#Utsukushii Kare: Eternal

[zhaolusi]

MY BEAUTIFUL MAN: ETERNAL (2023)

[emotionallychargedtowel]

Utsukushii Kare master post

With Utsukushii Kare: Eternal becoming available on streaming in Japan and rumors of international streaming distribution on the horizon, I thought this might be a good time to do a roundup post of all of my meta writing on the series so far. There's quite a bit of it. Between the complexity of the psychological themes in this series and my capacity for hyperfocus, I ended up with a lot to say.

In case it doesn't go without saying, this post is subject to change as I continue to post on this topic.

The psychological paradoxes of Utsukushii Kare

This is a series of posts (the current plan is to write three installments) about what it says on the tin: paradoxical psychological dynamics in Utsukushii Kare. These are things about the characters that may seem contradictory at first but can be accounted for by digging deeper into some psychological concepts. These posts are focused on the series (both seasons) but will draw from the movie and from the novel and related stories when they illustrate points about the series.

Part 1: Covert grandiosity and finding status through idealization - A pretty deep dive into 1) the subtle ways Hira shows that while his self-image can be highly negative in some ways, in other respects he feels superior to others and 2) how by elevating Kiyoi’s status and humbling himself in comparison, Hira attains a different kind of status.

An addendum of sorts to part 1: Hira's parents and his self-defeating tendencies - Some guesswork about how Hira's parents could have contributed to his self-defeating personality, with some further discussion of specific self-defeating strategies he uses in his relationship with Kiyoi and elsewhere.

Utsukushii Kare through the lens of pursuer-distancer dynamics and related psychological concepts:

The pursuer-distancer dyad & how it applies to the world of BL - a primer on this psychological concept and how it applies to BL generally, with a brief reference to how this concept applies to Utsukare (also touches on Semantic Error and talks in detail about an example from To My Star 2). This one isn't super focused on Utsukushii Kare but is pretty de rigeur for understanding my UK posts on this topic.

Paradoxical roles; or, I think I finally figured out the pursuer-distancer dynamic in Utsukushii Kare - This post comes after some of the posts listed below but I recommend reading it first as this is really where (I think) I cracked the code on this aspect of the story.

Pursuer-distancer roles & attachment style in Utsukushii Kare, Part 1: Hira - In-depth discussion of Hira's role in the pursuer-distancer dyad, his attachment style, and his personality

Pursuer-distancer roles and attachment style in Utsukushii Kare Part 2: Kiyoi - In-depth discussion of Kiyoi's role in the pursuer-distancer dyad, his attachment style, and his personality

Re-evaluating pursuing & distancing in Utsukushii Kare season 1 - super detailed post working out my thoughts about pursuing and distancing in season 1

On the way Sakai Mai (the series' director) uses seme left, uke right framing and its significance in BL and other Japanese media:

Using an example from the s2e1 with the girl who hits on Hira at a party (via a reblog of a gifset from @nanons)

On the way Sakai flips Hira's and Kiyoi's position in the frame in two versions of the same scene and what it tells us about its significance

How the persistent/cute trope plays out in Utsukushii Kare season 2, plus related overanalyses of the big season 2 finale kiss:

The persistent and the cute (how "persistent" and "cute" are code words with specific meanings in BL/yaoi/other drama and manga genres/Japanese culture more broadly)

Analyzing the season 2 finale kiss in light of seme left/uke right framing and the persistent/cute trope (in a reblog of a gif post by @nanons)

Reblogging @bl-bracket to lobby for the season 2 finale kiss, with more overanalysis

Fragrance nerd discussion:

This bittersweet fragrance - on the significance of osmanthus/tea olive in Utsukushii Kare season 2, with additional information on the possible significance of the fragrance of osmanthus and perfumes that are either osmanthus soliflores or feature prominent osmanthus notes

Posts on specific season 2 episodes:

initial thoughts about S2e1

Additional (informal) thoughts on s2e1

S2e1 rundown

Hira's incongruous/misaligned affect at the end of s2e1

S2e2 rundown

on S2e2, including pursuer-distancer dynamics and seme left, uke right

Utsukushii Kare S2E4: “face me straight on” (mostly discussing relationship dynamics pointed out in topic-specific metas)

on Utsukushii Kare: Eternal:

Kiyoi and Anna: on Kiyoi’s friendship with Anna and its significance for his personal growth

[25shadesoffebruary]

I want to be on the same page with you. Kiyoi Sou photo taken by Hira Kazunari.

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Maeda Kentaro as Kiriya Keisuke My Beautiful Man: Eternal (2023)

[t-u-i-t-c]

MAEDA KENTARO as Kiriya Keisuke in Utsukushii Kare: Eternal (2023)

[niaoniaos]

UTSUKUSHII KARE SEASON 2 (2023)

[lollipopsub]

Utsukushii Kare the movie: Eternal Teaser trailer [ENG SUB]

The official Utsukushii Kare Twitter just revealed a teaser trailer for the movie!!!

It looks.... absolutely perfect.

[l0ud3rth4nb0mb5]

"Why do you want to say sorry when you're clearly trying your best?"

JDJDJDJDKDD KIYOIIII OH HOW THEYVE GROWN OMGGGGG

[nongnoopran]

I finally watched My Beautiful Man - Eternal and OMG ITS SUCH A GREAT MOVIE 😭😭😭 What a perfect ending to this series. Sounds fake but I legit laughed and cried and screamed, the movie was soooo good and I love Hira and Kiyoi sooooo much 🥹🥹🥹 I think I believe in romantic love again…. Am I being dramatic? 😅 yes, but that’s how I feel. Def one of my fav couples and I think…. My fav Japanese BL ever and just one of my favs overall. Anyway…. If you have not watched this movie, you should! And def watch the first 2 seasons before because it provides so much wonderful context and history about these characters and their story. 🥰🥰🥰🥰

[aliceisathome]

OOOH - box set of Utsukushii Kare: Eternal (aka My Beautiful Man: Eternal) is on Amazon.co.jp with a release date of 8th November. And English subs. Plus S2 is up with a release in September.

[zhaolusi]

MY BEAUTIFUL MAN: ETERNAL (2023)

[emotionallychargedtowel]

Kiyoi and Anna

I haven't posted anything substantive about Eternal yet as I'm trying to finish a three-part thing on the series that I've been writing off and on in little bits since season 2 ended. It should be ready to post soon and that'll clear the way for some more Eternal discussion. I'm also still processing the movie a bit. But I have a thought I wanted to share in the meantime.

One of the biggest things I've been mulling over from Eternal (and to a lesser extent season 2, but it's a lot more developed in the movie) is Kiyoi's friendship with Anna. It's easy to overlook this aspect of it, but I think it's one of the most significant bits of character development in the film.

I've given a good bit of thought to what it would be like to be a closeted high school student at various points in my life. (I was too unaware of my own sexuality at that age to be closeted myself.) But it was only after watching this series that I thought about how much more difficult it would be in certain ways to be a closeted high school boy who gets a ton of attention from girls. Kiyoi clearly has some specific strategies he uses to survive this situation. During the part of s1 where he and Hira are in high school, whenever we see Kiyoi talk to a girl or when someone talks to him about a girl, he mostly just goes into gray rock mode. It's easy to imagine what sort of learning experiences he must have had on the way to developing these strategies. There must have been instances of drama, unwanted advances, and close calls where peers could have figured out about his sexuality. The best method of avoiding this he has found is just to engage as little as possible. Being closeted undoubtedly made it difficult, if not impossible, to have authentic friendships in general at that age. But it completely ruled out having even the most shallow of friendships with girls. It's possible that Kiyoi has never had a friendship this meaningful at all before. His shallow relationships with Shirota and his crew in high school seem likely to have been the norm for him throughout his formative years. His relationship with Hira was hardly a friendship. After high school, he didn't bond with his theater group much. He did connect with Iruma a little bit, but it's not like they were close. How could they be when Iruma was always hitting on Kiyoi despite his clear lack of interest? From what we've seen in the series, it seems possible, if not likely, that Anna is Kiyoi's first real friend.

So it's really remarkable that he has been able to form this friendship. It's exciting to see him having an authentic friendship at all, but a female friend he's out to and can actually confide in about things? Who he offers support to in return? That's huge. Anna also gently pushes back on some of the more obviously skewed things he says and holds up a mirror to his thought process in other ways. That's a sign this friendship has the potential to help Kiyoi grow as a person. He provides her some meaningful perspective when she's struggling, too. Circumstances are a big part of this change. Being out of school and in a professional world that's at least relatively accepting of LGBTQ+ folks both really help. But in addition to being supportive of personal growth, this friendship is a sign of how far Kiyoi has already grown.

[25shadesoffebruary]

Kiyoi instantly turning into Hira.

[lurkingshan]

Important life update: I have now seen the UK: Eternal bathtub scene with proper subs

[essentiallykpopandbl]

Sometimes Hira says something and all I can think is... oh dude why would you say that? And other times he says something that is really sweet and exactly what Kiyoi needs to hear. And I just love him so much because of it.

[niaoniaos]

UTSUKUSHII KARE SEASON 2 (2023)