Ossan's Love Returns (2024)

The peak of gay romcoms! The most influential JBL came back better than ever!

Ossan’s Love (2018), arguably the most successful Japanese BL, is a favorite of mine. It kind of suffers from being made in 2018 and that made me a bit reluctant when I heard it was getting a sequel season 5 years later; Could it live up to today’s standard? Or will it drag on and fall into that 2018 humor?

Well, thankfully, OLR has moved with the times and served one of the most poignant examples of a sequel surpassing the first season. Everything is praiseworthy in this new season. The characters are so much more lovable, the conflicts as silly or as serious they are get resolved fairly quickly, respecting that all the characters are adults who can, more or less, communicate and solve their issues. I can also see the influence of post-OL BLs in this, especially the focus on domesticity. Haruta and Maki’s relationship progress is adorable to watch and there wasn’t a moment I would change between them. Izumi and Kikunosuke initially felt too random of an addition of characters but by the end of the show I grew to appreciate them. Kurosawa this season was much more likable as well. The slice of life aspect is not dull, not even for one moment because of its comedy and occasional drama. I also still think OL’s has the best female cast out of most if not all BL, even if they’re not the focus a lot. Chizu and Choko are a delight to watch every time and even in their limited screentime they feel fleshed out.

Production quality is also much higher this season and it’s so nice to see the change it was able to make after its success. Keeping Sukima Switch for the new theme song was a great nod to the first season’s theme song. The final episode was so satisfactory that I don’t even feel like complaining about how sad I am to let go of this show. Even if you didn’t like S1 a lot you should watch this as I can confidently say it’s one of the most wholesome, well written romantic shows you can find.

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When second parts are better

'Ossan's Love Returns' continues the adventures of the Japanese gay couple Maki and Haruta after the events of the first season, 'Ossan's Love: Ossan zu Rabu', broadcast in 2018, and the following film, 'Gekijoban Ossan zu Rabu Love or Dead', 2019, from TV Asahi.
Ironically, even after years of being together, the two men, already close to forty, have a couple of things to learn about life itself and relationships, since they have passed professional issues with high marks.
Luckily, the entire cast of the original series is present to offer life lessons to the young couple in their marriage experience. Haruta, in need of all the help he can get from his friends and co-workers, on how to maintain a loving relationship and how to treat his husband, will need to learn from the lessons that can be given to him. .
The popular Japanese BL that was overwhelmingly addictive to many since its initial season, returns to the small screen with a new sequel in which Kento Hayashi, Kei Tanaka and Kotaro Yosida reprise their roles as Ryota Maki, Soichi Haruta and Musashi Kurosawa, respectively, who, along with the other characters, portray the varied dynamics that move our main protagonists.
The show features a cast involving Iura Arata (as Ko Izumi), Miura Shohei (Kikunosuke Rikudo), Uchida Rio (Chizu Arai), Kaneko Daichi (Utamaro Kuribayashi), Ito Shuko (Maika Arai), Kojima Kazuya (Teppei Arai ), Mashima Hidekazu (Masamune Takekawa) and Ohtsuka Nene (Choko Kuribayashi) in supporting roles.
Considered one of the first Japanese television series of the Boys' Love genre aimed at a general audience, it is not the adaptation of a previous manga, although it was serialized between 2018 and 2020 by Umebachi Yamanaka for the manga magazine Be Love. It is also appreciated for serving as an influential model for audiovisual adaptations of the same genre produced both in Japan and internationally.
In fact, due to its good acceptance and criticism, what was initially a special episode broadcast on December 30, 2016, with the title 'Ossan zu Rabu', was expanded into a franchise. The aforementioned special chapter has the peculiarity that in it Haruta's romantic interest is his kohai Hasegawa Yukiya, played by Ochiai Motoki. The original cast, with some changes, was part of the seven-episode series, considered the first season.
Added to this universe are the 8-episode series 'Ossan's Love: In The Sky (Ossanzu Rabu: In The Sky), from TV Asahi, from 2019, and Ossan's Love HK, starring Kenny Wong, Edan Lui and Anson Lo in the main roles. Directed by Kwok Kaa Hei and script written by Tokuo Koji, this is considered Hong Kong's first BL drama.
'Ossan's Love Returns' manages, as a sequel, to recover the magic of the original, while offering something new to maintain the interest of viewers. To do this, the characters just have to be who they were in the first season, but with a more anime style.
The series also respects one of the characteristics of both anime and Japanese live-action works by exaggerating and making improvised mood swings, whether in dream sequences or in fantasized worst-case scenarios. Haruta being a very imaginative man, in many moments of his hyperactive shouts, different and overly expressive voices and internal thoughts, his directors, Yuki Saito and Ruto Toichiro, excel in the exquisite camera work in the close-ups; moving the focus directly onto the face of actor Kei Tanaka, who characterizes Haruta ridiculously well.
Kento Hayashi, her sensible husband Maki, is not far behind in loving her foolish husband, but also showing a side of annoyance with the man who even today, five years after the relationship began, does not do the housework and, To make matters worse, he frequently gets drunk and loses the gifts they give him.
The series describes the “newlywed life” of Haruta and Maki, after the latter's return from Singapore, where he had gone for work. Haruta, who has been dealing with his long-distance relationship, waits for him impatiently, but fails to arrive at the airport in time to see him get off the plane, as was his intention, indicating from the first scenes the comedic tone that characterizes the Serie.
With increased responsibilities in the workplace, the couple has difficulty dividing and accomplishing household chores. To save the situation, Haruta comes up with the brilliant idea of ​​hiring some online cleaning services to make her home life easier. But the person who appears at the door turns out to be none other than his former boss. This will be the person in charge of cleaning the home you share with Maki. In this way, Musahi Kurosawa, played by the fantastic Kotaro Yoshida, Maki's eternal love rival for the love of her foolish husband, re-enters the lives of the two young people.
Kurosawa, who had retired early, now works in a company dedicated to domestic work. As a “housekeeper,” while visiting the couple, her old feelings for Haruta are rekindled.
Despite stating that he has changed his intentions to conquer Haruta and now only comes to play the role of “mother-in-law” in the effort to make the young couple happy, he does not miss the opportunity to argue with Maki and cast her jealous glances, animosity or resentment for “having taken the man she loves” or for “making him suffer for preferring to be with other men,” as she often thinks, without knowing that Maki, who loves Haruta madly, is a victim of misunderstandings and absurd setbacks. , like leaving her engagement ring embedded in a baked ceramic vessel, which she and Haruta had molded hours before.
In this original “fatherly love”, while Kurosawa hurts Maki in subtle ways, a foolish Haruta is not able to notice what is happening around him, achieving moments of humor also with other situations, which will not be lacking in the series.
The three main characters, as well as the rest of the cast, are adults and handle their nonsense in a script that has plenty of intelligence and good workmanship.
With a plot ably written by Tokuo Koji, it's no coincidence that audiences can experience the series as a sexless Yaoi: the characters act with the same kind of bombastic, chaotic energy you see in anime. An example of the above can be seen when a jealous Kurosawa, in a sort of “drama queen”, passes a rolling pin over the fingers of a helpless Maki, unable to react in time, when he comments on her cooking.
If as an obsessed lover “the boss” is a stalker, as a mother-in-law concerned about Haruta's happiness he is also a stalker, a kind of sweet and tender sociopath who will make even the most demanding viewer laugh. In this way, the chaos and drama rise to a divine level, which will make everyone laugh during each episode.
For their part, Haruta and Maki bring tenderness in their fun ways. As husbands, they have dealt with and overcome so many problems, thanks to pure love and faith towards each other.
However, this series, which belongs to a particularly Japanese comedy genre, whose type of humor is not always understood and enjoyed by the audience, is undervalued by many outside the borders of the nation of origin.
However, each episode is a true work of craftsmanship with its chaotic plot and, to top it all off, a satisfying ending. Every time I think that the entire cast, both technical and artistic, cannot surpass the last episode, they do it effortlessly in the next one, reaching greater heights.
In this fantastic show, with excellent characterizations, creativity flows and the audience never yawns. Quite the contrary, he settles in front of the television screen to enjoy the mysterious secondary characters neighboring the main couple, or the performances of the rest of the people who surround Maki and Haruta.
If at times the ghost of 'Ossan's Love: In The Sky' assails me, of which I admit I don't like the ending, and I think that the lack of communication, the work entanglements that tend to keep Haruta and Maki apart, or the fact that Since they both have such opposite personalities, and that's why they both have to take different paths, I really enjoy each scene being more explosive, tender and joyful than the last.
The two protagonists have grown a lot as people and the writing reflects that growth.
Tanaka Kei is fantastic with his facial expressions and body movements. The genuine relationship he has with his traveling companion, Hayashi Kento, is a key piece in the resounding success of the series. The two actors prove to be completely comfortable next to each other.
The complicity, trust and camaraderie of both, as the basis of every romantic relationship, is enhanced with the incorporation of scenes of intimacy, of genuine and spontaneous kisses and hugs, of hands held in public, of restrained tears due to missing the other. , and tender laughter that demonstrates mutual love, as we have rarely seen in Japanese series.
I only hope that around our universe, that of humans, that other universe, fictional, but no less human, which is titled 'Ossan's Love', continues to revolve.

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