Maggi64

I don't care if they kiss or not. But I don't want to watch a love story where they don't end up together. But you seem to be saying that they do 100% end up together. Is that right?

You say you'd recommend one not to watch this show because it was, as you state: "Not so nice that the younger one's a bit hostile and easily irritated just because his boss is being friendly with his coworkers."

Does this mean that you've never experienced jealousy when you think that someone you like has blown you off to show attention to others? If so, it means that you lack a basic component of human nature. Please submit yourself for testing because psychiatrists would love to meet you as a case study of the one and only of your kind on the planet earth.

As for your assertion that Togawa "stole" a kiss "without consent," please consider that these 2 men were not strangers when Togawa gave that light peck while Nozue slept. They had essentially been dating for months, even if they were not calling it "dating." Togawa had been dying to touch Nozue while they were on all those dates, but since he lived in a hetero world he was justifiably terrified to do so. Thus, when he saw an opportunity he gave his beloved a teensy, tiny peck.

Hell, I'm hetero and I'd still forgive it if someone were MADLY in love with me and then, after we started dating, told me that he'd once secretly given me a light peck while I'd been sleeping. I'd laugh and say, omg, you are such a dork! This is because I am a normal person, and not an uptight puritan. But, hey, as you put it, you're welcome to take my words with a grain of salt.

Fair enough, I will grant you that it's your own personal thing that makes you uncomfortable. So I shall take back what I had said. But you must also concede that it's a cultural difference between Eastern and Western norms when Japan has such a large gap in the age of consent. I mean, 13? Even if they declare that the parents must give permission for "Consent by Authority" to be legal, that is one of the youngest ages of consent in the world. It is only younger in 2 other countries:

11 in Nigeria.

12 in the Philippines

It's interesting that Japan's "Consent by Authority" is so young, when their regular "Age of Consent" is 18, because that is older than the "Legal Age of Consent" where I live, the United States, where it is 16.

It's not that I need a kiss, as I loved "Cherry Magic" and many other BL's that had no kiss. Hell, I even adored the Chinese censored "Precise Shot" where they were not even allowed to admit they were in love. Because at least, ultimately, those 2 boys got together at the end.

But what is the point of a romance where the leads never get together at all ? This starts off with Shin pursuing Minato , and with Minato resisting. From what I just heard you say, that's all that is going to happen for the next 11 episodes. Thus, I don't understand what the plot arc is going to be.

Wait, so we have a 12 episode, 6 hour show about 2 people who are NEVER even going to begin dating? Thanks for telling me. Because I am going to drop it now. I mean, what the hell is the show about if they never even date? Is the whole thing just one long, dragged out tease? How frustrating. Truly, what is the plot even about? Is it just Shin pursuing Minato and flirting over and over and Minato resisting over and over? Because we already got that much in episode one. I don't need 12 episodes of what I already got in the 1st episode.

(a) If Shin is 17, he will be legal in just one year because Japan's regular "Age of Consent" is 18.

(b) Japan also has something called "Consent by Authority" whereby one may have sex at 13 if both sets of parents permit it.

Hence, the Japanese do not share our culture's notion of sex. Please consider that if the Japanese culture thinks sex at 13 is ok, then they do not think a 27 yr old like Minato should be "jailed," as you say, for dating a 17 yr old like Shin. You are viewing this from a Western lens. Hell, you are being extreme even from a Western lens. Because it's not exactly extreme if (as I suspect will happen), Minato waits for Shin's bdy and it becomes a matter of a 27 yr old dating an 18 yr old.

CAN SOMEONE WHO'S READ THE MANGA GIVE ME SPOILERS?

The age of consent in Japan is 18. They also have something called "Consent by Authority" which is 13, and means sex is allowed if both sets of parents permit it. Thus, the Japanese are not as terrified of sex with minors as we are. Nevertheless, I can see why a guy like Minato would be freaked out by the difference in life experiences when someone is a decade younger. As for their precise ages, I believe Minato is 27 and Shin is 17, but I want to be certain. Minato said that Shin was "not legal," meaning he's not yet 18, and likely 17. Then Minato said that he, himself graduated 10 yrs ago, which would make him 27. Can someone who's read the manga confirm this for me?

If this is the case, does Minato wait for Shin's bday to begin dating? Also, do they kiss in the manga after they begin dating? I am asking because I just noticed that this is directed by the same guy who directed "Cherry Magic." Of course, I suspect that the absence of a kiss in "Cherry Magic," was likely because one of the actors had it in his contract to not do a male-on-male kiss, and nothing to do with the director.

Or, it may have been because there was no kiss in the "Cherry Magic," manga (which I never read), and the Japanese are highly faithful to source material. I just watched the final episode of a BL show where there was no kiss in the manga version and, hence, there was no kiss in the show either, even though it featured 2 adult men of 29 and 39 yrs old who exhibited a lot of sexual tension. I loved the show but won't lie: I thought it felt peculiar that adult men did not kiss after confessing deep love for each other.

So I am wondering if the same thing happens in the manga for this show. In short, is this going to be another show where gay men are not allowed to express their sexuality with the sort of simple, ordinary kiss that we see in hetero romances every day?

LOL. I don't know how they are gonna do a 2nd season when so much of Volume 2 of the manga is sexual content. Indeed, the primary plot of Volume 2 is that Togawa has a constant (literal ) hardon for Nozue who is always, playfully, fighting him off. The crux of the plot is that he and Nozue are giving each other hand jobs and blow jobs, but they have not gone all the way cuz Nozue is fearful that it will cause Togawa to lose interest in him. So Togawa must convince Nozue that sex is a way to express love.

Beyond this, the only other plot points are:

(1) A colleague recognizes that Togawa is wearing Nozue's tie and Nozue freaks out that the guy will figure out it means he and Togawa are dating.

(2) Togawa gets another job so that Nozue won't have to worry about this sort of thing ever happening again, and Nozue gets angry at Togawa for making this sacrifice without telling him first.

Well, season one has made Nozue already leave that office, so how's a guy at that office ever gonna recognize Togawa's wearing Nozue's tie? Moreover, if Nozue already left the office, why would Togawa have to get another job? So -- zap! -- there goes both those plot points from volume 2 of the manga. All that's left is the plot point about the sex. The director will either be forced to deal with the sexual content, or to create a completely new narrative that was not in the manga.

She did create one small thing in season one that was not in the manga. It was the final scene of them at the cafe and Togawa spoon feeding Nozue. So she's not fanatical about being faithful to the manga. She was only overly faithful to it insofar as teasing the audience when the guys almost kiss, had their mouths a mere fraction of an inch away, and then abruptly stopped. That was frustrating to watch. I thought, well, if you're willing to be unfaithful to the manga insofar as adding that final cafe scene, why the hell not add a freaking kiss too? Hetero romances always end with a kiss, so why not end a gay romance with a kiss?

Otherwise, the show was near perfection. I would only detract 1% for the absence of the final kiss that all hetero romances have, thus making this show a 99%. Truly, I thought it was just that good.

100% agree. We see hetero romances end with a kiss, so why not end a gay romance with a kiss too? And no, the kiss at the end of ep 4 does not count as that was a closed mouth, angst ridden, 3 second kiss, which Nozue may not have been fighting, but was not enjoying either. Hetero romances, to the contrary, end with a long, deep, wet kiss that is romantic and mutually enjoyed. Otherwise, the show was perfection!

Dude, we were absolutely robbed of a kiss! I mean, they even leaned in for it, and their mouths were fractions of an inch away, and then, what, a sudden noise stops them dead short from completing the kiss? It was highly frustrating for the viewer. Otherwise, the show was perfection.

It was actually Nozue who was having interior dialogue in this scene. He was thinking to himself, "Oh, I can just keep everything the same and just be regular colleagues with Togawa again and go to lunch with him as usual." He was kidding himself, of course, and I was pointing out that if they'd actually had lunch at this point, it would have been sooooo tense. They'd had to have pretended that nothing happened, like they were doing at the office. Hence, it was silly of Nozue to ask Togawa to lunch, and wise of Togawa to decline.

What was Tozue thinking when he asked Togawa to grab lunch their 1st day back at work after THAT confession? What did he think they'd talk about?

"The weather sure is nice. Umm, the food here's good. Umm, hey, Togawa, how about those Mets?!"

It must have been listed on Viki, because I know that it's the same screenwriter for seasons one and two. And I also know that the director did not write it. But I can't recall where I saw this. This director did, however, write the script for Where Your Eyes Linger. Now, that show had some flaws, such as the boys not contacting each other on social media when the Master went abroad. That defied belief. Otherwise, WYEL was terrific.
She did a nice job writing a show that was short, simple and packed a punch.

At least one plot point made sense in a show where a guy does a 180 turn after sadistic cruelty because, umm, he read some texts. And here it is: the Mgr.'s assistant truly is beautiful enough to be an idol.

LOL, "Just kidding with those other episodes!"

You win for truly making me "lol" and not just typing it as an anacronym.

How about that filler bullshit with searching for the culprit in the village who posted the negative stuff about Seo Joon? This director got a budget for a 10 episode show when she would have been better off if they'd disciplined her by only giving her a budget for a 6 episode show. She clearly had no idea how to fill all this time. Of course, the story sucked so the show would've failed even at 6 eps, but not nearly as badly as it did at 10 eps.

Wait a minute, you want to report a person simply because they commented with an opinion that was different than yours? Wow, you must be under the age of 25. Nobody in the older generations thinks like this. We understand that free speech is vital in a truly free Democracy. You should be ashamed of what you are advocating here.

Spot on as always Tim. The girls who are defending this show know that it's not really good, but they are willing themselves to like it because they're so attached to season one. They are defending it the way one defends a friend they know is an asshole, but they simply cannot bring themselves to admit it publicly because if they do, their entire framework for taste falls apart.

Ji Woo treats Seo Joon so badly for 8 eps that it borders on psychological sadism. Then JW sees some texts which couldn't have possibly added to what SJ had already said in person when he showed up to JW's town. In fact, the devotion it took SJ to search for JW for a freaking year is FAR more meaningful than some texts, so why didn't that win over JW? Indeed, what exactly did happen to finally change JW's heart?

The way the show depicts it, SJ goes missing, and JW searches for him in the forest, during which we are treated to a musical montage of the couples' loving moments. Suddenly, JW is in love again! Golly, it must've been the musical montage that did it. That had to have been one helluva musical montage.

You're welcome. BTW, you've been a good sport in your replies here and did not get overly defensive. So kudos to you. :)