Takumi-kun Series: Drama (2025)

 As a long-time, albeit lukewarm, follower of the Takumi-kun saga, I've been through a lot. I watched the five original live-action films. I even saw the one confusingly titled Takumi-kun 6, which, despite its number, turned out to be a whole new adaptation of the same story, not a sequel to the originals. So, when a brand-new series, simply titled Takumi-kun, dropped, I immediately filed it in the "New Adaptation, Same Story" cabinet. Imagine my surprise (and the two episodes it took me to figure it out) when I realized this wasn't a reboot! It was a direct continuation of the previous Takumi-kun film, but with an almost entirely new cast... except for the actor playing Gii. Confusing? Absolutely. Now, let's be clear: I wasn't head-o/ver-heels for the original films /(1-5), and the Takumi-kun 6 standalone didn't exactly convert me. But this new series? It honestly seems to have killed any possible sliver of hope I had for the franchise. I'll give them this: The actors are visually appealing. They're nice to look at. Unfortunately, the persistent, overwhelming feeling of living in a parallel reality where everyone is male and women simply don't exist is back in full force. And then there's Gii. My core issue with the character remains: Gii is an absolute imbecile, bordering on the extremely selfish, who genuinely seems to consider himself a gift from the heavens to Takumi. He has zero awareness that his dramatic, self-important behavior might actually be detrimental to the other boy, who, let's remember, is trying to overcome a pretty serious trauma. Thankfully, in this new series, we skipped the most ridiculous parts of Gii's evolution: the part where he goes from being so obsessed with Takumi that he can't bear a minute apart, to the extreme idiot who decides—of course without discussing it with Takumi first—that it's best for them to keep their distance so Takumi won't be subject to reprisals from Gii's enemies. (Seriously, what?) All in all, this latest installment did not excite me. Like the previous films, there was the potential for an engaging, interesting story about young love and overcoming personal hurdles. But this adaptation felt like a clumsy cut-and-paste job, with scenes jumbled together seemingly at random. The ending, in particular, was a rushed, ill-conceived attempt to tie up all the loose threads in a messy, illogical way. HEA. You can watch on GagaOOLala. Heat Level: 4/6.

Heat Level:

1/6: glances, caress, hugs, no kisses

2/6: kisses, closed mouth or camera angles

3/6: full kisses, clothes on

4/6: full kisses, some clothes off, hands above the waist, pants stay on

5/6: most clothes off, they have sex, but it’s masked, no sexy sounds

6/6: full nudity mostly hidden by camera angles, they have sex, sexy sounds