Despite how many high school TV shows and movies are made, I rarely actually feel like I can relate to most of them. In my high school, we were way more focused on our actual academics than on romance, and unlike your average TV show, about 90% of my friend group was in the LGBT community. It's why I like slice of life anime so much, they focus way more on the characters taking classes, attending clubs, and working towards good grades than most American shows, but what about the queer friend group part? Well, it seems Heartstopper has finally gotten that part covered.
Heartstoppper is a simple high school romance about an out gay kid (Charlie) developing a crush on his new partner (Nick) in class, and it's that simplicity that makes it so appealing. So many shows and movies with LGBT characters in them tend to either have them be a footnote in an otherwise higher stakes tale or make them the focus but at the cost of them being put through a ridiculous amount of misery and heightened drama. Looking at you, Euphoria. Heartstopper being a grounded, simple, and wholesome romance is a breath of fresh air, and while nothing it does is ground-breaking, it's still all pretty well thought-out. Like how Nick's struggle with his bisexuality parallels that of Charlie's ex-boyfriend, but his transparency and constant kindness towards Charlie demonstrates how much of a better fit (and person) he is. Once again, none of this is subtle (in one episode, two female characters kiss in front of a rainbow spotlight, I wonder what that symbolizes?), but it works. And the writing had a nice blend of British sarcastic wit and dialogue that actually feels like something teenagers would say. Looking at Riverdale, this time. I'm also glad that it wasn't just Nick and Charlie in the LGBT community, a large portion of the main cast was queer (Tara and Darcy are lesbians, Elle is trans) and almost all of them were likable. My favorite characters here were Nick and Elle, the former being an absolute sweetheart whose coming out story was the most compelling of the cast, and the latter for being a trans character whose character arc is entirely unrelated to her being trans. The only one I didn't like was Tao, whose clinginess and jealousy got annoying fast.
However, while the story itself is fantastic, the way it's told and presented is a lot more of a mixed bag. I never really got what people meant when they said Netflix Original Series looked cheap... until now. There are some things I like about the show, like the comic panel scene transitions that pay homage to the show's webcomic roots or the fact that each episode's title and credits have a different look. But on the other hand, the set design looks oddly sterile given this is supposed to take place in a high school, the bloom filter and lens flares are way up, and the handheld camera used for many of the shots feel kind of lazy. I checked out the webcomic the show is based on (which is honestly way better and way less Netflix-y) and I noticed its storyboarding is way more dynamic, and even more, the show's best shots are the ones based on the comic! Also, I know this is a bit of a nitpick but Laid-Back Camp spoiled me on depicting texting in TV shows so whenever characters texted here I couldn't help but compare it. I'm also not a big fan of the show's many indie pop tunes, though that's more of a personal taste. I've always preferred rock or indie rock soundtracks like Scrubs, FLCL, or Scott Pilgrim, but if you're a fan of this type of alternative pop, you'll probably love Heartstopper's music.
It's hard to pick standout episodes in a short Netflix miniseries like this, but there were two notable ones:
Kiss: I found Kiss to be a very fun and focused episode, mostly based around Charlie and Nick going to school-bully Harry's birthday party, and sharing their first kiss. And at the same time, Tara and Darcy share their first public kiss. Two first gay kisses at the birthday party of the show's first homophobic character, just fantastic.
Boyfriend: This was a (mostly) very satisfying finale that brought the whole cast together for the big rugby match the whole show was building up towards. Nick and Charlie spend the whole finale essentially tying loose ends and resolving any remaining issues they have left, before ending the season properly starting their relationship. It's a very sweet finale, though the two almost kisses between Tao and Elle is almost in hilarious in how bullshit it is.
Overall, Heartstopper is the type of show I've wanted for quite a while, a wholesome high school romance with a mostly likable LGBT cast. While it suffers from a short length and Netflix's typically shoddy production values to the point where I probably wouldn't call it great, I still couldn't be more happy that this show exists. And that's not even getting into the fact that this is a webcomic adaptation, I can't begin to explain how much that opens the floodgates for the future. We could get adaptations of Octopus Pie, Check Please, Dumbing Of Age, Rain, my mind is already racing.
3/5 Stars
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