Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun (2023)

Dismantling the myth of a teacher-student relationship with the particularity of being a gay romance

I find it a very valuable series because of the theme: the reciprocated love of a minor and an adult and the consequences that this can have.
(And talking about this topic is enough to get you accused of being a covert pedophile)
Our society has a general taboo when it comes to the subject of a supposedly pedophile relationship, but it is something that is there, that happens every day, that minors fall in love with adult people, (and vice versa) and want to live their love despite of laws to the contrary, or of social customs. Many long-term gay couples are made up of people with a large age difference. Sometimes they begin when the minor is fifteen or sixteen years old, and last a lifetime.
The social problem is how to distinguish between abuse by an adult "who forces or dominates" and when two people with an age difference can love and respect each other as equals.
If society did not ignore it, there could be ways to help these young people face a relationship, certainly premature, but which can be not only loving, but also mutually enriching, as it was in classical Greek times in the form of pederasty.
At that time everything was institutionalized and that protected both parties.
The series makes us sympathize with the older protagonist, due to his innocence, despite possible social rejection. And this is already difficult. And at least it makes us think about the issue of pedophilia, not as something that can simply be rejected, but as a complex issue that requires further exploration.
From Nabokov's Lolita, in which a forty-year-old professor becomes obsessed with a twelve-year-old girl, to Bernard Schlink's The Reader, where a student falls in love with an almost forty-year-old woman, passing through The Dying Animal, the novel by Philip Roth that tells the story of a sixty-year-old critic and renowned professor who becomes involved with a 24-year-old intern, the bond between teacher and student is written in fire in literature.
Film and television are not far behind in telling a love story between the master and his disciple. Asian series generally have a fun way of approaching love. When it comes to stories that have a secondary school or university as a background, they do not always show romance between students, because upon discovering this feeling some may develop a crush with their teachers.
The stories range from one-sided infatuations to those in which teacher and disciple meet again years later and it is then that they can begin a relationship. However, there are others in which some decide to take the risk and start a romance in the middle of the classroom, the school hallways and, why not?, in the gym. The latter is the case of the Japanese romantic comedy 'Sahara-sensei and Toki-kun', from 2023.
From director Shibata Keisuke Sukiyanen (who also directed 'Kedo Do Yaro ka', 'Nare no Hate no Bokura', 'Yukionna to Kani wo Kuu', 'Rokuhodo Yotsuiro Biyori' and 'Waltz of Turtle', among many more, the series tells the romantic relationship of Toki-kun (Hachimura Rintaro), the rebellious 17-year-old student at a Japanese high school, and his handsome Physical Education teacher, three years older. The former only needed a fraction of a second to fall in love.
With the minimum age of sexual consent met, according to the legislation of his native country, and close to reaching his majority, love makes Toki-kun grow. That student always involved in fights and absent from classes stops looking for problems and his life takes a 180 degree turn to give way to a totally different person. He will be the first to arrive to the classroom, he studies hard and participates in all curricular and extracurricular activities. He is guided by a single objective: to attract the attention of his beloved instructor Sahara-sensei (Kizu Takumi).
The person in charge of adapting the manga to television is the screenwriter Miura Yuiko, also the author of works such as 'Ultraman Geed', 'The Sango Ranger', 'Screaming Class' and 'Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo', among others.
What do 'Sahara-sensei To Toki-Kun' and the series 'Big', from 2012, have in common; 'A gentleman's Dignity', 2012; 'My Rommate Gumiho', 'Hello Mr. Right', 2016; 'Hello, My Teacher', 2005; 'Teacher Monarch', 2018; 'Somewhere Only We Know', from 2019; 'Doctors', from 2016; 'Sensei', from 2017; 'Tunnel of Love: The Place For Miracles', 2015; 'Thorn', from 2014; 'My Rainy Days', 2009; 'Close Range Love', 2014; 'My Little Bride', 2004; 'High School Teacher', 2003; 'Flower Boy Ramyun Shop', 2011; 'Doctor Crush', 2016; 'Exclusive Memory', from 2019; 'Secret Love Affair', 2014; 'A Story To Read When You First Fall In Love', 2019; 'Daytime Shooting Star', 2017; 'I'm Sam', 2007; 'Met Me After School', from 2018, among others?
All of them raise the teacher-student love relationship as a theme and view it from various points of view. But there is a decisive factor that differentiates them: while these latest television productions narrate a heterosexual romance, 'Sahara-sensei To Toki-kun' addresses a gay love.
This 8-episode series debunks the myth of the romance between teacher and student. The program at no time plays with the viewer. It doesn't give them false expectations. Let no one think that they are facing the umpteenth story of forbidden love between a teacher and the teenage schoolboy. There are no first kisses or secret sexual encounters here. There is no rape or pedophilia here. Here we are not in the presence of sexual abuse of minors disguised as falling in love.
We witness a pure, sincere and innocent love, even clumsy. As the chapters progress, it's easy to forget the age difference between the two. The story encourages you to accompany them in that sincere passionate and tender love. They will soon confess their love for each other. Communication is quickly established and they face problems together.
Who has never known love before, much less in a man, sighs every time she has classes with Sahara-sensei. He looks for him in the hallways or in his office that he shares with other teachers. You need to see him, be by his side. And for this he will look for a thousand pretexts. He waits after school or in the morning when he arrives at school for the being that seems to him the most attractive, most perfect and most complete in the world. He fantasizes, he dreams about him, he listens to music thinking about him, he walks through the streets with him in his mind. Sharing with the only person who really looks at you and understands you will become your priority. Thus a sincere love arises between these two people who are too pure.
As soon as he discovers love, an antisocial Toki-kun becomes friends with Rise Tatsumasa (Sono Shunta), a student in his same classroom whom he had never paid attention to before. The personal growth of our protagonist does not stop. He will also make friends with Todo Shinji (Matsumoto Hiroki), a third-year student and friend of Sahara who is in charge of being Toki's tutor; and Todo Takuya (Momose Takumi), Shinji's foster brother. Although less interesting because it is not developed well, there will also be a romantic bond between these last two boys.
The love of the two protagonists will be tested when Nekoto Minato (Hori Kaito), whom Sahara-sensei declared her love for when they were both studying at the same school years ago, returns to take over as teacher and claims that she also loved him since then, but he did not have the courage to recognize it and today it is ready.
Is the temptation of the forbidden the driving force behind Sahara-sensei and Toki-kun? Is it the idea of ​​a forbidden relationship that generates the fantasy of being able to sexually possess something taboo? Is the possibility of being discovered what motivates you? Is this a love with an expiration date because once the “hidden” is overcome, one falls into normality and from there to boredom? Is the intention to challenge the norm the main characteristic of your relationship? Perhaps it is the desire to control, to exercise power, an emotional need or seeking to make an illusion come true that moves them?
From Toki-kun's point of view: Could it be an attraction out of admiration and curiosity? Will your interest be in possessing something from your teacher, such as his or her knowledge and skills?
From Sahara-sensei's point of view, is what he feels is basic sexual attraction or the pride of feeling important and admired by his student? Is feeling that attraction from your disciple exciting to you from a sexual and emotional point of view, since it is a strong validation?
Are we facing a power relationship? Will Toki seek to take advantage of the person who has more power? Is the need to control the situation when the matter is complex the factor that generates this relationship? Will it be difficult for an athletic, runner and fighter like Toki-kun to pass the Physical Education subject? Should the teacher avoid a loving bond with the person he loves? Is the solution to postpone the relationship until the student reaches the age of majority and is no longer under the “shadow” of the teacher? Will this relationship have a future? Is it just desire or a fantasy and will it eventually die? Will it prosper and become a lifelong romance, as the two young people have vowed?
The protagonist, a boy who is not at all insecure and with very high self-esteem, very mature for his age, is not a victim, and takes charge of his actions until the end. Knowing that he is in love, he is able to acknowledge his love to his friends and classmates, despite living in a society where homosexuality is illegal. That confession will define him.
For her part, Sahara-sensei is not the archetype of the manipulator. He is a serious and responsible adult. He is aware of his strengths and weaknesses. He shows that he knows his physical and moral limits when he resigns from being the advisor of the Swimming Club, a position for which he was proposed, or when he stops swimming due to a fracture in his spine.
He admits to being afraid of losing the trust of others. His personality, sensible and calm, becomes one of the most rational, balanced and endearing in the BL universe.
He conveys the feeling of being a friendly, unique, wise older brother. He respects Toki-kun, gives him his space and freedom of decision.
The relationship is based on mutual respect, trust and friendship. There is healthy communication and complicity between the two. Everyone is happy with the person who is next to them. They both feel valued and their limits are respected, both physical, emotional and sexual. In other words, Sahara-sensei and Toki-kun fit perfectly into the relationship established by them. They complement each other.
There is no morbidity or adrenaline in the actions of either of them. Their brilliant performances elevate the story and make the characters much more interesting and fascinating to watch. Both actors are capable of transmitting feelings and emotions naturally. Hachimura Rintaro and Kizu Takumi's outstanding performances have delicacy, subtlety and depth
As for the relationship between Toki and Sahara being unhealthy because it is a relationship in which one has power over the other, as one is a student and the other is his teacher, nothing could be further from the truth. The two agree to wait for each other. What are you waiting for? Why don't you give free rein to your love? Why don't they kiss in the corners of the school or in the park, away from it? Why don't they have sex in a hotel room, if they both want each other? Wouldn't theirs be consensual sex? Isn't Toki 17 years old? Don't the laws in Japan set the age of sexual consent at 17? Isn't that an age when kids fantasize about sex all day? Isn't that the age at which you dream of losing your virginity, if you haven't already? What then prevents them from loving each other freely?
They both wait for Toki to finish graduating from the Institute and go to the University to be an “adult” and thus be able to help Sahara in a life together, as the young boy stated to his lover.
The series even goes as far as NOT to violate their relationship, when the agreement to wait for each other is NOT sealed with a kiss, with sensual hugs, with genuine expressions of love, as anyone would expect. They sealed it with a fist bump and a smile on their lips. That is the purpose of the series: we are NOT faced with a power relationship. The teacher does NOT exercise any authority over the student nor does the student take advantage of obtaining possible advantages from the teacher to the detriment of the rest of the students.
In the final moments, Nekoto will reveal to Sahara that she always loved him, but she refused to be his boyfriend because she did not want to be a burden on him, since Sahara was destined to be a star swimmer and fear that a relationship with him would obstruct her future.
Learning the truth from Nekoto himself will allow Sahara to heal her still open wounds. Sahara can now close a page of pain in her life that meant rejecting her love for the man she loved. Now Sahara can be happy with Toki because Nekoto's ghost will no longer haunt him.
This revelation opens up a range of possibilities for Sahara between rescuing her relationship with someone she knows well, of the same age, someone with whom she shares beautiful memories and indestructible ties, on the one hand, and, on the other, with a new love like Toki. As we could see, Sahara chose Toki. Sahara distinguished the person he loves today above the person he loved in the past, despite the latent age difference, or that one is a minor or the teacher-student relationship. This contributes to debunking the myth of teacher-student romance.
The Japanese use kintsugi as a perfect metaphor for resilience because not only is the damaged piece of pottery repaired, but even it becomes more beautiful, stronger and more valuable. This centuries-old technique consists of reassembling ceramic pieces that have broken or developed cracks with resin mixed with gold dust.
Toki-kun becomes a potter who heals Sahara-sensei's wounds through kintsugi. The professor sees himself as a heartbroken person. He needs to get over falling out of love. The student becomes the new love that repairs the broken pieces of the teacher's life with golden strips to make it stronger, more resilient. I do not doubt that in his thoughts, Sahara-sensei asks Toki-kun not to abandon him, since without him he will once again feel empty, destroyed, hollow. A person in these circumstances gives themselves to their loved one with devotion. I would never hurt her. I would never try to lie to you, manipulate you, hurt you.
Regardless of the possible interpretations, what there is no doubt about is the ability of the director and screenwriter to dismantle a myth, give other causes to the theme of homosexuality in dramas, make the BL genre thunder, shake it up. , wake him up and dress him long in fine and new clothing, due to both the effectiveness and the organicity with which the creators integrate an entire arsenal of romantic cinema resources into the narrative.

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