The fact that I love Hikaru Utada’s music is no secret. So when I heard of this show that was inspired by two of her songs, released 20 years apart, I knew I had to watch it. Sadly, I wasn’t really in the mood for a story like this when it came out, so I decided to save it for when I felt better, and I’m glad I did.

I don’t think I could’ve appreciated First Love for what it is if I wasn’t in the right mindset. On the surface, it appears to be a pretty typical boy-meets-girl tale about two high school sweethearts whose romance comes to a screeching halt before they rekindle it 20 years later. But what really sets it apart from similar shows and films is the way it’s told. First Love’s nine episodes are straight killer, no filler, which helps a lot with its pacing. Even though this is a slow burn, it never gets boring or uninteresting, and the non-chronological order of the story that’s being told here is a big help.

I won’t go into detail about the plot since you’re better off discovering things on your own, but I’m so glad this is a series rather than a movie. It’s crucial for these characters to have a lot of depth because the plot spans 20 years and the female lead has amnesia. This is made possible by the runtime, and while a love story like that certainly works in film (see The Notebook for example), I think it works better here. I’m also really glad they used the Hikaru Utada songs this show is based on really sparingly and didn’t force them into every touching scene. This makes the moments when the songs do show up feel even more special.

There’s just so much to love here. For starters, all the actors are excellent, but the young ones are particularly fantastic. And not just the young actors who portray the leads throughout their early days, but also the B-plot actors, which involve an extrovert dancer and an introvert producer who makes Nujabes-type beats. It also looks fantastic, with some of the best cinematography of any 2022 show I’ve seen, and the gorgeous score by Taisei Iwasaki really puts the finishing touches on the cozy vibe this show exudes. I would almost call it flawless.

Sadly, there are a couple of things that keep me from giving this a perfect score. The first thing is my age old complaint about characters not talking about their feelings. I get that they’re struggling with them, but talking about their feelings would be way more helpful than walking away from them. While I understand that this is a story about fate, I found some of the revelations in the last episode a bit far-fetched and some of the fateful encounters throughout the show a little difficult to believe.

Luckily, those things are no reason to skip the show. This is an impeccable watch and definitely one of the top 10 shows of last year. I can already see this becoming one of my comfort watches that I watch every few years.