Maggi64

Oh, don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Minato's Laundromat and thought both leads were adorable and had terrific chemistry. But the screenwriter/director could have made a good show a GREAT show if they'd only condensed the 12 eps to 8 eps or so. Because it became far too repetitive and dragged out around ep 8.

You wrote, "I'm hoping, going forward, that the two leads will communicate more like this and get closer to each other naturally, instead of insisting too much on the push-pull trope which can make a narrative feel repetitive and gives the impression to the viewers that no progress is made."

You just inadvertently described "Minato Shouji Coin Laundry," LOL.

Exactly, that scene where he tied his hair up to draw was when I got to finally see how freaking cute he is!

Given the tone of the show so far, and the fact that it's a BL, I am gonna go ahead and assume that by the end of the show Mamocchi get's over his gloominess and learns to recognize that Issei loves him.

After all, a show that portrays a character like Bearded BL Boy with cartoon hearts in his eyes as his heart audibly thumps, ain't gonna give us an unhappy ending. LOL

Yep, that's precisely what impressed me. In fact, you are now the 3rd one on this thread to comment on this blend of wackiness mixed with realistic emotionalism. You can see my and the other person's comments below. The fact that we are all impressed by the same thing is a testament to how well this blend is working. It's a hard blend to pull off and, indeed, most shows that try it fail to do so.

I know! Listen, from the little we can see of Mammocho's face, even I am dying to push that hair away cuz he's so freaking cute under there!

Yep, it's a perfect mix of "craziness and normal" as you said. I had commented on this mix at greater length in a comment you can see below, because I am impressed by the same thing.

Wait, what do you mean 4 characters? You mean Japanese alphabet characters? I don't understand Japanese, so I don't get that would that be funny???

What's odd is that the flashback showed that Issey had already confessed his love to Mamochi even back in high school after Mamochi told him they'd "never see each other again," and Issey replied "I don't understand why it's not normal to like another guy, but I still like you!"

I thought, what the hell Mamochi, why are you angsting over this when the dude told you that he liked you years ago when you were still in high school?

I don't know a lot about manga culture, but I always thought the fans loved sequels. That's how it is with American comics. The editors force the comic writers to make a series if the first one is popular. I mean, if people love the first, don't they usually demand more of the same? I guess I just don't get this. But thank you for your answer :)

NOW THIS IS HOW A J-BL SHOULD DO "ZANINESS"

Some J-BL's turned me off with their zaniness cuz I felt the characters were cartoons, not human beings. But this show proves you can make a certain element of zaniness work if you control it, and do it creatively (eg, not just a lot of slapstick with a character shouting, grimacing and flailing his arms about, like we saw in "Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss"). In this show the zaniness, as well as the surreal elements, are not silly but, rather, conducive to characterization.

For instance, that bit where Mamoru and his mom's phone convo was framed as a page in a manga was both creative and purposeful because, of course, the lead is a manga writer. It was not a superfluous bit of surrealism, because the scene also showed Mamoru's morose personality plus the fact that his mom was an oddball just like he is. The surreal bits, such as Bearded BL Boy's heart thumping, were also filmed in a terrifically original manner and loads of fun while simultaneously advancing the plot (ie, we now have a new plot point with Bearded BL Boy's crush on Mamoru). In all, I am impressed by how the show is so zany, while still managing to create a sense of chemistry between the 2 guys such that they feel like real people, and never cartoons.

QUESTION

How come tons of people were in line for Mamoru's manga at the comic convention in Ep 1, but nobody was in line for his manga at the convention in this week's episode? What changed to make his manga suddenly so unpopular???

OMG, I love how the Japanese associate "rude and loud" with we American "Yankees", because it is so true! After WWII when tons of newly rich American tourists visited Europe, the Europeans called us "Ugly Americans" for the same reason. We are notoriously rude and loud compared to many other cultures.

Well, of course there are always exceptions. But I am talking about the AVERAGE rating here, not the exceptions. The average ratings on MDL hover around 7 to 8.

Few ever get higher than an 8 or so on MDL, so 7.9 is actually decent. The real thing to note is the number of viewers, cuz that's what determines getting a sequel. You see, number of viewers are the number who subscribe to channels and who see the ads on sites like youtube, etc, so that's what determines revenue. For example, the show "My Beautiful Man" only had a 7.9 on MDL, but it also had 20,000 viewers on MDL (and surely millions more elsewhere), so it just got a sequel. See?

This show already has 2,700 viewers for just 2 eps, so I'm assuming it will grow to be far higher by its final ep 8. That's why I think this show is still doing ok, despite a rating of 7.9 seeming low.

What do you mean by "yankee"? Do you mean he was studying abroad in America? Because we Americans are often known as Yankees. Is that what you meant?

Wow, how interesting. I think he'll do great; but, as you said, it depends on the writing/directing. How did you learn of this?

Bingo! Just like you said, they should've introduced the 2 besties way earlier, and given them a larger role in the show overall. I mean, it was clear that the screenwriter and director did not have any ideas for how to make Takara's and Amagi's relationship progress, so if at a loss, why not toss the 2 besties more into the mix? After all, the actors playing those 2 besties each had a lot of charisma and certainly livened up every scene they were in.

I know Korean dramas are big on the actors being cute, and that's why they always hire idols for BL's. In fact, I think the kid playing Takara was only hired for his looks cuz, man, he was so stiff as an actor. But these 2 supporting actors were also cute enough to carry larger roles in the show. At least I thought they were both cute! LOL

What is with the same jingoistic background music playing for 20 of this show's 23 minute duration? Yes, I get how a lighthearted jingo sets the tone that this show should be received with lightheartedness by viewers. But, dang, do we need to have music cueing this mood for every minute of the show? The actors are putting in nice performances, so I hate to complain, but this sort of thing can make a show feel very amateur.

Yep. I basically said the same thing as you in my post above. Glad someone else agrees. Thx!