I Cannot Reach You had been sitting in my “continue watching” queue on Netflix for quite some time. I was getting into that spot where I would start an episode and doze off halfway through. Which really bugged me because I love a good BL! And this one was seeming to shape up to be a good one!
Over the course of the last two years, I haven’t had too many Japaense BLs under my belt, so it’s always interesting to see how they differ from other countries. The thing that stood out to me again, though not nearly as severe, is how these character’s personal narrations always put themselves down! The self-hate is real and constant! In this case, Yamato and Kakeru are high schoolers, so that self doubt makes a lot more sense, and as I said, theirs’ wasn’t nearly as severe as other JBLs I’ve checked out.
Yamato and Kekeru have been friends since childhood, but now that they are older, Yamato makes it known that he’s loved Kekeru for a long time. Even though he is the recipient of many love letters, he always kindly turns down those love declarations much to the amazement and amusement of Kekeru and his other friends. While Yamato is a hot commodity among the female population, he doesn’t have too many male friendships, though that starts to change once Yamato realizes he could lose Kekeru to a girlfriend soon.
There was one supporting character, Yui, who I thought was going to be a pain in the neck bully, actually ended up being a very good voice of reason. And though you’d think it’d be to his closer friend, Kekeru, he in fact offered his sage wisdom to Yamato, which usually ended up spurring him into action. Still, you can bring a horse to water. Eventually, Yamato got the courage to make his feelings known, and when Kekeru doesn’t outright rebuke his confession, things still take an uncertain turn when Kekeru starts to doubt both himself, or what Yamato sees in him, as well as caring a bit too much about what others will think. In a conservative place like Japan though, I can’t blame him too much for the latter.
But have no fear! We get a happy ending, even though not too much transpires. For what this series was, I was pleased. It doesn’t quite stand up to the other JBLs I’ve watched, but this was sweet, so I appreciate it for being a bit different.