Love Stage!!

This is the first yaoi type anime I watched and so I really enjoyed it. The beginning shows you a little bit about Izumi and when he was younger. It's exciting and a little funny. But since this is a first for me, I can't really say if it's one of the best out there. It's probably not very original in the anime world but it is a pretty interesting story.

First things first, I am one of the pickiest BL fangirls in the world. I despise Junjo Romantica and Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi. But Love Stage surpasses them with flying colours. Story 8/10 Gasp, there's actually a plot, and it's pretty good. Its strongest point is that the drama does not solely revolve around the characters' romance. Izumi might be a shut in otaku, but outside of his relationship with Ryouma, he has a vision of becoming a mangaka. He actively pursues his dream and you can genuinely relate to his coming of age struggles. Ryouma's fame also plays a part in the events instead of being treated as an excuse for him to be rich and not do anything. My only problem is that it still uses sexual harassment as a plot device. Romance-wise, I like that the main focus is kept on Izumi and Ryouma instead of having a bunch of flat beta romances like other BL. Honestly, their relationship is better paced than most hetero romances I've seen. Character 9/10 The only reason I didn't give this 10 is because the background characters are pretty much cardboard cutouts. Izumi and Ryouma are very real in contrast. While the show falls into the sexual harassment trope, Izumi has a very realistic reaction in the aftermath instead of immediately falling for his aggressor. He also grows from the experience so he doesn't end up being a damsel in distress later on. Ryouma, unlike other characters I immensely dislike, regrets his loss of control and has to beg for forgiveness. I love that he doesn't get it right away and has to earn Izumi's friendship, then eventually his love. Art 6/10 It's not horrifying to look at, and no one has a severe case of yaoi hands, but the eyes are drawn in that way where you can see them through the hair. The lips are a bit weird looking too. It's not my favourite style but it's certainly not as bad as Love Pistols. Sound 6/10 The OP and ED are okay. The background music doesn't add much but doesn't detract from the drama. No one would watch this for the music anyway. Enjoyment 9/10 This was such a refreshing series compared to most BL. The premise is cute, the ending is sweet, and it doesn't perpetuate abusive relationships. What more can a girl ask for? If you're looking for a shounen ai series with a realistic relationship and a good sense of humour, then you'll love this!

A BL story done right. These days, BL either discards conflicting sexuality emotions or plays off the love story subtly. Often times along with discarding confusion about sexuality they tend to pretend females hardly exist. BUT, Love Stage does not do this! As a person who does not generally enjoy BL, shounen ai, or yaoi, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed this anime from beginning to end. Both leads go through confusion and denial about their feelings towards each other largely regarding their sexuality. For such a short anime it was pretty well put together with the pacing. Still enough kyaa-ing and frustration without the feeling of being to rushed.

Love Stage Some may say it is a good starting spot for those who seek anime with LBGT representation, however I NEED to disagree. Hello! Although my sexuality doesn't necessarily matter in the grand scheme of this review I will mention that I am a gay male. I have seen my fair share of anime of this genre but so far Love Stage is the weakest link. It is hard to find a place to start so i'll discuss the plot first. Izumi wants to be a manga artist, parents want him in the family show biz. They just want whats best for him yadda yadda.. Izumi is our main protagonist and frankly he is rather irritating and annoying. He is also ignorant, and since his family is rich he is rather careless in his decisions. As for our main love interest Ryouma, he is boring! There is so little to say about him. All there is to his personality is liking Izumi, he has been waiting and obsessing over Izumi. Izumi's brothers personality is also Izumi! for such an annoying kid he has quite the fanbase... Izumi is obsessed with manga and anime. HE buys merch, collects, talks about it, wants to become an illustrator and thats essentially all he cares about. He drags ryouma into helping him. Eventually he moves that obsessive personality over to liking Ryouma. Theres no development to any of the characters. Literally none of them change. The only likeable character is Rei and he gets so little backstory and screentime. Overall just go watch Given <3 its worth it way more than this

(i will write in Portuguese PQ yes) Aaaaa what can i say about this cute anime who have watched several times because of the original story, the characters who are a sweethearts and the art that is absolutely beautiful?? A masterpiece of yaoi hihihi; I only lay low in that part where Ryoma practically stripped Izumi to see if he still liked him even though he was a boy, for me this scene should be deleted from the face of the Earth. I confess that I identified with Izumi: he felt humiliated in his childhood, because he embarrassed himself in front of the production of the program so he retracted in his own world, lowered himself compared to everyone in his family and lived like this for Years. But like, I know most of the audience is feminine, but recommend for everyone, it is a gorgeous yaoi of an innocent love (on the part of Izumi Heheh because the Ryoma osta of a same lemon) and I hope not to be the one who considers this one of the most favs. (portuguese) Aaaaa o que falar desse animezinho que já assisti várias vezes por causa da história original, dos personagens que são uns amorzinhos e da arte que é absolutamente linda?? Uma obra-prima de yaoi hihihi; Só dou baixa naquela parte em que o Ryoma praticamente despiu o Izumi pra ver se ele continuava a gostar dele mesmo sabendo que ele era um menino, pra mim essa cena devia ser deletada da face da terra. Confesso que me identifiquei com o Izumi: se sentiu humilhado na infância, pois, passou vergonha na frente da produção do programa por isso se retraio no seu próprio mundo, se rebaixou se comparado com todos da sua família e viveu assim por anos. Mas tipo, sei que a maioria do público é feminino, mas recomendo pra todos, é um yaoi lindo de um amor inocente (por parte do Izumi heheh porque o Ryoma osta de um lemon mesmo) e espero não ser a única que considera esse um dos mais favs.

I have mixed feelings about this show. Firstly, I love shounen ai and yaoi. I like fluffy romantic anime from time to time. There were a few moments in this show that I genuinely enjoyed. Also, it's pretty to look at, especially the eyes. But... I just wasn't feeling the leads at all. The main character is whiny and indecisive and the only thing he is passionate about is something he really sucks at. Even though we see him put in time, effort, and practice, we never see him improve at all and ultimately he gives up and gives in to family pressure. As for the love interest: he's a jerk. Not a misunderstood jerk with a dark past, just a jerk. Honestly, I would much rather have watched a show about the background characters than either of these guys. Shougo and Rei > Izumi and Ryouma

Have you ever watched something (anime, movie, music video, ect.) and when it ends you immediately want to watch it again? For me that is this anime. Now time for the review. This is my first BL anime, and I wasn't even sure that I would like it but it has high reviews and was recommended off another anime I watched, it only took 2 episodes for me to get hooked. As the story played out I got hooked on each character, wanting to see what would happen next and growing as they grew. I must say, the main character made me have my ups and downs, between rooting for him and pushing him down, but as the story continued on I watched him grow and I loved his character even more. I have no words to describe this anime. By Far the best romance I have seen. Needless to say I am watching more BL anime, but... well I am going to watch this one again ;) Story: Original, entertaining, stays on topic. Art: Shounen Ai ... do I need to say more??? Sound: When it was time for tears or laughs the sound hit it perfectly, never missing a beat and always filling you completely of that emotion, never left wanting more or feeling like something was missing Character: You see it from many of the characters views and each character grew, but the main character grew the most, making me feel overjoyed when the final scene played out. Enjoyment: L-O-V-E-D it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Overall: Watch it now, seriously .... NOW

In this hysterical boys’ love anime, college student Izumi is the youngest member of the Sena show-biz family—the only member who is not interested in being in entertainment: awkward, with paralyzing stage fright. As a child, due to a casting emergency, Izumi ended up in a wedding commercial with his family and a little boy named Ryouma (Izumi played a girl and Ryouma played a boy), and now they’re reuniting for a 10th-year anniversary. Like most anime in the BL genre, there is a disappointing undercurrent of homophobia—but unlike most, this anime has that at the beginning and then Ryouma accepts that he’s in love with a guy and that his feelings transcend gender. Like many BL anime, there is an assault scene—but unlike most, the perpetrator realizes what he’s done is deeply wrong and takes every step he can to sincerely apologize and undo the hurt he’s caused. Both the leads are very appealing, and the supporting characters are all wonderful, as well: Izumi’s doting parents and wonderfully supportive brother, long-suffering manager, school friends, and manga crush (magical princess Lala-Lulu). Parts are exceptionally funny, like Izumi’s hopelessness at drawing manga. And I love the exploration that sex and relationships need work and aren’t always perfect on the first try.

Let me start off by saying this is one of my first reviews. I was going to go through all yaoi anime, and systematically rewatch them and offer a review whilst the show was fresh in my mind. And then I got to Love Stage's turn... And I can't. I can't rewatch this. To make me rewatch this would be harder than physically pulling out my teeth. It is that bad. To be fair to it, once upon a time I enjoyed this show - I THINK. And you never want to have to think about whether you did in fact enjoy something. But I binge-watched it and liked the setting of the entertainment industry. I had a fun time watching it. But looking back, that enjoyment was reminiscent of watching a train wreck you can't avert your gaze from. I realise now that the reason I finished this anime was *fascination*, not enjoyment. I wanted to see if they could pull off a "good" yaoi anime with a more lighthearted plot than many of the dark, forced yaoi with horrid visuals and homophobia. News flash: they couldn't. To borrow my friend's review line: "Love Stage is a repugnant anime, but the perfect example of everything wrong with boys love anime. It is stereotypical, homophobic, offensive, and it romanticizes abusive relationships." And, to be quite honest, Lala Lulu ~sucks~ and I would rather gouge my eyes out with a melon baller than have to rewatch any scene with that screeching harpy in it.

I know this is a really popular yaoi but it was not my favorite!! I think if you have the time, it's easy to get through the ten episodes, but it isn't exactly super exciting... I think other yaoi are ten times better. The ending, however, is very cute but also feel rushed. The music was really nice. I loved the opening theme -- made the show feel more exciting than it really was. The art was great! I don't have any complaints there. The characters were very one-dimension and I honestly found Ryouma to be super annoying at times. At the end of the day, a yaoi fan should see this.

Good time to review another rapey yaoi, with some non-con and compulsion. Everyone has probably already talked about this problem in Junjou Romantica, a show that is not ashamed to show sexual harassment in the first minutes. But now it will be about Love Stage. The plot is generally not bad, it really does have what could be called a model of simplified gender intrigue. Story A boy who thinks he is in love with a girl who is actually a boy. The plot is very simplified because the gender secret is only for Ryoma and it's until episode 3. An episode where Ryoma wants to make sure Izumi's gender is hard to believe. And a nightmare begins. Because Ryoma takes Izumi's clothes off and, after making sure of his gender, decides to rape him. And from what I understand, he started molesting him by the nipples and kissing him, but he gets hit in the head. My brother's friend does it. Thank god it could have ended badly. Izumi is sitting and crying in the room. His brother comes over and says it's normal for him to get excited as he licks his nipples. Logic and realism finally left this anime. Then Ryoma stalks Izumi and apologizes to him. Okay ... What happens next is nothing wrong and interesting. Plain romcom. Characters Typical character yaoi archetypes. Izumi's brother and boyfriend are okay and they are probably the best people in this anime. Izumi, a little infantile kid who grows confident in the end. Ryoma scares me. The rich man from the elite pays attention to someone more ordinary (although Izumi comes from a wealthy family, he is considered a loser). He's supposedly trying to help Izumi and be nice, but this incident scares me. Art I don't like lips and eyes, the colors are terrible and my eyes hurt. Everything sparkles. But overall it's not bad. Enjoyment Very average. Such meh ... It's funny at times, but the romance still fails.

This was fun to watch, I enjoyed this Anime. The comedy was great, sometimes I had a feeling that Love Stage is a parody of ai genre. But in the end, I found myself cheering for the two main characters to become lovers. The animation was nothing special, music also. The story and characters were great. I also liked said characters, especially Rei, who help our main pair to understand the feelings they feel about each other. Love Stage doesn't have many NSFW scenes. One scene had bothered me, a that is the first NSFW scene, which kinda becomes cringe. Other scenes were cute and romantic. I think many straight men would enjoy this Anime, ofc If they are open-minded. You will find a good comedy. And if you are not straight, this was a pretty cute romantic story. Overall 7/10

Okay, what i need from a review is to be short and easy to understand like in two sentences so I can decide whether I want to watch it or not, so I'll start providing, to understand my reviews you are probably going to need some fanfiction knowledge. This is based solely on my personal enjoyment and feelings and it is biased in a way THE ACTUAL REVIEW: As someone who deeply enjoys BL this is how this one felt, so imagine a fanfiction; a good story, with lots of potential, a sweet pairing and you love it, it's coming together great, but as you're reading it you start to notice some toxic behavior that SHOULD NOT be encouraged. Yet the fanfiction is so entrancing and so good in all the other aspects you choose to overlook it because it's simply too good. This is exactly how I felt.

I'm, like, a little annoyed that I enjoyed this anime so much? It's 100% the type of corny, slightly trashy romances that a lot of people hate, but this one made me really happy? I shouldn't be giving it this high of a score, but I am because? For real, this anime was so unexpected. I really didn't expect to enjoy it this much. I'm pretty sure most of it had to do with the little story that it told rather than anything else. The art style was nice, and mostly it didn't bother me, but it's one of those styles that makes everyone looks just a little bit *too* pretty, you know? The sound was alright, and the characters themselves were your standard romance (especially yaoi) characters. But the way this anime was able to tell it's story was really charming and fun to watch. For starters, the humor in it was awesome. I think the reason I was able to enjoy it so much, cliche though it was, was because it was sort of taking the piss out of BL manga and that genre in general. Like, it knows it's cliche, and it runs with it. Beyond that, the romance aspect of it was told in a more realistic way than most other yaoi I've seen. I mean, it still wasn't extremely realistic, but the characters' developments within the story felt genuine to me. I do wish there was more conflict involved in the anime, like maybe a quarrel with two certain characters or whatever. Also, I would've liked to see expansion on other characters besides the main, but all in all, I had a great time watching this anime. The quality isn't really amazing if you compare it to other, super successful anime, but it's a good time, and that's why it's rated the way it is. Enjoyment is the most important thing to me, and this anime hit it. Honestly, I'd probably watch this again in the future. Just sayin'.

Completely absurd scenario, every character lovable, just right amount of fan service. Masterpiece indeed. I watched this whole thing in one sitting and then I watched the OVA. Izumi is so cute character and Ryouma take good care (mostly) of his bb princess. Nice well-paced romance that doesn't have you clawing your eyes out screaming at the screen for them to finally kiss or whatever, lots of overflowing passion "omg wait we both boys xd" type moments to break up the sexual tension here and there. Tho beware there several non-con moments if you dislike that stuff. All in all, total no-brainer if you like yaoi or even just shoujo rom-com in general. It's sexy, cute and funny. Only downside is that I really wish this series had continued because it feels like it's just beginning to show its true potential once you hit the end.

I liked this more than I thought I would. I would consider myself some what of a BL/yaoi connoisseur. I watched Love Stage with BL tropes and Junjo Romantica specifically in mind. The #1 best part about this anime is that the main character actually has a personality. He's not just some closeted twink (I mean he is); he has interests and dreams. He's an otaku who dreams of making a manga, but he sucks at it. He also has to struggle with being in a super talented family even though he hasn't found his "calling". The relationship is... yeah, ok. I'm really cynical of any romance in media. They just met, they are not in love. There's sexual assault but not rape. I can't believe my standards are so low. The brother's crush was really shitty and annoying. Isumi already has Ryoma fawning over him, what does the incest add? I wasn't a fan of Izumi's hobby change. Obviously there is noting wrong with liking anime. I don't get why he had to quit it. I also don't understand why he became an actor (or as they put it "being in showbiz"). I understand that he's probably going to be famous because he has his family's name. He was never shown as having an aptitude for acting. I guess it's good that he got over his stage fright. As usual in Japanese media being gay isn't really acknowledged. I mean wouldn't this relation ruin both of their careers? Art: I am an art snob. The art was typical anime style- no complaints. The way the mouths are drawn and animated though... yeesh. Maybe they're trying to look sexy, but I find it disturbing. The backgrounds don't really exist, probably to save money, but you know, I think they pulled it off. They disguised it as a stylistic choice.

Love Stage!! was the second shonen-ai anime I've watched (the first one was Yuri!!! On Ice). The first two episodes were enjoyable. They sounded promising. Izumi, the main character, is very cute and funny. Ryoma, who falls in love with Izumi, is that kind of exaggerated guy that makes you laugh. Rei, one of the employees of Izumi's family, is amazing! The music is awesome too and I'd constantly catch myself thinking of the opening theme. But all the other episodes were a little bit strange with some flaws and other stupid cliché stuff like: "Hey, I know who you are." Then you put on your glasses and I don't know who you are anymore. (Yes, that old Clark Kent thing.) But let me be a little more specific: STORY - 5 The story is ok. Just that. Love Stage!! isn't very different from that silly shoujos with silly characters. At the end, only one thing matters: will Izumi and Ryoma go through all the external challenges and be together? Nothing to be surprised, you know. But there some points that made me feel uncomfortable. By the way, this will probably be a spoiler, so if you don't want to read it jump to "ART". And the spoiler begins: it seems that everyone wants to touch Izumi. Yeah, in the sexual sense. Izumi is a cute, timid, female looking otaku. The others characters look at him and become all: "OMG! He is so cute I want to eat him!" And Ryoma is like: "I can't control myself when I'm close to you. I'll attack you because you are so cute." I don't think that's funny. Seriously, I don't. So, if you don't like romanticized rape either you'd better look for another shonen-ai. ART - 8 The art is very good. I liked it very much. Izumi's smile is contagious. The characters in general are beautifully drawn. It's not a masterpiece, you know, but it's enjoyable. SOUND - 7 Nothing to complain here. The opening theme is fun and sticks easily to your mind. The ending sound doesn't get behind. But again, it's not a masterpiece. CHARACTER - 6 As I've said before, the characters are silly. I mean, there's not a single responsible adult here. Izumi is a spoiled introvert otaku unable to do anything without help. He grows very little during the show. Ryoma doesn't change very much either. Izumi's parents, Seiya and Nagisa, are stupid to say the least. Nagisa acts like a teenage girl who only thinks about parties and handsome men. Seiya isn't a very mature and careful father. But from time to time they say something apparently profound about Izumi--just to pretend they are good parents. Shougo, Izumi's older brother, is spoiled too. He likes to do everything on his own way and doesn't care how his actions will affect other people. But he cares very much for Izumi and is much more helpful than Seiya and Nagisa. Rei is the stereotype of the good employee who respects his bosses and does everything to make their lives more comfortable. He is Izumi's eternal protector. Although I liked Rei very much--he is my favorite character from the show--it's undeniable that he has a great responsibility from Izumi and Shougo being so spoiled! Oh, and there is Lala-Lulu, the main character of Izumi's favorite manga. Lala-Lulu is the stereotype of the mahou shoujo with a heart full of kindness. She has no personality at all--an empty lovely character--and her voice is irritating. But she is important for the plot. Finally, we have Takahiro Kuroi, Izumi's classmate. Kuroi is the only responsible character in the entire show. Too bad he didn't receive much attention! ENJOYMENT - 6 Love Stage!! was an OK anime. It made me laugh sometimes, the songs are good, the art is beautiful. Nothing more than that. OVERALL - 6 I think I've said everything I had in mind. Love Stage!! is a silly show with handsome male characters and fanservice scenes. Lots and lots of fanservice scenes. Depending on how you interpret them, they can be pretty offensive. I hope this review has helped you. Bye bye!

The anime does not disappoint for fans of the manga! All the art and character designs stay true to the manga, and the voice actors in the anime were selected very well. Love BL drama, and it is also really nice to see the boundaries pushed between the stereotypical roles and nice to see a "willing" uke who comes to his own realization of his sexuality. Looking at other popular works of this genre (Junjou Romantica, Okane ga Nai, Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi, etc.), the missing piece is generally "consent" and Love Stage!! addresses this nicely. Funny moments, cute story, romance... what more do I want? Just more episodes. oh yeah! the opening is also really nice! good job!

to put it short and simple: this should be called suicide prevention: the anime. existence is absurd, we humans are afraid of the unknown, therefore we fear existence as much as death, because all of us know that we don't know anything at alll. questioning your very existence itself and other forms of misery makes up a huge part of our lives, at any given month in time we probably feel either extremely depressed or deal with vague/intense mind numbing anxiety 90% of the time. this is where this anime comes in. i haven't felt as warm, bubbly and generally content as when i watched this show. the afterglow only lasted one or two hours, after which i was yet again acutely aware of my crippling benzo addiction and that my sense of self is constantly fading in and out of some sort of depersonalization brainhaze, followed by panic attacks. but those hours were great and happy times. the story is close to non-existant and doesn't really matter, a very cute TRAP wants to become a mangaka, worships some random mahou shoujo protagonist and tries to cope with being forced into his family business, then some stuff happens, then he has sex and falls in love with someone he met 10 years ago. ok let me put it this way: you=stupid and depressed. you=watch cute femboy do his thing. you=now happy for arbitrary amount of time but at the same time jealous that you don't have anything like that going for you. the characters where pretty well fleshed out, or who am i kidding i was too busy imagining getting married to the cute protagonist, whatever his name was, for the sake of satisfying my degenerate fetish brought on by anime. the sound doesn't matter either, mediocre if anything, not sure if i can recall any soundtrack at all. i give it a 10/10 overall. let the cuteness of whatever his name is embrace you. put up posters on the wall, buy body pillow and merch to fill your empty broken soul.

I'm going to be totally honest... This anime first made me wonder if yaoi was a good thing. I concluded with yes, yes it is. Not only did I enter this with an open mind but I had no preference whether or not I'd like it. I was assuming that I was going to watch the first episode and just go... Meh... But I was hooked and wheeled in like a fish on a Sunday afternoon. If you have any doubt about it, Just give it a go! The story is easy to follow and even if you know the end result, you'd still want to watch it all! I was wondering whether I should read the manga but I thought that the anime satisfies it perfectly and there is no need for a second season (Unless you want to see them go into a deeper relationship). Since I wasn't hanging off my feet and feeling destroyed (In a bad way) with this anime, it's a good piece to watch and it takes it at a good pace. The art in this anime is excellent! The main protagonist (Sena Izumi) has such gorgeous eyes and the hair styles of all the different characters are so unique and beautiful yet simple. It delivers a great atmosphere that has never made me feel cringy or disgusted (I was too hyped all the time -3-) The characters relationships are just perfect. Personally watching through-out the anime, I never once thought that the relationships were unjustified or too weird/strange to have in the anime. I'd never think of the main relationships to be anything but perfect. This anime also leaves you not hating any of the characters. You would think that in a yaoi anime you'll hate a certain someone but in this piece, you feel complete with the characters and don't think that anyone of them acted anything but themselves. Overall this is an excellent anime that deserves to be watched. If you're feeling unsure whether you'll like this type of stuff, just watch the first episode, giving you a taste of what it's like... Just don't go overboard. -3-