[dramascene]

Until now, maybe you've been hiding behind laughter like that, but I don't see you that way, Kaido-san. So, you don't have to force yourself to smile in front of me. Every time you joke, you're the one getting hurt. — IF IT'S WITH YOU | EPISODE 2

#kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #if it's with you #jdrama #japanese bl #jdramasource #asianlgbtqdrama #hyuga wataru #okura takato #dsgifs #*

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

I must be living in a parallel universe. Because at a time when...

Thailand is giving me time traveling angst and homophobia...

broken people and general chaos.

And Taiwan is giving me amnesia and heartache.

Japan is my salvation. It's giving me cute boys full of love for each other...

two of my favorite boys ever with the best visuals...

and so much JOY.

Japan is filling my heart. What a time to be alive.

#rose is happy #absolute zero #i feel you linger in the air #only friends the series #kiseki: dear to me #kimi ni wa todokanai #i can't reach you #kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #if it's with you #kinou nani tabeta #what did you eat yesterday?

[bengiyo]

Having dropped Dangerous Romance, I am now down to three shows. As our intrepid BL adventurer, what would you recommend I watch?

Airing or Recently Finished

Of the things currently airing, I would recommend the following.

My Personal Weatherman (Gaga, Viki)

This show has been a fascinating examination of a new-ish relationship with some heavy kink overtones. This show is not so much about the chase, and so much more about how these two could actually function long-term. I've enjoyed reading @lutawolf kink talk about this one, and the leads have some of the best sexual chemistry we've seen from Japan.

If It's With You (Gaga)

We have a sexually active and assured gay protagonist who knows who he is and what he wants. He's also a menace with some sort of trauma. I am absolutely obsessed with him. This show is going to be very short at 5 episodes, so it may be one you don't want to miss out on. Truly, this has felt like nothing else we've had in a long time and I've been thinking about it for days.

Love in Translation (iQIYI)

This just finished and is an absolute delight. This is one of the better executions of a workplace romance we've seen this year, and was the show anchoring me with all the heavy shows and silly shows airing at once. This show had so much heart to it. It had some wobbles towards the end, but the kindness underpinning this show makes it one of my favorites of the year.

Past Shows

Because you're still doing the homework, here are some shows I know you missed.

Make It Right (Grey)

You should still finish this. I still believe this is one of the most important foundational works for what made Thai BL start to feel more queer. This show asked big questions about male sexual maturation and I don't think any of the Thai high school shows have gone there since.

We Best Love (WeTV)

You probably haven't watched much from Taiwan, but this is one of the best examples of why we remain committed to them. Sam Lin and Yu have hands down the top three best paired chemistry in BL.

Rainbow Prince (YouTube)

This camp masterpiece from last year is one of my favorite shows. It is a hot mess, but the songs are fun and the plot is ridiculous.

#answered #drama recs #if it's with you #kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #my personal weatherman #taikan yoho #love in translation #make it right #we best love #we best love: no 1 for you #rainbow prince #bl series #thai bl #japanese bl #taiwanese bl #filipino bl

[thasorns]

Next year... will I be the only one with feelings? Amane. Sorry! Forget what I just said. I didn't mean to rush you. Forget it. I won't forget. Today I want to answer you about the other day. I had something I wanted you to eat, but I didn't know how to reach out to you. So I didn't contact you. I want to see you.

KIMI TO NARA KOI WO SHITE MITE MO (2023) 君となら恋をしてみても, dir. Matsumoto Hana

#kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #hyuga wataru #okura takato #jdramaedit #jdramasource #jdrama #lextag #tuserfaiza #usermare #zeystuff #gif: ktnkwsmm #MYYYY BOYS I AM SO EMOTIONAL :((( #how amane was so scared of rejection that he'd rather run away but ryuji took the courage to finally open up to amane #ynow the lao tzu quote: Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength #while loving someone deeply gives you courage. and yes yes why do I think of these two #I AM JUST NOT READY TO LET THEM GO.... #we ignore at this point that I messed up my sharpening settings here #and hate tumblr mobile bc the coloring always looks different *sigh+

[crumchycow]

I love gay Japanese shows so much. They're like hey look, here's some boring normal dudes that are maybe a bit of a freak (but like in the way that most people are a bit of a freak). Do you want a slow and intimate depiction of them figuring themselves out and overcoming their normal insecurities and problems by hanging out with eachother and talking?

And I am like, Yes! Please!

#japanese bl #japanese ql #kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #old fashioned cupcake #my personal weatherman #our dining table #this was a text to my friends that i was like hey Tumblr would like this so i copy and pasted it here and added punctuation #your welcome<3

[emotionallychargedtowel]

That post about Higuchi Kouhei and his cat got me thinking about some other tokusatsu-to-BL pipeline actors that are on current or recent BLs, so I thought I'd do a screenshot post about Kamen Rider Revice, a recent toku series that features two lead actors who star in current BLs, plus an actor in a smaller role who was part of a side couple in a BL series that recently completed a second season.

The main character of Revice is Igarashi Ikki, played by Maeda Kentaro, currently playing Ohara Yamato in I Can't Reach You. His siblings are very central to the story as well--by the end of the series, the story is centered around his whole family. Ikki's younger brother Daiji is played by Hyuga Wataru, currently playing Yamasuge Ryuiji in If It's With You.

Here they are having a bath in the opening credits for the show (the Igarashi family runs a public bath house).

I should say at the outset that I can't entirely recommend Revice, especially to folks who don't already have some tokusatsu-watching under their belts. It's a hot mess in a lot of ways. But it does have some really outstanding highlights. The best aspects of the series, in my book, were:

Kagerou (Daiji's demonic alter ego),

George Karizaki (my beloved),

Igarashi Sakura/Kamen Rider Jeanne (the most formidable female Rider I've seen in any series in the franchise), and

the relationship between Sakura and Natsuki Hana (a rare example of a convincing Sapphic ship in a franchise well known for "heated drama between men").

I'm not going to get into 2 and 3 here, as tempting as that would be, but I'll include as much of 4 as time/space permits.

It might seem weird that I'm not recommending a series with some of my favorite characters in the entire Kamen Rider franchise AND a relationship between girls that is a hair's breadth from being canonically queer. It's just too much of a trainwreck to endorse as a whole. But as I said, the highlights are really something.

One of the biggest issues I had with Revice was that Ikki, the protagonist, just isn't a very compelling character. As a result I don't think Maeda Kentaro really got to show the range of his acting abilities in this series. (This just makes me more curious to see him in ICRY. From the excerpts I've seen so far, it seems like he shows a really different side of himself.)

Maeda appreciators might still enjoy the many determined faces and creepy smiles he gets to dish out in this series. Here's a sampling.

It's possible they'll want to look away when he starts doing things like this, though.

Fans of both Maeda and Hyuga might enjoy some of their scenes fighting side by side, including doing their various henshin poses (the moves they do before they transform into their masked Rider forms).

Or when they do things like this bonkers flying kick.

Thankfully, Daiji is a more interesting character than Ikki, so Revice gave Hyuga some more challenging things to do. I thought Hyuga also just really made the most of every opportunity the show presented to him. He was seriously impressive. This is the reason I was sold on IIWY the moment I saw the announcement about it based solely on Hyuga's involvement.

Here's a sampling of Hyuga as Daiji.

In addition to playing Daiji, Hyuga also played Kagerou, Daiji's aforementioned demonic alter ego. Kagerou was formed from thoughts and emotions that Daiji repressed. The biggest of these was his resentment toward Ikki. But apparently Daiji had also been repressing a desire to be a somewhat gender non-conforming goth, because that's Kagerou's other raison d'etre.

In some ways, it's hard to imagine a character more different from Ryuji. If they have anything in common, it's the fact that they both place a high value on honesty.

One other thing that's worth noting about Hyuga's work on Revice is that he was only 17 when the show premiered. He showed major dramatic range in this part, not only playing two very different characters but doing everything from low-key nuanced scenes to bombastic high drama. Not to mention the stunts! Doing all of this at 17 is seriously remarkable.

Now for our bonus dude! There's a secret evil-fighting organization called Weekend that secretly keeps tabs on the Igarashi family for years before coming out of hiding to join the big central battle of the series. One of the Weekend operatives is Ushijima Hikaru.

Look familiar? Maybe not, he didn't make faces like this on his BL series.

How about now? Yep, it's Oku Tomoya, who plays Hanabusa Asuka on both seasons of Minato Shouji Coin Laundry.

Oku has some big scenes and interesting moments in Revice. He does some romantic pining, goes through big-time loss, does quite a bit of martial-arts sparring, gets seriously injured, and more. He even gets to henshin a few times. Here he is getting ready to do just that with Sakura and Hana. Those Weekend uniforms are pretty hardcore in a 70s flight attendant sort of way, but I feel like Oku really sells it here.

While we're on the subject of Sakura and Hana, I feel like I can't mention their relationship without including some moments where their story came particularly close to tipping into full-on yuri.

If you're going to do an enemies-to-lovers story, why not make them full-on superhero nemeses?

The word "date" might not technically get used by the characters, but there's no mistaking that the amusement park hangout Sakura invites Hana on--while she is still a fully-functioning bad guy, I might add--is definitely a date.

Most of the time when a Rider beats their nemesis for the final time they don't hold each other tenderly in the sunset.

By the end of the series, they're in a big tub together at the Igarashi's bath house.

There are tons more examples but you get the idea. If this isn't borderline-yuri I don't know what is.

#kamen rider revice #igarashi ikki #igarashi daiji #igarashi sakura #natsuki hana #kamen rider live #kamen rider jeanne #kagerou #kamen rider evil #hyuga wataru #if it's with you #kimi to nara koi wo shite mite mo #maeda kentaro #i can't reach you #kimi ni wa todokanai #sakura x hana #heated drama between women #kamen rider #tokusatsu to BL pipeline #kamen rider to BL pipeline