Captivated, By You – Series Review

Content Warning: Bullying

What’s it about? Enter the lives of high school students as they watch one another, slowly captivated by the lives around them. Hayashi’s frank nature draws attention as he seemingly fools around; Nikaidou maintains a dour, eerie facade; Medeka is curious about the school mystery sitting behind him; and Ema likes boys and is quietly fine with it.

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I like to, as familiar Anime Feminist readers may know, go into reviews as unknowing as possible. Sometimes I can’t avoid it: I’m just a big fan or know enough through the cultural zeitgeist, but in the case of Captivated, By You, a series which is complete now at five episodes, I genuinely only knew that it was localized by Yen Press and streaming on Crunchyroll. Other than that, I had no clue it was a comedy and slice-of-life bundle, something rather enticing to me as a former educator who has fond memories of my time in Japan watching the lives of my students pass me by as I had my own adventures.

Question is, is this series self-contained enough to end on a high note, or will I be wishing for my school days to be far, far in my past? Only one way to find out!

Collectively, Captivated, By You is a series of vignettes that follow mostly boys, in keeping with mangaka Wayama Yama’s doujinshi and publication history. In this series, we follow the lives of four high school boys in a mixed middle and high school environment, each with their own struggles and place within the social standing of their school. There’s no fantasy, other than daydreaming, no thrilling action scenes other than racing to lunch. Instead, this is very grounded in our reality and the excitement of being a teenager in school.

Initially, this felt like a BL: we meet a character who is very openly, at least in his mind, gay and who outright states he likes boys, all of which he finds cute. But this isn’t BL, and while my fujin heart loves MLM media, I think that’s for the better. What we get is a story that includes a gay boy as a normalized part of a teenage ensemble, rather than a Gay Boy Story. Both are important, but it’s nice to see the former because it’s not so easily separated out as stigmatized media to be avoided. Ema, our Achillean youth, is just one of many lives we witness, and while his episode (episode 1) is very aware of the social stigma of his sexuality, we just get a story that’s kind of blissfully mundane and giggle-worthy.

And that’s kind of the trend for this entire mini-series: we get to look at the lives of four different young men who are growing into their own, get to see who they once were, who they currently are, and maybe a peek at who they can become even in the same school year. Its conflicts include the likes of a student being routinely bullied into spending his lunch money, only to have to decide if he’s going to spend the rest of his school year like this or take a stand. But that’s as “risky” as things get in this show: everything feels relatably normal, and I think the show is stronger for its groundedness.

It’s not necessarily Anime of the Year material, but it might be worth a summer recommendation. I like this enough that I watched it twice, a rarity for a series that’s new to me in such a robust season, but I think that’s a testament to how much I enjoyed this mini-series. Truly, Captivated, By You has stuck with me enough that I want to check out the mangaka’s other localized series, Let’s Go Karaoke!, which also has a short anime adaptation. This is good as it is, and I’m glad I got to watch it to completion, both week-by-week and all at once.

Going into this series with no information really allowed me to see if this is viable on its own with no context from the manga. And honestly, it stands on its own legs as a short series you can easily binge in an afternoon. I highly recommend making time after work or on your weekend to watch this: I think it’s really pleasant and contained, showing a slower delight hidden in a season packed with debuts, anticipated sequels, and everything else one feels they must catch up on.

Ultimately, this collection of vignettes has two thumbs up from me, offering a down-to-earth look into the lives of people who are, platonically and romantically, falling into each others’ every day lives. Curious,  charming, and very endearing, this is an easy recommendation from me.

Editor’s Note (9/18): This article has been edited after publication to reflect that the series has five episodes, not four.