The third season finally lets these couples breathe instead of constantly pulling them apart. You get actual resolution, actual growth, actual moments where they just exist together and it feels earned. That's the shift, from watching relationship problems loop to watching people who've chosen each other figure out what that means, over and over, and mean it more each time.

College student Misaki Takahashi and his tutor, Akihiko "Usagi" Usami, have shared a home for three years, and things have gone smoothly until a new rival appears and Usagi starts to worry about how Misaki really feels. Professor Hiroki Kamijou and Nowaki Kusama see less and less of each other as both their careers take off, and doubt begins to creep in. Literature professor Yo Miyagi and Shinobu, the younger lover he is 17 years apart from, keep bumping against that age gap, though knowing each other better helps. Ryuuichirou Isaka, who loves meddling in Misaki and Usagi's love life, has his own troubles: he and his secretary Kaoru Asahina have dated for a few years, but Asahina's wish to keep work and private life apart causes friction. The returning Romantica, Egoist and Terrorist couples are joined by a new addition, Junjou Mistake, in this drama and romance season.