#Yamasuge Ryuji

[connorjesup]

It's getting dangerous now! I won't be able to hide it. KIMI TO NARA KOI WO SHITE MITE MO (2023)

[gabrielokun]

[signediza]

G for green flag ¦ He's a whole forest -

[alien-ally]

I dont know if thats enough for me to say i like you the way you like me, but i want to keep seeing you and if that entails the privilege of becoming your lover, yes, i would like to date you.

God what a graceful lovely lovely way to respond to a confession. The honesty. The care with which they handled each other's feelings and expressed their own. The 'take care of me well's they exchanged. what a fucking lovely show.

thinking the same things but saying it for each other cause one is shy and starting to overthink.

[consterions]

so it's not just me who thought that ryuuji from if it's with you and ida from kieta hatsukoi is the same kind of guy?

[madeinjapan-thailand-blbambeyond]

MADE IN JAPAN

OKURA TAKATO

HYUGA WATARU

[emotionallychargedtowel]

That post about Higuchi Kouhei and his cat got me thinking about some other tokusatsu-to-BL pipeline actors that are on current or recent BLs, so I thought I'd do a screenshot post about Kamen Rider Revice, a recent toku series that features two lead actors who star in current BLs, plus an actor in a smaller role who was part of a side couple in a BL series that recently completed a second season.

The main character of Revice is Igarashi Ikki, played by Maeda Kentaro, currently playing Ohara Yamato in I Can't Reach You. His siblings are very central to the story as well--by the end of the series, the story is centered around his whole family. Ikki's younger brother Daiji is played by Hyuga Wataru, currently playing Yamasuge Ryuiji in If It's With You.

Here they are having a bath in the opening credits for the show (the Igarashi family runs a public bath house).

I should say at the outset that I can't entirely recommend Revice, especially to folks who don't already have some tokusatsu-watching under their belts. It's a hot mess in a lot of ways. But it does have some really outstanding highlights. The best aspects of the series, in my book, were:

Kagerou (Daiji's demonic alter ego),

George Karizaki (my beloved),

Igarashi Sakura/Kamen Rider Jeanne (the most formidable female Rider I've seen in any series in the franchise), and

the relationship between Sakura and Natsuki Hana (a rare example of a convincing Sapphic ship in a franchise well known for "heated drama between men").

I'm not going to get into 2 and 3 here, as tempting as that would be, but I'll include as much of 4 as time/space permits.

It might seem weird that I'm not recommending a series with some of my favorite characters in the entire Kamen Rider franchise AND a relationship between girls that is a hair's breadth from being canonically queer. It's just too much of a trainwreck to endorse as a whole. But as I said, the highlights are really something.

One of the biggest issues I had with Revice was that Ikki, the protagonist, just isn't a very compelling character. As a result I don't think Maeda Kentaro really got to show the range of his acting abilities in this series. (This just makes me more curious to see him in ICRY. From the excerpts I've seen so far, it seems like he shows a really different side of himself.)

Maeda appreciators might still enjoy the many determined faces and creepy smiles he gets to dish out in this series. Here's a sampling.

It's possible they'll want to look away when he starts doing things like this, though.

Fans of both Maeda and Hyuga might enjoy some of their scenes fighting side by side, including doing their various henshin poses (the moves they do before they transform into their masked Rider forms).

Or when they do things like this bonkers flying kick.

Thankfully, Daiji is a more interesting character than Ikki, so Revice gave Hyuga some more challenging things to do. I thought Hyuga also just really made the most of every opportunity the show presented to him. He was seriously impressive. This is the reason I was sold on IIWY the moment I saw the announcement about it based solely on Hyuga's involvement.

Here's a sampling of Hyuga as Daiji.

In addition to playing Daiji, Hyuga also played Kagerou, Daiji's aforementioned demonic alter ego. Kagerou was formed from thoughts and emotions that Daiji repressed. The biggest of these was his resentment toward Ikki. But apparently Daiji had also been repressing a desire to be a somewhat gender non-conforming goth, because that's Kagerou's other raison d'etre.

In some ways, it's hard to imagine a character more different from Ryuji. If they have anything in common, it's the fact that they both place a high value on honesty.

One other thing that's worth noting about Hyuga's work on Revice is that he was only 17 when the show premiered. He showed major dramatic range in this part, not only playing two very different characters but doing everything from low-key nuanced scenes to bombastic high drama. Not to mention the stunts! Doing all of this at 17 is seriously remarkable.

Now for our bonus dude! There's a secret evil-fighting organization called Weekend that secretly keeps tabs on the Igarashi family for years before coming out of hiding to join the big central battle of the series. One of the Weekend operatives is Ushijima Hikaru.

Look familiar? Maybe not, he didn't make faces like this on his BL series.

How about now? Yep, it's Oku Tomoya, who plays Hanabusa Asuka on both seasons of Minato Shouji Coin Laundry.

Oku has some big scenes and interesting moments in Revice. He does some romantic pining, goes through big-time loss, does quite a bit of martial-arts sparring, gets seriously injured, and more. He even gets to henshin a few times. Here he is getting ready to do just that with Sakura and Hana. Those Weekend uniforms are pretty hardcore in a 70s flight attendant sort of way, but I feel like Oku really sells it here.

While we're on the subject of Sakura and Hana, I feel like I can't mention their relationship without including some moments where their story came particularly close to tipping into full-on yuri.

If you're going to do an enemies-to-lovers story, why not make them full-on superhero nemeses?

The word "date" might not technically get used by the characters, but there's no mistaking that the amusement park hangout Sakura invites Hana on--while she is still a fully-functioning bad guy, I might add--is definitely a date.

Most of the time when a Rider beats their nemesis for the final time they don't hold each other tenderly in the sunset.

By the end of the series, they're in a big tub together at the Igarashi's bath house.

There are tons more examples but you get the idea. If this isn't borderline-yuri I don't know what is.

[bl-bam-beyond]

KIMI TO NARA KOI WO SHITE MITE MO (2023, JAPAN)

Premiere: October 6, 2023

Trailer Highlights

Available on: Gagaoolala

Airing Along Side: TAIKAN YOHO (MY PERSONAL WEATHERMAN)

Other Title: EVEN IF I TRY TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU

Title: IF IT'S WITH YOU

Starring: HYUGA WATARU as Yamasuge Ryuji

OKURA TAKATO as Kaido Amane

MDL SYNOPSIS: Thanks To A Past Trauma Amane, a high school student has given up on the idea of of seriously loving someone.

On His First Day of His New Life in Enoshima he meets Ryuji a boy his age. Ryuji happened to be Amane's type and he would like to hang out with him more. But what starts out with light feelings is beginning to change into something unexpected.

@pose4photoml @lutawolf @bengiyo @wanderlust-in-my-soul @kingofthereblog-boysloveed @absolutebl

[bengiyo]

If It's With You Ep 1 Stray Thoughts

A second show from MBS releasing. These are some of the youngest boys we've had, and I'm excited about the three MBS releases for today.

Oh lord our protagonist is moody and he's already had sex. I'm sold.

Fascinated that that he's been having hookups with adults and seems comfortable with his sexuality.

Our romantic lead is making me think of Ja.

My roommate and I had to pause and comment on this cat's huge balls.

Interesting. Amane immediately started using Yamasuge's given name.

Oh, I really like that Amane is flirty, and that he's assessing if the cute boy who can cook is straight.

Can't fall in love if you ain't clumsy.

Our little horny boy looks like he left behind some angst.

Well well well, our boys are in the same homeroom.

Amane is a menace and I already love him.

He touched Ryuji's hair and instantly assessed him as shy.

Amane has no shame. I am obsessed. He is checking out these boys, asking for dates, and nodding approvingly at the girls.

Yes, suggestively eat the ice cream after grabbing his wrist.

I'm uncertain what happened in this exchange where Amane made sure Ryuji knew he was gay. What made Ryuji turn serious that Amane demurred to?

And the hot water heater has broken so we're already going to a public bath house together!

I am already obsessed, besties. I think this character is what @respectthepetty calls a red rascal and he is a menace. I just know @ginnymoonbeam is going to be obsessed just like me.

[elhanoka]

Yamasuge Ryuji from if it's with you shares so many mannerism and facial expressions with zb1 Sung Hanbin it's uncanny (it's literally in the eyes, they look nothing alike but the face movement and the emotion, tell me I'm not alone)

hanbin gif from @shenquanrui

ryuji gif from @troubled-mind

[dekaydk]

"Thank you."

Hyuga Wataru as Yamasuge Ryuji & Okura Takato as Kaido Amane IF IT'S WITH YOU (2023) Ep 2

[gabrielokun]

[alien-ally]

First yoh and segasaki. then yamato and kakeru. now ryuji and amane. I'm so thankful. to watch them in real time and post thoughts and be a part of the most blessed little fandoms in here.

Just watched nara koi ep 2, and of course yamasuge is an older brother. it all just makes so much sense :) the kindness, earnesty, sincerity... simply the care. the heed they all pay to the other's feelings. The carefulness. it's all too much. To the point where i feel like I'm only really living on the days these shows air. cause they make me feel so much. and the rest of the days I'm just drifiting through like a ghost, waiting in some or the other form. for something or the other.

[gabrielokun]

[gabrielokun]

Shows that helped me get through this year

Best of 2022

Best of 2023

Kimi to Nara Koi wo Shite Mite mo

Be My Favorite

Bokura no Shokutaku

I Will Knock You

Kiseki: Dear to Me

La Pluie

Love Tractor

Our Dating Sim

Sing My Crush

Utsukushii Kare 2

[gabrielokun]