Review of Sasaki and Miyano

Sasaki to Miyano feels dragged out, like a class on a Friday afternoon that never seems to end. The first few episodes draw you in as an archetypal BL story would, with a protagonist and love interest clearly established in the opening scene. The anime doesn’t stray too far from this, which isn’t an issue in and of itself; however, due to how stagnant the story remains throughout the show’s 12-episode run, it feels like the storytelling lacks development. In typical BL fashion, plot points that could easily be resolved through open communication prevail for multiple episodes. While this is understandable to a certain extent,since the anime doesn't attempt to tackle multiple storylines the episodes feel repetitive. Let’s attempt to dissect this a little bit. It’s difficult for me to believe that a fudanshi like Miyano has never considered being attracted to guys before Sasaki came along. Adolescence is a transitional period where you start to come to terms with romantic attraction and your sexuality in general. It’s understandable that a first year high school student wouldn’t have these things figured out yet. What doesn’t make sense is that Miyano needs to have some kind of revelation to realize that he likes guys when he spends hours consuming BL content. If you’re a fundashi you’ve definitely pictured yourself in the situations you read about. If the show had framed it in a different way, where perhaps he has internalized homophobia or he’s been brought up in a conservative household, this level of doubt and restraint would make sense. But for someone like Miyano that spends the majority of his free time reading about fictional gay men and their relationships, it seems farfetched to think it would take him several months to be able to come to terms with his feelings for Sasaki and communicate them. If anything it would make more sense for Sasaki to feel a bit uncertain about having feelings for another guy since he’s not the one consuming BL like there’s no tomorrow.

Maybe I’m being overly critical, but as a gay guy myself it feels like these stories aren’t entirely grounded in queer experiences. Who is Miyano representative of? Queer people don’t behave like this even if they’re closeted. Anime doesn’t always need to be 100% realistic. However, the show’s entire plot hinges on our two characters having feelings for each other and not recognizing them or not being able to communicate them. I can understand if this lasted during half of the anime’s duration, but to drag this out for 11 episodes feels unnecessary. There isn’t a clear explanation for why Miyano struggles so much to come to terms with his feelings either. It just feels dragged out for the sake of having enough content for a 12-episode run. I haven’t read the manga so I’m not sure what the pacing is like in the source material, but this anime could have easily told the same story in 6 episodes or less.

What stands out about this show is the way in which the story manages to reference its own tropes and clichés. The fact that Miyano is a fudanshi allows the story to parody itself a little bit. In my opinion this is the anime’s strongest quality. It doesn’t attempt to take itself too seriously, and when it does have serious moments the story doesn’t try to be something it’s not. It’s a generic BL through and through and the storytelling never tries to trick you into thinking it’s more profound than what it actually is.

Story: 5/10
As I mentioned, the main plotline is dragged out to the point that it feels unrealistic. It reminds me of the Dressrosa Arc in One Piece but without actually attempting to cover a fraction of the content One Piece covers in its arcs. Just repetitive as hell for no reason. The story’s main redeeming quality is its ability to make fun of itself by dissecting the BL genre through Miyano’s character.

Art: 7/10
The art style is good and so is the animation. It’s of the quality you’d expect from an anime made in 2022.

Character: 5/10
I think Sasaki to Miyano struggles in the character department as well. Sasaki and Miyano don’t behave how queer people would behave in these situations. I don’t want to make it seem like gay men are a monolith, but these characters don’t feel grounded in queer experiences. The last episode deals with this a little bit better, but by that point it's too little too late. The secondary characters also feel a bit one-dimensional for the most part.

Sound: 6/10
Neither the OP or ED were particularly memorable to me. I’m not an expert on voice acting so I don’t have any complaints. Overall the sound was fine.

Enjoyment: 6/10
I did enjoy watching this anime because I’m gay so I’m drawn to anything gay. However, if this wasn’t BL I would’ve struggled to complete it.