By Rachell Carbajal
On April 22, 2022, the TV series Heartstopper, based on Alice Oseman’s original book series, was released. The coming-of-age storyline focuses on toxic relationships, the questioning of sexuality, friendships, and much more. After hearing that the book series would turn into a TV series, I was anxious if the actors casted would be able to fit the characters from the books, especially the main characters: Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring. Fortunately, the actors were picked out very accurately; their physical features, their voices, and the way they act was so similar to the books. I loved was how they casted actual teenagers that looked like real teenagers with acne, anger issues, mood swings, etc; it was so fresh to see characters I could resonate with. The cast and directors of this series did a fantastic job with every scene.
If you haven’t looked into either the books or the TV series, this story is about Charlie Spring, a gay teenage boy who soon begins to develop feelings for his classmate sitting next to him: Nick Nelson. It also shows the other characters, like Charlie’s friends: Tao, Elle, Darcy, Tara, and Isaac. From the filmography and the music incorporated into some of the scenes, to how the characters are portrayed, and the animations of the book series into the real life series—the show is spot on.
*Spoiler warning*
The first episode, “Meet,” introducing Charlie Spring as he walked through his school the scene, included this hint of subtle blue and yellow all around the set. It definitely made a difference—the scene was super easy on my eyes, and gave this mellow and soothing feeling as when you see someone you like. This blue and yellow filter appears a couple more times when Charlie and Nick meet, which is super interesting. As for the music: the music was so spot on for every single scene that they used. One of my favorite scenes with masterful music was in episode three, “Kiss,” when they are all at Harry’s 16th birthday party and they are all dancing. Two of characters (Tara and Darcy) are both teenage girls who are lesbians and are dating. Darcy has already come out, meanwhile Tara is still questioning whether or not to make the relationship public. But, as the music comes on, both of the girls begin to dance in this beautiful rainbow light, and in the light they kiss. The kiss was already special without the music, but with the music made it ten times more beautiful. Normally, when I watch romance or any coming of age movies and shows, it’s hard for me to really stick with them, because of how fast paced it is, but as for Heartstopper, the pace was perfect and it allowed me to really stick to until the very end. Lastly, since the series was live action, it was awesome that they included small animations like the animated leaves or sparkles, onto the tv series. Heartstopper was such a beautifully directed series and written book.