Ron Does Stuff

I mean, you guys should have expected this. I’ve read the first two volumes of the comic book this is based on so it really was just a matter of time before I started watching the adaptation. Let’s get into it!

Okay, first things first. From all of the stuff that I’ve learned from this adaptation via osmosis, I thought that Charlie and Nick would be studying in a mixed-gender school, something that disappointed me when I started reading the comic books because why would they change the fact that Charlie and Nick are in an all-boys school? But as it turns out I am stupid and it’s something that they’ve retained in this adaptation.

Also can I say that I am absolutely enamored by Joe Locke’s eyebrows? In much the same way that I love that the characters in Young Royals have visible acne, I am appreciating how they haven’t made the actors here look like CW people. Although I do have to admit that the cast of Heartstopper do look a little more primped up compared to the Young Royals cast.

And yes, a bajillion other people have said this before me, but they really did so good in casting Kit Connor and Joe Locke. Joe’s immediately smitten look? Kit’s benign obliviousness? I am enjoying it very much.

Now I don’t know if it’s because I’m broken and need therapy or Sebastian Croft, the actor playing Ben, is just that good, but I found Ben neediness attractive? It’s just the way he kept looking at Joe’s lips and how he was so eager to start kissing and I kinda wanted that for myself? I’m broken, okay? Although it was immediately off-putting that he wiped his lips after they kissed so maybe I can still be considered well-adjusted.

The chemistry between Kit and Joe is really good. The goofing around while doing Nick’s maths homework? The look in Joe’s eyes? This adaptation is better at putting me in that particular teen mindset than the book.

I also appreciate how tall Tao is in this series? I didn’t want to bring it up in my review of the book because it’s such a nothing concern but I just felt meh about Tao being short. I just think it’s so tired to have the Asian character be short when we’ve already seen multiple instances of Asians being taller than white people. That Asian = short stereotype has been around for so long I still get surprised when K-pop stars are taller than white people!

I also like that how they’ve moved around the character of Elle and are setting up her storyline with Tao a little earlier. And maybe the books expound on this in later volumes but I also like how the adaptation has brought more nuance to Elle as a character. And this is all just in the first episode!

The addition of the teacher character is also a great addition. Yes, I know there’s a teacher character in the comics but she’s a straight woman and giving Charlie an older gay man to learn from is a good creative choice, I think.

There’s also something to be said about how this adaptation is much more successful at conveying the dread when Ben assaults Charlie. I don’t know if this is articulating it correctly, but in the book the scene felt too Tumblr? Too after school special? Also if you save me from getting assaulted I will bear your children. I do not have a womb or ovaries but I will do my best.