Konya Sukiyaki Dayo (今夜すきやきだよ)

Starting date : 11th - 12th of January 2025
Progress: Done
Language: Japanese (OG) with english subtitles

So, Konya Sukiyaki Dayo, yes?

After having watched Koisenu Futari, I heard about this series also having an aroace character in it, and I thought that damn, I have to watch that.

Once I finished battling demons and finally got the help of an angel to find it, I binge-watched the series in two days, since there's only twelve episodes. And boy, is it different than Koisenu Futari.

Unfortunately, I went into the series due to the previous jdrama about an aroace character, and as such I didn't watch this one with an objective mind. This review will thus be tainted by comparison between the two series.

SO, did I like Konya Sukiyaki Dayo? The short answer is yes. The long is "wellllllll".

One main thing was that the hype around this series was the aroace character, so I was expecting the series to focus much more on that aspect that it turned out to be. The mention of aromanticism was done once in the first episode, and only mentioned aromanticism without asexualism.
There was, however hints about it when Tomoko mentioned that she'll never be a mother, but this might also just be derived from the fact that if she didn't love romantically then she wouldn't marry and therefore there was no children in perspective.

Putting all of that aside, it is, in itself, a very good series.

We not only have two women lead, but they also try to understand each others and how to go around their lives in order to get the best of it. The beautiful aspect of helping each others, especially through food, is a huge part in what drives those twelve episodes. While one of them is given better tools to be able to have fun, the other is given solace from the fact that she still gets to eat properly without ruining herself.

Another aspect, which I really like as a queer person is how both of them ends up developing a strong platonic relationship, strong enough to resemble a Queer Platonic Relationship in some aspects, even if there is no clear words put on it.

Furthermore, the show also gives us respectful relationships between the characters, albeit not without a few hiccups here and there.

First and foremost, we have Ota and Tomoko, who live together, but none of them pushes the other out of her comfort zone. Ota doesn't bother Tomoko with how she should date, and Tomoko doesn't stop Ota from venting and sharing her love. They don't fully understand each others on that specific point, but they respect each other about it.
There is also Ota and her boyfriend/husband, the latter, while not really understanding what this is all about, still listens and tries to do his best for both of them. The question of the last name have them talk in earnest about it, but what was really important to their relationship is the meeting they have with each others family. Facing the usual societal demands of heterosexual marriage was hard, but when he noticed that she wasn't comfortable, he not only gave her an outlet so she could express what she wanted, while also giving her control of the situation and putting an end to the parental mess.
Finally, we have Tomoko and her friend who are just that, showing once more than a man and a woman can be just friend and like each other as such without anything else.

All in all, while being vastly different from Koisenu Futari on many points, it is still very similar when talking about different kinds of love, how to be a family and more importantly, how to be kind with yourself.

I would recommend this series, not for the similarities with Koisenu Futari, but because it is once again showing respect towards queer people and those who do not want to fit in the mold.

Link Click (时光代理人)

Starting Date : January 2024
Progress : Along the releases
Language : Chinese (OG) with english subtitles
Link to watch season 1 | Link to watch season 2 | Link to watch season 3

This series is very nice so far. Not mind boggling, but well written and paced (until season 3)(I have some beef with season 3).

Basically, this series is about two post-university guys who somehow ended up working together in a photo shop and who, somehow, have power that allows one of them to jump into the body of the person who took the picture they jumped in, at the time it was taken, while the other one can still communicate with him. This is a very interesting premises, especially when you want to play with the whole "you cannot change the past" by putting a character who sooo badly want to make everything better for the person.

And frankly, they manage to do that very well for the two first seasons, by adding an interesting antagonist by the end of the first one, and thus giving us a linear plot through those seasons.

But then arrives season 3 and they fuck up the entire timeline with one dream sequence and now I'm extremely pissed at it because if it wasn't for that dream sequence there wouldn't be any problems whatsoever.

Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna (作りたい女と食べたい女)

Starting Date: 26th of February 2025
Progress: Middle of season 2
Language: Japanese (OG) with english subtitles

I saw this series in a list about asexual characters and decided to give it a go, because, why not, there are subtitles out there and I'm trying to learn Japanese anyway. I knew right away that both the main characters being demiromantic/demisexual wouldn't be talked about, but that there still was an asexual character.

This is, somehow, the third japanese drama featuring an asexual character AND being about food. There is clearly something happening with Japanese people and food, or with asexual people and food...

Anyhow, I proceeded to watch the first season, comprised of 10 episodes and... it's so good??? And also hilarious, especially considering Nomoto.

One of the first thing (and reason why) you all might like is the fact that the main cast has... one recurring man so far, the rest of the cast all being women. A second thing is that it once more follows someone understanding slowly that they're not like the others, and that they are in fact queer. This is the case for Nomoto, whom we follow the most, and whom is having SEVERAL lesbian crises throughout the series.

The second thing that I think is important is how fine they are to talk about all this kinds of things. There are a few instances of heteronormativity here and there, as it unfortunately cannot be erased from the narrative, but other than that, the other characters are rather open. Not only that, but the casual mention of an obgyn wasn't expected on my end, not because it's a japanese series, but because I frankly can't tell you the last time there was such a casual mention of such a topic in anything I've watched.

I am still watching the series, so I'll come back to it, but damn is it so good so far.