#izuka kenta my beloved

[harurio]

izuka kenta as hirado azuma in call boy, 2018.

[emotionallychargedtowel]

I noticed something exciting while watching Minato’s Laundromat episode 4!

So, at the end of the episode, Minato saw Shin from across the way and started to call out to him, but stopped when he saw him having an animated interaction with another dude.

It’s basically impossible to recognize this actor from this blurry snippet. But we get a much better look immediately in the episode 5 preview. Apparently he’s some kind of instructor, possibly a professor, seemingly from Shin’s university, named Kirihara. He seems to have a particularly close—and, uh, physically demonstrative—relationship with Shin, and Minato is clearly concerned. Seems the jealousy theme already developing in season 2 is intensifying.

But the really interesting part (to fans of a certain actor, at least) is who’s playing this apparent rival. He's an all-time favorite of mine.

Got it yet?

How about now?

Or now?

(Uh oh, he's not only hugging Shin, he's doing the ol' back-of-the-head grab. I don't think this is one of those benign misunderstanding situations. )

It's Takeda Kouhei! Also known as Nozue from Old Fashion Cupcake...

and Kazumin (my beloved)/Kamen Rider Grease from Kamen Rider Build, and as Kurenai Otoya in Kamen Rider Kiva.

I think they're being intentionally mysterious here. Takeda usually posts on instagram about roles before shows air/movies are released, and the Minato's Laundromat account similarly tends to show behind-the-scenes material for upcoming episodes right around when a current one airs. Takeda also isn't listed on MDL for this role. So it does seem like they're being a little cagey for now--though that could end now that the preview's been shown.

I'm SO psyched, y'all.

The ever-observant @bengiyo pointed out that this is continuing a bit of a trend of veterans of prior BLs playing romantic rivals in newer series. We saw Izuka Kenta from The Novelist/The Pornographer playing this type of role in Candy Color Paradox and someone from Life: Love on the Line doing the same in Kieta Hatsukoi (I haven't seen LLotL and couldn't immediately tell from perusing cast lists who this was).

I like this trend! So many opportunities for intertextual commentary. I'm always excited for more connections between the BL and tokusatsu worlds, too. Really looking forward to seeing more in episode 5.

[lurkingshan]

Japanese QL Corner

ICYMI: There are so many Japanese qls airing weekly, so I’m going to start posting this little round up at the end of each week. All of these are on Gaga and I highly recommend watching!

Love is Better the Second Time Around

This is officially my favorite bl currently airing. I loved this second episode a lot. I appreciate that while the first episode gave us a really solid grounding in who Iwanaga is, the second let us get to know Miyata in all his contradictory glory. That entire sequence from his failed proposal to him demanding Iwanaga take responsibility was glorious. He is still nursing a wound from their high school days and hearing Iwanaga sincerely apologize for his immaturity in making the bet back then seems to have given him some of his power back. I love that he's making Iwanaga work for it, and judging by that smile at the end of the episode, Iwanaga loves it, too.

My Strawberry Film

Yet another week focused on the het love rhombus, this time with a double date. I was spiritually with Ryo sitting on a rock by himself, headphones on and gazing at the sea in mild despair. The plot continues to move at a glacial pace, and I am not nearly as interested in Minami or her secrets as the show wants me to be. She is just not a compelling character. I did appreciate the show making it clear that Hikaru's crush on her is based more on a fantasy of who she is than the reality. And I felt for Chika a lot in this episode and was glad she aired things out with Ryo; she needed his rejection to move on. I wonder if, as @bengiyo suggested, this show will play better as a binge, because it's kind of torturous as a weekly viewing experience.

Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yara ka

A nice ending for a show that didn't quite come together for me. I liked both of these characters a lot, but the writing for their romance was kind of all over the place and we spent a lot of time on frustrating plot diversions instead of building a stronger relationship foundation that would leave us feeling confident about their future (apparently a lot of that extra plot stuff was added to stretch the simple manga story to 10 episodes, and it sure felt like it). I didn't at all buy Mizuki suddenly reappearing and trying to help them get back together. The way the show used his character was perhaps the most frustrating part of all; he felt more like a plot device than a person. But I'm glad Soga and Sakae decided to try again at the end, even if I wish we would have spent the back half of the show seeing them actually work through these complications instead of just talking about them constantly only to end right where they started. Not one that I will be rewatching or that will stick with me, I think.

Bonus: Call Boy (2018)

I have been meaning to watch this film for ages, and finally got around to it this week. Before I am accused of false advertising, let me clarify that this is not a bl or a romance at all; rather it is a story about a disaffected youth who gets offered a job as a sex worker in a high end club and finds purpose and satisfaction in bringing others pleasure. Our lead Ryo is (mostly) het, but he does have one extremely memorable sexual encounter with a male colleague (played by my beloved Izuka Kenta!), and this is in general a film exploring sexual kink and stigma, so it earned its spot on ql corner.

This movie is surprisingly great, and its themes are very sex and sex work positive in a way some other recent shows have claimed (and failed) to be. The narrative is all about Ryo coming to understand the purpose of sex work, finding his own pleasure in fulfilling his client's needs, and working through his childhood trauma in the process. It's very well done and I highly recommend it for anyone who can handle exceedingly NC-17 content. It's on Viki for rent (and also in the grey).

[harurio]

call boy is on viki and you know what that means!!! (low quality gifs of blond izuka kenta in his most insane role ever amen)