Filthy Casual for Life

We all have anime series that introduced us to a different genre, art style, etc. Love Stage!! was one of the first boy’s love (BL) that I watched.

BL is not everyone’s cup of tea, so if you don’t want to read about two boys/men falling in love, you should skip this.

Sena Izumi. Izumi is a college student who aspires to be a manga artist. However, there is one problem. He absolutely sucks at it. He comes from an show-business family. His mother is a film actress, his older brother is the lead vocalist of a popular band, and his father is a director. Despite coming from such an artistic family, Izumi refuses to go into the business.

Why Izumi refuses to go into show business. His mother and father were filming a wedding commercial. When a child actress was unable to make it to the shoot, Izumi’s mother volunteered Izumi because of his feminine looks. They dressed him up as a girl and no one could tell he was a boy. In the first take, he was supposed to catch the bouquet but dropped it from stage fright. He started to cry and wet himself.

Enter second protagonist Ichijo Ryoma. Child actor Ryoma helped out Izumi by sharing a crystal marble that his grandmother gave him. He tells Izumi that it has the ability to calm him down. Izumi hugs the marble and tells himself to calm down. Magically, his stage fright melts away and he gives a great performance.

Ichijo Ryoma. Ichijo Ryoma was a child actor that starred in a commercial with Izumi when they were young. As he grew up, like most child actors, the roles started to dry up. Following his dream, Ryoma did whatever it took to make a name for himself. Fast forward to present day. He’s a top actor. However, he has never forgotten the beautiful girl from his childhood days. He carries the marble that reminds him of Izumi’s eyes.

The fateful encounter. It’s the 10th anniversary of the wedding commercial and they want to cast the same actors to play in the wedding of the two children from the first commercial. At first, Izumi refuses, but his older brother promises him a special alarm clock with the voice actor of his favorite anime character, Lala-Lulu. At the shoot, Izumi has the same stage fright and trips on the first take. Ryouma swoops in with the marble and calms Izumi down. Filming is going great up until the moment Ryouma kisses Izumi. Apparently, Izumi’s manager left that part out of the script.

He ends up finishing the commercial. Ryouma seeks out Izumi to confess his feelings to “her”. Izumi’s protective brother, Shougo, breaks the news that Izumi is a male. Ryouma is obviously shocked and walks away. Despite the revelation, he still has feelings for Izumi.

Dubious behavior. There is a scene in which Ryouma takes advantage of Izumi. His sexual feelings become too much and he starts to make out with non-consenting Izumi.

The start of a friendship. Ryouma decides that he is going to apologize to Izumi and begs him to become his friend. Izumi accepts him as a texting buddy. Ryouma is thrilled and texts Izumi all the time despite his taxing filming schedule. Slowly, Izumi begins to develop feelings for Ryouma but is confused because Ryouma is male. He even goes as far as ordering a ton of BL manga to do “research.”

Love. It takes Izumi awhile to get there, but he realizes how much he cares for Ryouma. So much, when he comes to the realization, he rushes to Ryouma and tells him “let’s do it.” “IT” being sex which they do. Ryouma questions Izumi and assumes that he only had sex with him because he pitied him. Izumi laughs and realizes that he never actually told Ryouma that he loved him.

Show business. It appears at the end that Izumi goes into show business after all appearing in ads and commercials.

THOUGHTS.

Is it the best BL in the world. No.

Is it the worst BL in the world. Also no.

I saw a story about a boy who looked very feminine and his struggle to understand his feelings toward the love interest.

However, upon researching this anime, I found that it has a mostly negative review due to its “sexual assault” scene. Maybe I am part of the problem. I totally didn’t put one-and-one together.

Without that scene, the show is pretty wholesome as the two protagonists explore their sexuality and feelings for the same-sex despite not having same-sex feelings before.

Unfortunately, this show is marred by the “sexual assault” scene, and therefore, I must recommend that you do not watch this anime, especially is you are triggered by non-consensual touching/kissing.