I Cannot Reach You: Episode 8 ~ FINALE {Watch Party Wednesday #7-BL}
Hello, Internet, and good mornight to you all!
My name is Taffryne, shoppekeeper of Midnight on Memory Lane, and it is my absolute delight to welcome you to the final BL-type post for the September schedule of Watch Party Wednesday!
'Tis a pleasure, 'tis a pleasure indeed.
As the title of this post says, we're going to be talking about the eighth and final episode of the Japanese BL-drama based on the manga of the same name, I Cannot Reach You.
I humbly present my thoughts for your enjoyment and consideration. Accordingly, please mind that there will be spoilers ahead!
MyDramaList Link: click here!
Disclaimer: I apologize if there are any crucial cultural notes or nuances that I misunderstand or fail to recognize. I, unfortunately, must trust the accuracy of the translated subtitles to accurately represent the story and characters.
*Trigger Warnings: Attempted Kissing of an Unconscious Person (Failed), Misunderstandings, Confession of Feelings, Lovey-Dovey People Do Lovey-Dovey things
Episode 8
Recollection
- Ohara stops himself from kissing Kakeru while he's asleep (character development???)
- All of the school's couples have become unbearably lovey-dovey as the Christmas season and Winter Break approaches
- Kakeru asks Ohara out for a date on Christmas Eve where he plans to confess
- Kakeru's motivation scores him a 94 on a test!!!
- Ohara rescues a girl from pushy guys on his way to meet Kakeru from their date and she ends up going with them to the cafe
- Ohara tells the girl that they're just childhood friends, so Kakeru gets upset and decides to go home
- Kakeru thinks that Ohara brought the girl because he actually doesn't like him that much and spills out all his feelings
- Ohara tells Kakeru that he only helped the girl because it's something Kakeru would've done
- Kakeru confesses to Ohara and then they cry hug
- Later on, Kakeru takes it further and asks Ohara to officially be his boyfriend; Ohara naturally says yes
- They have their first actual kiss in the nurse's office!
- They go on to be happily together as boyfriend and boyfriend~
Congratulations to the happy couple!!!
I'm so proud that Kakeru not only got a 94 on his test, but also finally recognized and was honest about his feelings!
Let's give a round-of-applause for emotional awareness!
Let's also congratulate Ohara for finally realizing that he shouldn't kiss unconscious or unwilling people!!! Unhappy that he had to learn, but glad he learned nonetheless...
I'm incredibly glad that the whole "whoops! I brought a random girl who asks intrusive questions to our special Christmas Eve date!" problem was a literal footnote of this episode. I would've been quite peeved if it had taken up substantial screentime this late in the game.
Just a little side note, and perhaps it's simply a stylistic thing, but does Ohara have a thing for whipping around curtains in order to flirt with Kakeru? He's not done it much, to be fair, but it seems a bit too readily of a go-to for him, hehe.
Honestly, I'm just so, so pleased that the two of them worked through their angst, panic, and rough-patch to get to where they are.
Ohara, may you find yourself less anguished by pent-up, one-sided affections for your best friend.
Kakeru, may you find yourself less insecure about Ohara and less stressed about your schoolwork.
To the both of you: May you continue on happily ever after in the fictional realm!
Series Reflection
Honestly? I think that I Cannot Reach You was a quaint little drama about two schoolboys working through their feelings in order to grow from their issues into a very sweet couple. It's nothing too heavy or too complicated; just a simple little confession story.
I don't think I could say that it's the most tooth-rotting, fluffy BL I've watched so far. I think it exists in a good medium between cavity-inducing fluff and headache-inducing angst. I might pick up the manga in the future to see how the two compare. Since the drama only had roughly 4-ish hour of collective runtime, I would imagine that they had to expedite certain arcs or cut others out entirely. The manga itself (as far as I know) is at volume 10 and still ongoing.
As far as recommending this series, I'd say I would! I don't think I would sell it as one of the most spectacular, top highest quality, super emotionally-driven BLs...but I would definitely say that it's good for a quick and sweet watch on a quiet afternoon!
Bonus
Okay, so, I went to go check out the original manga details which led me through a series of webpages and ultimately ended up with me finding out that OHARA'S ACTOR IS KAMEN RIDER REVICE!?!?!
What's funnier is that this is NOT the first time a Kamen Rider has gone on to be a lead in a BL drama, hehe
Thanks for Reading!
I hope you've been able to watch and experience the story for yourself!
What did you think of the main couple? The side characters? Would you recommend this to anyone or rewatch it in the future?
If you haven't, that's okay too! My thoughts are here to keep you updated and entertained in the meantime.
This caps off this post, so off into the nighttime I go to publish the next one shortly!
May we meet again at Midnight!