The most reader-friendly image I can find for a splash image before the cut.
You have heard from Briar and her entry on Junjoun Romantica.. Now it is my turn, the guys’ perspective of BL (yes, surprise!). As a promise to my girlfriend (the other promise being blogging Angelique which I decided not to since I gave her a live line by line personal fandub translation), I will be blogging the first episode of this series. In addition, I did comment in Hinano’s blog about blogging this episode, so it will be quite fun to write something, at the very least.
Instead of doing a straight review of the first episode, I decided that my brain cannot take the amount of pressure to write it. Junjou Romantica is one of the few boy-love series that is given a whole season’s treatment. This review will be a chronological order of my reaction on my viewing of this episode. For some background information, I tend to scream, laugh and talk a lot when I am watching anime by myself. That is why whatever goes after the cut is 100% true. Have fun listening to my pain joy at watching this show. Everything in quotes is what I said while watching. Anything else are my thoughts.
Start – Going into the show, I have no clue what I should expect. Well, I know from the blog of Hinano and the suggestive review by Shin that “Balls are touching” clearly does not mean that they are playing some domino ball bearing knocks. Needless to say, I am bracing myself for the worst. Like downright scarring of my mind forever.
0:13 – The first BL alert as we see Takahiro having a hugging fit with Usami. I am still able to tolerate this level of yaoi, due to the various BL yaoi shows that has desensitized my fear of anything that is BL. More disturbingly, I did not find it disgusting at all.
1:15 – “Wow, the OP is really good,” I thought in my mind as I just finished my breakfast. I took my Lipton tea as my daily routine. I didn’t know how much of a ride I am going to get with this. I personally think that the OP is one of the best OPs for this season and fits a romantic mood.
2:30 – Misaki is actually a rather clueless but nice male lead for a BL show. I got a bit sick of those stupid shows where the submissive character looks more like a girl than a guy. I mean, what the hell is wrong with people who like BL? You want BL, yet you want it to appear straight? Duh, whatever that means.
4:02 – BL tendencies in manga drawings. That is so expected, but it’s amusing to see how the novels is clearly Usami’s fantasies. Sure, I am just telling the whole world how I want to have hot steamy sex with my buddy.
6:25 – Just find any random male!TIME FOR HARD STEAMY SEX! I have run off from my computer, muted the scene and completely refuse to go close. Yes, you can tell that my resistance toward any overt sexual action between the two. In fact, it is a good thing that I am not gouging and scratching my eyes out from the sight, and the fact that I already predicted such a scene. Good time to run away for sure.
8:40 – I laughed so darn hard. The scenarios for the reason for Usami’s sexual tendencies is so stereotypical that it seems like a parody of all BL love shows. That is something I feel that is quite different in which Junjou Romantica is ready to bend over and laugh at itself.
9:16 – So funny how the two think that they will not fit each other when they already have some foreplay already for their truly first meeting. That’s pretty funny for me.
11:15 – “Aww, that is cute.” Most of the BL “bang bang bang” action has totally disappeared from my mind (Well, most of it). I actually like how Usami and Misaki are going to work together for Misaki to get to Mizumachi. I personally like the humor.
13:00 – If you really love him, you should get rid of his female partner. BL alert, BL alert! I cannot resist screaming and scratching my hair in agony. Just when I am getting into the comedy of the show, the BL part had to come. I am in despair!
15:17 – Why is my heart fluttering? Ya, you have been signed on to the Pink Ribbon project. “It’s a bird. No, It’s a plane. No, it’s BL TIME!” (If you are wondering, I really said that while watching this, but I am very quiet when I watch anime with others).
15:44 – Wow, and I thought that the box is holding a ring. It’s time for love-love proposal for Usami.
16:12 – OH OH, marriage! Duh duh duh~ Just that it’s not you. Owned.
16.55 – This reminds me of Azure Flame. Misaki hates you for going STRAIGHT. Misaki believes that you will go HARD GAY with Usami, but you have betrayed him. Of course, Misaki will also be happy with HARD YURI viewing, but the Liang might prevail more for him. I blame you, Karura.
17:20 – A sob scene? Misaki has clearly gone past the line of being normal to a gayish BL loving teenager. “Am I supposed to feel sad”
18:00 – “Kissu! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” This is such a surprise attack that I did not have time to even cover my eyes. or my ears. or my MPC player to fast forward the scene.
19:23 – While hugging him, I have strong feelings that cannot be confirmed. Can I be the special someone for him? I think the plot requires you to be special for him.
20:42 – I know I have been brainwashed by the powers of BL, when I immediately thought that this will be yet another BL sex scene. I cannot think of anyone else to blame but Thirteensugars for her various attempts to force me in watching yaoi. Damn you, I knew I made a mistake by getting her as my girlfriend. For all who have not gone down that slippery slope, find a non-yaoi loving fangirl for a girlfriend.
20:51 – “Resistance is futile!” That is when Usami happily takes off Misaki’s buttons after he buttons them wrongly. It’s almost too coincidental.
21:20 – “IT’S RAPING TIME”. Is it just me but I thought that the name Usami is so appropriate? I mean, bunnies are just about the most active animals when it comes to sex.
End of viewing – Despite all the bad timings of the BL scenes (which disgust me in general), Junjou Romantica turns out to be quite a decent watch for me. Perhaps it is the resistance built up from viewing, but I am generally able to prepare myself by running away from the computer with the predictable BL scenes. When they end, I can come back to view the comedy scenes. I must say that I laughed during quite a few scenes, and it is not that bad actually. Will I watch a second episode of this?
I don’t know. I might. I might not. Let’s see what you guys want.
23 Comments
Uh, so what the hell was this about, it seems like the viewer is just thrown into a mess and the main objective is BL. I’m so confused. Unless it’s supposed to be slice of life, then I might be confused.
I knew a girl nicknamed “Thumper” (bunny
Oh my God, Impz, you REALLY did it. The end of the world has begun…
Anyway, it was such a hilarious entry to read! For a girl like me it’s pretty much interesting how you guys react to the BL series after actually WATCHING them. Thanks a lot!
Oh, and obviously DO WANT more of your Junjou Romantica summaries.
“Instead of doing a straight review of the first episode, I decided that my brain cannot take the amount of pressure to write it.”
Impz, it’s ok…we already know about your odd tendencies towards men. Just write from the heart like you want to…we’re ready for a *cough* slightly skewed opinion.
Come on, it was good and you know it. Embrace t3h ghey \o/ Show definitely needs more manly tender loving though, there simply wasn’t enough of it present to make me cringe as I was basically giggling the whole way.
No…just….no.
Oh my Haruhi.
Well fuck. Can’t believe you actually did it. How did you let yourself been deceived to watch this?
I had faith in you. I thought you have taste. I thought well of you.
Turn out you’re just a blogging fot the lulz.
…
“Will I watch a second episode of this? I don’t know. I might. I might not. Let’s see what you guys want.”
DO NOT WANT.
I want the good old Impz back.
What a drama queen lol. *referring to comment above mine*
Nice, you’re doing a review for this.
I might actually watch this (oh noes) for the lulz..
Again, I said that I ‘MIGHT’ watch it..lol
It’s not that bad, the BL scenes are some what embarrassing to watch, even though I enjoy watching BL dramas.
Hahahahha I kinda forgot that rabbits breed like rats.
Yes! Good job, Thirteensugars! You’re obviously the greatest! Yes, please force Impz to watch and blog the second episode. (This is obviously the only way to get Impz to do it…)
haha, I applaud your courage Impz XD
but….
gee, what a way to ruin a bunny’s image
I agree with Jen- thirtensugars just HAS to force Impz to blog more XD
I was quite amused by this entry ^^” though laughing at someones despair is kinda wrong…
@Ryan: ehhh? What are you doing? Well, Briar is the one who is blogging it properly. For me, it’s just a continual assessment of the series through a timed chronological order. The timing is exactly the time where I had a thought or mouthed out something. Something new I am trying.
@Bakaneko: O_O;; Ya, I did promise to write it, so i did. honestly though, I probably wouldn’t be able to tolerate anything of BL 1 year ago. You can blame the disturbing influence of 13sugars that I am not too resistant. As long as I keep forcing myself to believe that Misaki is a female instead of a male (which is hard btw), I think it is fine. In addition, when I realize that there’s a BL scene, I give myself enough time to duck, I might survive this.
@Rieu: I was hoping someone caught the “straight” joke. I planted quite a few of them for good measure. =3
@Shin: LOL, I do not think that there is a need for manly tender loving. If it turns to that, I am definitely not viewing anything of it. AT ALL. I am straight, and prefer hot smexy girl x boy action!
@Calawain: yes, yes, yes.
@Leviathan: Well, if you cover all the BL scenes (which is like 1/3 of the show), there are actually some good jokes there that mocks the shit out of the genre. Still, I do not think I will blog another episode of this, simply because I prefer to keep my sanity in check. In addition, my girlfriend is extremely lazy and refuses to write.
@Rita: Heh!
@Setsukyie: Welcome to the brainwashed crowd. Warning: Skip past 6 minutes to 8 minutes and take massive cover. I did.
@Cherubium: I don’t enjoy it a bit. I like my shoujo romance.
@Jen: LOL, i doubt she will. I will kick her ass.
@Usagijen: But bunnies are highly productive animals. They reproduce so MUCH!
@Bamboowitch: lol, glad it gave you a bit of humor along the way.
Ya know, I’m fine with people not liking BL anime since most of them are horrible. But seriously, lay off the talk about how disgusted you are. It’s not cooties and it’s not contagious. Though to be truthful I could do without the BL scenes since they embarrass me more then anything.
@Anne: I don’t think i have dissed it at all. Most of the dissing came from the BL scenes but I actually enjoy it a lot. Perhaps it might sound offending to you, and i apologize for that. ^^
I do like the humor, the op is great and the characters are decently nice.
Wow~ First time I have ever read a straight guy’s review of something from the BL genre, it was amusing and very fascinating to read. I can understand the ducking and running away from my computer screen at the ‘hot and heavy’ parts in the series. Though I am a fan of BL, I also experience the urge run away or let out nervous giggles–though it is more from embarrassment then disgust. XD
I think you should give the rest of the series a try! I’m looking forwards towards the introduction of the 2nd couple of the series personally. The plot is more developed, serious, lolarious, and a lot more heart warming (though there are like 4+ BL steamy moments that I can recall–however I still think you should give it a try, but that is from my very biased opinion).
Well! If you decide to watch another episode of the series, I would definitely come back and read your reaction to it. 8D
Lol. Expected reaction from a male. Though I have met some rare ones who actually like it and are perfectly straight.
@Kim: *sighs* Everyone loves the Egoist couple, ne? I like how sweet Nowaki is but I think as a couple I actually like the first one better.
It is nice to read this review from a straight male. I am glad that your review is fair and I understand your feelings. You are also a good boyfriend because you’ve tried to watch it. ^ ___ ^
omg that was such a funny thing xD I was reading what you wrote and remembering my best friend and I watching it. XD lol I really enjoyed this, watch the oder ones! it would be really funny -have watched till 6 ep- X3
you did great job watching it, you’re girlfriend should be happy :3
I’ve just recently in the last few months been watching anime and i stubled on junjou, i actually really liked it and this is going to sound crazy as im a girl wish i were a guy and being gay.lol what u gonna do, im just may be a very weird person. but anyway even though i know enough gay men i found their sexual activities a bit …… well somewhat scarey lol well at first. Junjou really has helped me understand gay relationships a bit more but as i say im very open and know many gay men, Usami reminds me so much of my work collegues who was a manager of a toy store B4 he got a better job, well hes 100% all man love even though he is a typical bloke n you wouldnt think he was gay unless he told you and of course we worked with toys n loved toys, lol that why i think he reminds me of usami but his personality is different in many respects.lol well i think hes a hottie n wish i was a guy just so i could….u know have some lovin with him, lol! yes i am crazy and im a very open and very dirty young lady, lol lol maybe because ive considered havin a girlfriend myself but i think my boyfriend will enjoy that too much lol
So anyway, i think junjou is a very good anime series in itself as its not all pure gay sex and you could imagine of such events happening in lifes of many gau men or sexually confused young men. yep one of my old school friends, well he went out with girls but i knew he was gay n yep he finally came out b4 he hit 20. i love men, lol
thank you and im on youtube with this username, keep watching anime xxxx
This made me lulz pretty bad. You did very good, though. Most guys I know wouldn’t even come close to the cover of Junjou Romantica. Of course, I do know some boys who will read yaoi and they are completely straight– they’ll even read the sex scenes. His response to when I ask him why: *deadpan* “I’m bored.” *goes back to reading*
Most men are highly immature about reading BL or watching BL. I can see that you were slightly immature about it (the ducking and covering for dear life). I’m a girl, of course, and I like BL, of course, but I know that I can easily watch het or homo (BL or Yuri) without flinching. It’s human nature for some people and all of it is beautiful and interesting. It’s very interesting, though, to see how difficult it is for straight men to view gay relationships between other men…
I loved your sassy little comments, though, those were enjoyable.
“It’s a bird. No, It’s a plane. No, it’s BL TIME!” (If you are wondering, I really said that while watching this, but I am very quiet when I watch anime with others)
XD You should make more comments like this with others too, I’m sure they’d lulz.
AHAHAHAHAH oh man. you made my day with your article (which was kinda posted ages ago but I just read it today). I’m not the type to post comments but you are seriously so awesome. I laughed my ass off at your article and I really feel like watching Junjou Romantica just to see through the points of your reviews. Man~~ a guys views on BL. You sure are brave to watch yaoi ^^;;. It’s really hilarious to read your review and thoughts. I haven’t laughed so hard in ages.
LOL *wipes away a tear* just imagining the faces you pulled whilst watching this makes me laugh hysterically.
How long did it take for your eye to stop twitching? As it goes this probably wasn’t a bad one for you to watch. The love scenes in the anime are MUCH tamer than they are in manga.
Word of advice, if your wifey asks you to read anything by Yamane Ayano run away.
And if she asks you to watch Bokuna no sexual harrassment, run away and join the witness protection program. That one made me squeamish, I couldn’t eat corn on the cob for a year…
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