Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Ren0111
I mean, if you can ignore the romanticized sexual assault then go watch it but for me it's a huge no, I thought this would be a wholesome watch as it was recommended by my sister (she prefers shoujo and I prefer shounen) my jaw was on the floor the moment I saw one of the mcs sexually assault the other and the the story just carries on without giving him any consequences, I really wanted to give it a chance and watch it all the way but i just couldn't take it anymore and dropped it at episode 8, if you wanna watch a bl that is actually wholesome watch Given, way better than this trash, the only positives I can give it is the animation and the comedy at times
Read at the sourceRebelPanda
Happy LGBTQ+ Pride Month! In celebration, I’m reviewing one of the most beloved Shounen-ai anime from 2014. Love Stage!!
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*Trigger warnings: Homophobia, transphobia, sexual assault, victim-blaming.*
Once upon a time, your average ~straight~ teenage boy awakens from his bed and greets his idol, Lala Lulu. Izumi, the boy in question, lives with his family of actors and musicians. They constantly put pressure on him to become an entertainer, to his dismay. Izumi is an introverted otaku who dreams of becoming a famous mangaka. Despite wanting to move in a separate direction, he is dragged into showbiz by his family. When I first watched Love Stage as a teen, I thought this would be a coming-of-age story about a boy who achieves his dreams and embraces his sexuality. Oh, how wrong I w…
Read at the sourceSavageYomoon
As someone who is a female and bisexual this show bothered me to much.
1.Izumi being a pretty short feminine guy annoys me.I mean that’s such a stereotype
2.Ryoma was literally so rude when he found out that Izumi was a boy(could be seen a homophobic too)
3.Ryoma literally stalks Izumi and manipulates him
4.About the brother(Shougo)he literally didn’t think it was wrong (and blamed it on Izumi)when Ryoma almost raped Izumi(Also can we mention the fact he kissed him while unconscious)
5.This show romantizes stalking,rape and homphobia
6.The girls are stereotypical.They dotn care about space,they basically want to crush Izumi because he’s so cute.STEREOTYPICAL
7.Also ryoma again.This guy sexually assaults Izumi too many times for my comfort
8.Of course Izumi is to be blamed(not for the rape…
Read at the sourceIdontwantto2mal
Disgusting childish and problematic.
Another BL on my list where seme should have been arrested a long time ago.
Okay, here we go
The love stage starts quite interesting. We have a gender intrigue here, where the main character thinks he has fallen in love with a girl who is actually a boy. Sounds interesting enough? But the show will show you that such a seemingly ridiculous idea for a romantic comedy can be spoiled. When Ryoma learns that Izumi is a boy, he decides to rape him. Yes Yes. He's already getting started but gets hit by Izumi's brother's friend.
After this incident, Ryoma locks up in a room and cries for several days. Then comes to his brother who knows Izumi has been attacked and almost raped. Only the brother says he has nothing to worry about, starts to blame him for not le…
Read at the sourcenic0_nic0_n0pe
As a gay person, I found a lot of this show tropey/boring and some of it outright insulting. Yaoi isn't generally the place to look for great, nuanced representation of actual gay people - I'm aware it's mostly fetish porn for a target demographic of straight women - but this one hit on every trope that particularly grinds my gears. Love Stage leans hard into the idea that gay men fall into "masculine" and "feminine" roles in their relationships with each other (they don't), and its characters are largely empty vehicles for blundering into tastefully-drawn-but-compromising positions. Like most yaoi, it features a good degree of predatory behavior from its gay characters, and stalking/sexual assault are core elements of its romance.
The show admittedly looks and sounds better than most ya…
Read at the sourceFear_the_Reefer
The teenage years are often referred to as the best years of your life, but they can come with their own set of challenges... It’s the time of life where you’re still finding out who you are, who you want to be, and what’s important to you. Even as late as the crucial age of 18, it can be difficult to find your place in the world, especially if you’re struggling to find the place where you belong. This is even worse for Sena Izumi, because in addition to his more normal adolescent woes, he’s the youngest member of an entire family of entertainers and celebrities... His sly father is a stage actor, his spoiled mother is a model/actress, his doting brother is the lead singer of a popular rock band, his family has it’s own talent manager... And he wants to be a manga artist. Naturally, this h…
Read at the sourcektulu007
Love Stage started as a romantic comedy manga by Eiki Eiki and Zaou Taishi. In 2014 our old friends at J.C. Staff, behind such titles as Yami no Matsuei, Hachimitsu to Clover, Shakugan no Shana, Toradora and a bunch of other anime I've reviewed, started releasing an anime adaptation. Is it a romance that's worth your time? Let's examine it and find out. As it was Valentine's yesterday and this seems like a good week for some romance.
Story:
Sena Izumi comes from a show business family. His mother is an actress. His father is in theatre and his elder brother is the lead singer of a band. Izumi, however, doesn't want to be in show business. He wants to be a manga writer and artist. In spite of not being good at drawing. I know how he feels. That's why all my writing just uses words. Things…
Read at the sourcepleochroic
I never quite know whether I should try to rate BL anime within its own genre or not, but since MAL makes no genre distinctions when showing top anime, it seems fairer to rate it as I rate all other anime. But I will point out where it stands within its own genre.
I am gay and used to read a lot of BL. Tip to North American audiences: in these reviews most people use confusing terminology, so here's a quickie refresher. BL (Boys Love) is what the Japanese call boy-on-boy manga and anime mostly written by women and mostly directed at women. Yaoi in Japan only refers to very explicit BL doujinshi (fan fiction), which are basically pornographic without much plot. In the West, people tend to misuse yaoi for boy-on-boy romantic works with some amount of actual sex being portrayed, while some c…
Read at the sourcekon
So recently I finished a re-watch of this show a few weeks back and only now I'm reflecting it. So what can I say about the show? I really, really liked it.
From the yaoi anime I've seen (JunJou Romantica) there seems to be a format with yaoi that goes on. There's the obvious seme and uke, the fact that the uke may not like the seme or the other way around, and there's a LOT of pinning down.
Love Stage fulfills these criteria, yes, but I feel that has a charm that surpasses JunJou Romantica at least. The humor definitely springs from the main character Izumi Sena, who gets wrapped up in his family's popular lifestyle, when instead he wants to be a mangaka. Plus, his Mom's name is Nagisa - and the seiyuu for Izumi voiced Nagisa in Free!. Rei is also here, with the same seiyuu too!
The r…
Read at the sourcereinakun
Overall: 6.5, rounded up to 7.
It's hard to rate an anime when there's very little basis for comparison (the genre being extremely limited) but I’ll do my best. Love Stage is, while definitely a cut above the majority of the genre, still not what I’d consider a remarkable anime. The characters are one-dimensional, their motives are dubious at best, and they show little to no growth throughout, all of which is a typical and recurring issue in yaoi/shounen-ai series.
I think the most disappointing aspect of the series is that it had a lot of potential – potential which was never realized because of the obvious effort put into it to keep it from being ‘serious.’ In the process, important themes were left unexplored, critical issues were hand-waved, and overall, it just left the impression…
Read at the sourceRahzek
I like to think of myself as being open minded, but this show just has some effect on me, I just watch it and get all hot and bothered, sweat trails down my armpits all the way down to my underwear since that's all I'm wearing while I watch this show and I just get drenched.
Now I'm not saying this show will make you go gay, but it's one of the best romantic comedies ever made even without the yaoi aspect in place, there's a few scenes some closed minded kids might think is close to rape -but as we say in the west, "if it doesn't go in, it didn't happen", and so I'll start off by letting you know this is one of those series that gets better as you go, you'll watch episode 1 and be like "eh this is like a 7.5/10", then you'll see after the credits and think of that one asian guy in school…
Read at the source5sos
I have seen many a yaoi genre anime. In fact, maybe around 30-35% of anime I have seen falls in the yaoi category. But, I have to say that Love Stage!! has been my absolute favorite.
Most yaoi or yuri go ahead and jump into the relationship aspect and everything that comes along to being in a relationship. However, nothing "touchy touchy" came along till the very end. The creators made sure to throw plenty of character development in which I looooooove. So if you enjoy an actual story and character development, but also want something that has a relationship aspect to it, this yaoi anime is for you. I gave this anime a 10 overall for those reasons.
However, the art and sound could've been better. Admittedly, it wasn't my most favorite artwork I've seen. BUT, for a yaoi anime, it was decen…
Read at the sourceMizukiHaruno
this is the first yaoi anime I have ever watched and I want to admit it was very good. I thought that this anime would be uninteresting and the plot would be very bad but actually it was not. You may not be a yaoi fan but if you love romance animes you would enjoy this too.
The story is about a major otaku Izumi Sena who just entered college and wants to become a mangaka like his idol Saotome (the writer of Lalalulu).
ten years ago when he was 8 his parents were making appearance in a advertisement "Happy Wedding". this was the first time when he met Ryouma. (The girl for the commercial couldn't show up because her flight was delayed, so Izumi's mother volenteered him for the missing girl's role. Izumi ended up doing the commercial with Ryouma, and ended up dressing like a young female.…
Read at the sourcePastabeanchuu
Love Stage!! is a pretty good surprise in the BL genre. It's not incredible but gives us a fair love story and enjoyable characters.
Story: 6
The setting is common and overused in both shounen ai and shoujo manga, but it's not too long and unfolds well. Once you get into it, it can be pretty heart warming and has its inspirational moments. It's a relief that there are no dub/non-con in this story (and it is pretty sad that I have to mension this in my BL reviews).
Art: 6
Pretty good for a BL anime, and still very pink.
Sound: 6
The opening song, LΦVEST by SCREEN mode is a cheerful and happy tune, not unlike every other j-pop songs you could have heard in animes so far.
I admit it... I started watching LS!! because I knew Hirakawa Daisuke and Yonaga Tsubasa (respectively Rei Ryugazak…
Read at the sourceMagicPotato98
I thoroughly enjoyed this anime even though I'm usually not usually into this genre.
TO keep it brief, the reason why I liked it is because it is so funny, there are moments when you are rooting for the supporting characters as well as the main, and the characters are generally well developed in just the mere 10 episodes.
Because I am not usually into this genre, I found it a little bit uncomfortable in the intimate scenes, but if you substitute Izumi for a girl, it would be totally fine. However making him a guy makes it all the more hilarious. But yes, I would warn people who are not usually into this genre that it may make you feel a little uncomfortable in some minute parts but all in all, please give it a go, it was very fun to watch. :)
Read at the sourcewhiteteeth
As with any genre, yaoi/shounenai is often criticized by people who doesn't like it. Actually shounen ai (and shoujo ai too) is mostly the same as ANY romantic comedy anime out there, the only difference is that the main couple features homoromantic characters, which tends to scare off straight viewers.
The thing with "Love Stage!!", what makes it so special, it's that for some reason it seems to have broken that genre barrier, and a big part of their viewers are straight male people who don't usually watch shounenai/yaoi shows.
The premise of the story is very simple: Ryouma, a famous actor, fell in love with a girl when he was a child and has been obsessed with her memory since then, and once he meets 'her' again, now as a young adult, he discovers 'she' was actually a him: Izumi, a…
Read at the sourceHeyYouPikachu
This is now one of my favourite animes, this is my first review so bare with me, I've never felt like writing one til i watched this anime. As a fan of yaoi/shounen ai this was a breath of fresh air as it's so hard to find decent animes in this genre because there are little to choose from and they're lacking in every department.
This is a -absolute must- watch for fans of the yaoi and shounen-ai, but also i would highly recommend it for those new to it and want to check it out, it would make a good starter into these genres because it's quite cute, nice animation, likeable characters, good development in only 11 episodes and also it's quite tame when it comes to the sexual things compared to other ones like Junjou Romantica, yet it's still enough too excited about.
Izumi stared in a we…
Read at the sourceAhmedAmin
If you are looking for a sweet, light-hearted love story, then regardless of your gender go for it, it will surely put a smile on your face. But if you are looking for some love story full of all types of emotion and struggles people go through when in a relationship then definitely Love Stage isn't for you.
Story: The story is full of sweet and funny moments, there is hardly any scene that can make you sad or feel pity for the characters. Everything worked out well for the lead characters well, and I found this approach quite unrealistic. In a relationship, struggle becomes part of your life but our characters hardly faced any struggle. And I think that's what make this anime so lovable and cheerful. It really puts a smile on your face.
Characters: The lead characters are surely awesome…
Read at the sourceSizzlingTear2
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
Love stage is a Shounen-ai anime. Most of the male population really won't enjoy this but it's mostly for girls. The anime is really good and was enjoyable with Comedy, Romance, Drama etc...
Story -8
Story's pretty good. Izumi wants to become a manga artist. His family is in show biz and so they want him to enter the show biz world. Note that he is only in college. He is often mistaken for a girl because of his cute looks and such. Ryouma, our main male character number 2, mistook him for a girl when they had to do a commercial when they were young. After meeting 10 years later, Ryouma still has feelings, even after finding out Izumi was a guy. Izumi struggles to draw manga. It gets rejected and gets into despair. I really like I…
Read at the sourcefearlessEdition
I am a straight male.
This show is pretty good.
I initially wrote off this show after seeing the now slightly famous intro scene, but soon, a joke amongst friends turned into a marathon of the six episodes that were out at the time. Every week after that, I looked forward to Wednesdays, where I'd get to see the next episode of Love Stage. At this point, after completing the series, the true question is this:
Why did I enjoy the show to the extent that I did?
I mean, it is quite normal for one to enjoy a show that is that is directed towards a different target audience, (I.E. shoujos) and I have nothing but respect for yaoi and the culture, but me enjoying this would seem as a bit extreme...except its not.
What this show does well, and likely the biggest reason to why I enjoyed it, wa…
Read at the source