I Cannot Reach You - Japan

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From the production house of TBS Sparkle, this BL series is an adaptation based on the Yaoi manga 'I Will Not Reach You' by Mika which centres around the fears of risking a friendship for a romance. It stars Kentaro Maeda, a member of the long running Kamen Rider superhero franchise, and rookie actor Kashiwagi Haru from the boyband Bullet Train as the main couple Yamato and Kakeru. Both are seemingly well known to the younger Japanese demographic and their appearance in a Yaoi project is being seen as a further positive move in helping project the BL genre to a wider mainstream audience. Support comes from Matsumoto Reo ('Jack O'Frost'), Hito Tanaka, Momose Takumi and Takato Fukushima playing the roles of Hosaka Yui, Fujino Kousuke, Amamiya Souichiro and Yukochi Yuzura, all friends of Yamato and Kakeru; while Tomomi Nakai plays Akane Toyama who is attracted to Kakeru and Ayaka Konno plays Yamato's younger sister Mikoto. The series has been directed by Masahide Izumi Takayoshi working alongside Masataka Hayashi ('Cherry Magic').


       


SYNOPSIS: "Childhood friends Yamato and Kakeru share a unique bond. Yamato is both handsome and academically accomplished, often the target of girls confessing a crush on him. In contrast, Kakeru’s grades are average, but his cheerful personality makes him a likable presence. Despite their classmates confusion over the extent of their close friendship, Yamato and Kakeru have been inseparable since childhood. Yamato cares deeply for Kakeru, faithfully accompanying him to supplementary classes he need not attend. While Yamato may appear reserved, shy and lacking in conversation skills, Kakeru believes that everyone should recognise his kindness, intelligence and capability. One day, Kakeru asks Yamato if there is someone he secretly likes, given his tendency to decline confessions. Yamato’s murmured response which sounds like his name leaves Kakeru puzzled. He dismisses the idea that it could actually be about him, but for Yamato, it’s a heartfelt admission. However, Kakeru remains oblivious to the emotions Yamato is trying to convey..."

Here's the MyDramaList page

[* Early ratings on MDL are due to Netflix Japan having negotiated an exclusive week-in-advance screening period on their platform.]


15 second Teaser (no subs):



There are eight 25 minute episodes, the first of which will premiere on Wednesday 4th October. No international platform has so far been announced.

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Here's the 30 second teaser. Much of the above 15 second teaser footage is re-used but there's still new scenes too. Alas, there's still no subs:

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Final teaser (still no subs):

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Here's the series theme music 'U&I' by Hi-Fi Un!corn.

The video plays out like a four minute trailer of scenes from the series and does have some spoilers:

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The series is finally going to get its full international release on Netflix worldwide beginning on Friday 8th December.



Currently it is only available on Netflix in certain (mainly Asian) territories - and the usual unofficial naughty places!

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For those without Netflix, the series is now also being made available on Rakuten VIKI. Here's the first episode:

Episode 1