is a Japanese manga series by Machi Suzuri. It was originally posted on Suzuri's Twitter and Pixiv accounts in 2020. It was later serialized on Pixiv Comics' website under the label (a partnership between Ichijinsha and Pixiv). The manga was serialized on a weekly basis from January 24, 2022, to May 16, 2025.

A live-action television drama adaptation, consisting of three episodes, was divided into two arcs: the Crank In Arc, consisting of the first episode that was broadcast on Telasa on December 24, 2023; and the Crank Up Arc, the final two episodes that were broadcast on TV Asahi on January 2, 2024. A second season ran from June 13, 2025, to July 25, 2025, for six episodes on Telasa.

Plot Hajime Aoyanagi is an actor who first became famous after starring in an orange juice commercial as a child 15 years ago, but since then, his popularity has been fading. One day, he gets cast in his first leading role in years, in a drama based on a boys' love (BL) manga titled . Aoyanagi is starring opposite of Yuichiro Akafuji, a younger and popular actor. Unknown to Aoyanagi, Akafuji has secretly been a huge fan of him since childhood, but he inadvertently treats him coldly because he is too starstruck.

Characters

Aoyanagi is a 25-year-old actor who first gained fame after starring in an orange juice commercial 15 years ago. Once heralded as a "genius child actor", he is no longer popular and struggles to receive roles. He plays in I'm in Love With My Childhood Friend.

Akafuji is a 23-year-old actor. He is described as good-looking and is currently one of the most popular actors. He has admired Aoyanagi since they were young, and he ends up treating Aoyanagi coldly during his attempts to hide his adoration for him. He plays in I'm in Love With My Childhood Friend.

Kijima is Aoyanagi's manager and a former actor. He and Yukari have a complicated relationship.

Yukari is Akafuji's manager. He tends to get exasperated by Akafuji's fanaticism over Aoyanagi. He and Kijima have a friends-with-benefits relationship, though he secretly used to be a fan of Kiijima.

Kuromiya is a member of the idol group East6 and plays , a character who works in the same company as Mizutani and Momoshiro, in I'm in Love With My Childhood Friend.

Tendo is a 29-year-old actress who plays , Mizutani's older sister, in I'm in Love With My Childhood Friend.

Yayoi is the producer of I'm in Love With My Childhood Friend.

Haibara is Aoyanagi's senior who has worked with him when he was little. He views himself as Aoyanagi's older brother and sees Akafuji as his rival.

Production Suzuri was inspired to draw I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama from watching BL dramas after a "certain drama featuring middle-aged men" and wanting to write a story where the was "madly in love" with the . Suzuri then posted a series of illustrations and, later, short comics titled on her Twitter account; she compiled and uploaded the chapters to her Pixiv account on December 26, 2020. At the time of when she first drew the manga, she was unfamiliar with how live-action drama adaptations were produced.

Suzuri stated through an interview with that she originally wanted to include a comic centered on I'm in Love with My Childhood Friend, a fictional manga featured in the series, in volume 1. However, due to the timing and the number of pages, she was not able to include it in the end. When her editor noticed that a manga volume without a dust cover resembled a script booklet, Suzuri included a script featuring the storyline of I'm in Love with My Childhood Friend.

Media Manga

I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama is written and illustrated by Machi Suzuri. After posting several illustrations and short manga based on the concept under the title I Became the Main Role in a Live-Action Adaptation of a BL on Twitter and Pixiv in 2020, the manga was later picked up for serialization on Pixiv Comics' website under the label (a partnership between Ichijinsha and Pixiv). It was serialized on a weekly basis from January 23, 2022, to May 31, 2024. A continuation, titled the Lovers Arc, was serialized in Comic Pool from October 4, 2024, to June 12, 2025. The chapters were later released in five bound volumes by Ichijinsha under the Comic Pool imprint.

Television drama

A live-action television drama adaptation of I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama was announced on November 20, 2023. The , consisting of the first episode, was broadcast on Telasa on December 24, 2023. The , consisting of the last 2 episodes, was broadcast on TV Asahi on January 2, 2024. The series is directed by , with Erika Tōyama in charge of the script. The live-action drama adaptation is produced by Emi Fujisaki from TV Asahi and Sho Sejima from .

The series stars member as Akafuji and as Aoyanagi. Supporting cast members include The Rampage from Exile Tribe member Shogo Iwaya as Kuromiya, Shu Watanabe as Kijima, Yuki Ogoe as Yukari, Sakurako Konishi as Tendo, and Noriko Iriyama as Yayoi. The theme song of the series is "Darlin'" by .

On December 5, 2024, I Became the Main Role of a BL Drama was renewed for a second season, titled in Japan. The second season began broadcast on Telasa on June 13, 2025, and ran for 6 episodes. The cast reprised their roles, with and Gaku Oshida added to the supporting cast as Ryunosuke Haibara and Wakaba Yamabuki respectively. The theme song is "Kissed the Pillow" by Rui.

Both seasons were licensed for streaming outside of Japan by GagaOOLala with English subtitles. GagaOOLala reported that the first season was one of the top 5 series in Taiwan on their platform in 2023.

Season 1 (2023)

Crank In Arc

Crank Up Arc

Season 2 (2025)

Notes

References

External links