Review of Junjo Romantica

The longest romantic yaoi series, this one has been really popular. It's basically the story of three gay couples and all of their ridiculous problems with communication—not so much how they get together as how they stay together. Unfortunately, two of the three couples follow those annoying anime-yaoi rules, i.e. rich and tall seme, childish uke, psuedo-rape is okay, even the gay characters acknowledge that being gay is not normal, etc. The lead couple, Misaki and Usami, and the third couple, Miyagi and Shinobu, are at times cute and at times creepy because of this. So don't watch it for them! Watch it for the hilarious relationshipbetween older, grumpy professor Kamijou and idealist medical student Nowaki. They defy most of the stereotypes and are very enjoyable to watch.

It's pretty interesting how the characters' paths cross randomly, and some of the little details are really cute and self-deprecating (like how Usami is trying to relive his childhood by strewing teddy bears across the apartment, Usami's shadow profession as a BL writer, the recurring wooden bear carvings).