Review of Junjo Romantica

So I had heard about the Junjou Romantica series a while ago, and as an avid yaoi fangirl I was thrilled. I was intending to watch it. However, I was intimidated by the three seasons it had to offer, and was thus swept away by the seasonal anime on offer at the time. This year, my friends encouraged me to finally get into it. And oh boy am I glad that I did. JunJou Romantica is a 36 episode 3 season long anime that falls into the Shonen Ai (Boys' Love) genre. It follows 3 different sets of all male couples, but mainly revolves aroundthe saucy romance between Usami and Misaki, the coverboys for the series. If you're a fujioshi searching for a Boys' Love anime, then look no further!

One of the things I most love about the Junjou Romantica series is just how relatable it can be sometimes. You may think it's absurd of me to say that, but one you look past the man-dating-man exterior, there are certain things in this anime that resounded within me regardless of sexuality or gender.
For example, unrequited love is explored in great detail. I'm sure we all know what it feels like to love someone , despite them not loving you back. This is explored through the characters Shinobu and You. Sure it mostly paints an unrealistic picture with those two, a student in love with a professor who is more than 10 years older. However, there are still themes embedded in that we can all relate to in some fashion.

Another thing I liked about this series is that there was more than enough action in each episode to keep me entertained (heh). Interactions between characters were always lively, and some exchanges left me on the edge of my seat! Another minor detail that I quite enjoyed, was that the main characters would somehow appear in each others' lives, even if briefly.

To be quite frank there wasn't much I disliked about this anime. Sometimes I did find it implausible how the characters would express their feelings, but this can be forgiven as the anime is very heavily drama-based.
However, there was one scene in particular that irked me a lot. I'll try not to spoil too much. So, one character feels an urge to kiss another one. As he's about to do it, the one who's being kissed's lover catches them and whisks him away. This particular scenario was never mentioned again, despite all 3 being main characters.

Overall, Junjou Romantica is such a wonderful anime , and one i recommend to anyone into romance/drama/yaoi genres.