My Beautiful Man (BL) (J)

Short and sweet, this was a cute bite-size drama about a beautiful man and his "creepy" stalker --- don't worry - he was joking. Kind of. 

Hira Kazunari (Hagiwara Riku) is a loner, like hardcore. He has a stutter that makes him never want to open his mouth to speak. Standing behind a camera gives him a sense of control and power that he normally doesn't feel, so his passion is photography. One day, he meets Kiyoi Sou (Yagi Yusei), the most beautiful man he's ever seen, and he falls in love INSTANTLY. 

Let me just say, I am on board. Kiyoi Sou IS super lovely to look at. I get it. 

He, on the other hand, is also the king of the school. Everyone thinks he's cool, because he looks cool. He holds status in the school, which he then uses to order Hira Kazunari around. Kazunari worships him like a god, so he is more than happy to run errands for him (always getting his ginger ale, what is up with his obsession with ginger ale, I mean it's good but damn that's like all he drinks). Over time, Sou senses that Kazunari might be different from the others who blindly worship him, especially when his popularity plummets and everyone ditches him until he get popular again. The only person who stuck with him through it all was Kazunari. When they graduate, Sou takes a risk and kisses Kazunari, running away as he says bye see you later... except he doesn't see him again for quite some time. Kazunari's phone was ruined during the kiss and he took it as a goodbye kiss and just changed his number. WTF?

So Sou thinks that Kazunari has finally abandoned him, like everyone else, and they are sad living their separate lives. Until one day they meet again. Kazunari has a buddy, Koyama Kazuki (Takano Akira), whose brother runs a little dinner and a show place, where Sou is working as an actor. Sparks fly again! Except we learn more about Sou and how he has always wanted to be famous, because he wants to be loved. It's actually pretty sad. So Kazuki has been harboring a crush on Kazunari, who is still pining for Sou, so things get a little tricky while they sort through some misunderstandings. Things come to a head when Sou gets it through Kazunari's head that he loves him but he doesn't want to be worshipped like a god. He has a great scene where he screams that he is just a man and wants to be loved like a normal man. Everything clicks into place and it's super sweet and lovely. Sou has leveled the playing ground with his creepy (trust me, he says it like a term of endearment) stalker, and all is well.

There are only six episodes to this drama, so it's super easy to watch in one go. For being so short, I appreciate the emotional depth that they got to and the rawness of the insecurities of each of the main characters.

Very cute!