This was a weird one. Japan produces plenty of great BL/yaoi anime and manga, but their few live-action offerings are never quite right. There were some funny and cute moments, and I understand that the tone was meant to be lighthearted and over-the-top rather than subtle and realistic, but some things about it bothered me.

Warning, spoilers below...




Ossan's Love employs the strange tactic of having a not-very-likeable lead character. Haruta is not a bad person, but he behaves more like a teenager than an adult man. His mannerisms are bizarre, he shouts a lot, he's always rolling around drunk, and he doesn't seem to have any self-awareness. I guess it's his good looks that draw people to him...?

More importantly, however, I didn't get the impression that Haruta had ever - at any point in his life - considered himself to be bi or gay, but when he found himself with two male suitors he gave both of them hope (by going with the flow and not giving any clear rejection) while simultaneously recoiling from any physical contact and seemingly just wanting to be friends. This kind of confused response might make sense in someone much younger, but it doesn't sit right coming from a 33-year-old man. Just what was he trying to do? What was he thinking? I'm still not sure. Even by the end of the show I wasn't convinced that Haruta genuinely had romantic feelings for anyone, which made the ending somehow unsatisfying. I would have liked it more if I had seen and believed in a real transformation in his feelings.

This show kept me watching to the end, mainly to see if Haruta would ever make a clear decision with conviction. On a positive note, the side-characters were kind of interesting and fun, especially Choko, even if her reaction to the situation was unrealistic.

In short, this show wasn't terrible, but there are much better BL offerings out there that have more emotional punch, more chemistry, and frankly...make more sense.