At 25:00, in Akasaka
At 25:00, in Akasaka is a Japanese manga series by Hiroko Natsuno. It was first serialized in the bimonthly boys' love manga magazine Gōgai On BLUE on November 25, 2017. It was then moved to the main On BLUE magazine on April 25, 2018.
A live-action television drama adaptation was broadcast on TV Tokyo from April 19, 2024, to June 21, 2024, as part of their programming block. A second season is set to broadcast in October 2025.
Plot
Yuki Shirasaki, a rookie actor, gets his first lead role in the same-sex romance television drama Afternoon Dreams, starring opposite of Asami Hayama, a popular, handsome actor. Shirasaki also knows Hayama as an upperclassmen two years his senior from his university's film club. Throughout filming and getting to know Hayama on a deeper level, Shirasaki immerses himself deeper into his role and begins questioning his sexuality. In an effort to understand both his and his character's feelings, Shirasaki goes to a gay bar in Akasaka, Tokyo, to find a sexual partner; however, Hayama finds him at the bar and offers to become his sexual partner. As the two continue to spend time with each other both on and off set, Shirasaki realizes he has fallen in love with Hayama. Meanwhile, Hayama remains secretive about his own feelings and attraction towards Shirasaki, having been in love with him since they were in university.Characters
;Yuki Shirasaki;Asami Hayama
;Hajime Sakuma
;Kazuma Yamase
;Nozomu Mihara
;Makita
;Shinoda
;Akeno
Media
Manga
At 25:00, in Akasaka is written and illustrated by Hiroko Natsuno. It was serialized in Gōgai On BLUE, a spin-off of the bimonthly boys' love manga magazine On BLUE, in the 2nd Season vol. 8 released on November 25, 2017. The series was later moved to the main On BLUE magazine beginning with vol. 34 released on April 25, 2018, where it was serialized beginning with the first chapter. The chapters were later released in five bound volumes by Shodensha under the On BLUE Comics imprint.On July 13, 2019, Futekiya, a boys' love manga news website, announced that they had licensed At 25:00, in Akasaka for English language distribution through their manga subscription service as one of their launch titles. On March 6, 2024, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they were licensing the series in English for North American distribution in print, where they released it under the title At 25:00 in Akasaka.
In 2018, Natsuno stated through an interview with that she enjoyed drawing Shirasaki's emotions as he is filming a drama, where it would be difficult to tell if he was acting or not. She also felt pressure in drawing the characters beautifully as they were celebrities. Due to depicting scripts from dramas, she also found it interesting choosing dialogue that "had a little atmosphere" than how she normally drew manga. While working on the second volume, Natsuno came down with an undisclosed health condition, where she stated that it was the "first time she rode an ambulance" and that her condition was "nothing serious". For volume 3, Natsuno wanted to depict maintaining work and romance "pleasantly" and had fun writing dialogue for Mihara. For volume 5, Natsuno worked hard to depict Shirasaki and Hayama being apart and focusing on their jobs while still thinking of each other.
Audio drama
An audio drama adaptation produced by Fifth Avenue was released on CD. The first CD, adapting volume 1, was released on December 16, 2020. The second CD, adapting volume 2, was released on March 16, 2022. The third CD, adapting volume 3, was released on January 25, 2023. The fourth CD, adapting volume 4, was released on November 22, 2023. The fifth CD, adapting volume 5, was released on April 23, 2025.Television drama
A live-action television drama adaptation of At 25:00, in Akasaka was announced on March 8, 2024. At the time of the announcement, Natsuno was in the process of finishing the fifth volume of the manga. The television drama adaptation was co-produced by TV Tokyo and GagaOOLala, and early in production, TV Tokyo sought GagaOOLala for opinions that would help make the series more accessible for a global audience. The series was broadcast from April 19, 2024, to June 21, 2024, for 10 episodes on TV Tokyo as part of their programming block. Other broadcasts include TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TV Setouchi, TV Hokkaido, and TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting. The series is licensed by GagaOOLala for English-language distribution outside of Japan.The series stars as Shirasaki and as Hayama. Niihara and Komagine stated that they found it challenging to portray themselves as actors who "act within a show". The supporting cast includes as Sakuma; as Yamase, Atsushi Hashimoto as Shinoda; Moemi Katayama as Akeno; as Mihara; and Kenzō Fukutsu as Makita. also appears in the drama as Asuka Kawada, an original character made for the drama adaptation.
The television drama adaptation is directed by and ; it is written by Miho Aotsuka and. It is produced by Tomoshi Edogawa. Niihara stated that some scenes from the original manga were left out or changed through discussions with the producers and Natsuno. The opening theme is "Kakkaku" by Kujiragi. The ending theme is "Tokyo Night Lonely" by Mel.
A second season was announced on June 22, 2025, with the cast reprising their roles. Aotsuka and Asō returned to write the screenplays, while the new directors for the second season consist of,, and.
Reception
At 25:00, in Akasaka won the Best Series category in the 2023 BL Awards. In the same year, the second CD won Best BLCD. In 2024, the series had sold over 1.2 million copies.Anime News Network gave mixed reviews for the first volume, praising the art while criticizing the lack of focus on the characters.
reviewed the television drama adaptation favorably, referring to the romantic moments as "exciting". The series reached no. 1 on GagaOOLala worldwide during its initial broadcast.