It's not a secret that I'm a fan of BL (Boy's Love), but I usually just watch anime or read a lot of comics about it. However, a few days ago, while I was scrolling through series and movies to watch on Netflix, I stumbled upon an interesting trailer of an LGBTQ series called "Heartstopper".
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The story is basically about two teenage boys named Charlie and Nick. Charlie (on the left), is open about his sexuality. He has been bullied about it, but he's trying to live a normal life as much as he could. Despite that aim, he's quite an overthinker, so it's really challenging for him to have a quiet and harmonious life. Nick (on the right) is quite the opposite. He's the star player of the rugby team and is very cheerful. He's soft-hearted, but is also struggling to meet the expectations of others.
Their paths crossed when they were made to sit together in one of their classes. Charlie found Nick very friendly and kind... he was kind of attracted to him but somehow disregard his feelings because he was sure there was no chance. However, as they spend more time together, Nick found himself very curious about Charlie. His interest in him grew.
Heartstopper is tackles issues on love, friendship and even mental health.
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Heartstopper's story didn't only revolve around Nick and Charlie but also their friends'. There were a couple of cute "side-couples/stories" in the series as well. One of those is of a transgender and the other were of lesbians. Their stories are equally heartwarming and interesting. My fave character is actually named "TAO", one of Charlie's friends. He has such a strong personality that I find him pretty interesting. :)
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Above is the official trailer of the said series. You'd see some of their interactions there as well as the other interesting characters.
I personally find the story very cute, though it's kind of cliche... (at least for me). The reason for that is I have read and watched a lot of BL in the past decade that the stories are almost quite similar. Despite that, I think the way the actors acted in the series was really nice. They seem very natural and believable.
I haven't read the comics or the graphic novel version of this story yet, but I suppose there are quite a number of cute effects that the artist used which the movie also followed. For example:
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The falling leaves in the first picture and the change of color plus falling cherry blossom petals in the second picture. I think these effects added to the cuteness of the series. Through this, I can somehow imagine what art style is used in the comics. hahaha
But really, the series is really cute... but it doesn't stop there. There are a lot of interesting scenes where we can all cringe, laugh, admire and even get angry at. All in all, I really enjoyed it. And to top it off, each episode is only less than 30 minutes long!!!! I guess it's one of the reasons why I could watch it easily. I seldom watch series aside from animated ones because they're usually very long... but this one is short, so even with a busy schedule, I could still finish the whole series easily. :D
If you're not against LGBTQ or if you're curious about these types of movies or series, I highly recommend this one. It's just light that even non-fans can enjoy. :)
I'll end this post here. See you around!!! (^^,)/
