Review | Sasaki and Miyano (Episode 1: First Time)

“Sasaki and Miyano has a strong first episode where we immediately feel interested with the characters and the story.”

Sasaki and Miyano started as a manga in 2016 and is now getting its anime series adaptation. It’s my most anticipated anime of 2022. So I obviously watched the premiere as soon as it was released yesterday.

STORY

Sasaki and Miyano is both a slice of life and BL anime. As the title indicates, it’s about Sasaki and Miyano, two High School students. Miyano is a timid boy and an avid reader of BL mangas. While Sasaki is the bad student who often arrives late at school. They seemingly have nothing in common until they meet one day and Sasaki finds interest in Miyano. The two bond over BL mangas. And I have to say it’s quite an original idea to have a BL story that has characters bonding over BL. It’s self referenced.

Most of the episode focuses on the two leads but we do get to meet the other characters as well especially Hirano who is friend with both protagonists. The episode follows Miyano’s point of view but we do get to see flashbacks of the same events and different events from the point of view of Sasaki. I really like this narrative structure as we get to know both character’s thoughts. This show is as much as about Miyano that it is about Sasaki.

VISUALS

The animation is beautiful with a great attention to details. The eyes of the characters sets it apart from other anime. They’re bigger than usual. But I do like it because it has its own visual identity.