Minato's Laundromat

"Minato's Laundromat: A Heartfelt Journey of Love and Growth"

Japanese Drama Review: Minato's Laundromat (12 episodes, 25 minutes each)

Story and Character Development:
The character building in this drama is exceptional. The way events unfold, their sequence, and development is excellent—not too fast to be confusing, nor too slow to be boring. I really enjoyed this balance.

Cinematography, Directing, and Music:
The photography, directing, and transitions between shots are professional and visually pleasing. The music is well-chosen and never annoying. The series provides just the right amount of visual stimulation without distracting from the story.

Main Characters:

Minato Akira (Kusakawa Takuya): He perfectly portrayed a depressed and closed-off character. Watching his journey from a guarded, fearful person to someone who finds his happiness and safe zone was remarkable. I felt every emotion he experienced from beginning to end.

Katsuki Shintaro (Nishigaki Sho): Persistent, stubborn, and possessive. His performance was captivating, showing what it means to break into someone’s heart without permission. Despite their age difference, his love and dedication for Minato Akira over the years were beautifully expressed through his acting and eyes.


The chemistry between the two leads is excellent—they made me truly feel the growth of their relationship.

Secondary Characters:

Sakuma Shu and Sakuma Takayuki: They provided the most comic relief. Especially Sakuma Shu, whose antics and expressions were hilarious.

Hanabusa Asuka (Oku Tomoya): A calm and subtle presence, whose few scenes were impactful, showing quiet and contained emotions of love.


Favorite Scenes:

1. Episode 7: Katsuki Shintaro shows childhood pictures to Minato Akira, expressing his feelings with sincerity.


2. Episode 8: Minato Akira rejects Shintaro’s feelings, yet Shintaro’s eyes and reactions make it clear he will love him forever.


3. Episode 9: A comedic moment where Sakurako confesses to Sakuma Shu, and his off-script reaction made me laugh uncontrollably.


4. Episode 12: The finale—Minato Akira reads Shintaro’s farewell letter, feels the anger and explosion of emotions, and rushes to confess his feelings. Even after discovering he wouldn’t leave, he faces his emotions fully. This scene was deeply moving.



Conclusion:
I highly recommend watching Minato's Laundromat. You will experience a range of emotions—from laughter to heartfelt moments—and the character development makes it a truly memorable drama.

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fluffy but taboo romance

Sep 18, 2022

Minato Coin Laundry is one of those controversial dramas I have finished. I think the age gap between the leads can be concerning. Like I understand what the writers have done by providing past contexts between the leads but it just won't do it for me.

I guess if you can turn a blind eye into this then you should be fine with watching this show. The drama itself is fluffy but we do have a very persistent lead, Shin, and another lead who can be going around in circles, Minato. During the whole time I felt some frustration towards the progress of the story due to some dragging of the plot. However, I guess the casts' acting really made everything bearable to the point where the plot holes became unnoticeable.

So this drama is for those who just want a quick fluff with a persuasive male lead and I guess a contrasting flustered-always-yet-clumsy male lead

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Minato Shouji Coin Laundry: A Soapy BL Drama with Heart, But Could Use Some Spin Cycle Improvement

Alright, let's dish about "Minato Shouji Coin Laundry"!

So, this JAP BL series had been on my radar since it dropped back in 2022, but life kept getting in the way, you know how it is. But finally, I managed to binge-watch it, and boy, do I have some thoughts.

First things first, can we talk about the insane chemistry between the two leads? It's off the charts! And their acting? Top-notch, my friend. They really brought those characters to life.

Now, don't get me wrong, I was totally into this series for the first few episodes. I mean, with 12 episodes lined up, I was pumped. But then came Minato Akira's character arc, and let me tell you, I was left scratching my head. I mean, seriously, still pining after Sakuma senpai? Dude, get a grip! And don't even get me started on Shin still rooting for them after getting rejected. Come on, man!

And what's with Minato playing the whole "I'm in denial about my feelings for Shin" card? It's like, come on, buddy, we all see right through you! And props to Shin for being so understanding, but honestly, it got a bit annoying after a while.

So, I heard there's a Season 2, but I decided to pass after hearing some mixed reviews. Apparently, Minato's still up to his old tricks, and I just can't deal with that kind of drama, you know?

But hey, despite its flaws, I did enjoy watching the series, especially because of the ridiculously good-looking couple. But yeah, the execution and storyline could've been a bit tighter. Here's hoping they step up their game if they ever decide to do a Season 3!

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Really liked this show

The lead characters were great
If you’ve watched Japanese bls before you know they aren’t as racy as the Thai bls are a bit more cuter and offbeat compared to the Korean bls.
They are just a good combination of funny goofy loving and romantic. All good light hearted love. Akira was a little off beat because he wasn’t comfortable with his feeling and used humor to repress what he truly feels. Shin was way more expressive with his emotions and what he wanted making for a good emotion back and forth between the leads. I’ve watched both season twice over and loved them both times. Would love to see a 3rd season where they are more finally more comfortable with their feeling and maybe even get married. Would like to see Kusakawa Takuya & Nishigaki Sho and Oku Tomoya in another show together

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A Japanese Bl series you don't want to miss

Minato Laundromat is interesting with no complications here or there the story moves sweetly and it's just its first episode but it's already trending. The drama is all about Minato and Shintaro. At the beginning it was Minato that seems to be chasing and flirting with shy Shintaro which was quite bold for me. At the end of the episode it's the other way round! Shintaro is now the bold one courting shy Minato! Though I guess 😂 🤣😂 Minato brought it on himself you can't simply tell a hot blooded youth that you wished a hot guy could hold you and escape his "desires" as Shintaro puts it! I love 💕 this series and I hope 🤞 that other episodes are like the first one.

Edit: oh dear now Sensei Sakuma is back will Minato forget about his secret crush since high school? Well we will find out!

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Forcing yourself onto someone to make them love you? Protip! Don't.

If I could, I wouldn't give this series any at all stars in terms of the plot. So don't let the one star fool you—I personally find this series atrocious. If you don't agree, that's your opinion, and this is mine.

I started watching this mostly for the cast, and I thought the premise seemed cute. But in the very first episode, I realised that I probably wasn't going to like this series. I do tend to give shows three episodes, though, to see if they improve before I can allow myself to drop it. This one didn't even after four episodes.

To start off, Shin has a very unhealthy crush on Akira and he's incredibly possessive, jealous, and even controlling- and he's just a high schooler. In Japan, people tend to have respect for their elders, even if they aren't *elders* but still older than them. Shin has no such respect for Akira and his boundaries and privacy, all he seems to care about is that he gets to start dating Akira, who does NOT want the same thing. And Akira has time and time again told him that it isn't happening because of their age difference, among other reasons. Despite this, Shin doesn't give up. Is that romantic? Some people seem to think it is, that Shin has a cute and even admirable determination. I completely disagree. Take a no for an answer, there are terms for that kind of behaviour especially when it gets into sexual territory. Do I doubt that Shin could go that far? I don't, and that's the issue with his entire character. Shin forces himself onto Akira several times, trying to kiss Akira despite having been told many times that Akira doesn't want to kiss Shin. How is that seen as romantic in any way whatsoever? I don't get it.

This is why I'm dropping Minato Shouji Coin Laundry. Coercion is not romantic, it's not attractive, and it's not a good premise for a TV show.

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It's really enjoyable overall, except for some parts

I really like it for the 1st 7 episodes or so and it just dropped....I mainly love how fluffy and cute they are at beginning, esp when they are bickering and teasing each other. I especially love Shin's attitude. He seems to be way more mature than Minato despite the age gap!

I'm glad eventually Minato sort things out and it all work out, but the drag makes me feel a bit frustrated at some point, honestly. I continued watching bcoz I wanna know the ending, which luckily didn't disappoint

I'll still say its worth the watch overall. I was really really happy for most part, just a bit draggy towards the end, which actually is so common in many dramas. Or maybe, im just impatient lol

Oh, I love the music, its so cute that I didn't skip the intro and actually enjoy watching. I also love the setting where we keep seeing ocean, makes me feel like im healing too. Makes me wonder how it feels like to stay in a town like that where the beach is clean. not overly commercialized, just locals hanging out, like big communal family. Must have been nice

Shuuu sensei is so cute!! Thats a brownie point as to why I keep on watching too

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regarding the adaptation

I was very interested in watching this, as I am a big fan of the original manga, and was curious on how they'll adapt a story that had 3 volumes when the show first aired. My guess was that they would either stretch the plot out or expand the story, and they went with the ladder, which can sometimes lead to the adaptation straying too much from the source material, or in this case, risking the possibility to include any future material in sequel seasons.
While I haven't watched the second season yet, the first one managed to blend the original pieces and side stories wonderfully with the main plot, expanding the overall universe and characters in a way that doesn't ruin the story, but makes the fans of the manga feel like they received bunus content (if that makes sense).
What also helped the show keep that "Minato Shoji" feeling was the main cast's ability to perfectly portray our lead characters, as well as the editing and music that kept the summer nonchalant, slow life type of vibes.
Can't wait to watch season 2!!!

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Unexpectantly nice

When I first read the description for the series, I wasn’t sure what to think of it. I don’t enjoy minor–adult romance stories and was expecting a series following this kind of narrative. And oh boy, I am so glad Minato Shouji Coin Laundry didn’t turn out to be like this! Instead of a weird age-gap, adult-falling-for-minor-though-he isn’t-supposed-to story, we got an adorable series.

Things I liked:

- What I probably liked the most, is that Akira never made a move on Shin before he turned 18. This is a huge deal to me since many series don’t seem to care about legal dating ages in their storylines. It is a huge part of their love story, as Shin feels mature enough to date the 10 years older Akira, who on the other hand did fall for the younger but keeps to his morals of not dating a minor.

- The intro video. A very sweet and cute, simple one that fits perfectly for the story.

- Homophobia is not displayed in this one. Holy shit I love this so much. As a member of the lgbtqia+ community seeing the characters just being able to love whatever gender they want without experiencing hatred is so amazing. The arrival of the ex-girlfriend kind of made me worry about possible homophobia happening, I’m so glad it didn’t go down this road. And though insults never happen, the directors decided to keep the inner conflicts of the characters (e.g., Akira being worried about his former classmates finding out he is gay), which is awesome. Love this.

- The main- and subplot. Both plots are good(one more than the other though), as they all connect and don’t add unnecessary characters. Let’s talk about the Akira and Sakuma-Sensei plot first. When Akira was still a student he fell madly in love with Sakuma-Sensei and even confessed to him on his last day of school. After 10 years of not seeing his former teacher, Akira thought he had overcome his feelings and moved on. But then Sakuma returns to teach, and Akira realizes he still has feelings for him. Tough this messes with Shin’s plans of pursuing Akira, he starts to root for the two, wishing his crush a happy life. Long story short, after nervously avoiding Sakuma for some time, Akira decides to finally tell him that he still likes him but is turned down. Not long after Akira realizes his feelings for Shin. You can feel the inner conflict that Akira has and feel for him since Sakuma is a likable character and lovely person. Also, seeing Shin heartbrokenly rooting for his crush warmed my heart because it shows that he is trying to mature as a person, so he can have a chance with Akira.
The subplot is about Shin's best friend Asuka and his sister Sakurako both falling for Hiiragi, an architect. Sakurako and Asuka have already become good friends when Asuka finds out about her crush on Hiiragi. He doesn’t interfere much with it, as he knows that Hiiragi will reject the girl. The architect and the student share a past as friends, so he hopes that Hiiragi will choose him as his lover. This subplot works well, I enjoyed the scenes with Sakurako and Asuka bonding as friends.

Things I didn’t like:

- This might be an unpopular opinion, but Akira’s character being all immature and goofy was a bit draining, especially when he said himself, that he wanted to be more responsible. At some point his behavior just got annoying.

- Unhealthy start of a relationship. In the earlier episodes it seemed like Shin wasn’t all that much into Akira, but more into the idea of being in a relationship. Later this of course gets explained, still, the first episodes felt weird because of that.

- The inclusion of Akira’s ex-girlfriend wasn’t necessary in my opinion. It was nice to learn about his life before the laundry store, but it didn’t contribute to the series. The ex-GF felt like a character that was only there for explaining some stuff and throwing in unnecessary clichés to make Shin feel intimidated and jealous.

- Shin leaving in the 11th episode felt forced to me as if they felt like they had to throw in another cliché, just for the sake of having one.

- Shin's personality at some points in the series (not all the time!). Oh my god, if he doesn't want to kiss you, take a goddamn hint. Akira always acted reluctant to perform skin-ship with Shin which I, as said before, loved. The counterpart to that is that Shin always seemed to force himself onto Akira, trying to make him uncomfortable BEFORE becoming an adult(!!!). Didn't like that at all.


To sum up, I did enjoy watching it, it’s very sweet and wholesome (The scene when they held hands in bed>>>). Though I wish I would’ve watched it once all the episodes were released because waiting made me forget some stuff about the previous episodes. Not really rewatchable IMO, but lovely for a one-time-experience.

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