Heartstopper: the new hit Netflix original series that follows the journey of an openly gay high school boy named Charlie Spring (Joe Locke), as he falls in love with the captain of the school’s rugby team, Nick Nelson (Kit Connor). The show follows the duo as they try to explore their relationship, while also discovering themselves in the process.

The show is based on the Heartstopper graphic novel and webcomic series written and illustrated by Alice Oseman. Avid readers of the webcomic have widely claimed that the show remains relatively faithful to the original and even adds more engaging points to the plot. The show maintains all the most memorable scenes, including Nick defending Charlie from Ben Hope (Sebastian Croft), the first kiss scene during Harry Greene’s (Cormac Hyde-Corrin) birthday party, and Charlie’s Bowling Birthday Party. Of course, Charlie’s best friends are at the birthday party: Tao Xu (William Gao), someone who is ready to fight anyone who dares hurt his friends feelings, Elle Argent (Yasmin Finney), a transgender girl who recently transfered to the all-girls school Higgs, and Issac Henderson (Tobie Donvoan), the introverted, level-headed member of the friend group that tries to stop their headbutting. 

This show also explores what it’s like to have conflicting feelings with your identity, as Nick is shown looking up sexuality quizzes and movies while he tries to deal with his feelings with Charlie and his fears of societal reaction. He gets major help from Tara Jones (Corinna Brown) and Darcy Olsson (Kizzy Edgell), who are a lesbian couple that befriends Elle while dealing with the effects of them being openly gay about their relationship in their school. If anyone is looking for a heartwarming and romantic series that can lift your spirits in an instant, then the perfect show is none other than Heartstopper.