Love Stage – Anime Review & Ending Explained

Flawed plot

Now that I watched both the anime and the live-action adaption, experiencing the same story twice has made me pretty familiar with its strengths and flaws. Love Stage becomes more engaging when the plot focuses on anything nonromantic. I enjoyed the scenes where Izumi was working on his manga. I also enjoyed the subplots where he was navigating through fame. Izumi is a complex character, as the ordinary son of a famous family, so there're lots of untapped storylines with him.

Love Stage becomes far less compelling when it focuses on the relationship between Izumi and Ryouda. Their romance is written poorly from the start, and it only worsens once you see how Ryouda treats Izumi under the guise of "love". Ryouda could be an interesting villain if Love Stage actually addresses his toxic behaviour instead of romanticizing his despicable actions. Unfortunately, his character gets way too much of a pass during the series. He is excused for all his bad behaviour, even when he acts like a raging asshole.

Lighthearted comedy

At times, Love Stage can be appealing as a lighthearted romantic comedy. This series has some amusing moments, with successful visual gags enhanced by the anime's perpetually goofy charm. A lot about Love Stage is typical anime humour, but it can make you laugh.

Of course, you also have to put up with a handful of unfunny and problematic jokes, so the good comes with the bad. If you aren't easily offended, you may be more receptive to the humour, which teeters on the line of inappropriateness sometimes.

Family exploitation

Although the story in Love Stage might seem bright and chipper on the surface, there are some darker undertones if you analyze the plot more closely. This anime also explores how Izumi is being groomed, manipulated, and exploited by his celebrity family. Yes, I know that sounds very dramatic for a series that I previously described as a "lighthearted" comedy, but this anime isn't as innocent as it seems.

What becomes clear in Love Stage is that Izumi lacks a support system in his life. In case you haven't noticed, he has a really crappy family. Both his parents are oddly absent from his life, never around to help Izumi even when he experiences anxiety and trauma. The only one who seems to care about Izumi is his older brother Shogo, but even he has a weird fetishization of his sibling that I'd rather not elaborate.

Izumi's parents want their son to become a celebrity just like them. They're obsessed with the idea of becoming a famous family, most likely because it's a novelty that can propel their own careers in the industry. While the mom Nagisa seems airheaded and fame-obsessed, the dad Seiya is a lot more calculating. Even if Izumi doesn't enjoy being in the spotlight, Seiya WILL manipulate his son and make him bend to his will.

Izumi's scheming dad

Seiya has been a secret puppetmaster, controlling Izumi's life from behind the scenes. He acts through his conduit Rei, ordering him to keep his son Izumi on a tight leash. Can we mention how disturbing it is that Rei placed a TRACKING DEVICE to spy on Izumi's whereabouts!? Rei wouldn't have gone that far as a mere employee for the company. I have no doubt it's his boss Seiya who authorized this intrusive form of surveillance. 😬

The most obvious example of Seiya's meddling is when he "edited" the script of the wedding commercial. He purposely removed the part about the kiss, making the ad seem more agreeable to his son. Imagine Izumi showing up on set, being startled when his co-star suddenly ambushes him with a kiss. Seiya knows his son isn't comfortable in the spotlight, but still puts him through that stressful situation anyway. He only cares that the commercial would be a great platform to launch Izumi's career, and not actually consider how his son feels about it.

Whenever Rei goes overboard in managing Izumi's life, I sense Seiya's slimy fingerprints imprinted on each decision. Keep in mind that Rei feels extremely indebted to Seiya, who rescued him from a troubled youth. Rei would execute any command that Seiya ordered him to do. Every time Izumi has a panic attack and feels anxiety about appearing on camera, shooting a commercial, or attending a press conference, it's his dad pressuring him to do so. That's the kind of man Seiya is.

Izumi and Ryouda

Ryouda is a terrible person who should never be romanticized as a love interest. If Love Stage was airing now instead of 2014, he'd definitely be one of the male celebrities exposed by the #MeToo movement. His character sucks and I want no part of endorsing a BL romance with him in it.

What Ryouda did to Izumi in Episode 3 is sexual assault, no matter how much the series tries to downplay and dismiss his actions afterwards. He attacks Izumi alone in his apartment, pins him down, gropes his body, strips him naked, and forces his sexual desires onto an unwilling victim. Had Shogo not showed up on time to stop the encounter, I shudder to think how far Ryouda could go and what he would've done.

It doesn't make a difference that Ryouda "apologized" and "felt bad" for sexually assaulting Izumi afterwards. That cannot absolve him of the physical, psychological, and emotional trauma he inflicted upon Izumi. Let's never normalize the narrative that nonconsensual sexual encounters can be made less severe after an insincere apology.

Sexual assault

Love Stage handled Izumi's trauma after his sexual assault quite irresponsibly. Rei is another morally reprehensible character who tries to justify Ryouda's actions with a ~boys will be boys~ mindset. He compares the nonconsensual encounter to a "mosquito bite", telling Izumi to brush off the incident since Ryouda didn't go all the way with him. Rei also dares to equate his experiences as a gay man to the sexual assault that Izumi had experienced. No, they are NOT the same thing, Rei!

Rei offers some of the worst advice you can give to the victim of sexual assault, yet Love Stage acts as if the character is being rational at the moment. Let's call out Rei for who he really is: a callous, coldblooded, and complicit creep who represents all the ugliness in show business. Needless to say, Rei is down there with one of my least favourite characters in Love Stage.

Ryouda is a creep

After the sexual assault, Love Stage tries its best to redeem Ryouda for the next few episodes. But as the old saying goes, a leopard never changes its spots. His character still comes across as a desperate creep, harassing Izumi with dozens of text messages to express his "love". There're also multiple instances of him overstepping his boundaries with Izumi. Every time Ryouda sees an opportunity for a nonconsensual encounter, you can rely on him to almost always make the wrong decision. 🙃

Near the end of the series, another ugly layer of Ryouda's personality is exposed. He becomes jealous and possessive towards Izumi, even more so than before. Never mind the fact that they aren't even a couple yet, but Ryouda throws a hissy tantrum every time Izumi socializes with other people. When a guy is SO controlling in a relationship that he gets angry because you smiled at someone else, it's time to run for the hills. Ryouda's behaviour is so overbearing that I don't understand what Izumi sees in him.

Cycle of abuse

Although I've been really harsh in my criticism of Ryouda, there is one interesting fact I want to mention about his character. Ryouda has admitted that he was a victim of sexual harassment during his early days as a young working actor. Like most of their plots, Love Stage drops this huge bombshell and doesn't elaborate on it afterwards. Nonetheless, we need to acknowledge a pivotal part of Ryouda's history, which might explain some of his inappropriate behaviour.

Not that Ryouda's past excuses anything he did in the present, but it does give us a reference point and more insights into his character's psyche. Picture Ryouda, a young actor who has been introduced to the show biz industry since he was a child. Growing up in a culture of abuse, exploitation, and sexual harassment, these outrageous behaviours have become normalized for Ryouda.

That might be why Ryouda so casually perpetuates the same abuse onto Izumi, because he's used to these nonconsensual encounters himself. In some ways, Ryouda is trapped in a vicious cycle of abuse, with years of trauma shaping the way he perceives relationships and consent. Ryouda isn't capable of having a healthy romance because he never experienced normalcy himself.

Vibrant visuals

The visuals in Love Stage are pretty delightful. The scenes always look bright, cheery, and colourful, maintaining the series's upbeat tone. Most of the character designs look decent, although they all seem to have long angular faces with pointy chins.

With that said, I don't love Izumi's character design. It's more of a personal preference, but I've never liked when anime characters have big expressive eyes. I also don't like how young Izumi looks. The other characters have more adult designs, whereas Izumi stands out and looks a lot more youthful. Put him in scenes with Ryouda and this pairing looks mismatched together.

I actually think Izumi has a more mature appearance when he's dressed up as a girl. His character design looks flattering when wearing long hair and pretty dresses, so I think I prefer this version of him instead.

Happy ending

On the surface, there appears to be a happy ending in Love Stage. Izumi ends up with his handsome and famous love interest, keeping their romance on the down-low from the public's eye. Plus, he's the star of many big commercials, with his face plastered on billboards as he represents many popular brands. His love life and his career are thriving at the end of the anime series.

Yet, I can't help but feel sad for Izumi's character. For starters, Ryouda is trash. Being in a relationship with this sexual predator is like getting the bad ending in a visual novel. Also, I feel disheartened that Izumi gave up on his dreams of becoming a manga artist. In the end, Izumi succumbed to family pressure and became a famous celebrity, even though he never had any interest in show business. He didn't want this career at all, so it almost feels like he's ~selling out~.

Takahiro

If I had my way, Izumi would've ended up with Takahiro, the friend from the manga club. He's nonproblematic, which already makes him a better boyfriend than Ryouma by default. Takahiro is also an expressionless king, a tasty snack in a pair of glasses, and has way more in common with Izumi than some stuck-up celebrity. I can actually envision a normal, healthy relationship between Izumi and Takahiro.

Sadly, Takahiro was sidelined for most of the series, and Izumi doesn't recognize there's a perfectly dreamy guy in front of him all along. I guess Love Stage didn't want to highlight Takahiro's character too much, because then it'd be too obvious that he's a superior love interest than Ryouma in every way.

Love love, Lala Lulu!

So, I should clarify that I watched the dubbed version of the Love Stage anime. Whenever there's a rare opportunity for me to watch BL without subtitles, I take it. The English dub is perfectly fine EXCEPT for one thing: the alarm clock message with LalaLulu's high-pitched voice. ⏰

Every time Izumi wakes up, we are treated to the exact same alarm clock message. RISE AND SHINE, IZUMI! GET UP AND DO YOUR BEST TODAY! LOVE-LOVE, LALA-LULU! The same voice clip gets played on an endless loop, over and over again. Oh my god, it's the most annoying thing ever, with a grating voice that drives me up the wall.

At first, I hated this alarm clock with a passion. But then, it kinda grew on me in a hilariously obnoxious way. Lalalulu's nightmarish voice became like a guilty pleasure of mine, and I missed hearing it in between episodes. When I go too long without hearing the alarm clock, a mental audio clip of the message plays inside my head. I will hear "Love-Love, Lala-Lulu!" until the end of infinity, haunting me everywhere I go. 🙉

Opening & ending songs

Besides the Lalalulu alarm clock message, I also love the opening song and the ending song in Love Stage. Yo, these songs are kinda bops? I love that we get to begin and conclude each episode with this cheerful, upbeat melody. At some point, I looked forward to listening to this music more than I cared about watching the actual episodes.

For reference, the opening song is called LφVEST, sung by SCREEN mode. The ending song is called Click Your Heart, sung by Kazutomi Yamamoto.