Eternal Yesterday is a Japanese BL that has completely captured my heart to become my favorite of 2022. 

This series has everything: mystery, friends to lovers, the undead, and of course, romance. While many Japanese BL dramas (especially teen dramas) are fluffy and fun, which Eternal Yesterday is, it also adds some steam. 

In last week’s episode (set entirely in the past), we learned that Koichi (Komiya Rio) and Mitsuru (Inoue Sora) have been dating since a summer trip they took together last summer. 

This week’s episode opened in the present day, with the couple sharing something “Special” for the first time – yes, that means they had sex.

The next day at school, the couple, along with their friend Hashimoto Ikumi (Narumi Yui), notice one of their teachers, Ogawa Masahiko (Nakamura Yuichi), acting out of sorts, but since they have their own drama going on, they’re not too interested in the strangeness of an adult. In class, another student Kagami (Otomo Karen), who lives in a shrine, recognizes Koichi as a demon. Even though Koichi, Mitsuru, and Hashimoto assure her he’s not dangerous, she isn’t convinced. 

She also knows something is different and asks Mitsuru if they’ve done anything special. Koichi’s reaction lets everyone know they have (even if he’s saying they didn’t).

Pulled into his memory, we watch the events of their night start to unfold. Mitsuru has invited Koichi to spend the night to keep his family from finding out he’s a corpse. After dinner and a bath, the two have a heartfelt conversation where Koichi confesses that he finds himself disgusting. Mitsuru kisses him. Several times, to the point where Koichi can no longer control himself and pins him to the bed. “Can I bite your ear?” he asks his Mitchan seductively. For a moment, I wondered if he was going to become a zombie and take more than a bite. But as Mitsuru starts to moan – squirming in pleasure – those fears softened. However, there was nothing soft about Koichi at that moment, which surprises both of them. Once the deed was done, Mitsuru fell asleep in Koichi’s arms. 

Yanked back from his memory, Kagami has created a talisman, which she uses to freeze Koichi in his tracks. She’s a very Rei Hino/Sailor Mars character, and I love her. Though her suspicions are confirmed, she tells Mitsuru that Koichi will regain his functions once he removes her talisman. Which he does immediately. However, before anything else can be said, another student rushes in to advise that Ogawa is on the roof and about to jump to his death.

It’s hard to believe we’re already at the halfway point for this series, and next week seemingly shows Koichi revealing his truth to Ogawa in an attempt to keep him from killing himself.

While I can not see any way for this series to end happily, I have fallen in love with it. Komiya Rio was one of my favorite side characters in Takara-kun and Amagi-Kun, so it’s been wonderful to see him jump right into a such an interesting lead role. Based off the novel of the same name Eternal Yesterday can be streamed on both Viki and GagaOOLala for international viewers.