Maggi64

A MISSED OPPORTUNITY

Shin, the expert flirt, missed a prime opportunity when Minato had slammed that dryer door shut in a fit of jealousy and asked who the hell that girl was with whom Shin was holding hands at the beach.

I had fully expected Shin to respond by leaning in close to give that sexy smile, and purr, "What, baby, are you jealous?"

Agreed. Especially cuz they leaned in for a kiss. I'd have preferred that they not have that teaser almost-kiss, and just hugged. Teasers are frustrating.

I agree. But the way you phrased it, it seemed as if you were saying the hot guy was abusing the magic guy and not asking for consent before doing something against him. I must have misread. That is why I was so surprised.

I adore Cherry Magic! But what do you mean by your "concern over consent" in Cherry Magic? It is the most innocent show in the world. Heck, they don't even kiss.

Fair enough. I did my best to make my case. And you did your best to make your case. I suppose these things come down to personal interpretations, and varying views on politics, culture and aesthetics. I won't try to force another person to like a show if they simply do not. It's a futile endeavor so it would be silly for me to try, right?

But I am curious about one thing -- you said you are new to BL. May I ask which shows you've seen so far? And which you liked best?

Wow, thank you for being such a good sport! Because my reply to your post was pretty freaking sarcastic, lol.

As for the kiss before the confession, you asked me to enlighten you. Well, the best way to understand that is to re-watch the scene. Because if you do, you shall see that Nozue, the boss, actually returns the kiss. It's only slightly, but it's unmistakable that his lips are moving and, hence, he's returning that kiss. BOTH times. He's returning it slightly because he's in love with Togawa. But he's not returning it fully because he's confused, and needs time to process his feelings. I mean, Togawa has just dropped a bomb on him by confessing love. But in all fairness, Nozue, himself, has also just dropped a bomb.

Consider that he just told Togawa, "You are the only one who makes me glad I am alive." I mean, wow! That's tantamount to telling somebody that you are in love with them. If someone ever said to me, "Maggi, you are the only one who makes me glad I am alive," it would rock my world! God, I live to hear a man say something like that to me! Don't we all?

It sure as heck rocked Togawa's world. He's been in love with Nozue for years, and just learned that he's the ONLY one in the world who makes Nozue happy. So when Nozue tried to run away by making silly excuses like, "I gotta go home because I have a package coming. I have to tape a show. I have take a shower, etc, etc," Togawa stopped him, and planted a kiss on him. He felt he had a right to kiss him because he just learned, in no uncertain terms, how important he was to Nozue.

As I'd said, Nozue returned the kiss at first, just fleetingly. Then Nozue froze into a state of confusion. Whereupon Togawa regretted his action and collapsed into a puddle of insecurity and regret, and began to apologize and cry. You said that Togawa "forced" the kiss. But that's not accurate because Nozue was neither afraid nor angry about it and, to the contrary, he felt sorry for Togawa. He even extended his hand to comfort Togawa afterward, but then pulled it back. If you go back and re-watch, you'll see at the very end of the scene that Nozue reaches out and is about to pat Togawa's head to comfort him, but stops short.

So there was a lot going on in that scene. Oh, and if you are wondering why I noticed all of this, yep, I watched this particular scene 3 times. lol

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?!"

Actually, if you've been reading MDL's Comment Section each week, about half of them have been extremely negative. Even people who loved season one have been leaving very negative comments. That's why the rating dropped from an 8.8 after the initial episodes to an 8.1 by episode 5. Halfway thru people were disgusted. If you look at comments after today's final episode you will see that it is, as I said, about half and half. So those 10 star reviews were only by the ones who were willing to take the time to write reviews. Most people who hate a show won't take the time to write a review. They will, however, leave short negative comments and lower ratings.

That's the thing, Ji Woo's character made sense in season one. Sure, he was grumpy, but he also did nice things for Seo Joon (eg, putting up the universe posters, or protecting him from the sound of shattered glass). As for terrible traumas not excusing shitty behavior, well, I just watched the show's finale today and it turns out that Ji Woo did not even have trauma as an excuse. All the show's writer gave us as an excuse for his appalling behavior was that he was jealous of Seo Joon smiling at people all the time. Oh, and that Ji Woo had not yet read Seo Joon's texts yet. Huh? He needed to read some texts to know Seo Joon loved him? As if Seo Joon searching for him for an entire year and then driving all the way to his town weren't enough? This second season made no sense at all. Glad you agree with me. And thank you so much for your reply to my review.