Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi: Seasons 1 & 2 + OVAs

This anime series is part of the yaoi genre of gay male love stories created by women and (at least in Japan) marketed to a female audience. Ritsu Onodera is a young literary editor who finds himself in a job editing manga at a publishing company. His new boss, Masamune Takano, is unpleasant and Onodera considers quitting, but decides to ride out the situation and prove his worth. Onodera later learns that Takano's surname was originally Saga—it was changed following his parents' divorce—and that they both attended the same high school. This knowledge brings back difficult memories for the two, because they were briefly in love during their youth, until a misunderstanding ended their friendship. Takano's increasingly aggressive pursuit of Onodera to rekindle their teenage relationship and the latter's mixed feelings over this new attention creates workplace tension. Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi might have been more effective as a standalone feature film, but the 24-episode storyline drags on endlessly, featuring numerous supporting characters who often dilute and derail the central drama. Compiling all 24 episodes from the 2011 first and second seasons in a DVD edition, rated TV-MA, in Japanese with English subtitles, extras include bonus OVAs. Optional. (P. Hall)