I Just Want to See You – Series Review & Ending Explained

Adolescence

I Just Want to See You highlights the delicate transition between adolescence and adulthood. Being seventeen is a crucial time, nearly marking the end of your youth. You are about to become an adult, faced with a different set of responsibilities, and overwhelmed by an uncertain future. There is much confusion over what you want to do with your life. The two leads face this exact predicament, indicated by their blank career development forms at school.

The series uses at least two pieces of symbolism to convey this hazy period. In Episode 1, Yuma casually remarks about tadpoles and frogs before asking, "But what are tadpoles called when they get legs?" His question reflects a teenager's existential crisis around this age. You're not really a kid anymore, but you're also not yet an adult. You constantly struggle with your self-identity.

The second symbolism is the colour flaxen. The characters debate over how to describe this enigmatic shade. The ambiguity of flaxen is an apt comparison to your adolescence. This period in your life is difficult to define precisely and carries various meanings for different people. If you have to describe your teenage years as a colour, it would be something with as much ambiguity as flaxen. Like the pale yellowish-gray tone, the transition between youth and adulthood is a concept that seems vague, unclear, and mysterious. 

Attraction

On top of the confusion over your identity, you also start questioning your attraction during adolescence. It's a time of romantic awakening as you explore the blurry lines between friendship and romance. Sakura harbours a secret crush on his childhood best friend. However, he's afraid to confess his feelings for fear of jeopardizing their relationship. He can only pine after Yuma through longing gazes. Only when Yuma is asleep does Sakura have the courage to examine his friend's face closely.

Episode 1 establishes why Sakura likes Yuma. It's easy to understand his attraction because Yuma's character has such a bright and vivacious personality. He's a delightful goofball, making Sakura laugh with his silly, boyish antics. He also appreciates Sakura's talents, full of genuine praise for his friend's piano music. In addition, Yuma shows integrity beneath his playful persona. He doesn't hesitate to disrupt the perverted students, scaring them away when they spied on his female classmates. Yuma's positivity is enticing, demonstrating why Sakura admires him so much.

Sakura hesitates to admit his love until Mr. Ishino & Ms. Nakayama announce their marriage. Inspired by his teachers' courage, Sakura reveals his secret feelings in a spontaneous moment. "You can hate me all you want," he says during his confession. Sakura is insecure, aware of the consequences if Yuma doesn't reciprocate his kiss. He takes a chance anyway. For Sakura, he doesn't want to let his adolescence slip away with unspoken regrets. The summer before his adulthood marks his last chance for a teen romance. Perhaps Yuma may surprise him with his response.

Sakura

Yuma doesn't flat-out reject the confession, but he's definitely confused. He perceived Sakura as a friend until now and never considered the possibility of romance. Sensing Yuma's uneasiness, Sakura pretends their earlier kiss was a joke. His backpedalling works and restores the lighthearted normalcy in their dynamic. However, Sakura's smile strains after he observes Yuma's enormous relief. Deep down, Sakura must be thinking: You're not supposed to react to my kiss this way.

Sakura could've returned to being platonic friends with Yuma, admiring him in secrecy. Yet, that isn't what he wanted anymore. When Sakura chatted with Ms. Nakayama, he admired her relationship with Mr. Ishino and desired that same happiness for himself. The teachers in this story serve as role models, giving Sakura optimism about his love life. At the end of Episode 2, his translation exercise turns into a renewed confession. "I have always loved Yuma since I met him," Sakura repeats until Yuma gets the message. There's no way to misconstrue the meaning this time.

Sakura is faced with much indecision in his life. He has no plans, no aspirations, and no idea about himself. He doesn't want to go to college, pursue his piano talent, or find work in the city. When his teacher prods further, Sakura wishes to continue being a kid. Despite the confusion over his impending adulthood, Sakura knows there's one thing he wants at this moment. He wants to be with Yuma. This decisiveness is uncharacteristic of him, who can't make up his mind about anything else. Yet, Yuma gives Sakura clarity, conviction, and a commitment for the future. 

Yuma

Yuma responds to Sakura's confession in Episode 3. But first, we must sit through a 20-minute camping trip with longwinded ghost stories. Despite being immersed in the romance, my interest fizzled by the end of this boring episode. The series starts going off track, focusing on the supporting cast instead of the intimate drama between the leads. These minor characters are a liability, like dull diversions in a short series with limited storytelling time.

Thankfully, Yuma's heart-to-heart with Sakura is worth the wait. Yuma shows his sensitive side, carefully reflecting on what Sakura means to him. We hear his thought process, including the panic and confusion in the beginning. Ultimately, Yuma admits that being with Sakura makes him happy. Yet, he understands their happy memories together will fade away as they grow up. Maybe one day, he won't even remember what happened on this camping trip. Loving Sakura is a way for Yuma to preserve the happiness from the past while creating new joyous memories in the future.

It's a sweet sentiment from a teenager confessing his feelings to another boy for the first time. Like Sakura, Yuma doesn't have many ambitions and even wrote a joke in his career form. Yet, we can see from this conversation that he has thought about his future happiness. It's a future that includes having Sakura by his side. The two leads didn't seem like they were ready to grow up at the start of the series. However, their love for each other has helped them ease into adulthood. They're making plans, moving forward, and maturing from lost boys to self-assured men.

Happy ending

I Just Want to See You has a happy ending where Sakura and Yuma start dating. However, their relationship dynamic doesn't change drastically. They still hang out like casual friends, eating popsicles and chatting lightheartedly. Sakura and Yuma decide to make a checklist of everything they want to do during the summer break. They're small tasks, like making spaghetti or mastering a childhood game. Nonetheless, the couple is spending time together and having fun.

On some occasions, the lead characters chat about their relationship thoughtfully. For example, Yuma reflects on how he was oblivious to his boyfriend's secret crush on him all these years. Sakura jokes he was "scarred". Even though it was a cheeky comment, Yuma feels genuinely upset for hurting Sakura with his insensitivity. This moment of introspection is appreciated, adding nuance to the love story between two childhood best friends.

Attack on Sakura

I Just Want to See You is a relaxing series without much conflict or tension. However, the final episode introduces an unusual subplot that disrupts the tranquillity. Sakura and his friend Riko encounter an unfriendly stranger on the streets. This anonymous individual bumps into them with brute force, knocking them to the ground. It sounds scary, as some random stranger targets you to intentionally cause harm.

This mysterious attacker is like an abstract symbolism, representing the misfortunes in life. You can't foresee or control when something terrible suddenly happens to you in the future. It could be an accident, a traumatic event, or just an ill-willed person who wants to sabotage you. Growing up is scary because we can't control the uncertain circumstances. Maybe misfortune lurks in the shadows, ready to attack you anytime and deliver setbacks. Life's hardships might knock you down, but you must cope and get back up again.

Yuma can't react fast enough to rescue his boyfriend from the hostile attacker. Fortunately, Sakura isn't injured. However, the night's events still scared Yuma, who thought he might've lost his partner during that moment. This incident reaffirms how much Sakura means to Yuma. The one good thing to come out of misfortune is that it forces you to assess your priorities. Yuma feels troubled because his boyfriend is a cherished loved one whom he wants to protect from harm.

Ending explained

I Just Want to See You doesn't end with the leads suddenly gaining clarity over their futures. Sakura and Yuma are still aimless with no purposeful plans for adulthood. In some coming-of-age stories, the teenage protagonists become enlightened, determined, and insightful. That storytelling magic doesn't happen here. Instead, Sakura and Yuma are ordinary seventeen-year-old boys who haven't figured out the trajectory of their lives over summer break.

Yet, this ending is still thematically powerful, highlighting Yuma and Sakura's carefree time together as teenagers. For the entire episode, they do seemingly childish things from an adult's perspective. They design a juvenile game out of kicking rocks, which isn't the most reassuring sign of maturity. Nonetheless, the mundane activities are suitable for this stage of their adolescence. At age seventeen, it's their last summer together where they can just be kids. Let these two teenage boys do whatever silly shenanigans and create lasting memories to cap off their childhoods.

Yuma and Sakura have their whole lives ahead of them. At this moment in time, we don't have to burden them with serious expectations or detailed plans for the future. They can worry about their adult responsibilities next summer and many years to come. The leads only reach one decisive conclusion in this ending, as they have figured out their feelings for each other. Their only plans for the future involve spending more time together. Wherever their lives take them, Yuma and Sakura are committed to moving forward as a pair.