Boys Este #9-12 (end) J-dorama review (contains spoilers)
During the time I was unable to update my blog, Boys Este finished up in Japan. But since most of the good stuff went down in the first 8 episodes, I haven't really felt the need to write up a review until now.
#9 contains one of few really good monologues in Boys Este so far. Shichiri tells Shizuka about his relationship with Kitsuma, and I thought the flashback scene portrayed it well enough. Still, I'd recommend all of you to actually read the manga, Bisexual, where the author writes about how Shichiri and Kitsuma met. I also think that Shichiri's actor never really manages to portray his feelings to either Kitsuma or Shizuka very well. He just keeps trying to look cool, without never really showing any feelings. This is a far cry from Shichiri in the manga, and if a 2-dimensional character manages to portray more feeling than an actor does, I don't think he's doing a very good job with his acting. Or, perhaps more likely, he feels that the story is not really worth it. But this is just speculation on my part. Still, I wish he'd try as much as Hibiki's actor does. He might not be very good, but his enthusiasm makes up for that.
After this turn of events, the story arc with Devil Hand, the new estetician who has joined Boys Este in order to head hunt Hibiki to the rival, Prince Este, continues. And Hibiki finally gets his operation, thanks to Kitsuma. Guess someone figured out that in order to win back his boyfriend, he has to get rid of the competition. :)
#10 was one of the funniest so far. Shichiri gets kidnapped by the Prince Este owner, but Kitsuma resques him with a surprising display of ... camera angles. Kitsuma and Kei's actors are the only actors in the bunch that actually shows some progress with their roles. Then Kitsuma goes on to kidnap Shichiri on his own, in order to show him that Shizuka actually still loves Hibiki. He sort of succeeds, but fails to make Shichiri come back to him. Instead, Shichiri decides to introduce Shizuka to his mother.
Hibiki, after managing to save Boys Este's face in a face-off between them and Prince Este, spends some time with Shizuka (who is being blackmailed by Kitsuma). The tension between the two of them is growing, but Shichiri manages to show up just in time to destroy any chance of Hibiki's to confess to Shizuka. Boo!
#11
Shichiri FINALLY accepts that he can't make Shizuka love him whole heartedly and lets her go (about time, if you ask me). Hibiki gets an offer to go study in London together with Kei. Of course, this prevents Shizuka to confess her feelings to Hibiki, and she never even tells him that she has broken off her relationship with Shichiri. Not much of interest in this episode, and it felt like they were just trying to fill out the episode with uninteresting stuff.
#12
Kei breaks the news about him and Hibiki going to London. Shichiri tells everybody that he'll leave Boys Este and start working for the school that his family runs. Kitsuma also announces that he will quit as owner for Boys Este and join his father's company. The cleaning lady (who is also the director of Kitsuma's family corporation) talks some sense into Hibiki. After receiving an emergency call from Naoki that Shizuka is in the hospital, he runs there (missing the plane to London) and finally manages to confess his love to her. They spend the rest of the summer on the beach, but not together like Shizuka wants, because Hibiki has to do baito (part time work) in order to collect money for the ticket to London, since he ditched the first flight.
Boys Este, final opinons
So, all in all, this was a fun series to watch. But some of the actors never really went beyond being a pretty face. Shichiri and Kitsuma had pretty much no chemistry between them, and on the whole, Shichiri's actor was the weakest of them all. Kitsuma and Kei left the best impression of them all, and I hope to see at least Kitsuma in more comedy shows from now on. I think he might have some hidden talent there.
I also agonize over the horrible use of camera angles. In the final scene of the drama, when the lovers finally get to kiss each other, why use angles and fake kissing???!!! That's just stupid. I suppose the actors themselves might have demanded this, but it just felt really fake to end with a faked kiss. Gah! Other than that, I'd have liked to see more of a closure between Kitsuma and Shichiri. Now, it just ended with nothing, but could two people, who have claimed to be twin souls etc, just break off as cleanly as this? Nah, at least not in a dorama, in my opinion.
Now, I really need to read the manga, because I suspect that everything will be better in the original version. Unfortunately, except for volume 1 and 2, all other volumes (up to #6 has been released), are out of stock (or maybe out of print?). Have the demand for the manga been so high, or does Amazon.co.jp just suck at restocking their supplies? The manga is still running in The Desert Magazine, so there shouldn't be any trouble with the author.
Now, what should I watch next? :)
#9 contains one of few really good monologues in Boys Este so far. Shichiri tells Shizuka about his relationship with Kitsuma, and I thought the flashback scene portrayed it well enough. Still, I'd recommend all of you to actually read the manga, Bisexual, where the author writes about how Shichiri and Kitsuma met. I also think that Shichiri's actor never really manages to portray his feelings to either Kitsuma or Shizuka very well. He just keeps trying to look cool, without never really showing any feelings. This is a far cry from Shichiri in the manga, and if a 2-dimensional character manages to portray more feeling than an actor does, I don't think he's doing a very good job with his acting. Or, perhaps more likely, he feels that the story is not really worth it. But this is just speculation on my part. Still, I wish he'd try as much as Hibiki's actor does. He might not be very good, but his enthusiasm makes up for that.
After this turn of events, the story arc with Devil Hand, the new estetician who has joined Boys Este in order to head hunt Hibiki to the rival, Prince Este, continues. And Hibiki finally gets his operation, thanks to Kitsuma. Guess someone figured out that in order to win back his boyfriend, he has to get rid of the competition. :)
#10 was one of the funniest so far. Shichiri gets kidnapped by the Prince Este owner, but Kitsuma resques him with a surprising display of ... camera angles. Kitsuma and Kei's actors are the only actors in the bunch that actually shows some progress with their roles. Then Kitsuma goes on to kidnap Shichiri on his own, in order to show him that Shizuka actually still loves Hibiki. He sort of succeeds, but fails to make Shichiri come back to him. Instead, Shichiri decides to introduce Shizuka to his mother.
Hibiki, after managing to save Boys Este's face in a face-off between them and Prince Este, spends some time with Shizuka (who is being blackmailed by Kitsuma). The tension between the two of them is growing, but Shichiri manages to show up just in time to destroy any chance of Hibiki's to confess to Shizuka. Boo!
#11
Shichiri FINALLY accepts that he can't make Shizuka love him whole heartedly and lets her go (about time, if you ask me). Hibiki gets an offer to go study in London together with Kei. Of course, this prevents Shizuka to confess her feelings to Hibiki, and she never even tells him that she has broken off her relationship with Shichiri. Not much of interest in this episode, and it felt like they were just trying to fill out the episode with uninteresting stuff.
#12
Kei breaks the news about him and Hibiki going to London. Shichiri tells everybody that he'll leave Boys Este and start working for the school that his family runs. Kitsuma also announces that he will quit as owner for Boys Este and join his father's company. The cleaning lady (who is also the director of Kitsuma's family corporation) talks some sense into Hibiki. After receiving an emergency call from Naoki that Shizuka is in the hospital, he runs there (missing the plane to London) and finally manages to confess his love to her. They spend the rest of the summer on the beach, but not together like Shizuka wants, because Hibiki has to do baito (part time work) in order to collect money for the ticket to London, since he ditched the first flight.
Boys Este, final opinons
So, all in all, this was a fun series to watch. But some of the actors never really went beyond being a pretty face. Shichiri and Kitsuma had pretty much no chemistry between them, and on the whole, Shichiri's actor was the weakest of them all. Kitsuma and Kei left the best impression of them all, and I hope to see at least Kitsuma in more comedy shows from now on. I think he might have some hidden talent there.
I also agonize over the horrible use of camera angles. In the final scene of the drama, when the lovers finally get to kiss each other, why use angles and fake kissing???!!! That's just stupid. I suppose the actors themselves might have demanded this, but it just felt really fake to end with a faked kiss. Gah! Other than that, I'd have liked to see more of a closure between Kitsuma and Shichiri. Now, it just ended with nothing, but could two people, who have claimed to be twin souls etc, just break off as cleanly as this? Nah, at least not in a dorama, in my opinion.
Now, I really need to read the manga, because I suspect that everything will be better in the original version. Unfortunately, except for volume 1 and 2, all other volumes (up to #6 has been released), are out of stock (or maybe out of print?). Have the demand for the manga been so high, or does Amazon.co.jp just suck at restocking their supplies? The manga is still running in The Desert Magazine, so there shouldn't be any trouble with the author.
Now, what should I watch next? :)