Mar 27, 2020
First of all, this show isn't BL, so if you're expecting to get that kind of content here, I am already telling you to back away. I'll go back to this bit of info later on because I think it's kind of important. I actually am pretty much making this review mainly to criticize that issue.
Anyways, I'll make the review quick, and start off with the characters. Both main characters are very much likable, and one can easily see the the chemistry that builds between them as you watch through the show. The story is decent at best. Having it revolve around mineralogy made it
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refreshing to watch. I feel like there are disconnects between some of the episodes, especially the later ones, but still, it was enjoyable. The artstyle is pretty good. Both characters are very pleasing to look at.
That ends my short review of the show's main elements.
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I thoroughly enjoyed this show, but I do think it has a severe problem of queerbaiting which is the issue I mentioned in the beginning.
Multiple times have Seigi and Richard mentioned their "love" for each other, and yet barely moved forward in their relationship after saying such remarks. Perhaps the biggest show of affection there was was Seigi's heroic deed of traveling overseas to find Richard and free him of his family's reins. Consequently, Richard did the same for Seigi in the final episode, although to a much lesser extent.
Now, I am telling you, I don't think anyone who is merely a "friend" would casually travel overseas to find a"friend", not especially a college student. If that deed isn't an act of love for a significant other, then I don't know what else it is. And yet the show denies from its viewers a deeper manifestation of the two main characters' relationship, limiting it to shallow words of "I really like you" and "I do love you" while also almost coming to a point where the two could have married each other as husbands, despite it being a fixed one. If you fully paid attention to the show, I'm pretty sure you'd agree with me. Seigi and Richard ARE gay.
The bare minimum I expected from this show was for the two to at least acknowledge the fact that they have become lovers after all they have gone through, but the show has denied that to its viewers until the end.
This queerbaiting, I would think, is the pivotal issue of this show. It didn't have to be labeled under the shounen-ai genre to show that two gay men could get explicitly into a relationship. It just really feels weird to me that both would visibly express their love toward each other, all while the show purposefully denies their status as gay lovers. I really think it's about time LGBTQ characters have more presence in more slice of life shows like this. They don't have to be the main focus of the show obviously, but just be granted the acceptance that they DO exist. All the writer/s had to do for the two main characters was to acknowledge and accept that glaring fact that both were gay. The show kept dropping subtle, verbal hints about their status as lovers throughout the show, but still failed to explicitly disclose it in the end.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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