Love Stage!!

With an actress mother, producer father, and rockstar brother, anyone would expect Izumi Sena to eventually enter showbiz himself. However, aside from a commercial for a wedding magazine when he was a child, Izumi has never been in the spotlight; instead, he aims to become a manga artist.

But a decade after the shoot, the magazine calls for a 10th anniversary ad, requesting the original child actors for the project. This reunites Izumi with Ryouma Ichijou, now a popular actor who, much to Izumi's shock, has been in love with him ever since their first meeting! However, due to Izumi's feminine appearance and unisex name, Ryouma believed the boy was a girl and continues to do so to this day. Izumi's troubles are just beginning, because even after discovering the truth, Ryouma can't seem to shake off his feelings...

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Sena, Izumi Main

Yonaga, Tsubasa Japanese

Ichijou, Ryouma Main

Eguchi, Takuya Japanese

Sagara, Rei Main

Hirakawa, Daisuke Japanese

Sena, Shougo Main

DAIGO Japanese

Kuroi, Takahiro ing

Kimura, Ryouhei Japanese

Sena, Seiya ing

Okiayu, Ryoutarou Japanese

Hidaka, Tenma ing

Majima, Junji Japanese

Sena, Nagisa ing

Ohara, Sayaka Japanese

LalaLulu ing

Tsumita, Kayoko Japanese

Saotome, Miyabi ing

Hayashi, Yuu Japanese

Ogura, Rie Producer

Fujishiro, Atsushi Producer

Matsuki, Ai Producer

Kasai, Kenichi Director

Reviews

Jul 9, 2023

SuperAdventure

Recommended

I discovered this little gem via HiDive’s ‘Celebrate Pride’ suggestion list, and am glad such a suggestion list existed since brought a few anime to light I hadn’t considered. This one is about a guy Izumi who is from a wealthy family of famous entertainers (hoo BOY did they nail it with these people) By way of his family, Izumi ends up filling in for a girl's role in a wedding commercial when he’s a kid. The boy he was paired with was infatuated with him right away (but thought he was a girl). And for some reason they’re doing a ‘reunion’ commercial with the ... same cast 10 years later, which puts the now 18 yo Izumi in a dress again, and hijinx ensue…

At first, I was bothered that the story was so determined to create a ‘Trap’ scenario with Izumi, and the whole reunion thing was a bit too contrived; as well as now-famous actor Ryouma still thinking Izumi is a girl and being fooled that he actually is, i/e “can’t tell the difference”. We’ve seen this trope before. The way the two of them end up shortly after is also a bit rocky… I want this to be a non-spoiler review, so I’ll just say it rhymes with “Metsuo Bizault”… But despite the rough start, the story actually comes together well, and the way everything goes thereafter was really surprising and uplifting. There is some really great chemistry between these two- and between Ryouma and ANYONE really. They are all played by really good voice actors and the anime draws you in with this weird family, and especially with Izumi. In decades of watching, I don’t think I’ve ever related to an anime protagonist as well as with Izumi… he wants nothing to do with the profession his whole family is in, and instead wants to draw manga. He sits at a desk all day drawing pictures (sounds way too familiar), and yet he’s terrible at drawing (I feel ya bro), has constant delusions of grandeur, has very few friends, is infinitely better looking than the ones he does hang around and is therefore clearly out of place… this all felt very real, he doesn’t come off as some Mary Sue, despite his ridiculous family and being very wealthy- he talks and acts exactly like any 18 year old and is a total dork.
But he’s also adorable, which fascinates everyone around him especially Ryouma. I didn’t understand the whole need to put him in a dress, since he actually looks way cuter without it, and his glasses are incredibly dorky yet fit his face perfectly- so he has a distinctively nerdy but not ugly appearance. Despite the poor treatment he gave to him early on, Ryouma proves himself to be a truly amazing friend to Izumi; the plot with the Paparazzi was kind of a surprise and really well written (unlike some of the other clumsy, way-too-convenient things that happen elsewhere) and everything that happens with the manga review felt absolutely genuine. Ryouma finally getting the moment he wants with Izumi- but then crying, “I’m not that strong of a person!” was probably the show’s absolute high point of emotion, while both the main characters were at their lowest.

I probably should just give this a 10 because I liked it so much, but that doesn’t seem an honest way to rate something if just by personal taste. There are a few gripes- for one, the background characters are uncolored, and it's very noticeable. A weird money-saving move there, and coloring background people is way cheaper than animating them-but this anime chooses the opposite. I can’t figure out how if Izumi looks the same age as Ryouma when he was in the commercial- when they’re grown, Ryouma appears to be several years older (and is way more mature than) Izumi. Some of the stuff above that I said about it being clumsy in trying to find a way to get Izumi involuntarily in a dress, and a few other small things- mostly that it was way too short and could have used at least one more episode as an epilogue. This isn’t really a ‘masterpiece’ kind of anime anyhow, but it’s very funny- the jokes land every time, it looks good from start to finish, it tells a good story, and if you like BL or are at least open to it, then this is definitely one of the better ones. It focuses on the emotions and struggles of two ridiculous yet completely believable people, so it gets my full recommendation. 9/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Oct 29, 2022

crimsoughtan

Mixed Feelings

This anime can be off-putting to some viewers especially those who came to look for something wholesome. The show contains certain scenes that may make you cringe by how awful it is especially with how the characters treat Izumi. Izumi, as the main character didn't come as a strong one and even when he tries to prove his resolve, he just always end up being pushed around by the people who are supposed to look after him. The dynamic on Ryouma and Izumi's relationship wasn't that impressive either and felt bland. They had their cute moments, but their relationship could've been a lot better. The ... buildup was just to say "happened so miraculous" or unrealistic considering Ryouma has been breaking Izumi's personal boundaries and did a lot of stuff to him without his consent. If ever, Izumi has a lot of reasons to stay away from Ryouma. Everyone is free to try and watch this one but personally, you're better off watching another BL.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Mar 23, 2025

Chesed

Not Recommended

Many BL series, especially less recent ones, have issues with being either fairly homophobic or having strong undertones of sexual assault, sometimes both, sprinkled with other common issues and tropes to the genre that can diminish the value and quality of the overall end product. Despite this, for a decent chunk of BL, some bad issues can be ignored if the overall story or message is still good, and if it manages to avoid the truly terrible tropes, then it can be an enjoyable experience still. More modern series also are beginning to straight up cast away past issues.

Love Stage, however, crashes headfirst into every ... single possible bad, negative stereotype it can, both within the genre and within homophobia itself as a whole, making it a truly miserable viewing experience.

The story starts out with a hook that honestly isn't terrible: The main characters were previously with each other for a bit as children, and one of them mistook the other for a girl and continued to have a crush on "her" for years. However, when they meet properly again years later, he realizes that, of course, he was wrong and he's been crushing on a boy for years. He immediately starts to think things like "well, it's fine even if he's a boy," and proceeds to sexually assault him in some weird fit of frustration about it.

If you think, hm, this may be an awfully intense and ridiculous response to that, you would be correct. And that at its core is the main problem with the show. The characters in this show are all essentially awful people, but you're not only not supposed to see them as awful people, you're supposed to root for them. Izumi, the boy that was mistaken for a girl, is a stereotypical trashy otaku type of character with little to no backbone and who repeatedly compares his being potentially with a man to being in a situation from a BL, which isn't wrong, but tonally makes even more dissonance with this trying to be a cutesy BL since it quickly establishes that he clearly doesn't find being gay to be "normal" to him. What I'm saying here is that he isn't exploring his sexuality in this series because it honestly doesn't seem like he's interested in men. He's being pushed into a relationship by Ryouma, who mistook him for a girl but essentially does the "a cat is fine too" meme at him when he realizes he's a guy (so in reality, he's not particularly interested in men either). Other less important characters are generally just annoying or weirdly mean for no real reason, such as Rei, Izumi's rich family's manager, basically just stomping on Izumi's dreams of becoming a manga artist and insulting him for even trying.

The sexual assault in the series is completely played off as 100% normal to do to another man. It is both incessant and completely unnecessary to the plot. Izumi even blames himself for it occurring to him at times. Miserably enough, Ryouma vaguely states as a random two second throwaway line that he was sexually harassed when he was younger due to his line of work...but clearly that didn't make him uncomfortable enough to stop trying to do it to someone else.

Outside of Ryouma and Izumi's weird, fairly messed up relationship, not much else is really learned about them. Sure, there are flashbacks shown on occasion, and you get the occasional vague glimpse of something, but in reality, there really isn't that much to the characters of any substance that isn't immediately relevant to their feelings and opinions towards each other, making it even harder to even attempt to empathize with them. Even Izumi's otaku background is simply used to put him in situations that push him with Ryouma more.

There's also just a completely unnecessary, irrelevant to the plot, insane scene where Izumi almost gets gangraped. This is again handwaved like absolutely nothing just happened. Just some weird cutaway scene to I guess further emphasize how he has zero interest in other men and only has a thing for Ryouma because he was effectively harassed into it.

This story is accompanied by very plain art and animation (the usual for BLs, low effort gag art with a lot of chibi and still frame abuse) and whatever sounds and music, making there essentially be nothing that makes this series stand out in any positive way. For 2014, it's certainly serviceable enough visually to not be repulsive to look at or anything, but does nothing beyond that.

Again, BL isn't known for having the most positive tropes associated with it to begin with. Love Stage somehow manages to compound them all and couple them with boring characters who honestly just suck as people and turn out as a totally unlikeable mess.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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