Contrary to what the FABULOUS world of the BL drama would lead you to believe, the reality of queer love stories is that they don’t always have a happy ending. Sometimes, the boy I have a crush on doesn’t suddenly realize that – while he might not like men – he likes me. It’s rough. It’s messy. It’s complicated.  And sometimes, the only happy ending we get is the one in the catacombs of our own mind.

It’s something the Japanese drama My Strawberry Film captures near-perfectly. 

High school sophomores Ryo and Hikaru are friends living in the seemingly peaceful bliss of their adolescence. The only trouble is that Ryo wants to be more. He’s harbored romantic feelings for Hikaru for nearly as long as they’ve known one another.  Hikaru, however, is heterosexual and, after discovering an 8mm film, develops a crush on the film’s mysterious star.   Over the series’ eight episodes, the two navigate their feelings and increasingly more complicated lives, exploring themes of friendship, love, and self-discovery in an intense and emotional series.

The series stars Rei Yabana of JPOP Junior troup 7 MEN Samurai as Ryo and Ryusei Fukada of fellow Junior unit Shonen Ninja as Hikaru.  Originally airing on MBS in Japan, the series was incredibly popular with international audiences thanks to streaming platforms like Rakuten Viki and GagaooLaLa, and I was lucky enough to grab a quick chat with the two superstars about their feelings for the series and why they felt like it was that made it resonate so well with overseas viewers.

“If I had to put it into just one word, maybe something like the nostalgia or fragility of a first love experience,” Ryusei Fukada (Shonen Ninja) says. “While I’m pretty sure the look and feel of a school is different around the world, I think there are a lot of shared experiences too, so whether or not what you see on the screen is exactly what you remember, you still might see the character interactions, what they’re going through, et cetera and think “That’s so student-like;” remembering both the sweet and sour memories of those days. I think that’s what attracts people to stories like these. The ethereal aspect of being lead down a memory long since buried in the past.”

“It’s the complete opposite of something like science fiction or fantasy, in that it’s a very familiar story that probably connects to something you’ve personally experienced somewhere before or are in the process of experiencing depending on your age,” Rei Yabana (7 MEN Samurai) states. “The lighting team was also very particular about the in-camera visuals, and I got the impression during filming that the production staff had a very specific vision about the kind of mood they wanted for each cut, and how that fit with the beauty of the story. The drama itself had a warm texture, with the lighting worked in such a way to match each story beat to the taste of what was being shown on screen, and I think that makes the drama very inviting to viewers caught by the trailer or clips.”

It’s a beautiful series and I cannot recommend it enough. You can watch the (unrequited) love story unfold on Rakuen Viki in North/South America, Europe, India, Thailand, the Philippines, and more!

More interviews / reviews soon so… 

Stay Tuned!