Yes ka No ka Hanbun ka

I had high hopes for Yes ka No ka Hanbun ka, but it fell victim to a few stereotypical shounen ai/BL/yaoi tropes which made it fall short of its potential.

THE GOOD--------------
This anime definitely accomplished a lot story-wise for being under an hour long. The storyline does hinge on the classic "misunderstanding that spirals out of control" set up, but the way it played out felt more unique in a way I really enjoyed. The main character, Kei, also felt unique and had some nice character development.

Finally, the animation and voice acting was very nice -- especially shounen ai usually doesn't get the biggest of budgets. ... No complaints there!

THE BAD----------------
It would have been nice to see a little more personality in the secondary character, Tsuzuki. He kind of just existed, with the most memorable thing about him being...yeah, nothing really. Really, I think this film would have benefitted from an additional 30 mins. of run time. I know this was adapted from a LN (which I haven't read) so maybe the story shown is all there is to it, but overall the relationship between the characters felt shallow and it would have been nice to have some more time to see that deepen and make me care more.

THE UGLY---------------
HEY BL CREATORS: There's one trope that's hated more than any other BL trop out there. LET'S STOP DOING IT, okay? The last scene of the movie was uncomfortable and left a bad taste in my mouth--it definitely took some points off from the overall rating for me, which is a bummer.

Still, it was a worthwhile watch and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys the genre!

[6/10 for Story]: it's simple, nothing groundbreaking. But compared to other yaoi/sho-ai, the progression is relatively natural (if you exclude the reason why Kunieda helped Tsuzuki in the first place, that is). The pacing was really good. It wasn't too fast for me to feel annoyed and awkward, but it's not too slow for me to feel frustrated. The little bits about the show-biz/news-biz/entertainment world are interesting, as well as the technique about pronunciation/articulation which is important in the industry and, interestingly, serves as a plot device.

[4/10 for Art]: I googled the original illustration for the light novel, and honestly I don't think this anime ... did it justice. The novel's illustration looks really pretty, soft, and has a 'light' feeling to it (perhaps also because of the 'soft filter' it uses. I probably didn't explain it right, but just google the novel's cover and you'll know what I mean). The anime's art, on the other hand, didn't even attempt anything special, not even to distinguish itself from the light novel's illustration. It looks mediocre for a 2020 anime. The character design also looked different. They appeared slightly chubbier in the anime.

[7/10 for Sound]: It makes sense for the anime to talk a lot about voices/sounds considering the setting and I think the casting for the VA was really great to maintain that energy. Abe Atsushi's voice suits Kunieda's character a lot and he did well in making the voice for both sides of Kunieda distinguishable. A lot of Kunieda's mannerisms also seemed to translate to the voice. I enjoyed hearing it a lot. Kawahara Yoshihisa, on the other hand, was just okay for me. It's not that he's bad... I actually think he did better than average, but I think it's just the kind of voice that is typical for a 'seme' in yaoi, so it didn't leave that deep of an impression.

[4/10 for Character]: Kunieda is a relatable, yet interesting character. I think I relate to his dilemma about work ethics and job position a lot. His duality, even though exaggerated, is humane. A lot of yaoi MC annoyed me but I'm glad Kunieda didn't (perhaps it's because I saw too much yaoi MC who's easily flustered over every little thing the seme said/did and Kunieda, who the majority of the time wasn't like that, refreshed me). Tsuzuki seemed genuine, kind, and straight-forward. I have to say, he didn't seem very special, but he was personable and seemed like a guy we encounter in our everyday life.

/!!!spoilery paragraph!!!/
I, however, don't like the part where Tsuzuki ignored Kunieda's plea to stop the sex when he's scared. The guy also didn't stop when Kunieda said he was hurt, which I think is an asshole move. With the way the story progressed so far and how kind & understanding Tsuzuki seemed to be, I would've thought that he'd stop. But no, apparently this is still a yaoi movie and characters don't care when their partner is hurting as long as they can serve sex to the audience. How fascinating.

[7/10 for Enjoyment]: It was good because I enjoyed it from start to finish, the majority of the reason being the perfect pacing for me. It's not groundbreaking, but it wasn't as awful.

[OVERALL]: 28/5 = 5.6 = rounded to 6

Just like another person mentioned the last scene really ruined the whole anime for me. The story in general was at most mediocre, kind of had the same vibe as 2000-2010 yaoi anime, so immediately wasnt my favourite. But the ending scene just was not it. (Spoilers ahead) I have learned to kind of dismiss rape-y scenes in the yaoi genre cause its so normalised and frequent, but I cant anymore that was just plain wrong and the dude was sorta coerced into doing it, it just doesnt sit well with me. The story had potential but it just didnt work. I wouldnt recommend, however ... if you still want to watch it, it is available on youtube (i cant seem to find it anywhere else).