#25 ji akasaka de

[bengiyo]

Hey FRIEND! If you're still doing the Character ask game then how about Asami from At 25:00 in Akasaka?

Eboni! I'm always happy when I hear from you. I'm glad people have been giving me characters I like.

How I feel about this character

I love when a character is holding their yearning so carefully. Hayama was so fascinating for me because he had his life completely under control. You know this man somehow influenced the casting choice for Shirasaki so he could get close to him again, and I loved how controlled he was about his feelings for most of the show. I also loved that he was genuinely trying to help Shirasaki with their work.

The grey area between helping Shirasaki and trying to be with him any way he could is so hard to navigate there, and it makes the character so compelling. I love that he constantly crosses the line with Shirasaki, because there's no way a character could navigate that line perfectly.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Obviously just Shirasaki, but I think we should see Yamase get some time with everyone.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Probably his friend from college who works at the gay club now. That man violated Shirasaki's privacy so fast when he saw him in the club. He was also one of the only people who seemed to really know Hayama.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I'm not sure I have any? I don't know that we as a fandom appreciated the way his restraint expressed as kindness as loudly as I might have wanted. I think he could have walked away okay if Shirasaki never developed feelings of his own secure in the idea that he did genuinely help him.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I feel like I got everything I wanted from this show. We know they both want it, and they talked out all the big things that mattered.

For the Character Breakdown Ask Game

[mikinc]

my first vocaloid song and my favourite cover in the entire game

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Hayama finally gets to caress Shirasaki's hair

[itsallaboutbl]

I do this for science, okay? Okay. 🥵🥵

[usertoxicyaoi]

"There's something wrong with you ..."

Arata Misu In TAKUMI KUN 4: PURE (2010). Kijima Rio In THE NOVELIST (2018). Yoden Ryoji In SEI NO GEKIYAKU (2020). Kusakabe Ritsu In BOKURA NO MICRO NA SHUUMATSU (2023). Segasaki Mizuki In TAIKAN YOHOU (2023). Yamase Kazuma In 25 JI, AKASAKA DE (2024).

[divineandmajesticinone]

Nagumo Shoma in:

KISS X KISS X KISS: LOVE II SHOWER (2023) AT 25:00 IN AKASAKA (2024) LOVE IN THE AIR: KOI NO YOKAN (2024)

[itagakimizuki]

25 JI AKASAKA DE (2024) 1.06

[lurkingshan]

What are some JBLs you recommend that have good kisses AND a good romance plot

LOL I can hear the pain behind this question, anon. It’s true that a lot of JBLs with a good romance story fail to deliver on the physical intimacy side of things, though that is becoming less and less the norm. I do have some that I think do both reasonably well. I don’t know exactly what “good romance” means to you, but I’m going to assume we’re talking about well-executed romance plots, regardless of the show’s overall genre and focus, where the characters and relationship arc make sense and don’t randomly derail somewhere along the way. Here’s what I got:

I Cannot Reach You

This is a high school friends to lovers (the cream of the crop for that trope, IMO). This is a story about realizing feelings and building the courage to change your most important relationship, so you’ll have to wait a bit to get those kisses but once you do, I think you’ll be pleased.

His

The second chance romance for me. This is a bl film about two men who come back together after a bad breakup and figure out how to make it work. I love them and this story so much.

Old Fashion Cupcake

There’s only one kiss in this short and sweet show, but it’s a real doozy. A super tight workplace age gap romance that knows exactly what it’s doing.

At 25:00 in Akasaka

Two actors who went to college together meet again when they are cast opposite each other in a bl drama, and get tangled up in the blurred lines between their professional and personal relationships. Angst, baby!

The Pornographer

This series features some of the best kissing and sex scenes you will see anywhere in the bl genre, but warning that it’s a twisted and wild ride. There are five installments and you gotta watch them all to see the full picture of the character and romance arcs. It’s so rewarding if you do.

The End of the World With You

From the same mind of the previous entry and similarly hot and wild and weird. This show has more going on than the second chance romance at its core, but it themes come together beautifully.

Tokyo In April Is…

Another second chance romance, this one features a lot of sex but also deals with heavy subject matter, so mind the CWs. It’s one of my favorites of last year and the love story in this one has really stuck with me; it’s beautiful and so hard won.

Love is Better the Second Time Around

This one comes with a disclaimer that it goes off the rails in the final two episodes, but you asked for good kissing so it would feel wrong not to include it. Yet another second chance romance (are you picking up on a theme here?), this one gets two former high school lovers back together as adults to sort out their misunderstandings, lingering feelings, and buckets of sexual tension. It was so good—until it wasn’t.

[heretherebedork]

Two men embracing their love for each other once they realized that the torch he thought he was carrying was for him all along.

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

At 25:00 in Akasaka Episodes 10

[theside-b]

Usa Takuma and Nagumo Shoma in AT 25:00 IN AKASAKA (2024)

[mikinc]

dark fes rui × color fes mizuki

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

The person I couldn't get over was Shirasaki-kun.

For @nieves-de-sugui 🌹

[itsallaboutbl]

I don't wanna give you to anyone.

[usertoxicyaoi]

NAGUMO SHOMA AS YAMASE KAZUMA.

25 JI, AKASAKA DE (2024). EPISODE FIVE.

[divineandmajesticinone]

25 Ji, Akasaka de (2024) I 1.04 "Wanna rehearse our kiss scene?"