I think a lot of people might've liked this cause of the Japanese version, or maybe they're big fans of the Love Stage Manga. Maybe it's because the show stayed pretty authentic to the book, or maybe because they are deeply connected down to the roots of these characters after following them for so long. But for me, someone who hasn't done any of the former, this was chaos thrown into a blender to create a cohesive series, but they left out the most important part of the drink, and now we're left with a terrible aftertaste that we can't get rid of.

Let's Dive In.

This was...something. I went into this pretty exciting cause I had seen some pretty good reviews and comments, again, could be that those were the ones that just love Love Stage for what it is, but anyway, I went into this with some pretty high expectations. All of them besides a few were let down. Love Stage is the story of Anda who was forced to play a girl at a young age for a commercial and meets Ryou, his castmate. Years passed, and for whatever reason, Ryou just can't get that "girl" out of his head. Until he finds out that little girl was actually a dude, and goes through a mid-life crisis. Some shit happens and then it's happily ever, bonus is the brother and his secret love with their family manager.

Now we'll skip the authenticity sake of this series cause I've never read the mangas and I have no plans to. This was just a wild manga to adapt into a series if they were staying true to the original story. It could've one-hundred percent worked for the book, but here, it's just insane. The fact that Ryou, a now-grown adult who has been through the hoops of fame and fortune, is still hung up on a one-time encounter when he was a child is ridiculous. I can't even name to you the kids in my elementary school, much less the people I had crushes on at that age (and I'm only 19). The entire main plot is foolish, and once I was able to look past that, I shrugged and moved on. Then some more idiotic things occur, some of them cute, and others just plain boring, and I pretty much just wanted to skip to see the brother and the manager, the saving grace of this series.

Anda and Ryou felt stupidly rushed. one minute Ryou hates that Anda's a man and hates the fact that he has feelings for him, and then with the flick of the wrist, he's flirting and pretending like he didn't just assault Anda in a bathroom that left his tooth chipped and manhood exposed (that scene...?? was incomprehensible..?? Definitely had to be from the manga cause there's no way they put that into the series and thought, "Oh yeah, this is it!"). Then they had no time to really develop (the one thing that was getting me through the series. I love watching the build-up to the relationship), but then they go and rush for them to be in a relationship, and after their sufficient in that, they just become insufferable and the plot becomes too predictable, and I mean tooooo predictable. To the point that I skipped episode 9 and just went straight to the ending, and look at that! Exactly what I thought would happen happened!

The acting is just not all that great besides Turbo and the brother, everyone else could use some work. Kaownah was okay at times, and then it just wasn't clicking anymore. The friends were straight trash and the fake laugh that Bank give somewhere in the first episodes completely turned me off, and I actually wanted to like him. The manager was okay too, nothing great, but at least he was more appealing to look at. The parents were fine, Lala was bearable, and I skipped that lady manager cause she was perverted and screeched each second she had the time to.

I absolutely loved the brother's and the manager's story. I think the way they implemented it to where the viewer starved for more, and for just a second when we thought we weren't going to get a canon, boom, they reveal their secret relationship. I love a good secret, especially when it comes in six-packs and tattoos. I loved Thee's charismatic side and the way he played the protective older brother. While trying to secure his brother's happiness, he also had to go looking for his own, which he found in his manager. Man, I really liked this duo, they fell flat a few times, but their trip on the beach was the best part.

Great bed scenes, great kisses, something I will always applaud to. But even that got a little stale after a while, and Anda having the body of a 12-year-old didn't help much either. I'm tired of touching on non-con in BL, so it is what it is, and I'm moving on for the sake of my own sanity.

Ratings:

Story: 6.5: The beginning was a bit fun, I could play into the laughable plot for a bit, and then I wasn't really feeling it. Once they get together (which is heavily rushed) things get boring and predictable, and then I doze off and forget I'm even watching. I skipped an entire episode cause I could care less about the main couple and it just got so boring that I thought I would drop this at one point. The brother's story was cute. Anda makes for a beautiful bride, and evil Bank honestly counts as a highlight.

Acting: 7: Ehh, Turbo was their best bet, everyone else needed more workshops. The parents were okay I guess, and the brother and manager had a cute enough story that I wasn't all that much bothered with their acting, although the brother was actually good. Anda's friends were talking robots the entire time, and tried too hard to be funny, it came off forced and unwatchable.

Music: 7.5 - there was one song that played during their sequence at the beach that I absolutely loved. I watched this on YT where for some reason, during a few episodes, the music is cut out, so after that, I didn't bother remembering to listen. It was decent I guess, the brother couldn't sing to save his life, but whatever.

Rewatch value: 1 - highly unlikely unless I want to watch Thee pop out of the pool in slow motion again on a loop.

Watch this if you want, I wouldn't recommend it, but at least if you watch, the actors weren't afraid to touch one another and weren't afraid to get down and dirty. The story is a mess and not one that I'm particularly a fan of. Another BL that will be long forgetful in like 6 months.