Boys Who Like Boys to be Boys…
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WHEN it comes to anime, I have very little experience with the Boys Love genre. I’m all about the magical girl stories, but when it comes to actual series where the love is told from the perspective of two gay men, I just haven’t seen very many. So, when the opportunity came to review a title called Love Stage, I couldn’t pass it up.
Love Stage is a series about Izumi Sena (the son of a famous entertainers) who’s asked to reprise his role in the tenth anniversary reshoot of a famous Japanese commercial opposite Ryoma Ichijo, one of Japan’s most popular up-and-coming actors. It’d be a dream role for anyone, except, that in the original commercial, Izumi was dressed as a little girl, and only his mother knows the truth. In the shoot Ryoma and Izumi are now the couple getting marries, and to top it off, the commercial ends with a kiss.
Will Izumi enjoy it? And what will Ryoma think when the girl of his dreams turns out to be a guy in jeans? It’s a tale of literal star-crossed lovers and shifting alignments as a completely unexpected drama and hysterical comedy. It’s very well done.
Released on 07/30/2019 the two disc blu-ray set includes all ten episodes of the series, plus the original OVA (original video animation) directed by Kenchi Kasai. Not only is the series presented in the original Japanese language (with English subtitles) it also includes an all new English dub with some of the anime’s biggest voice actors including Greg Ayres as Izumi and Adam Gibbs as Ryoma.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started watching the series. As I mentioned, I’ve had very little experience with Boys Love series – so, I put it in, expecting to watch just a few episodes to get a feel for the series and start the review. What I did, was end up watching the entire 10 episodes and the OVA (which serves as a short continuation / one-shot after the series finale) in one sitting. The animation was cute – and beautifully drawn with fun characters and a comedic and well-written script.
Though most of the series is light and fun, it also touches on a dark and often over-looked part of the world of an LGBT community – rape culture and the dangerous mentally of the toxic masculinity. The scene in question is a moment where Izumi is surrounded by a group of douche-bag boys who just want to get off – and don’t care what Izumi has to say about it. Taking the situation into his own hands, Izumi fights back – escaping the guys and making his back to the safety of his friends. It’s an experience many LGBT people have faced – on any given day in any given situation. When the situation is seen, it’s either played to induce a trauma that breaks the victim or as a sexual fantasy they’ve been waiting for. Love Stage handles the situation, maybe not with kid-gloves, but in a way that is very real and emotional. What’s wonderful about the series is that the situation is not something that breaks Izumi, but rather, makes him stronger in his self-confidence.
It’s wonderful.
Released on July 30th through Sentai Filmworks, 2019 Love Stage is a series not to be missed. You can purchase Love Stage through Sentai directly (https://www.sentaifilmworks.
Since 2008 Sentai Filmworks has worked tirelessly to ensure that anime and other Japanese content is more accessible globally throughout multiple mediums is available to fans all over the world. Love Stage © 2014 Eiki EIKI • Taishi ZAOU / PUBLISHED BY KADOKAWA / LOVE STAGE!! Partners
