Like any normal girl, I've always liked a good high school series with strong homoerotic undertones, like Gokusen, Crows Zero, School 2013 π I'm an orthodox fan of the School 2013 series and at first I didn't want to watch HSF based on it, because I didn't think they could pull it off (I rate S2013 10/10 and it's one of the best series I've ever seen). For some time now I've been waiting for the series to end to either binge it or skip it, reading reviews in the meantime (ngl, thanks to that trick I saved myself time and sanity by not watching many bad series). I've heard only good things about HSF, I've seen kawaii little videos with MLs so I decided to give it a chance and watched the whole thing right before the finale. So. It wasn't a waste of time, actually it was GREAT π
HSF is similar to School 2013 but fortunately it's different enough that you can enjoy both without the joy-depriving comparison. The difference is that S2013 has less fights and more seriousness, while HFS has definitely more scenes with MLs and their relationship. S2013 also has more sub-plots and more characters involved in the plot, whereas in HSF the show is mainly carried by 2 strong characters, and the subplots come more in the second half of the show.
*deep sigh* It was like watching Word of Honor: you know you're technically watching a non-romance, non-BL, but you know, your brain knows and your heart knows thay you're watching a romance and a BL. It can fry your brain if you're not careful π
Saint and Shin, have no, I repeat no resistance, no qualms to make the most sappy and sentimental confessions, to sugarcoating their whole conversations with each other in the most tender, romantic way, they would outdo any, even the most romantic couple in the world with their behavior. I absolutely love this lack of shame and embarrassment. Just when I thought they couldn't get any more romantic, they made up and entered the honeymoon era and I died. Honey dripped off my screen, it was so sweet and mushy π₯° I suppose, their unique charm is also due to the fact that in many moments when Saint was being particularly sappy and Shin being particularly shy, I was 100% convinced that it wasn't SaintShin but SkyNani π
HSF has an incredible amount of just kiss already dammit! moments, not to mention scenes that just beg for angry sex or make-up sex.
I don't know how anyone can pretend that WoH, The Untamed, S2013 or HSF or Steve Rogers and Bucky are not BL lmao. Friends don't act like that and don't say things like that to each other, in that way. Just think how anyone from the outside could walk into any of the aforementioned couples, their relationships, I mean... the logistics? π Like, every single one of the guys in the above couples is really obsessed with their "friend", I mean β¨obsessedβ¨. Plus, no one knows them like their "roommate", the best and the worst, they have a history together, both good and tragic. You can't beat that! They are glued, ingrained to each other too deeply for there to be room for anyone else!
I love how Saint and Shin are so obviously crazy about each other, how perfect they are together, how comfortable they are together, how they sleep in the same bed together, even though they sleep on the floor in other houses, how their parents are fully aware of their incredible relationship, how they lived like zombies for 3 years without each other.
Their tragic story is one of the best I've seen, it's on the level of a Greek or Shakespearean tragedy. An exceptionally strong relationship on the level of soul mates, an exceptionally strong love. A tragic misunderstanding, an accident caused by one of them, unintentional, but laced with fear and resentment of one, which only adds to the already existing colossal sense of guilt. I absolutely love that in both versions, there is a whole range of emotions between the MLs, and they go through each one in turn. It's an emotional buffet in a fancy restaurant, it's got everything and in high quality: fear, longing, resentment, anger, guilt, wanting to forgive, needing to be forgiven, anguish, trust, losing trust, rebuilding trust, love. It all makes their relationship so incredibly compelling and satisfying.
I love how Saint was determined to atone for the wrongs he had done. How he was willing to do anything, how he accepted Shin's anger and resentment, his verbal and physical attacks. Saint not only apologized multiple times, but also worked off his sins. He worked to earn back Shin's and his mother's trust, even when they wore him out for it. That's why this relationship feels so satisfying, to be worked for by them, Saint really tried and nothing Shin said or did discouraged him. I really like that none of this was easy, that Shin's anger, resentment, and pain were noticed by the plot and by Saint.
I really like the fact that both of them are very strong, yet sensitive and emotional (95% of it was when it was about the other one π
), that they are each other's strength, but also weakness. That together they are unstoppable. That THEY ARE BOTH EQUAL, both have the same power over each other. Both are presented in the plot as a power couple, as leaders of their groups.
Saint is strong mentally, he's also physically stronger than Shin, but he doesn't flaunt his strength, he doesn't have to prove anything. I noticed that despite the fact that he is technically stronger than Shin, he gives the last blow, finishing the main villain, to him. On the other hand, Shin sacrifices himself twice and instinctively covers Saint in danger with his own body.
Shin is more shy in their relationship (I feel like Nani was showing through in these scenes lol), he is the one who moderates Saint's crazy antics.
Both are very handsome in different ways, Saint is like a bull with his stocky build, he is also the ideal himbo: kind, strong, muscular, mentally a puppy and dumb about his beloved π He has absolutely no shame in showing off his feelings for Shin and gushing how awesome Shin is, which is 100% perfect boyfriend behavior. Shin with his face of a tortured poet with dark circles under his eyes that would have decimated the girls and me at my high school during our grunge years, with his bedroom eyes and the begging-for-kiss mole on his neck, was very seductive π
Tl;dr excellent series, excellent couple. Highly recommended.
