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* BigFancyHouse: Hira's family home is a single storey traditional wooden build on a plot of land that is huge by Japanese standards, with plenty of greenspace around. Kiyoi's group pick it as their hangout spot over the summer while school is out, since no one else has that much free space. The fact Hira's parents can afford to keep the house just for Hira to stay in all by himself suggests he comes from quite a wealthy background.
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''Utsukushii Kare'' (美しい彼), also known by the alternative/English title of ''My Beautiful Man'', is a Japanese TV series based on a novel trilogy by Yuu Nagira. The first season was released in 2021 and follows the protagonists through their last year of high school and their reunion a few years later over the course of 6 episodes. The 4-episode second season, released in 2023, shows Hira and Kiyoi's lives as they adjust to their RelationshipUpgrade and contemplate their future. The movie ''Utsukushii Kare Eternal'' was released later that year as 'season 2 part 2'.
Kazunari Hira (Riku Hagiwara) is a 17 year old starting his last year of high school. Due to his [[SpeechImpediment stutter]], he is a [[FriendlessBackground perpetual loner]] and lives at the bottom of the PopularityFoodChain. He lives an empty, "invisible" existence where all he hopes for is to be left alone to take photographs with his camera.
On the first day of class, Hira is inadvertently saved from a disastrous attempt at self-introduction by the late entrance of Sou Kiyoi (Yuusei Yagi), who is everything Hira isn't - cool, popular, and - in Hira's eye - ''beautiful''.
Hira develops an intense and obsessive crush on Kiyoi, who uses him like a servant - but over time, their dynamic gradually shifts as Kiyoi develops his own fascination with Hira.
!Tropes:
* ADayInHerApron: Kiyoi realises that he needs to contribute more to housework rather than leaving it all to Hira and decides to cook him dinner. It doesn't go quite as planned due to his inexperience with cooking. His mistakes include neglecting to rise the dirt off the spinach, adding way too much sake, and deciding to rinse the raw pork "to prevent food poisoning". The result is apparently not ''inedible'', but certainly not ''nice'' to eat - except to Hira, who is just happy to eat something cooked by Kiyoi and doesn't notice how bad it is. Kiyoi doesn't try to cook again, but we do later see him folding some laundry while waiting for Hira to come home.
* AllTakeAndNoGive: Hira and Kiyoi's relationship remains unequal even after they get together. As Koyama points out, Hira does all the cooking and housework and supports Kiyoi's goals, letting his own life fall by the wayside. He has few extracurriculars to his name and no employment prospects to speak of despite being well into his last year of university, when students are expected to be dedicating most of their time and energy into ''shuukatsu'' (seeking post-graduation employment).
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Kiyoi delivers one to Hira when they meet again after graduation. An unusual case in that the feelings are requited and Kiyoi knows it; Kiyoi is just unhappy about ''[[LovingAShadow the way]]'' Hira loves him.
--> '''Kiyoi:''' Has it ever occurred to you that I like you?
* ApologisesALot: Hira has a habit of apologising frequently, particularly around Kiyoi, who tells him to cut it out.
* ArcWords: Hira and Kiyoi both reflect on the difficulty of saying "''suki''", ([[TheILoveYouStigma "I like/love you"]], but also can be used more generically to say you like something). The words obviously come up when they reflect on their feelings for each other, and in each of their {{Love Confession}}s, but it also comes up in other contexts:
** In the opening narration, when Hira reflects on his life, we are shown Hira as a young child being unable to say that he ''likes'' rabbits due to his speech impediment.
** Kiyoi struggles with imbuing emotion into his lines while practicing for a play. The line he has issues with is from a LoveConfession scene and starts with "I like you".
* BackstabbingTheAlphaBitch: Shirota, one of the students in Kiyoi's posse, stages a coup on him once his popularity falls as a result of losing the TalentContest.
* BadBadActing: Downplayed. Kiyoi is shown practicing a LoveConfession scene as part of a play, but the performance falls flat. Later, after he [[LoveEpiphany realises he is in love with Hira]], he delivers the same lines, and the line is delivered with [[EnforcedMethodActing much more emotional impact]]. His InUniverse director notes the difference with approval.
* BaitAndSwitchCredits: the first season opening sequence makes the series look like a fluffy romantic comedy with the upbeat love song opening theme, Hira looking flustered, and general snappy editing style. While the show is not without lighthearted moments, the tone is generally more subdued, the show doesn't shy away from exploring the less-than-healthy aspects of Kiyoi and Hira's relationship, and tropes are more often PlayedForDrama than for laughs. Ironically, the opening for the second season is moodier and less comedic, despite the actual tone of the show being more lighthearted in the second season after Kiyoi and Hira's RelationshipUpgrade.
* BeautifulDreamer: Hira finds Kiyoi sleeping in an empty classroom and admires his beauty, until Kiyoi opens his eyes and startles him. Subverted - we are later shown the same scene from Kiyoi's perspective, which reveals he was only pretending to be asleep all along.
* BerateAndSwitch: Hira submits one of his photos for a photography contest, but it does not pass the first round of selections. Noguchi, a prominent photographer who was one of the judges for the contest, tells Hira that the photo is 'childish' and that it shows "tremendous selfishness and disgust", segueing into a ReasonYouSuckSpeech about how the flipside of Hira's self deprecation is arrogance and rejection of the world. Then, he tells him that this all [[JuniorCounterpart reminds him of Noguchi himself when he was younger]] and offers him a job as his assistant.
* BerserkButton: Hira does ''not'' take kindly to anyone who insults Kiyoi, at one point punching a student who tries to bully Kiyoi. It takes three other students to pry him off.
* BettyAndVeronica: Koyama (Betty) and Kiyoi (Veronica) for Hira. Koyama is a NiceGuy who helped Hira when he was struggling with his stutter. Kiyoi is a beautiful but haughty {{Tsundere}} who throws insults and belittling comments at Hira. Hira compares the two by saying that he can breathe easy when he's around Koyama, but Kiyoi takes his breath away.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Hira spends most of high school as an ExtremeDoormat to Kiyoi and his group, but he fantasises about ''gunning everyone down with a machine gun'' when he feels Kiyoi is being made fun of and unleases a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on the boy who dumps a bucket of juice on Kiyoi.
* CellPhonesAreUseless: Hira has to replace his cell phone after he drops it in the gutter on his graduation day and gets a new number, which means when Kiyoi tries to call him, the number is no longer in service. Downplayed - as Kiyoi points out, Hira didn't ''need'' to change his number when he got a new phone. Kiyoi also notes he had other ways to contact Hira, such as asking their former classmates for his new number or simply visiting his home - he just didn't want to admit that he cared about Hira that much.
* CherryBlossoms: Kiyoi [[EstablishingCharacterMoment is first introduced]] walking into the classroom covered in cherry blossoms, symbolising the change and romance he brings to Hira's life.
* CourtlyLove: Hira's feelings for Kiyoi during their high school years has shades of this - he has no expectations that Kiyoi will return his feelings, content to simply 'serve' Kiyoi and worship him from a distance. He even [[IKissYourHand kisses Kiyoi's hand]] at one point.
* DontYouDarePityMe: When Hira finds Kiyoi after the unsuccessful TalentContest, Kiyoi angrily asks if he is feeling sorry for him.
* DramaticIrony: At one point, Hira is giving Kiyoi a ride on his bicycle and reflects that he cannot see Kiyoi's face, but he expects that he probably looks disgusted. The camera pans and shows that Kiyoi in fact has a small but fond smile on his face.
* FailedAuditionPlot:
** Kiyoi enters a TalentContest and manages to get into the final, but he is not picked as the winner. He briefly falls down the PopularityFoodChain as a result, until it's revealed that a talent agent watching the contest saw potential in him and signed him on as a model.
** Koyama and Kiyoi persuade Hira to apply for a photography contest, but he does not pass the first screening. He becomes discouraged, but Kiyoi reminds him that he can always try again - after all, [[CallBack Kiyoi didn't win his first talent contest, either]].
* FireworksOfLove: Kiyoi's posse tries to invoke this by inviting some of their female classmates for handheld fireworks at Hira's backyard. It doesn't work - the girls end up congregating around Kiyoi, who shows little interest in the fireworks. After everyone else has left, however, Hira has his LoveEpiphany looking at Kiyoi lighting up the leftover sparklers.
* FirstLove: Kiyoi and Hira are each other's first love. Hira tells Kiyoi that he doesn't know what he's supposed to do in a relationship because he's never done it before, and Kiyoi reminds him that he's also doing this for the first time and fumbling along, too.
* GreenEyedEpiphany: Kiyoi only admits to himself that he is/has been in love with Hira after he thinks Hira is dating Koyama.
* HerBoyfriendsJacket: Hira owns a pale blue hoodie. Kiyoi borrows it once when they get their school uniforms wet playing with a water hose. After their RelationshipUpgrade, both Hira and Kiyoi are seen wearing the hoodie.
* HypocriticalHeartwarming:
** One of the first signs that Kiyoi cares for Hira is when he snaps at another student who tries to use Hira as an errand boy, much like Kiyoi himself does all the time.
** Later, Koyama lists off Hira's less than desirable qualities to Kiyoi and notes that he looks pissed off despite repeatedly insulting Hira himself.
** Apparently, Kiyoi's protectiveness towards people trying to insult Hira even extends to Hira himself - when Hira puts himself down and says he is "just a pebble", Kiyoi replies, "Don't call my man a 'pebble'".
* IJustWantToBeLoved: Kiyoi had a lonely childhood, going from being a latchkey kid with a busy single mum to feeling neglected in favour of his younger half-siblings once she remarried. His childhood dream was to be an IdolSinger because he saw the kind of fanatic devotion they receive and wanted someone to feel that way about him - explaining his attraction towards Hira, who looks at him with clear and almost obsessive adoration.
* InLoveWithYourCarnage: Kiyoi is attracted to Hira's intense, obsessive devotion to him. In particular, he seemed very much into the way Hira viciously attacked Shirota for dumping juice onto Kiyoi.
* InsecureLoveInterest: Hira places Kiyoi so far above him on a pedastal, he initially can't even entertain the idea that Kiyoi might return his feelings. This is deconstructed; Hira ends up inadvertently hurting Kiyoi because he keeps trying to distance himself from Kiyoi by idolising him and putting himself down, and because he doesn't understand that Kiyoi cares about him and ''wants'' to spend time with him, hear about what's bothering Hira, and plan a future together.
* InsultOfEndearment: Kiyoi constantly calls Hira "disgusting" and "annoying", but he means it less and less as time goes on.
* IntimateArtistry: Hira likes to photograph Kiyoi - he generally does not include people in his photos and even digitally erases them if someone is accidentally included in the shot, but Kiyoi is his one exception. Kiyoi tells him that he looks his best in Hira's photographs of him.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Koyama essentially tells Kiyoi that Hira is still in love with him, and then arranges to have Hira attend one of the theatre troupes' practices so that Hira and Kiyoi have a chance to see each other again. When Kiyoi asks him why he's doing this, he says the trope name almost word for word.
* LastNameBasis: Hira and Kiyoi continue to refer to each other by their last names even after they start dating.
* LonelyAtTheTop: Kiyoi's high school 'friends' are only hanging out with him because they get a boost in their own popularity from being around him, and Kiyoi knows that their relationship is superficial. When Kiyoi loses his popularity, Hira is the only one who sticks by him.
* LoveAtFirstSight: Hira is drawn to Kiyoi from the first moment he lays eyes on him as he walks into the classroom.
* LysistrataGambit: After a fight over Hira continuing to put Kiyoi on a pedastal, Kiyoi declares that he will not kiss or be intimate with Hira until Hira learns to face him as his equal.
* MeaningfulEcho:
** Hira and Kiyoi's reunion after the TimeSkip is shown twice: first from Hira's perspective, then from Kiyoi's. Their narration uses the exact same phrasing as each other to highlight that Kiyoi is just as drawn to Hira as Hira is to him.
---> ''My heart is beating so loud I feel like it's going to explode. My hands are trembling against my lap as I hold them clenched into a fist. This is so unlike me.''
** Kiyoi watches a TV show starring Anna, his [[JapaneseHonorifics senpai]] at the talent agency. He compliments her acting and notes that she is playing a character who is [[PureIsNotGood too innocent to be aware of the harm she is causing]]. Later, similar phrasing is used
* MeetTheInLaws: the major conflict in season 2 is triggered when Hira "reassures" Kiyoi that he will never have to meet his parents, making him realise that Hira still thinks they live in a different world from each other and therefore do not picture them building a future together as a couple.
* MinorLivingAlone: Hira's parents relocate for their job when he is 17, leaving Hira to live on his own for his last year of high school.
* NiceGuy: Koyama is a supportive friend to Hira and remains so even after Hira turns him down. He is mildly antagonistic towards Kiyoi, which is more than fair, but he still helps him get together with Hira and even gives him a recipe for a meal he could cook for Hira.
* NotSoStoic: Kiyoi puts up an aloof, blasé front as a high schooler and tries to act as though he has no emotional investment in anything. This also extends to the talent contest, claiming that his cousin applied to the competition on his behalf. However, Hira finds out that he is serious enough about the competition to take dance lessions in secret to prepare for it. When he isn't picked as the winner, he punches a wall in anger.
* ObliviousToLove: Hira takes a really, really long time to realise that Kiyoi is in love with him. Kiyoi kissing him isn't enough. Even Kiyoi's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove doesn't get through to him, because Kiyoi left him the tiniest little room for interpretation. Kiyoi has to really spell it out to him for Hira to finally catch a clue.
--> '''Kiyoi:''' I'm not a king at all. I'm just an ordinary man. I want to date the person I'm in love with, and I want to touch them - just like any other man.
--> '''Hira:''' ...You're in love with someone?
--> '''Kiyoi:''' It's ''you''! How many times are you going to make me say it?
* PaperThinDisguise: Hira puts on a cap and sunglasses (indoors ''and'' [[SunglassesAtNight at night]]) to attend Kiyoi's play "incognito". Kiyoi immediately sees through it. Later, Hira uses the ''same'' disguise while following Kiyoi around as a fan. Both times, it's pointed out that his disguise makes him stand out ''more'' because of how suspicious he looks, and earns him the nickname 'Suspicious-kun'.
* PoorMansPorn: Kiyoi asks Hira what he does with the photos he takes of Kiyoi and half-jokingly asks if he has ever touched himself while looking at them - to which Hira admits that he ''has'' done this. He claims he only did it once, because he felt too guilty about it afterwards.
* RomanticRideSharing: Kiyoi and Hira often ride Hira's bicycle together. At one point, a police officer sees them and (after they fail to stop) notify their school, causing them to get detention.
* RomComJob: Kiyoi and Hira both end up working in creative jobs in the media industry as an actor and a photographer, respectively.
* SacredFirstKiss: After impulsively kissing Hira on their last day of high school, Kiyoi reflects that it was his first kiss and every time he thinks about his first kiss from now on, he will remember that it was with Hira, of all people.
* SecretRelationship:
** Somewhat one-sided example: Hira clearly wants to keep their relationship a secret, presumably due to a mix of feeling that he [[InsecureLoveInterest doesn't deserve Kiyoi]] and not wanting to jeopardise Kiyoi's career. He does not tell anyone that he is dating Kiyoi (except for Koyama, who was partially responsible for them getting together in the first place), and tries to conceal Kiyoi's presence when his cousin visits the house where they are cohabitating. Kiyoi, on the other hand, tells Anna (an actress who belongs to the same talent agency as him) that he has a boyfriend, and seems interested in the idea of [[MeetTheInLaws meeting Hira's parents]] at some point in the future.
** After Kiyoi comes out to him, Anna tells him that she is also in a relationship, but they cannot tell anyone (including their talent agency) because her partner works in the same industry.
* SheCleansUpNicely: Hira is actually quite attractive if he puts some effort into his appearance. Kiyoi styles him in fashionable clothes and changes his hairstyle for a party, and Hira is immediately accosted by a woman trying to flirt with him.
* ShipsThatPassInTheNight: InUniverse example: at their high school reunion, it's revealed that Kurata and Shirota started dating shortly after graduation and is now getting married. During high school, they were never shown directly interacting with each other though they both orbited around Kiyoi. Their classmates are all surprised to find out they are now together.
* SingleGirlSeeksMostPopularGuy: Kurata, a quiet girl in Kiyoi and Hira's class whom Hira recognises as [[DistaffCounterpart filling his role]] for the resident GirlPosse, hands Kiyoi a love letter on their last day of school.
* SingleTargetSexuality: At one point, Kiyoi asks Hira if he is attracted to men. Hira replies that he has never experienced any attraction towards men other than Kiyoi - or towards women, for that matter.
* StalkerWithACrush: Some of Hira's behaviour, such as following Kiyoi in ([[PaperThinDisguise terrible]]) disguise and dedicating a StalkerShrine to him, would definitely fall under this.
* TimeSkip: the narrative jumps ahead by "a few years" after Hira and Kiyoi's high school graduation. Hira is partway through university and Kiyoi is doing some small-time acting jobs.
* TookALevelInKindness:
** Kiyoi [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosts]] towards Hira, but he is also shown to become more friendly and humble towards everyone else around him as he mellows with age and grows out of his high school mentality.
** Shirota, one of Kiyoi's posse who was the one to dump juice on him to try upstage him, is also suggested to have become nicer when we see him at the high school reunion. His fiancee comments that she did not expect him to be such a kind person when they were classmates in high school.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood:
** Kiyoi always asks for a ginger ale when Hira is fetching him a drink. Hira seems to eventually start keeping a stock supply of ginger ale in his house.
* {{Tsundere}}: Kiyoi starts out almost full ''Tsun'', constantly belittling Hira when he's not ignoring him with only rare hints that he may care for Hira underneath it all. He starts showing his softer side more once they start dating, but he still has a tendency to cover up his embarrassment after showing affection by snapping at Hira or even [[KissKissSlap physical violence]].
* TwiceShy: Kiyoi and Hira in high school. Kiyoi hasn't quite admitted to himself yet that he's in love with Hira and is too proud to let Hira know that he is attracted to him, so he wants Hira to make the first move. Hira has cripplingly low self-esteem and has put Kiyoi on a sky-high pedastal, so it doesn't seem to occur to him that dating Kiyoi is even an option.
* UnknowinglyInLove: Kiyoi first develops feelings for Hira when they are high schoolers, but he doesn't realise he is in love with Hira until several years later when he sees Hira again and [[GreenEyedEpiphany thinks he's dating someone else]]. Even after he kisses Hira, he thinks to himself that he has no idea what drove him to do such a thing.
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: After meeting Kiyoi and seeing how rudely he treats Hira, Koyama doesn't understand why Hira is so devoted to him.
* WoundLicking: Kiyoi injures his finger when a bunch of boxes fall on him and Hira. Hira instinctively sucks on his finger, in [[VisualInnuendo quite a suggestive manner]].
Kazunari Hira (Riku Hagiwara) is a 17 year old starting his last year of high school. Due to his [[SpeechImpediment stutter]], he is a [[FriendlessBackground perpetual loner]] and lives at the bottom of the PopularityFoodChain. He lives an empty, "invisible" existence where all he hopes for is to be left alone to take photographs with his camera.
On the first day of class, Hira is inadvertently saved from a disastrous attempt at self-introduction by the late entrance of Sou Kiyoi (Yuusei Yagi), who is everything Hira isn't - cool, popular, and - in Hira's eye - ''beautiful''.
Hira develops an intense and obsessive crush on Kiyoi, who uses him like a servant - but over time, their dynamic gradually shifts as Kiyoi develops his own fascination with Hira.
!Tropes:
* ADayInHerApron: Kiyoi realises that he needs to contribute more to housework rather than leaving it all to Hira and decides to cook him dinner. It doesn't go quite as planned due to his inexperience with cooking. His mistakes include neglecting to rise the dirt off the spinach, adding way too much sake, and deciding to rinse the raw pork "to prevent food poisoning". The result is apparently not ''inedible'', but certainly not ''nice'' to eat - except to Hira, who is just happy to eat something cooked by Kiyoi and doesn't notice how bad it is. Kiyoi doesn't try to cook again, but we do later see him folding some laundry while waiting for Hira to come home.
* AllTakeAndNoGive: Hira and Kiyoi's relationship remains unequal even after they get together. As Koyama points out, Hira does all the cooking and housework and supports Kiyoi's goals, letting his own life fall by the wayside. He has few extracurriculars to his name and no employment prospects to speak of despite being well into his last year of university, when students are expected to be dedicating most of their time and energy into ''shuukatsu'' (seeking post-graduation employment).
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Kiyoi delivers one to Hira when they meet again after graduation. An unusual case in that the feelings are requited and Kiyoi knows it; Kiyoi is just unhappy about ''[[LovingAShadow the way]]'' Hira loves him.
--> '''Kiyoi:''' Has it ever occurred to you that I like you?
* ApologisesALot: Hira has a habit of apologising frequently, particularly around Kiyoi, who tells him to cut it out.
* ArcWords: Hira and Kiyoi both reflect on the difficulty of saying "''suki''", ([[TheILoveYouStigma "I like/love you"]], but also can be used more generically to say you like something). The words obviously come up when they reflect on their feelings for each other, and in each of their {{Love Confession}}s, but it also comes up in other contexts:
** In the opening narration, when Hira reflects on his life, we are shown Hira as a young child being unable to say that he ''likes'' rabbits due to his speech impediment.
** Kiyoi struggles with imbuing emotion into his lines while practicing for a play. The line he has issues with is from a LoveConfession scene and starts with "I like you".
* BackstabbingTheAlphaBitch: Shirota, one of the students in Kiyoi's posse, stages a coup on him once his popularity falls as a result of losing the TalentContest.
* BadBadActing: Downplayed. Kiyoi is shown practicing a LoveConfession scene as part of a play, but the performance falls flat. Later, after he [[LoveEpiphany realises he is in love with Hira]], he delivers the same lines, and the line is delivered with [[EnforcedMethodActing much more emotional impact]]. His InUniverse director notes the difference with approval.
* BaitAndSwitchCredits: the first season opening sequence makes the series look like a fluffy romantic comedy with the upbeat love song opening theme, Hira looking flustered, and general snappy editing style. While the show is not without lighthearted moments, the tone is generally more subdued, the show doesn't shy away from exploring the less-than-healthy aspects of Kiyoi and Hira's relationship, and tropes are more often PlayedForDrama than for laughs. Ironically, the opening for the second season is moodier and less comedic, despite the actual tone of the show being more lighthearted in the second season after Kiyoi and Hira's RelationshipUpgrade.
* BeautifulDreamer: Hira finds Kiyoi sleeping in an empty classroom and admires his beauty, until Kiyoi opens his eyes and startles him. Subverted - we are later shown the same scene from Kiyoi's perspective, which reveals he was only pretending to be asleep all along.
* BerateAndSwitch: Hira submits one of his photos for a photography contest, but it does not pass the first round of selections. Noguchi, a prominent photographer who was one of the judges for the contest, tells Hira that the photo is 'childish' and that it shows "tremendous selfishness and disgust", segueing into a ReasonYouSuckSpeech about how the flipside of Hira's self deprecation is arrogance and rejection of the world. Then, he tells him that this all [[JuniorCounterpart reminds him of Noguchi himself when he was younger]] and offers him a job as his assistant.
* BerserkButton: Hira does ''not'' take kindly to anyone who insults Kiyoi, at one point punching a student who tries to bully Kiyoi. It takes three other students to pry him off.
* BettyAndVeronica: Koyama (Betty) and Kiyoi (Veronica) for Hira. Koyama is a NiceGuy who helped Hira when he was struggling with his stutter. Kiyoi is a beautiful but haughty {{Tsundere}} who throws insults and belittling comments at Hira. Hira compares the two by saying that he can breathe easy when he's around Koyama, but Kiyoi takes his breath away.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Hira spends most of high school as an ExtremeDoormat to Kiyoi and his group, but he fantasises about ''gunning everyone down with a machine gun'' when he feels Kiyoi is being made fun of and unleases a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on the boy who dumps a bucket of juice on Kiyoi.
* CellPhonesAreUseless: Hira has to replace his cell phone after he drops it in the gutter on his graduation day and gets a new number, which means when Kiyoi tries to call him, the number is no longer in service. Downplayed - as Kiyoi points out, Hira didn't ''need'' to change his number when he got a new phone. Kiyoi also notes he had other ways to contact Hira, such as asking their former classmates for his new number or simply visiting his home - he just didn't want to admit that he cared about Hira that much.
* CherryBlossoms: Kiyoi [[EstablishingCharacterMoment is first introduced]] walking into the classroom covered in cherry blossoms, symbolising the change and romance he brings to Hira's life.
* CourtlyLove: Hira's feelings for Kiyoi during their high school years has shades of this - he has no expectations that Kiyoi will return his feelings, content to simply 'serve' Kiyoi and worship him from a distance. He even [[IKissYourHand kisses Kiyoi's hand]] at one point.
* DontYouDarePityMe: When Hira finds Kiyoi after the unsuccessful TalentContest, Kiyoi angrily asks if he is feeling sorry for him.
* DramaticIrony: At one point, Hira is giving Kiyoi a ride on his bicycle and reflects that he cannot see Kiyoi's face, but he expects that he probably looks disgusted. The camera pans and shows that Kiyoi in fact has a small but fond smile on his face.
* FailedAuditionPlot:
** Kiyoi enters a TalentContest and manages to get into the final, but he is not picked as the winner. He briefly falls down the PopularityFoodChain as a result, until it's revealed that a talent agent watching the contest saw potential in him and signed him on as a model.
** Koyama and Kiyoi persuade Hira to apply for a photography contest, but he does not pass the first screening. He becomes discouraged, but Kiyoi reminds him that he can always try again - after all, [[CallBack Kiyoi didn't win his first talent contest, either]].
* FireworksOfLove: Kiyoi's posse tries to invoke this by inviting some of their female classmates for handheld fireworks at Hira's backyard. It doesn't work - the girls end up congregating around Kiyoi, who shows little interest in the fireworks. After everyone else has left, however, Hira has his LoveEpiphany looking at Kiyoi lighting up the leftover sparklers.
* FirstLove: Kiyoi and Hira are each other's first love. Hira tells Kiyoi that he doesn't know what he's supposed to do in a relationship because he's never done it before, and Kiyoi reminds him that he's also doing this for the first time and fumbling along, too.
* GreenEyedEpiphany: Kiyoi only admits to himself that he is/has been in love with Hira after he thinks Hira is dating Koyama.
* HerBoyfriendsJacket: Hira owns a pale blue hoodie. Kiyoi borrows it once when they get their school uniforms wet playing with a water hose. After their RelationshipUpgrade, both Hira and Kiyoi are seen wearing the hoodie.
* HypocriticalHeartwarming:
** One of the first signs that Kiyoi cares for Hira is when he snaps at another student who tries to use Hira as an errand boy, much like Kiyoi himself does all the time.
** Later, Koyama lists off Hira's less than desirable qualities to Kiyoi and notes that he looks pissed off despite repeatedly insulting Hira himself.
** Apparently, Kiyoi's protectiveness towards people trying to insult Hira even extends to Hira himself - when Hira puts himself down and says he is "just a pebble", Kiyoi replies, "Don't call my man a 'pebble'".
* IJustWantToBeLoved: Kiyoi had a lonely childhood, going from being a latchkey kid with a busy single mum to feeling neglected in favour of his younger half-siblings once she remarried. His childhood dream was to be an IdolSinger because he saw the kind of fanatic devotion they receive and wanted someone to feel that way about him - explaining his attraction towards Hira, who looks at him with clear and almost obsessive adoration.
* InLoveWithYourCarnage: Kiyoi is attracted to Hira's intense, obsessive devotion to him. In particular, he seemed very much into the way Hira viciously attacked Shirota for dumping juice onto Kiyoi.
* InsecureLoveInterest: Hira places Kiyoi so far above him on a pedastal, he initially can't even entertain the idea that Kiyoi might return his feelings. This is deconstructed; Hira ends up inadvertently hurting Kiyoi because he keeps trying to distance himself from Kiyoi by idolising him and putting himself down, and because he doesn't understand that Kiyoi cares about him and ''wants'' to spend time with him, hear about what's bothering Hira, and plan a future together.
* InsultOfEndearment: Kiyoi constantly calls Hira "disgusting" and "annoying", but he means it less and less as time goes on.
* IntimateArtistry: Hira likes to photograph Kiyoi - he generally does not include people in his photos and even digitally erases them if someone is accidentally included in the shot, but Kiyoi is his one exception. Kiyoi tells him that he looks his best in Hira's photographs of him.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Koyama essentially tells Kiyoi that Hira is still in love with him, and then arranges to have Hira attend one of the theatre troupes' practices so that Hira and Kiyoi have a chance to see each other again. When Kiyoi asks him why he's doing this, he says the trope name almost word for word.
* LastNameBasis: Hira and Kiyoi continue to refer to each other by their last names even after they start dating.
* LonelyAtTheTop: Kiyoi's high school 'friends' are only hanging out with him because they get a boost in their own popularity from being around him, and Kiyoi knows that their relationship is superficial. When Kiyoi loses his popularity, Hira is the only one who sticks by him.
* LoveAtFirstSight: Hira is drawn to Kiyoi from the first moment he lays eyes on him as he walks into the classroom.
* LysistrataGambit: After a fight over Hira continuing to put Kiyoi on a pedastal, Kiyoi declares that he will not kiss or be intimate with Hira until Hira learns to face him as his equal.
* MeaningfulEcho:
** Hira and Kiyoi's reunion after the TimeSkip is shown twice: first from Hira's perspective, then from Kiyoi's. Their narration uses the exact same phrasing as each other to highlight that Kiyoi is just as drawn to Hira as Hira is to him.
---> ''My heart is beating so loud I feel like it's going to explode. My hands are trembling against my lap as I hold them clenched into a fist. This is so unlike me.''
** Kiyoi watches a TV show starring Anna, his [[JapaneseHonorifics senpai]] at the talent agency. He compliments her acting and notes that she is playing a character who is [[PureIsNotGood too innocent to be aware of the harm she is causing]]. Later, similar phrasing is used
* MeetTheInLaws: the major conflict in season 2 is triggered when Hira "reassures" Kiyoi that he will never have to meet his parents, making him realise that Hira still thinks they live in a different world from each other and therefore do not picture them building a future together as a couple.
* MinorLivingAlone: Hira's parents relocate for their job when he is 17, leaving Hira to live on his own for his last year of high school.
* NiceGuy: Koyama is a supportive friend to Hira and remains so even after Hira turns him down. He is mildly antagonistic towards Kiyoi, which is more than fair, but he still helps him get together with Hira and even gives him a recipe for a meal he could cook for Hira.
* NotSoStoic: Kiyoi puts up an aloof, blasé front as a high schooler and tries to act as though he has no emotional investment in anything. This also extends to the talent contest, claiming that his cousin applied to the competition on his behalf. However, Hira finds out that he is serious enough about the competition to take dance lessions in secret to prepare for it. When he isn't picked as the winner, he punches a wall in anger.
* ObliviousToLove: Hira takes a really, really long time to realise that Kiyoi is in love with him. Kiyoi kissing him isn't enough. Even Kiyoi's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove doesn't get through to him, because Kiyoi left him the tiniest little room for interpretation. Kiyoi has to really spell it out to him for Hira to finally catch a clue.
--> '''Kiyoi:''' I'm not a king at all. I'm just an ordinary man. I want to date the person I'm in love with, and I want to touch them - just like any other man.
--> '''Hira:''' ...You're in love with someone?
--> '''Kiyoi:''' It's ''you''! How many times are you going to make me say it?
* PaperThinDisguise: Hira puts on a cap and sunglasses (indoors ''and'' [[SunglassesAtNight at night]]) to attend Kiyoi's play "incognito". Kiyoi immediately sees through it. Later, Hira uses the ''same'' disguise while following Kiyoi around as a fan. Both times, it's pointed out that his disguise makes him stand out ''more'' because of how suspicious he looks, and earns him the nickname 'Suspicious-kun'.
* PoorMansPorn: Kiyoi asks Hira what he does with the photos he takes of Kiyoi and half-jokingly asks if he has ever touched himself while looking at them - to which Hira admits that he ''has'' done this. He claims he only did it once, because he felt too guilty about it afterwards.
* RomanticRideSharing: Kiyoi and Hira often ride Hira's bicycle together. At one point, a police officer sees them and (after they fail to stop) notify their school, causing them to get detention.
* RomComJob: Kiyoi and Hira both end up working in creative jobs in the media industry as an actor and a photographer, respectively.
* SacredFirstKiss: After impulsively kissing Hira on their last day of high school, Kiyoi reflects that it was his first kiss and every time he thinks about his first kiss from now on, he will remember that it was with Hira, of all people.
* SecretRelationship:
** Somewhat one-sided example: Hira clearly wants to keep their relationship a secret, presumably due to a mix of feeling that he [[InsecureLoveInterest doesn't deserve Kiyoi]] and not wanting to jeopardise Kiyoi's career. He does not tell anyone that he is dating Kiyoi (except for Koyama, who was partially responsible for them getting together in the first place), and tries to conceal Kiyoi's presence when his cousin visits the house where they are cohabitating. Kiyoi, on the other hand, tells Anna (an actress who belongs to the same talent agency as him) that he has a boyfriend, and seems interested in the idea of [[MeetTheInLaws meeting Hira's parents]] at some point in the future.
** After Kiyoi comes out to him, Anna tells him that she is also in a relationship, but they cannot tell anyone (including their talent agency) because her partner works in the same industry.
* SheCleansUpNicely: Hira is actually quite attractive if he puts some effort into his appearance. Kiyoi styles him in fashionable clothes and changes his hairstyle for a party, and Hira is immediately accosted by a woman trying to flirt with him.
* ShipsThatPassInTheNight: InUniverse example: at their high school reunion, it's revealed that Kurata and Shirota started dating shortly after graduation and is now getting married. During high school, they were never shown directly interacting with each other though they both orbited around Kiyoi. Their classmates are all surprised to find out they are now together.
* SingleGirlSeeksMostPopularGuy: Kurata, a quiet girl in Kiyoi and Hira's class whom Hira recognises as [[DistaffCounterpart filling his role]] for the resident GirlPosse, hands Kiyoi a love letter on their last day of school.
* SingleTargetSexuality: At one point, Kiyoi asks Hira if he is attracted to men. Hira replies that he has never experienced any attraction towards men other than Kiyoi - or towards women, for that matter.
* StalkerWithACrush: Some of Hira's behaviour, such as following Kiyoi in ([[PaperThinDisguise terrible]]) disguise and dedicating a StalkerShrine to him, would definitely fall under this.
* TimeSkip: the narrative jumps ahead by "a few years" after Hira and Kiyoi's high school graduation. Hira is partway through university and Kiyoi is doing some small-time acting jobs.
* TookALevelInKindness:
** Kiyoi [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosts]] towards Hira, but he is also shown to become more friendly and humble towards everyone else around him as he mellows with age and grows out of his high school mentality.
** Shirota, one of Kiyoi's posse who was the one to dump juice on him to try upstage him, is also suggested to have become nicer when we see him at the high school reunion. His fiancee comments that she did not expect him to be such a kind person when they were classmates in high school.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood:
** Kiyoi always asks for a ginger ale when Hira is fetching him a drink. Hira seems to eventually start keeping a stock supply of ginger ale in his house.
* {{Tsundere}}: Kiyoi starts out almost full ''Tsun'', constantly belittling Hira when he's not ignoring him with only rare hints that he may care for Hira underneath it all. He starts showing his softer side more once they start dating, but he still has a tendency to cover up his embarrassment after showing affection by snapping at Hira or even [[KissKissSlap physical violence]].
* TwiceShy: Kiyoi and Hira in high school. Kiyoi hasn't quite admitted to himself yet that he's in love with Hira and is too proud to let Hira know that he is attracted to him, so he wants Hira to make the first move. Hira has cripplingly low self-esteem and has put Kiyoi on a sky-high pedastal, so it doesn't seem to occur to him that dating Kiyoi is even an option.
* UnknowinglyInLove: Kiyoi first develops feelings for Hira when they are high schoolers, but he doesn't realise he is in love with Hira until several years later when he sees Hira again and [[GreenEyedEpiphany thinks he's dating someone else]]. Even after he kisses Hira, he thinks to himself that he has no idea what drove him to do such a thing.
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: After meeting Kiyoi and seeing how rudely he treats Hira, Koyama doesn't understand why Hira is so devoted to him.
* WoundLicking: Kiyoi injures his finger when a bunch of boxes fall on him and Hira. Hira instinctively sucks on his finger, in [[VisualInnuendo quite a suggestive manner]].
