What happens when two rival directors who hate each other's guts are forced to share one roof? And what if one of them has a secret he's been harboring for years? Throw in a shared love of movies, BL manga, and an accidental kiss, and you've got the next heart-pumping love story in Midorigaoka High and the sequel to Twilight Out of Focus 1. Jin Kikuchihara, third-year director, main actor, and president of the film club, and second-year director Giichi Ichikawa see eye-to-eye on very little. Jin is flashy, flirty, and focused on keeping everyone happy, while Giichi expects the best from himself and others, and will compromise nothing to see his vision through. Constantly at each other's necks, the two can hardly stand to be in the same club. But what will happen when family trouble forces them to live in the same room? Will their shared interests bring them closer as friends, push them further apart as rivals, or something else entirely?
Review Proper
I love Tasogare Outfocus, but this is actually my favorite Janome.
The second installment curse strikes again!
UGHHHHHHH THIS WAS SO WHOLESOME. Don't get me wrong, Tasogare Outfocus is written pretty decently, but I really don't like how Janome just glossed over Hisashi's SA and grooming like that. It reminds me a lot of Etude vol. 1. I can still get over Etude vol. 1 'cause it's not that uncommon to see in sports and Ichi-san's deal with Futami was given some closure in 2, but given how short Tasogare Outfocus was, Hisashi felt like he just lmao byed his teacher. 😔Doesn't help that it kinda doesn't matter anymore in overlap even though it hasn't been long since it ended. Is my son Hisashi really okay now? 🥹
I'm old, so DK BL doesn't appeal to me that much anymore. It's also hard to find good DK rivalries nowadays that aren't just about fucking or delinquents. Zanzou Slow Motion, however, just checked all the right boxes for the category: simple, no drama, and no loose ends. That coupled with Janome's element of touch?
And can we talk about this monologue?
Ugh.
I will say Jin's suspenders, Ichikawa's snatched waist, and the ABO shout-out greatly influenced my decision too. Y'all should get suspended in high school, not wear suspenders!
Onto the technicalities...
I don't think I've heard these two co-star before (or I just don't remember), so I was a bit skeptical especially 'cause last I heard Makonyan in a DK was in, well... Given as BLCD!Ritsu. And where else did we hear Yuuma star in a DK too? Yuuma as Anime!Ritsu. We just had Given Anime!Ritsu in Tasogare Outfocus being somewhat friends with Ichikawa and now we have BLCD!Ritsu (thanks to ecargmura for catching this!) trying to romance him. They used very different tones for Ritsu, but the vibe was the same overall. THEY'RE THE SAME PERSON. Makonyan and Nakamo also played tops in the last works I heard of them (Makonyan as Takaba in Kurui Naku and Nakamo as Yakumo in Nu:carnival), so I was concerned about a lot of things. Thankfully, however, instead of Makonyan going for his Ritsu tone or his lighter Kimitte Yatsu for a more youthful vibe, he went all shounen in here lmaooo.
His bwakame was so funny it reminded me of this:
I love roasting Makonyan more than any other seiyuu out of fondness, but I'm really proud of how far he's gone. He's gotten so much better in his delivery, and it's obvious in his budding anime career, too.
But...
I didn't expect there would be improvements in his bedding techniques too...
What the fuck was that? HAHAHAHAHAHA. WAIT. No, y'all don't understand. I have most of this man's r-18 otome CDs and BLCDs, and I have never heard him this... this hot before???? Jin is such a smooth flirt, so I had some expectations on the delivery, but FURUKAWA MAKOTO HISSES. HE HISSES!!! SIR IS THIS APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR FOR A HIGH SCHOOL BOY??? THEY DON'T EVEN SHOW THEM DO THE DO FOR MORE THAN A MINUTE??? WHERE WAS THE NEED?!
PUTS THE GODDAMN FU IN FURUKAWA MAKOTO ALRIGHT!
First it was Ono Yuuki, now it's Makonyan. Is Nakamo's ass really that good that his tops go all in???
I admittedly don't have a lot to say about Nakamo because that man always slays. I was afraid that Makonyan would overpower him during their Netflix and chill, but as soon as I had that thought, Nakamo pushed back like??? THEM SHAKIRA HIPS DON'T LIE!
HOW DO I LEGALLY MARRY GINGER RECORDS???
I didn't read the scan or the official English release 'cause I actually had the raws, so I can't vouch for the translation. As for faithfulness to the manga, however, I need to stress that there were a lot of rearranged events and cut dialogue. One notable instance was Ichikawa's message for Jin. It was placed after their kiss in the last chapter, so I believe that these changes are quite significant. It is still possible to read the manga while listening to the BLCD, but I suggest reading the manga once first so you're aware of which pages you need to jump to.
Chil-chil Awards 2022 was a scam 'cause this wasn't nominated for ANYTHING! This might actually just be my favorite BLCD of 2021... and Makonyan was my favorite actor in this series so far. OKITSU AND MAKONYAN REALLY SWITCHED IN THIS LOG HAHAHAHA. Makonyan and Nakamo at least won in my heart. 😌 Definitely listen to this if you're a Makonyan fan or if you're a fan of the series in general. It's also perfect if you're looking for something light and sweet but immersive at the same time. Chesk gives this a 9/10! Only the third 9 after Sonna ni and KD!
Last one, promise! Warning for dude burning alive?
Ok but I really need to talk about this. The way Vash screamed “NAI!” there, when the camera showed his face... I don’t know how to explain it, but it makes me want to cry. Idk what it is in that scream that absolutely broke my heart.
Matsuoka-san, Vash’s VA, did an absolute phenomenal job in this show, and particularly in this episode. I would not be surprised if he got an award for this.
@setsuo_itou: I was also in charge of the end-card illustrations! I've been drawing him since season one, and I am happy that I was able to draw Mob-kun smiling like this.
Today I learned that Setsuo Itou, the voice of Mob, is an incredibly good illustrator. Not only that, but he also composes music and plays the bass. Talk about talented!
Both him and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, the voice of Teruki, are from Hokkaido (that really cold northern island of Japan).
Y'all know I love Janome and this series to death, so I won't be talking about the plot. Am I looking forward to the anime? No.
Yuuma and 2gu-2gu slayed their roles as usual. I can't believe this wasn't nominated during chil-chil 2022. What a huge disservice! How are y'all nominating Takasaki Boscos and Momose Ans on that shit and not Janome?! Yuuma was nominated for 16th best seiyuu for Hisashi and landed right after Matty, but I think he deserves to place higher.
I MEAN, HELLO???? THE NIPPLE PLAY ON HIM???
I don't know what to feel when the normies think of Yuuma as Kaveh and not Mr. Sex-on-Legs himself. I love Yuuma as Alhaitham's a bottom, but Hisashi's just—UGH! He's so sexy one minute, then so soft the other. 🥹
I don't plan to listen to Taiyou-kun, but 2gu-2gu should've been nominated for this instead. 2gu-2gu's range as Mao is just insane. It's also funny that he sounds more like Etou-san than Yuuma lmaooo. I am obsessed with Yuuma as Hisahi ngl, but 2gu-2gu was the star of this BLCD.
UGH.
I really want to marry Ginger's casting director. They don't miss. 😌
I will say that it was a struggle to read the manga along the BLCD. I was a very good girl these past few years 'cause resisted the urge to read the manga beforehand, but my resistance might've added to my struggle lmao. I was jumping from page to page 'cause I didn't know where the BLCD started (actually starts in chapter 3 of the overlap tanko). I wouldn't have been confused if I read the table of contents, but I clearly can't read.
Anyway, I couldn't afford the luxury of buying Kodansha's English release, so I couldn't check the translation. But I mean, it's Kodansha. unless... I don't think they've cut anything out and actually just added more dialogue in, but there's nothing really major, so you can definitely listen to the BLCD while following the manga. I definitely recommend getting this if you love the story or are looking for something immersive. Please love my sons. It's the best red-string series out there even though it didn't mean to be.