Drama, teen romance, pastel leaves, and…British people. These items come together in Heartstopper, a new Netflix show that Tik Tok has fallen in love with. The story follows the start of a blooming relationship between Charlie Spring — a 15-year-old nerd, and Nick Nelson — a 16-year-old rugby jock. While it’s a bit of a cliche, it’s a classic trope. This show is based on volumes one and two of the Heartstopper Graphic Novel by Alice Oseman, published in late 2018.

The first good thing about this show was the name of the episodes: “Meet,” “Crush,” “Kiss,” “Secret,” “Friend,” “Girls,” “Bully,” and “Boyfriend.” Each title summarizes its episode with one word. Every episode is around 30 minutes, making it a quick watch and easy binge. The show also has little graphics that appear whenever the characters experience intense emotions, the graphics add so much life to the story. The screen turns into a sketchbook, doodled with little drawings, swirls, scribbles, and even fireworks. For example, whenever Nick and Charlie have a cute moment that strengthens their relationship, pastel leaves or flowers dance across the screen, surrounding them. 

This show is obviously very LGBT-led with Nick being bisexual, Charlie being gay, their two lesbian friends Tara and Darcy, and their transgender friend Elle. My only grievance with the show is that they didn’t give us a whole lot of Elle’s backstory and her experience at Truham, the all-boys school. Hopefully, they do give us more on this with the new seasons.

The show has become exceedingly popular, spreading rapidly on Tik Tok. The social media platform is where student Izzy Richter found out about Heartstopper. Her favorite moment is when Nick and Charlie are at an overwhelming party and find a place to be alone. Here they confess their feelings for each other and kiss. She likes this part specifically because it’s when Nick realizes just how in love with Charlie he really is. Bowen Maki also found Heartstopper through Tik Tok, though, unlike Izzy, pieces of the graphic novel came across his page. He started reading it and three days later, he saw Netflix release their show. 

Heartstopper is incredible. It was overwhelmingly adorable and brightened the weekend. At moments it felt like someone snuck into Charlie’s room and read his diary — the show is just that immersive. Fans are praising the show’s accuracy to the novel and have fallen head over heels for the adaption. People who have watched the show are heavily anticipating seasons two and three, coming out later this year.