Summary
BL animehas become more mainstream recently, thanks to some widely acclaimed series likeGivenandThe Stranger By The Shore. A particularly sweet story,Sasaki and Miyano, quickly gained international popularity when it aired in 2022. Its sequel movie,Sasaki and Miyano: Graduation,was released along with a short film that adapted bits of the author’s other manga series:Hirano and Kagiura. The stories are parallel and share some characters and events, but they are also significantly different.
Though Hirano and Kagiura is often treated as some sort of spin-off to Sasaki and Miyano, its light novel was actually written before theSasaki and Miyanomanga even existed. The story follows Taiga Hirano’s relationship with his junior and roommate, Akira Kagiura. Their romance develops at a much slower pace, and whereSasaki and Miyanois straightforward and sweet,Hirano and Kagiurais full of tension, conflict, and insightfulness with emotional rewards instead.
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Kagiura is totally in love with Hirano, and he decides to confess his feelings early on.He is politely rejected, but then he commits the audacious act of rejecting Hirano’s rejection.The events then revolve around the two trying various methods of exploring the idea of a romantic relationship between them. That is where the true charm of the manga is, in discovering the “how”, not the “what”. The amount of emotional turmoil both young men experience is fascinating.
The 10-minute short that plays before theSasaki and Miyano: Graduationmovie adapts bits of the originalHirano and Kagiuralight novel. It’s available for stream on Crunchyroll.
The introspection the main characters execute upon themselves is stirring, to say the least. The fact that neither of them makes a big deal out of the possibility of being in love with another man is refreshing, even for a BL. Rather, what they do is analyze where their feelings come from, how to get them through the other person accurately (something they’re not very good at), and what are they actually looking for in a relationship.
Heart-Searching: The True Protagonist Of Hirano And Kagiura
Hirano and Kagiurafeatures fewer supporting characters thanSasaki and Miyano, but instead, it dives profoundly and extensively into the thoughts of the protagonists. Hirano is a particularly curious case: while it is clear that he treasures Kagiura, he doesn’t seem interested in a romantic relationship at all, to the point where he’s oblivious of the feelings he is “supposed” to feel when experiencing typically romantic scenarios.This has led a portion of the fans to speculate whether this is a case ofaroace representation.
The characters and storylines overlap more noticeably in the light novelsSasaki and Miyano: First-YearsandSasaki and Miyano: Second-Years, where the fact that Hirano and Sasaki are in the same class serves as a unifying factor.
While inSasaki and Miyanothe story is moved primarily because of the protagonist’s interactions, inHirano and Kagiuraadvances the more the two young men untangle the emotions in their heads. The story is a slow burn like no other, and even thoughthe events inSasaki and Miyanohappen in the future in relation to Hirano and Kagiura, Harusono does a remarkable work keeping the stories separated. Hirano is the common link between the two, and his appearances in the current Sasaki and Miyano storyline don’t deny or confirm anything about his current relationship with Kagiura.
Despite having the same charming art style,Sasaki and Miyano andHirano and Kagiuradiffer when it comes to themes and general feel. The latter is turmoiled and dramatic, which makes it feel more mature.Hirano and Kagiurais definitely worth reading for any fan ofBL manga and anime, especially for those who love the building tension, and short, but tender sweet bits.
