BLISS RATING: ★★★★+
“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.” – Saint Francis deSales
Forgiveness and redemption. That is what this series is all about. While technically not a BL series in the classic sense of the word (this story revolves around an older gay married couple), it is one of the best versions of what BL should be about. It is quiet, reflective, soulful and profound. It is a work of art and beauty. This is by far one of the most beautiful series I have ever seen in terms of message and storytelling. It starts out with Yaichi, (Sato Ryuta), as a single father to a quite bubbly and full of joy little girl named Kana, (Nemoto Maharu). Yaichi has been notified that the husband of his late twin brother, Ryouji, is coming for a visit. While he had known that his twin brother was gay, they had not been close for many years and is uncomfortable with meeting him. Yaichi of course is worried that he might become interested in him since they were twins.
In comes a bear of a man by the name of Mike (Baruto Kaito). He is a huge man with a beard, from Canada, who speaks Japanese fluently. Immediately, you are hit with the notion that here are not your typical BL story characters. But what happens to these people is a story where walls of misunderstanding are torn down, stereotypes are proven to be false, and seeing others who are different as part of your family are all part of the painful journey to forgiving. Kana becomes the conduit for the change as she sees Mike not as some odd person but as her uncle and someone who loved her father’s brother. That is all she sees.
Slowly, Yaichi also begins to see him the same way and goes through the process of self-reflection, particularly in how he treated and saw his twin brother. The enormous pressures of societal norms and what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ no longer applies here. Along this journey, we meet two characters, who because of Mike’s presence, helps them with their profound and intense anxiety and fear as they struggle with how to deal with their own gayness. One is a teenage boy, Kayuza, played with tremendous intensity by Kobayashi Kika. He portrays such courage at a young age to come up to Mike to ask for and receive understanding of what it is like to be gay.
This is so relatable especially for a gay person who struggled to identify themselves as gay during those formidable years and so wishing and wanting that you could talk to or come out to someone who would understand. His dealing with all those emotions and crying left me in tears as I remember how hard to was for me to deal with all of that. He did such a superb job of displaying all those emotions.
The other was a contemporary of Ryouji, Kato, (Nomaguchi Tohru). He asks Mike to meet him for dinner far away from any place where someone might recognize them. While he had a crush on Ryouji in high school, he knew that Ryouji was not interested in him in that way and so it was unrequited. He simply wanted to talk with Mike. Kato remains quite closeted and is still unable to deal with it. It is obvious that Kato is a very lonely and sad person because of the enormous pressures he must endure to comply with societal norms. One could now understand why Ryouji left for Canada to be who he wanted and needed to be. There is such a profound scene at the end of their dinner that caused me to literally burst into tears. Mike asks Kato that if he should meet him again in public, should he simply not acknowledge him. And Kato responds that that would be best. I lost it as I remember those feelings when I was younger. Constant terror that you would be ‘discovered’. I know how and why he said that.
As the story develops, Yaichi begins to see Mike indeed as a member of his family, which is why Mike made the trip to Japan. He and Ryouji made a pledge to go back to Japan so that Mike could be introduced and become part of his family. But Ryouji never made it. Mike in a very gentle and supportive way helps Yaichi see that his twin brother was a good person who was happy and satisfied in life. Yaichi realized Mike is family which Kana already saw from the very beginning. There are some very sad moments for Yaichi as he grapples with what he has done and how he needs to come to terms with what his feelings for his twin brother were. Redemption is key here. No one can give Yaichi this; he must earn it for himself. Mike simply is the guiding light and provides the direction.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. the series? This distinction is easy to identify for. Nemoto Maharu as Kana will steal your heart with her outward signs of acceptance and warmth. There are not enough adjectives to describe her acting in this role so let me just put it in the best word that I can think of at the moment. Superb! She brings such joy and life to her character that it is absolutely infectious. She is the link in developing and enlarging the family unit to include her wonderful new uncle.
This story is so profoundly beautiful and is such a good story of redemption and a kindling of change. It is bittersweet but never melodramatic or melancholy. It is soulful and reflective and in essence life-affirming. Yaichi will never be the same and his definition of family has forever changed. He allows himself to mourn for his brother and to seek redemption through an acceptance of individuals for who they are.
The screenplay is brilliant. The acting is top-notch by everyone including the minor characters. There is something about Sato’s characterization of Yaichi that made him so endearing, and in turn very sensuous and seductive. It is a beautiful human story that I think is truer to life than we might imagine. This has a happy ending in a sense, but I am not so sure that this is true in all cases. There are still significant societal pressures and norms that marginalize people who are different and forces them to hide their true identities and entombs them to live a life of shame and guilt.
This short series hopefully has changed some minds or perhaps just a few more may see things just a bit more differently now. We still need to weep for the ones who will continue to suffer. Maybe just maybe someday in a utopian future, Japan will see the wisdom of gay marriage and accept its own citizens where they are. I hope it is sooner rather than later.
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