Sekaiichi Hatsukoi

Some may argue that this anime is just another BL anime focused on fanservice for the girls. While I'm not totally denying this, I do have to say that there's more than meets the eye when it comes to Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. Unlike Junjou Romantica where it's just SEXSEXILOVEYOUSEXSEX every episode, this actually has a pretty good story.

Story: 7/10
It's simple, sweet, and straight to the point. Some may view that as a good thing while others may disagree and claim that's a bad thing. Personally, I thought the story was fairly well done considering this is a BL anime. One of the biggest flaws, however, is ... that the drama is kind of forced upon the viewer...but since this is a Shungiku Nakamura series, we all know the drama isn't going to end in heartbreak or tragedy; you know all of these guys are going to eventually end up in a relationship and live happily ever after because, well, that's just what happens in her works. The drama is there to interest the viewer, but it doesn't necessarily serve a big purpose within the story. Do I think that's a bad thing? I believe if it's a device to interest the viewers, then go for it.

Art: 7/10
Deen did much better this time than in Junjou Romantica, that's for sure. The backgrounds have a more soft feeling about them, and it reminded me of Hourou Musuko's background art (if you haven't seen Hourou Musuko, the gist of what I'm getting at is that the background art is done extremely well). So the backgrounds are beautiful, that's fine and dandy. But the characters? I don't mind that they're all bishounen/"bishies" because that fits in with the theme, but...ugh, the faces. And the hair. They're all identical. I'm not talking about the color of the eyes and hair, but the shapes and styles are basically all the same. It's just a little thing but it bugs me when I get the characters confused since they all look too similar.

Sound: 5/10
It's really nothing very special. The opening is upbeat which fits Sekaiichi Hatsukoi considering this anime is a lighthearted romance/comedy, and the ending is more serene. As for voice acting, it was simply alright. The ukes sounded girly and whiny and the semes sounded manly and rough. Too bad that, like the art, everyone sounded the same. It was a mediocre performance on the seiyuu's parts.

Character: 5/10
Character is where the series starts slacking, because they're all so stereotypical and it can get REALLY annoying after a couple episodes. All of the ukes (Ritsu Onodera, Chiaki Yoshino, and Shouta Kisa) have the typical I-don't-want-you-to-kiss-you-even-though-I'm-obviously-in-love-with-you-so-I'm-just-gonna-keep-pushing-you-away-because-I'm-stupid attitude, whereas all the semes (Masamune Takano, Yoshiyuki Hatori, and Kou Yukina) won't give up because they know the ukes are undoubtedly in love with them. There's slight character development, but not enough to drastically change their attitudes or anything. It's the average stuff you see in BL which is why I rated it as such.

Enjoyment: 8/10
I like this series, don't get me wrong, but some major flaws and the ending prevented me from giving this a 9/10 like I would have originally put as my enjoyment score. I looked forward to watching a new episode every week, but it simply didn't astound me like some other anime has done. I'd still consider it a favorite, but objectively speaking there are quite a few weaknesses within this series.

Overall: 6.4/10, rounded to 6/10
Sekaiichi Hatsuko isn't atrocious, nor is it a masterpiece. It's slightly above average. The story and art are nice, but that's really all this anime has going for it. If you like BL, you'll probably enjoy this. If you're wondering whether you should dip your toes into BL by using Sekaiichi Hatsukoi as your starter series, you might finish up episode 12 and feel pretty underwhelmed.

Skip this paragraph, come back to it after you have read my review (below):

Okay okay, after seeing all these bad ratings I'm guessing people who've been reading this are misinterpreting the message I'm trying to send across to the readers. I'm going to write here what the jist of this review is stating since I'm guessing not everyone has read my entire review and has failed to see the main point. Essentially, the point I'm trying to get across to you is that this show is pure "fanservice", like "moe". The writers are specifically targeting women through this series and creating a piece adorned with ... hot "bishounens" to cater to this specific demographic of yaoi fans. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but that's it, that's all this series is and how the company reels in its viewers. The story is plain as well as the characters, and the company, like all other anime studios that distribute ecchi related series, are simply using this series to get yaoi fan viewers!! That's it!! this story has little substance and so does its characters!! so don't expect any wonderful plot or story from this series..



Start reading review here:

I am, for one, absolutely against reviews based on the first few episodes aired of a series, but this is serious, seriously agitating to the point that I am compelled to write this no matter what barrier lies before me. Why might you ask? why?? because, Sekaiichi Hatsukoi - in simplified terms -is Shoujo or girl "ecchi". This anime series is completely mundane and banal in all media related aspects from story, to art, to character. Honestly, the only thing worthwhile in this series is the sound, and even that isn't of a grand level of degree. The series is a waste of a time, and It is so gay, and I can validate that as gay person!( Oh yes, the irony hahaha...)
I know I'm asking for an internet trashing (pulls up firewall) for bashing on this completely gay show, but I'm laying down the facts so I can hopefully convince you and everyone out there - whom posses the decency and optimal intelligence - to help you avoid wasting spare minutes of your life.

So, Why is this show gay?, apart from the obvious yaoi entitled genre and daunting advertised images of its homosexuality(towards those homophobes out there), that answer lies within an analysis of the story, characters, and art (which i will thoroughly soon cover).

The story is almost lackluster; filled with predictable characters associated with identifiable archetypes and an empty story acting as a vessel to hold these characters together. The story starts out with Ritsu Onodera, one who might be considered gifted, adorned with wealth and a good enough family to support him. Despite this, Onodera wishes to rebel against his content position in life and decides to step back a notch, entering the manga world while fleeting the prestigious world of literature and novels he had embarked upon in order to prove a somewhat childish notion of pride; proving that he can bolster himself in the adult world of corporations and succeed without help from his father. So far we can see that Onodera is the stuck up one, essentially he is the up-tight archetype impelled by pride; if he were a girl, he would be a tsundere. His fierce, defiant, and prideful attitude can be seen when he is infuriated by Masamao Takano, his editor in chief. Onodera also has a nice side to him - seen when he encourages the female staff members before their deadline - but all in all his character is completely mundane. All the mundane aspects of a yaoi series are evident within this story and especially within Onodera whom elicits them. Envy, greed, and pride a just a few that Onodera exudes when seen in conflict with counterpart, Masamao Takano. Masamao takano, on the other hand, is the calm and composed archetype - he is nonchalant, yet he can be easily incensed and infuriated
and throw a mad fit. He can be compared to any worker who gets all worked up after a stress-induced job (think, Gordon Ramsey). The writers present us with a wonderful plot twist as both Onodera and Takano have, in fact, met before and, of course, as all gay men, had an affair.

Although the plot twist is intruiging.. it is so horribly executed and a grave, grave stereotype (I mean, come on! we don't all have sex on the first day, we're not hormone raging idiots that everyone makes us out to be!). Onodera and Takano are repeatedly seen with each other in their memories of their young, teenaged love life up to their modern day work lives. The plot twist becomes so incredibly evident that it becomes lackluster.. I mean, what were the writers thinking? "Hmm.. we should come up with an interesting plot twist for this series, lets make them high school lovers! and when they grow up they'll coincidently find a job together and fall in love all over again, yay!!" You see what I mean? The plot is so predictable, I mean, It's so obvious that they'll end up together and what's worse, is that the viewer is forced to watch their endless meet-ups and run-ins in the workplace while the plot twist just drags on and on and on.. Sure the writers may have been planning to build the momentum of suspense, but it just dragged on for too long that the enthusiasm dies out.
Not only is the story ruined by such atrocious plot-planning by the writers, but everything including the characters, scene, setting that revolve around the story seems so FAKE. I mean, what is the coincidence that all the characters of the show will end up in a publishing company for shoujo manga, and furthermore, what is the coincidence that they are all men and that both the main characters will just mysteriously end up there by "fate". I mean, come on! the plot is so cheesy to be taken seriously, besides this, everything is clearly targeted to women. The company is filled with men, lots of men, and the art style of which they are drawn is horribly banal; with large shoulders, thin waistline and long faces. Like I said.. this is so obviously "girl ecchi", It can be compared to other shounen targeted works of ecchi such as love-to-ru and whatever harem possesing anime series are out there. All in all, what I'm trying to get at is that there is no sense of reality, normality, or any sense of naturalism. The writing feels so narrow-minded and there is no authentic feeling of true emotion of true human interaction. Heck, there couldn't possibly be in such a contorted setting that highly deviates from reality. It all comes down to the media and its corporations, strictly targeting to woman. I bet that if they planned a series with a normal setting, as in both men and woman, such as a high school, the show would reap a broad amount of viewers and could delve deeper in to realer sense of interaction between male characters, because, afterall, homosexuality isn't all about sex, there can be love too.

Wow, I really dragged on in this review.. and before, or if anyone flames me I just want to let you know that I'm being mostly satirical in this review, don't take it seriously when I hate on gays.. (I mean come on.. I am gay), but definitely heartfelt thoughts went into this review. And hey, if you are a hardcore yaoi fangirl, go ahead and watch this series and enjoy it, but whom I'm mostly addressing in this review are those who are looking for a series with a substantial plot and with substantial characters. A great example of a yaoi series that elicits this would be Hourou Musuko, that I would definitely recommend to anyone (especially the writers of Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, haha, i kid i kid).

Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, you say? Now, looking at the picture right there at the top, you might think that this is just Junjou Romantica again, seeing as how both series are rather fluffy yaoi with the exact same art style. You'd be right. This is, more or less, Junjou Romantica season 3, even taking place in the same setting but with a different main cast.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Let's dive deeper into the deep depths of the phenomenon known only as "Sekaiichi Hatsukoi".

Actually, the depths aren't that deep. This is one of the shallowest anime I've ever watched. Like Junjou Romantica, ... Sekaiichi Hatsukoi focuses on not one but three different couples. Well, I say "different". Each of the couples has one "bottom" and one "top". The bottoms all look the same, as do the tops. It was the same deal in Junjou Romantica. The character designs aren't very varied, to be perfectly honest. The couples' dynamics are very similar, too. Often to the point of being completely identical.

You see, the top is in love with the bottom for some reason or another. The bottom is completely clueless about this affection until the top sexually harasses the bottom in some way or another. The bottom then goes into full-blown tsundere mode, as he completely ignores the top's advances, while said top keeps going "WHY DO YOU NOT ACCEPT MY FEELINGS" or "I WILL MAKE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH ME" with occasional additional sexual harassment. Repeat this formula twice and et voila! You have a 12 episode yaoi series.
How wondrous! How magnificent!

Okay, there's a slight bit more to it than that. I actually had high hopes for the third couple, which seemed to be basically... based on physical attraction and nothing more. Of course, by the end of their introductory episode those hopes were dashed and it was on to the aforementioned formula. But enough about that. If you've seen Junjou Romantica you know full well what to expect.
On to the other aspects of this work of art.

The art and animation is rather lackluster for 2011. I mean, okay, it's Studio DEEN. They're not exactly the most financially stable studio. Hell, they're not even the best known for high quality stuff. Anyone see Higurashi? That was a very ugly show in more ways than one. Basically, it looks exactly like Junjou Romantica, a show from 2008. Not terribly ugly, but not exactly breathtaking.
As for the BGM, I hardly even noticed it. I'm not too hot on the ending theme, but the opening theme, sung by Shuuhei Kita, is admittedly very catchy.

The characters are about as three-dimensional as a piece of paper being ironed while being run over with a steamroller made of pancakes, but they do have some rather nice voices. I mean, Hiroshi Kamiya. He can make just about anything better with his... very lovely voice. Too bad his character is relevant for all of one episode.

Now, if you liked Junjou Romantica, you'll probably like Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. I mean, it's pretty much the exact same thing, but with less steamy gay sex. Junjou Romantica's absolutely hilarious fits of melodrama are still on display here, but either they're just not as amusing or I've been desensitized towards them. At any rate, Sekaiichi Hatsukoi isn't too bad a way to kill some time.

Just don't go in expecting anything with substance.

You will be sorely let down.

I give this show a 6/10. It's unremarkable but I kind of like it, even though I'm not exactly in its target demographic. Unless I've somehow turned into a 13 year old girl overnight.

That would be an interesting experience. More interesting than this anime, at least.

It's really too bad that only popular BL manga gets an anime, not actually quality BL manga. I am clearly getting too darn old for this.

But at least it isn't as bad as BL anime used to be, so that's progress. Nobody is actually getting outright raped! We just have to put up with the never ending dubcon and the obnoxious stereotypes. The stories are contrived, but at least hang together by a thread, so that's something else to be grateful for. I had trouble with the pacing -- we get 4 episodes with couple A, then 2 with couple B, ... back to couple A, then 2 episodes with couple C; I felt like story coitus interruptus every few episodes. I think this would have worked better as either distinct parts A, B, and C, or much more interwoven. The latter would have required a lot of authorial skill.

Story: Nakamura Shungiku is actually writing about something she knows here, which is the manga publishing business, and that's a pleasant surprise; it adds verisimilitude to the otherwise typical BL story style which isn't realistic or believable. Sure, high school lovers fall out over stupid misunderstandings, and heck, maybe they indeed meet accidentally again 10 years later in the same workplace, but please -- do they also have to end up living right next to each other? In Tokyo, of all places? You'd win the lottery before that would happen. Onodera doesn't even recognize the love of his life, which I also find not very believable, especially since the art makes them look pretty much the same, only a little younger. Story B features the densest childhood friend ever (childhood friendship leading to love being a trope I admittedly love, but not in this incarnation). Story C is more believable (Kisa falls in love with any pretty face after all, and Yukina certainly is pretty), but I can't say I liked it much because that's so damn superficial. In all three stories, misunderstandings drive the plot. I hate that, it is the laziest writing. There is no good ending here; they must have known they were getting a second season, because the first one just petered out.

Art: Nakamura has gotten better over the years, but I don't think I'll ever like her art much. Her guys all look too much alike since she has basically only two types, uke and seme, and they fit all the standard stereotypes: Seme are taller, dominant, forceful, usually older, with stoic faces, while uke are much smaller, submissive, usually younger, with bigger eyes, rounder faces, wishy-washy but tsundere to cover up their insecurities which are legion, who blush constantly, and cry at the drop of a hat. The backgrounds are fairly nice. The animation is standard for BL; gotta keep the budget down.

Sound: I like the Japanese-flavoured BGM, and the OP and ED are upbeat pop which is always fun to bop along to even if it is forgettable. Voice talent is a nice collection of good seiyuu who do BL, and I think they do a decent if not inspired job -- well, the material isn't inspiring.

Character: Oy. I tend to prefer seme to uke, and that's no different here, especially since the uke are such whiny stereotypes. The disadvantage is that we're never in the head of a seme, so we get them only second-hand, while for the uke we get their entire inner monologue, which tends to make me want to kill them. I wonder if the seme would only grunt if I could hear them think, they have such caveman tactics. I kind of like Onodera because he is actually hard working, wants to make it on his own instead of resting on the family laurels, and he has somewhat of a legitimate reason for ditching Saga/Takano in high school. I always enjoy the times when those two work together, because that's when they both shine, and when one can see a decent relationship. It's when it comes to interpersonal relationship skills that they both suck. Yakazawa makes an interesting spoiler, though we know of course that his obvious love for Takano isn't going anywhere (he's a seme, after all, and that would be seriously transgressive).

Hatori is too bloody stoic, and Yoshino is an oblivious moron whom I despise because he is also selfish and a lousy friend, and since Hatori has to know how dense he is, it's his own damn fault he doesn't get anywhere with him. I don't care about this pairing at all, I would hope Hatori finds somebody better. Heck, take Yanase, at least he has more than two brain cells to rub together.

I don't really care for the third pairing either, though Kisa doesn't bother me quite as much as Yoshino because he isn't as dense, but his resigned tone is depressing. Yukino, on the other hand is a great guy, incredibly mature for his age (more so than Kisa), and hey, here we have Nakamura getting as transgressive as she ever gets -- he is a younger seme! These two have the least dubcon, but I just can't like Kisa enough. His story also seems inconsistent, what with how he acquired a stalker.

Enjoyment: I enjoyed this most for the workplace and the information about publishing; Marukawa Shoten has got to be the gayest publisher ever. ;) Takano x Onodera was somewhat interesting, but I got eventually tired of them and the neverending protestations of Onodera, and Takano's rough handling of him. I am not sure why any straight man would be interested in this anime; maybe there is enough humour in the misunderstandings to get some laughs. There isn't a whole lot of fan service here (watch "Free" if you want near-nudity nearly all the time), and nothing graphically explicit.

*this is my first review, so it's probably not going to be the most coherent thing, but I'll give it a go!

For what it's worth, I enjoyed this anime. The only things I knew about it before I began to watch it was that a) gayness, and b) manga. Trust me when I say that it delivered strongly on both of those points!

To start off with, the things that worked: (for me)

- I really enjoyed the environment. It reminds me of GSNK, but on a much larger scale, where there's various processes in manga production, and certain people specialise in certain areas. I dunno, I ... just found it interesting, and that it created some good moments for the characters.

- It's funny. It's light. It's fluffy. PLUS it's BL, and when all of that combines together... well, I'm just absolute trash for anything like that.

- My final point is that I wasn't expecting the cast of characters. I thought this was going to revolve around one couple's story, both their past and their current situation. This wasn't the case, and the fact that you follow multiple romantic story-lines works really well. It kept things interesting, and it was cool to see how everyone and everything linked together.

...and then, what I didn't like, or at least could've been better:

- Some of these characters creep me out. There, I said it. Despite this being BL and everything, I still got the distinct vibe of gender-roles. This led to half of the characters being very masculine and intimidating, and the other half seeming shy and more flamboyant.

Now, that's not what I have a problem with, for the most part. I mean, it's an over-used character trope, but fine. My issue is when some of the more stereotypically-masculine characters force themselves on their respective love interests. They may be protesting against their advancement, trying to push them off, or in one case literally slapping them, yet they still try to force them into a kiss or something, as if they think "I know what's best for this person, despite what they're saying". It made me uncomfortable, and I was not a fan of this.

- Everything is animated and drawn to a decent and consistent standard. However, there was just never that moment where I though "Holy crap, this is stunning". It's just consistently okay, which is fine, but still. It felt kind of lacking, to me.

- Also, the sound and music is just not memorable. It's very generic, and you can kind of predict what the tone of the music's about to be before it actually starts up in certain scenes.

Anyway. Think that's everything I've got to say. Overall, it was a decent watch, but not a memorable one. I'll probably watch S2 at some point, but I'm in no hurry.

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this anime. While the art was not to my liking (character-wise, at least. The colours were rather beautifully done and backgrounds were very calming, although character designs did not vary much) I could easily look around that and look at character design personality-wise.

A lot of people don't see the difference between characters, and in a way they were correct. All three couples focused on a very clearly-drawn seme-uke format. Who bottomed in the relationship was as easy to tell as taking a quick glance at the characters. The ukes were small, with more feminine features, while semes were quite tall, with ... strong jaws and a more masculine feel to them. But, if you look beyond that, their personalities are quite different. My review will mainly be going over character personalities.

Kisa/Yukina
Kisa is a mature, spiteful man who hides behind an optimistic outside to appeal to men. He is the only uke in the series who has admitted (not just to loving his seme) to being gay. Kisa hides behind a fake mask, usually not even giving his hookups his correct age, in exchange for sex, and on occasion a short relationship. Another quirk he has is judging a man only for his face, and not his actions. Later, Kisa gets lucky and falls in love with an attractive salesman who sells his manga, and gives him the top sales in all of Japan. He's rather stalker-ish when it comes to the salesman, named Yukina, often spending endless hours in the manga store, feigning interest in the shoujo section to watch him. Later, he is introduced, they go out, and he learns that Yukina is a major fan of shoujo manga, specifically his editing, even claiming that although the plots are completely different, they all have the same "feel" to them. And their relationship (although it seems skin-deep because of Kisa's appearance fetish, the age gap--Kisa being thirty and Yukina twenty-one--and Yukina's love for his work, it is actually quite beautiful in the end) goes on from there.

Onodera/Takano
Onodera is the main character, and used to be an innocent, ignorant teenager who confessed his love to Saga-senpai, and started a superficial relationship. They break up after timid Onodera asks Saga if he loves him, and he laughs. They don't see each other for ten years, because Onodera got butt-hurt and ran off without even talking about it. Turns out he didn't even tell Saga about it, but we love him anyways because he was just a stupid kid.
Now, he is more mature, similar to Kisa, but he doesn't hide it. He does not trust easily, and has gone into editing literature. Unfortunately, he works for his dad, and his colleagues believed he was so successful because his father owned the company. So, he transfers companies, but there was a mix-up. Instead of editing literature, he's working in shoujo manga. His new boss, Takano, is a crazy mo-fo, and there's something real funky about the guys who work alongside him. Turns out, his new boss is Saga, and is still in love with him. He confesses this, but Onodera isn't the same man. And so the main plot begins.
Bonus quirks of Onodera's include being a bad drunk, and hauling major baggage in the form of a (SPOILER!) fiancee.

Chiaki/Hatori/Yuu (not a threesome, but a love triangle)
Chiaki is the most oblivious kid you'll ever meet, and is a shoujo manga author, with Hatori (or Tori) as his editor. Working as his main assistant is his best friend Yuu. Turns out, his two best friends hate each other, and have been battling behind his back (note: not so discreetly, but Chiaki's adorable so don't hold it against him he didn't notice) for his affections. Soon, he's caught up in a bunch of misinterpretation hoo-hah in which he believes they're in love with each other, while both are in love with him and hope the other rots in Hell. I'm not going to tell you who he ends up with, but I'll tell you in my opinion Yuu is a much more interesting character than the emotionless blob that is Tori.

Personally, Chiaki is my favourite character, with Onodera in a close second and Kisa in third. I believed that the ukes were more developed, and varied more not only in looks, colouring and body shape more different than the semes, all of which had brown hair and were of near-equal height, but in personality.

This anime, while a lot of people are quite controversial, in general was actually very good, and had me watching to the end. It did not affect me as deeply as other animes, but it definitely left me with a smile on my face.

Bonus: While the ending was not solid, it didn't leave me feeling empty, and I could very easily interpret the ending however you want, and that was, for me, a good thing.

If you like shounen-ai, I recommend this anime. It is a very good starter for the genre.

After finishing the first two seasons of Junjou Romantica and feeling kind of 'meh', I decided it was about time to check Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. I had heard many good things about it, and believed I should give it a shot.
I was extremely dissappointed.

The story itself actually does have some backbone, and the setting in general is interesting - the editing industry isn't often spoken of in anime or manga, and I think it captured the atmosphere really well.

But then...there's the art. To be fair, Nakamura-sensei has really improved over the years, and the anime looks clean. But in some places, it just seemed ... very unappealing and awkward. That's only because I'm very picky with the art, though - I may be a little harsh, here.

Now, if there is something I cannot forgive, however, it's the characters. Where do I even begin? All the ukes look pretty much the same [there were points where I couldn't figure out who was who], and act the same too. In fact, if you don't like tsunderes, you might as well dump the whole anime altogether. I'm sick of seeing underdeveloped characters who act childish and cannot admit their love. It's exhausting to watch, and many situations are based upon misunderstandings that could have easily been avoided. I honestly think that Nakamura-sensei could have done so much more with the characters. Perhaps I'm judging too fast, and there are many improvements in the second season, but I'm having my doubts.

The semes always have to do all the goddamn work. While they do have some variations in personality, which is a breath of fresh air, the artwork really isn't flattering at all. They also look pretty much the same...it's just so frustrating to see. There could be so much more improvement!

The soundtrack isn't much to write home about...it's nothing very memorable, but it does blend into the atmosphere pretty well.

Overall...I guess I just dislike tsunderes :') I'm sorry if I said anything to offend the fans. I'm just an old potato x ~ x I'm picky with my animes at the moment.

So I started watching this on the strength of some recommendations that compared it to BAKUMAN.

Perhaps because I came to this series with a different expectation from most of the reviewers who gave this show a high rating, I really did not like the show. The relationships portrayed are unrealistic to say the least, and there is no lot to speak of, unlike NANA where the characters interact in a flawed but sympathetic way, Sekaiichi shows a collection of guys who seemingly have no concept of sexual harassment and with each kiss border on sexual assault. This is the characteristic of the seme (the ... 'top' in each pairing). The uke (the 'bottom') is clueless beyond belief, every single one of them, without exception. For that reason, it becomes very hard to differentiate between the characters' personalities.

This has been my first foray into Yaoi, and if MAL is to be trusted, this is the most beloved entry of the genre, so I'm doubly disappointed by this mediocre work.

i'm gonna skip the first few reviews since the people below me have already given a good description. now, what i'm gonna write is both a personal opinion- and a warning.

the author of sekaiichi hatsukoi has a tendency of multiple things; stereotypical tops and bottoms, for example. semes have big yaoi hands(literal fūcking snakes) and a weird chin, while ukes are small and dainty with awkwardly big irises. this is a problem from the artist. the stereotypes cause a bad view on the lgbt community, like bottoms are girly or tops are manly.

next is romanticised rape; my biggest enemy. it's pretty hard to find a ... bl series without rape. the seme, who is in love with the uke for some reason, thinks the way to make the bottom fall in love with him is to sexually assault him. he does this multiple times; each time with the uke struggling against his advances. he obviously doesn't like being raped by this random middle-aged dude with snake fingers- and let's be honest, who would like that? exactly. no one.

"now author-san, why does this matter when it's just fiction anyways?"

that's a good question, random person, so hear me out:
do you think rape can result in a romantic relationship? a stable one?
do you think sexual harrassment is a way of showing affection?
do you think that when the uke squeams words like "no", or "ouch", there is consent?

i hope for you that you answered no on all those. why does this matter in fiction? well, a large percentage of the people that watch/read yaoi, have never met real gay people. or maybe they have, but in their country being openly gay is punishable. their only source to it is yaoi- and yaoi is homoerotic fiction directed towards a straight female audience, just like lesbian relationships for straight males- and this brings them a corrupted view on real people.

now, rape isn't a sin in yaoi. for plot- sure, do your do. but when you do, put it in a drama, a tradegy, make sure the raped one(the bottom) is a victim. rape is NOT affection. rape is NOT love. rape is NOT pleasure.

noooow, the sound- okay. nothing outta the ordinary.
visuals, apart from the weird faces and hands, is okay. pretty bland backgrounds, not much variety in different frames/episodes.
characters: baaaad. seme is an obsessive pedophile rapist and uke is a dumbfuck who falls in love with that shipwreck. little character development.
enjoyment; dredful. absolutely horrific. 10/10 would NEVER watch again. getting shivers.

Overall not bad but so many times the characters made me absolutely livid by being completely wish washy. I understand they have to act like they dont have feeling for one another but how can you drag it on for so long. Onodera start making me so mad everytime he was on screen. I started watching cause the premise seemed really good but the characters are really lacking. If they had little more depth or just a tiny more common sense i wouldve really felt like this couldve been big. There has to be a limit on how long you can drag on the ... situation.