# Countdown to Yes (2026)

> After three years apart, Wataru must decide whether to risk his lifelong friendship for a chance at romance with his first love.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/1105076

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 11
- Episode runtime: 23 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, romance
- Network: YTV
- Cast: Kakeru Amemiya, Kaname Yoshizawa, Shoki Nakayama, Kanta Hiraki, Sosuke Ogata, Juri Manase, Robin Furuya, Bengal
- TMDB rating: 8.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt39328163/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: wistful, tender, melancholic, hopeful, gentle

## Synopsis

Countdown to Yes (2026) is a Japanese miniseries adapted from a manga, produced by LesPros Entertainment and broadcast on YTV. Its story follows Wataru Nakano (Kakeru Amemiya), who returns after three years away to find his first love, Minato Yokoi (Kaname Yoshizawa), and must decide whether to risk the lifelong friendship that means everything to him. The two men met in high school and later shared a college apartment, both quietly falling for each other without acting on it, so the series is built on years of unspoken feelings and the fear that a failed romance would destroy the closest bond either has. Other principal figures include Kohei Shioiri (Shoki Nakayama) and Tao Fujisawa (Sosuke Ogata), whose lives press in around the central pair. Across eleven episodes of roughly twenty-three minutes each, the story unfolds as a single continuing thread, moving between everyday routines, quiet confessions and hesitant gestures. Its register is gentle, wistful and tender, with a melancholic undertow of longing and a hopeful pull toward honesty. Fans of Heartstopper, Love, Simon and Sweet Blue Flowers will find resonance in its queer romance, its slow burn pacing and its focus on the emotional stakes of friendship.

## Shows like Countdown to Yes

- [Hold on, Harutora-kun (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1104901)
- [A Girl & Three Sweethearts (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/59258)
- [Depth of Field (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/197305)
- [Life: Love on the Line (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/87764)
- [I Hear the Sunspot (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/170590)
- [Last Friends (2008)](https://ember.film/tv/7270)
- [Love Sea: The Home for Lovers (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/200180)
- [First Love (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/132434)
- [After Moving Seats, The Boy Behind Me Has A Crush On Me (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1105087)
- [Perfect Propose (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/158049)

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