❝ If we're still the same, then I don't want to...

It's exactly what it says on the tin. Utsukushii Kare is the story of Hira, a seventeen year old who is passionate about photography, that and the new student at his school, Kiyoi So, our titular “beautiful man.” The first half of the story is about how Hira keeps following Kiyoi around and in a way, submits to him. To be honest, I found his behaviour self-demeaning and the development of this “relationship” somewhat irksome.

And then episode 4 hits and wham! Viewers are suddenly hurtled into this whole new world. And this, I believe, is the shows winning point. Kiyoi’s point of view. All of a sudden there's no idol, there's no hero, no star–there's just a boy named Kiyoi with some broken dreams a sad heart and a yearning for something he isn't even sure of himself.

Utsukushii Kare isn't the story of how a weak boy fell for his bully, rather it brings out the complexity of these boys which pushes them apart and draws them together, each pulling at each other with a magnetism that is equally strong. There is an arrogance to them both; the difference is that while Kiyoi’s arrogance is obvious, Hira’s arrogance is imperceptible.

And maybe in a parallel “better” universe, Hira would fall for the “better” boy, his friend Koyama who accepts him freely. But what does "better" even mean? Difficult as it is to grasp, however obnoxious you may find it to be, better to Hira and Kiyoi is when they're together. The final episode hit the ball out of the park.

The actors bring their characters to life and perfectly delivered on the intense scenes. The shows is also filmed beautifully. To sum it up, Utsukushii Kare was unexpected.