Sasaki and Miyano was one of Winter 2022’s most hyped shows – and for good reason! Season 1 has now concluded and we have lots to talk about! My review will cover various aspects including pacing, visual appeal and storytelling. I hope you enjoy reading and I look forward to hearing what you think!
What is Sasaki and Miyano about?
(adapted from Anilist)
Sasaki and Miyano is a comedy, romance, and slice of life anime based upon manga of the same name.
The story follows the journey between Miyano – a BL manga enthusiast who crosses paths with Sasaki – a cool, delinquent senpai! Sasaki takes an interest in Miyano and tries to spend every opportunity he can to get to know him.
Over the course of time, they exchange BL manga and have many cute encounters in school. What started as admiration quickly turns into affection – but will they act on their feelings?
Sasaki and Miyano Visuals
This show has very beautiful and colorful animation and design – personally, I am a big fan of the bright colours! I instantly thought about Horimiya after I watched Sasaki and Miyano for the first time! They share the same vibrant hair colours and pretty opening/ending sequences, which I loved. I think this is where I leave the comparison between the shows, as the stories are very different.
Miyano’s design is very typical of a shoujo style – short in stature with cute, big eyes. Sasaki is much taller and sports a more delinquent look with piercings and dyed hair.
Characters
Take a look at the Sasaki and Miyano fandom wiki page for a complete list of characters mentioned in the show.
In some ways, the main characters’ designs are correlatable to their individual personality types and in some ways not. I really liked how Sasaki has a good connection with his emotions and isn’t afraid to be open with them. This isn’t something you stereotypically expect with someone who looks very delinquent on the outside. As a result, it made me like Sasaki more, as he defied a lot of typical tropes to be a really genuine character.
On the other hand, Miyano is the shy and dithering Fudanshi who likes to keep to himself. He began the show with what seemed like a lot of shame over his interests! As time went by and he grew closer to Sasaki, he came out of his shell and became more assertive.
Both of the main characters saw a lot of great development, and I REALLY hope we get to see more seasons so we can follow their journey.
This anime successfully managed to build up the side characters to be just as enticing as the leads! Given more time, I think it would have been great to see more “slice of life” aspects of the other couples in the show.
There are a few romantic couples other than Sasaki and Miyano, however, we don’t really get to witness them on-screen. Miyano’s friend Kuresawa LOVES to talk about his girlfriend, who happens to be a fujoshi – but we never see her. There is also Ogasawara from Sasaki’s friend group – he has a girlfriend that he often bickers with but again, we don’t see her either.
Who were my favourite side characters?
Aside from the main two characters, I really liked Hirano Taiga and Kuresawa Tasuku the most!
Hirano Taiga is my top pick as he is very supportive of Sasaki and Miyano’s relationship. Throughout the show, he went out of his way to help them along. He is very much that older brother type that is always looking out for his friends.
My second pick is Kuresawa Tasuku! As I mentioned before, he loves his girlfriend a lot almost to the point where it becomes his personality trait. The reason I picked Kuresawa as a favourite is because I found him to be hilarious!
Pacing
Sasaki and Miyano has 12 episodes, which personally I felt wasn’t enough! It was an absolute blast to watch and I really hope that we get more seasons.
Every episode was enjoyable to watch and had a purpose to fulfil, whether it was something funny or touching on really sensitive and important subjects. There wasn’t a single moment where I wanted to skip or drop the show, if anything I didn’t want it to end.
With many 12 episode seasons, I have found that shows can sometimes feel a little rushed towards the end. In hindsight, I think that Sasaki and Miyano avoided falling into that trap pretty well! It could always have benefitted from more time to flesh out things, but that’s my bias talking because I want to see more anyway! I feel that the story went in the direction I was hoping for, and all I have leftover is a curiosity about what happens next.
How did I feel watching Sasaki and Miyano?
Overall it was a really exciting watch and provoked a lot of positive, wholesome feelings. I like how in-depth the writing goes into the struggles a person can have with a sense of self, identity, sexuality, confidence and more. The whole time I felt quite proud that an anime was tackling these kinds of topics in a respectable and genuinely insightful way.
There was a lot of humour in the show and I found myself laughing a lot. I would say there were definitely moments where I felt a bit sad or emotional when the storylines became more serious, but it was more because of empathy rather than the show being sad.
Summary
Overall, I really enjoyed Sasaki and Miyano and would recommend it to anyone that likes the following:
- BL
- Romance
- Humour
- Cute Interactions
It covers a lot of really meaningful topics such as LGBTQIA+, insecurity, self-confidence, trust, friendships and relationships. It was really easy to become invested in the storyline and the characters, and for the most part, it was really lighthearted and the story kept moving at a good pace.
I hope that we get an announcement of season 2 of Sasaki and Miyano, as I would love to see the journey that the couples and friends go through! I know there is a spinoff manga for Hirano and Kagiura in the same universe, so maybe I’ll have to read that to get my fix of content!
Overall, I would absolutely recommend Sasaki and Miyano!
Do you watch the show? Let me know what you thought of it in the comments below!
I enjoyed this show very much! It was nice to enjoy some nice fluff versus the usual smut that BL is known for. Their relationship was cute to watch and I agree, definitely needed more than 12 episodes.