Junjou Romantica – Season 3 Episode 1- Reaction

Who has been waiting for the past two years for this season? This girl right here! Yay for season 3 of Junjo Romantica! My inner yaoi fan girl is super excited and is prepared for the many nose-bleeds and girlish squeals to come. It is time for another season of needless groping, sweet kisses and sexy boy love.

Aikawa we have all been there darling!

For those of you that are unaware of what this anime is about, it follows the day to day lives of three couples, Misaki Takashi and Akihiko Usami, Hiroki Kamijou and Nowaki Kusama, Yo Miyagi and Shinobu Takatsuki. Each couple is very different and faces different issues. Misaki is an 18 year old new college student who’s older brother and only family moves away for work, leaving Misaki to live with his brother’s high school friend Akihiko, who just happens to be a famous writer of boys romance novels. Hiroki is an assistant professor who is struggling to get over an old flame and just happens to run into a man who catches his eye, Nowaki. Yo is a middle aged divorced professor who is being pursued by a depressing past and his ex-wife’s little brother.

Personally my favorite couple is Misaki and Akihiko who are the main characters of the show. I just find their romance to be extremely heartwarming while at the same time comedic. Misaki has a difficult time accepting his sexuality and love for Akihiko, while Akihiko is very upfront and hands on about it. While there are times in the first season I questioned how healthy their relationship was, I ended up falling in love with the characters personalities and was able to look past Akihiko’s forcefulness. Needless to say, as any good yaoi fan-girl, I enjoyed these scenes and really had no complaints. It was just my moral compass that was trying to convince me that their relationship was rather unhealthy. However one must look past this to fully enjoy this show.

Oh Misaki, you should know better than to say such things to Akihiko. Silly boy!

There are some things that you will notice if you have watched the previous seasons of this show, or if you are watching this for the first time. This show’s target audience is the female population. There are cutesy bears, duckies and pandas. However this is not to say that the male population will not like this show. So guys, feel free to watch it with your girlfriends. It may even get them hot and bothered enough to stop it mid-episode for a little session of hanky panky.

Bears are a very distinct part of this show.

The art style of the show is also very distinct. All of the semes have square shaped chins, while all the ukes have more pointy ones. At first this seemed to bother my fiancé as we watched this, but you grow used to it and learn to appreciate out how distinct and different it really is. The romantic/sex scenes are also very well done. While in the manga everything is visible, the anime does a good job of keeping these scenes PG but giving us fan girls just enough to let our imaginations run wild.

The first episode of this season did a good job showing us how far Misaki and Akihiko’s relationship has progressed. Misaki has finally learned how to accept his relationship with Akihiko but the two are facing new challenges this season, including the possibility of having to tell Misaki’s brother about their relationship, and a new possible love rival for Akihiko.
I can not deny how excited I am for this season. I certainly am looking forward to watching future episodes of this season. The premiere episode for this season did not disappoint my BL fan-girly heart. If you are looking for a sweet, romantic and passionate romance with lots of twists and turns and a little humor, then check this anime out. Be sure if you are not caught up, check out the first two seasons online or on Hulu.