Our Youth

Honey on eggs

First things first – in my opinion, this is one of the best BL series ever made. It is realistic and romantic, it is brutal and poetic, it is full of angst, yet full of love as well. The genius writer of this series (Miura Yoiku) found a beautiful metaphor for all this: Minase: ”Honey on eggs?” Hirukawa: ”Yes, seems impossible, right? You think I'm lying? Try it first.” Minase: ”Mhm, delicious.”

”Our Youth” is the seemingly impossible love story of the well-behaved, excellent high school student Minase (Motojima Junsei) and troublemaker Hirukawa (Kamimura Kenshin). At first, Minase doesn't like Hirukawa, and is even scared of him after he watches him attacking a teacher. Things change when Minase witnesses Hirukawa being beaten up by his drunk father, a brutal scene, which happens several times in the first half of the series. Minase helps the injured boy, and even defends him when he is threatened to be expelled from the school.

As the boys open up to each other, albeit in very small steps, it becomes obvious that they share a similar backstory.

Hirukawa stayed at his father's when his mother fled from her husband's domestic violence, because he didn't want to disturb her new family. His father's brutality has a devastating effect on the boy – he thinks that he is as bad as his father, and thus believes that he isn't worthy to be loved by anyone.

Minase's parents also separated, and he stays with his mother, who is absent most of the time, but when she is there, she keeps suggesting girlfriends, and later fiancées to Minase. Minase's father is a respected director, and Hirukawa, who dreams of becoming a filmmaker, is happy when Minase takes him to a premiere. The event turns out to be a disappointment for Minase, though, because his father again has no time for his son. On the other hand, the two boys' visit to Hirukawa's mother becomes a pleasant trip to the seaside.

Then Hirukawa's father drinks himself to death, and Hirukawa b...

This is a story spread out over a period of several years and starts when two guys meet in high school and get into a relationship that they keep secret from everyone. Some spoilers ahead: when one's father passes away unexpectedly, it sends him on an emotional tailspin and he goes off alone to deal with his issues. This causes them to lose touch for five years, but then one day they meet back up again and pick up the pieces of their former relationship. The series is good, although a bit slow paced, and it gives you the kind of feeling of a lost love for much of the series. It comes to a point where they agree to get married, but have to wait for the laws to change for that to happen and it seems like that would be the end of the series. However, there is one episode after that deals with their inability to get married and also that they are still in the closet and one is ready to come out, but the other isn't. This is a bit of a contradiction as the one that isn't ready to come out is also the one that wants to get married the most; so the story really ends on a peaceful note, and still happy, but with some issues unresolved.

Lonely, sad, and lovely.

Our Youth was a series I started on a whim. I really didn't have any beforehand knowledge on what the series was going to be about besides what's written in the description which is rather short and vague. I came into the series thinking it would be somewhat similar to I Cannot Reach You, but was quickly disillusioned. Our Youth is a very sad story that delves into a lot of serious topics, the main one being child abuse.
If I had known this before hand I probably wouldn't have watched it tbh. I don't really like watching sad dramas, but kudos to where they are deserved. The writers and director did a really great job depicting these problems and showing how teenagers might react to them. The actors also did a great job bringing the characters to life and making the story feel very believable. I enjoyed watching their budding relationship, but honestly I wasn't particularly happy with the ending/special episode. Even though the two characters do find their happy ending together, it still felt rather lonely. I know that's one of the themes of the story, but this series was made in 2024 and the characters were acting like it's 2014 when it comes to people's views on homosexuality. I really didn't understand why the writers chose to have the characters stay in the closet, especially considering that one of the problems the characters faced was loneliness/isolation, so to end the story without them fully overcoming that felt like a bit of a let down even if their relationship at the end was very sweet and lovely.

General info for anyone wanting to know:
• Is the series spicy/nsfw? No, there are only a handful of kissing scenes, no nc scenes.
• Is there violence or noncon? Yes, this show depicts child abuse in its entirety and shows bloodshed.
• Is there a love triangle? No.
• Is the special episode worth watch? Yes, it concludes the story.