Cosmetic Playlover Season 2 (2025)

Coming of age - again :)

This season let me remember of "At 25:00 in Akasaka" - an continuation of the story after they had "their happy ever after" moment... But this season focuses on personal growth especially for Natsume. At the end of season 1 he became chief of the store and he has now to struggle to be the best chief possible. With it come challenges he did not expect. And quite early in the season there is the gloomy feeling over all the stories because Toma got offered an apprenticeship in Paris by the #1 Romy makeup-artist and this will take three years.

I like that the couple has several really heartwrenching moments, they talk out their problems and it feels really grown up between them both. Of course there is some comic relief in the person of Tomas father (played my "Mama" from "Therapy Game"), who suddenly appears to make Toma furious because he doesn't want him in his life. Natsume also got furious because the father sees no value in Tomas work and for Natsumes normal subdued appearance he "explodes". That was a pivotal moment to strengthen their bond even more.

And in such moments you can look at their partners faces and really feel how proud and full of love they are. So the acting is also imho better than in season 1. Production quality was also top notch, there is really nothing to complain about.

Many viewers do not like that season that much, because a) there is no real drama in it, b) it's slow and c) imho it went from a BL to a queer series. I enjoyed it at lot, because it is outside the norm we normally get to watch. That we got two shows of such a kind is remarkable. Also many expected there might be a time-jump "after Paris", but there isn't. So there is a chance we get either a special which will resolve that or even an unheard season 3. For me that was even better than the first season, but that maybe just me and I have to recommand it :)

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The life and times of Romy

I loved the first season and survived the second. It's not bad, just boring. It's not Toma and Natsume. They hadn't changed which was beautiful. It's the story itself.

What to watch: Episodes 1-3 and 8-10.
What not to watch: 4-7
Reason: Cosmetic Playlover turned into a recruitment and training ad for Romy. Either skip or use it lull you to sleep at night.

The addition of Toma's family perked what was turning out to be a flat and unadventurous script. The hyped up emergencies that clearly anybody could solve was so not necessary. While I do understand Japanese culture, the parade of perfect smiles became tiresome. I was grateful everytime Toma was on, at least his seriousness helped balance it off a bit. They succeeded in making Atsushi even more irritating. There was a time we saw more screen time of Toma and him than Toma and Natsume. As I said Toma and Natsume were solid. The 'proposal' brought out the water works a little. The ending was nice. Personally, this should have been six episodes tops and would have been way more enjoyable or do an hour special.

It's had it's moments.

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