Don’t waste your time.

I have completed watching all 8 episodes of this series and I would just like to say, that this series did not meet my expectations. It’s just a series about male prostitutes who are called “hosts” and about their “dating” lives. It’s more proper to call them “sex lives” rather than “dating lives”. Out of the approximately 240 minutes of this series, I assure you that atleast 200 minutes have NC scenes. It makes you wonder about the writer… what kind of a writer makes an entire series out of ONLY GAP-FILLERS? (I.e., sex.)
The main characters do not have any substantial relationship with each other; atleast you don’t feel so, because they feel so forced and unnatural. Shogun keeps smiling the entire series, but I don’t know if it is because he is a new actor or what, but that smile doesn’t reach me. I don’t feel like his character actually loves wela… and their banter is so cheesy and forced, taht at some point you being to judge yourself for continuing to watch this series.

None of the other actors have any substantial story to contribute to either. Great and James only get together in the last episode, and we were offered only one scene where they were almost together, but not quite. Japan, Seiji and Ken become a throuple, which is horrifying to say the least. That love-triangle really was the last straw that killed my interest in this series.

They also did a sloppy job of dealing with the evil aunt, and the mommy-of-wela-had-a-problem-with-his-prostitute-y-job problem. In the span of one episode, she became okay with him being a prostitute. Why? Because he was THAT good at it. Unrealistic. That kind of dedication may be appreciated in other jobs “by parents” but not in hosting professions.

So essentially, until you wanna watch some NC scenes, and no story, don’t watch it.
The worst part is, it doesn’t even do the NC scene job properly…

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if you liked the drama, I suggest you skip this rant.

It is a nice slice-of-life story... it's tagged as a boy's love, but what you might expect from this series is more of a bromance, with BL elements sprinkled here and there...

The story is about a two childhood friends who have spent a majority of their elementary school days with each other. Out of the two boys, Natsukawa and Kazhuhito, the latter is supposed to have a crush on the former. They spend their elementary days frolicking and having fun with each other and their respective families and doing whatever school children do to enjoy their holidays. Natsukawa prepares icecream for Kazhuhito, takes care of Kazhuhito whenever he is scared, play a lot of games and up until this point, the story seems cute and fluffy; it is after this point does everything start to go downhill, atleast for me. They part ways in middle school and while Natsukawa becomes the caretaker of his sisters throughout middle school and high school - cooking for them, cleaning the house, and basically act as a second mother to them while Kazhuhito is pretty busy trying to make it big in baseball. As someone who really values their work, its almost unfathomable for me to think that while in the pursuit of something important like this, Kazhuhito has feelings for someone. And that too for a someone he hasnt seen since elementary school. Its not realistic, again atleast in my eyes, because let's face it, humans are not that loyal. And most of them have the attention span of a goldfish.

It is a slow burn, so the characters are meant to be awkward, caring and quite gentle in the way they express their feelings. But this idea has been stretched so thin over the production of this entire drama, that you begin to wonder if you are the fool for actually believing Kazhuhito has feelings for Natsukawa... and its so enforced, this idea, that it has almost completely dampened the chemistry between the leads. There is literally nothing that you can feel from them. I dont know why, but its just not there.

Oh, but you can definitely expect some "dialogues" here and there. I am from Tamilnadu, India, so there is a very popular dialogue from here from the movie "Manal Kayiru", where one of the characters monotonously asks his son-in-law if he is fine and does ask all the general pleasantries, which makes you feel as though he is reciting something that he mugged up. It really does feel like that. Those dialogues dont convince the viewer from any angle that Kazhuhito is in love with Natsukawa.

The last episode was actually quite nice though. They emoted their feelings of shock, happiness and joy of having found that they both like each other. Its quite cute and lovely. But apart from the last episode, the entire series was a snoozefest for me.

But again this is just my opinion, and is not meant to hurt anyone's feelings.

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A nice watch

Bad Buddy is a nice watch, especially if you dont like to think too much and like mild, fluffy, funny BLs. This series is special to me due to the fact that this was the first BL that I watched where the actors didn't look like they wanted to puke because they were acting in a BL. They had great chemistry, the scenes weren't abrupt, the dialogues were not banal - in short, everything about this production was great!

It was also nice to watch BLs where the uke/seme distinctions were blurred. I generally like a drama where the characters are in a balanced relationship, so having an absence of charaters where one was trying too hard, and the other far too stingy was like a fresh breath of air.
The friends were also very funny, and in general complementing to the entire setting, which only added to my delight.

Its a great watch and i totally recommend watching this to anyone who just wants to have a good time :)

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A great fluufly BL to watch no matter what your mood is

I really like this drama very much, and everything about it. The writing, acting, direction, sound team - everyone did such a great job on this production.
I generally like fluffy BLs very much so, I was very engaged throughout the series. It was always such a pain, to leave an episode and wait for the next 10 hours for the sun to rise again in my world to complete it. As i am someone who prefers watching characters with too much love and too good communication lines, this series was such a treat.
There isnt much drama in this series as one would expect in a BL, i mean, at the very least, there should have been a crazy ex or a housewrecker to act as a catalyst to strengthen the relationship. But this series had none of the usual I-dont-have-much-creativity-so-I-am-gonna-use-some-basic-drama-templates shit that i usually encounter. the characters relied completely on their own communication, feelings and trust they had for each other to build their relationship to the big castle it is at the end.

I especially like kurosawa in this series, and the actor, who has managed to beautifully walk the line between a passionate boyfriend and an understanding one, which I dont think is a very easy thing to do... I also like how adachi always manages to take kurosawa's feelings into consideration even though he very clearly is very nervous, scared and frightened by the fact that he is in a relationship.
even though i can go on and on about them forever, i think that the bottom line is that its a great show, and i love it :)

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This is an opinion regarding the characters and not a review of the series!!!

I love the 5th and 6th episode of the first season too much! I really, really like kiyoi’s view of things… it must be so unsatisfying to have Hira as his boyfriend… considering the way Hira generally is… but despite his creepy, need-for-constant-validation, non-understanding behaviour towards kiyoi, I still like this series very much…


But I don’t like Hira. He is very creepy, and I don’t like the way he says he worships kiyoi but does not take the necessary steps to understand him. How can he say that kiyoi never needs to meet his parents? I mean, does he really really not know how offensive that is?? The worst part is, in the end it was kiyoi who had reach out and clear the air. Hira, just stood there, wallowing in his pseudo-insecurity as usual. I feel that kiyoi can do much better than Hira. I know you have a love deficit, but what he has for you is not love, it’s obsession.

The list of situations where Hira has wronged kiyoi just keeps going on. Hira liked kiyoi first right?? But it was kiyoi who had to take the first step and kiss him. Even then, he did not respond to his advances but changed his number! How do you think Kiyoi would have felt?
Absolutely no consideration for the second party’s feelings! Even in the second season, he was the one who had to come back after kiyoi said something so offensive, he was the one who bought a Valentine’s Day gift… It was always Kiyoi who reached out to Hira, despite his profound proclamation that he “worships” Hira, which makes it an uneven relationship, that I am not too comfortable with.


I know in the beginning Kiyoi seems like a jerk. I agree completely. I mean, I was this close to smashing a boulder on his head. But. But I feel that even in those situations, Hira’s creepiness justifies his hostility. I mean, how would you feel if someone just kept saying how beautiful you were, provided you weren’t in a relationship with them? Agreed, kiyoi liked his creepiness, but I don’t. So I am not exactly a biggest fan of his actions.

But I will give Hira this. He always places kiyoi before anything. Always there to cheer him on, on his movie sets, always making sure he eats what he likes, waiting for him when kiyoi comes home late etc… it’s is quite really the only reason why I commend their relationship. Okay. So maybe, just maybe, you might make an average boyfriend…

But as you can see from my opinion-piece, I truly like Kiyoi more than Hira. It’s non-negotiable.

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This is the first proper straight drama that I have watched.

I am a regualar BL watcher, but I decided to start watching some straight ones even though I dont like them that much. I dont know why, I just wanted to give them a chance. In such an attempt, I watched kakafakaka & sweat and soap which was horrifying to say the least. Really held me from watching straight ones for a while. I have watched Ao Haru Ride which is also very similar to this story; which made me realise that the japanese society really loves hot, aloof and smart male leads. They dont want their male leads to be nice, sweet and anything normal like that...

To say this was a dissapointment is to say the least... I mean, it took them 16 episodes to get together, which is fine, but asking me to believe that the male lead likes the female lead without any actions leading to that point is such a bummer. Its like he did a 180 in the last episode; I mean, there are literally no scenes which show that he even remotely likes her... ultimately, it is a story about a girl, who gets her hopes high, for the littlest acts of kindness, more like pity that he throws at her, and finds her feelings come crashing down, when he shows her how much he cares for her, which is really really negligible, almost at a 0.0000000000000000000000001 %.

the female lead gets her heart broken for almost 50% of the entire series, and for the really, really rude things he says to her - I mean, not caring is something else, he is blatantly, unrepentently rude to her all. the. time. - I am just really surprised how she okayed their marriage.
And because of such a horrible foreword to their relationship, I dont feel happy for them at all...

The worst part is they killed kin-chan in their already fucked-up relationship... I kind of agree with Irie-kun, she is most probably the dumbest person on earth... I mean, she chose you instead of kin-chan, so yeah she is dumb... he is such a sweetheart! he makes her the choicest of foods, gives her enough emotional support, takes her to movies and arcade to cheer her up, even yells at Irie-kun for her!!! If that is not boyfriend material, I dont know what is... and when she utimately chooses Irie-kun, I wanna kill myself for still watching this; I wanna kill her for not treating kin-chan right and I wanna kill Irie-kun for being such a smug bastard.
He is like one of the assholic husbands, who knows their wife wont leave them no matter what, so he can confifently continue to treat them however badly he wishes to. Its like at some point, he is trying to see how much can he hurt kotoko-san, until she finally folds... he hurts her, continues to hurt her and will continue to hurt her till posterity in my opinion... he is sooo not a great male lead... I wanted kin-chan to be the one for kotoko-chan... ultimately goes to show that in japanese society, nice guys always finish last.

I do realise I am an outlier, but this is not a drama for me. I want lots and lots of affection and sweet moments for me to be happy for the couple under consideration. And I am not asking for smut, but I must feel some sort of love between the two, for me to be happy for them...

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Meh.

It is your run-of-the-mill BL, except I will agree that the concept is unique... the seven days a week once thing... makes him sound like a complete whore, but turns out he is a very dignified whore, who doesn't touch the girls he is dating...everything is soo Japanese... the actions, the reactions, and whatnot... especially the archery club, the flip phones, the suits, ohh and did I mention the hairstyles? I loved how they took it lightly in the beginning and slowly built upon it... But it is really, really average... Nothing jumps out to you in this movie, be it good or bad... maybe I might have felt differently if I watched in 2015 but the standards are not the same anymore in 2024... I appreciate the acting and the cinematography (it doesn't ruin anything much) but that's it. I am not feeling it, so I am not going to rate it very high...

Its the same thing put on repeat... they went out on a movie date, did some sightseeing, some food eating, having awkward high school dead fish kisses (which are actually dead), suddenly falling in passionate love (how? is the right question to ask here...) , had some drama sprinkled at the end ( why bother man? why?), and THE END.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Nothing great.

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It's a series that I would seriously consider watching again. Its THAT good!

Its an amazing series!!! My heartful thanks to whoever was involved in this amazing production!!! I really appreciate this gift to mankind!!!

Everything was amazing about this story. Right from the acting ( OMG, the acting!!! Especially in the scene where Tak Woo Suk confronted Yeon Seung Ho, OMG!!! It was literally the best acting piece I have ever come across!!) to the story, to the CHEMISTRY - I mean, for 2017, no scratch that, even for 2023, its a GREAT job!! Most BL actors look like they wanna puke just at the thought of romanticising the other person, but this pair, really did a great job at keeping aside their personal preferences to depict character emotions!!
Basically, I liked everything >w<

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Warning: Dont read this review, if you liked this drama

Okay, so after listening to the rave reviews on MDL and Discord that this series was the epitome of a BL production, I sat to watch this series. The cinematography, the acting, the OST, the story - everything was considered to be awesome about this series. By everyone.
So it was with a fair amount of expectation that I sat to watch this series.
To say it was a disappointment is an understatement.
Let me start by saying that I watched this drama on kisskh, which means the quality ain't HD, and that I haven't crossed 3 episodes in this drama.
The series starts off with a huge wet blanket and a downer by showing the main lead, who apparently only has vicious sticks as friends around him, sitting in a bar listening to his friends, spew jealous logorrhea about him... I mean, I take into consideration, that maybe they showed it that way, to show what a blockbuster life the ML has, but I still disapprove. It just makes me feel very uncomfortable and it's very off-putting to me as a viewer.
Alright, never mind. Maybe at least the MC might be a fresh breath of air, I thought.
Turns out he is a mighty prick, who doesn't have friends, but wants some, but still manages to do all things that would lead to the opposite. he is gloomy, unnatural, and absolutely has no friend-making skills whatsoever, which isn't as bad a thing as I make it out to be, to be very frank. I might have forgiven him for that if he could have been a little less pricky about it.
By the end of 1st episode and the start of the 2nd, we are shown that the boring, pompous, gloomy boy decides to start surfing all of a sudden. In my opinion, it doesn't sit right with his character... I mean, surfing? he doesn't have a single hobby or characteristic that would make us think, "Oh, it's natural for the MC to go surfing... it makes sense..."
No, it doesn't.
So that's another downer.
The two characters speak, but it's mostly Jae Won helping and Ji Hyun sulking. Just imagine this rolling for a few episodes and then out of nowhere, Jae Won kisses Ji Hyun... I mean, why? how? And seriously, whyyyy??
Oh god, was that flirting up until now?? Thank you The Eighth Sense, for making me feel better about my flirting skills...
But for your welfare, I would suggest you make the actors wear placards that state "Oh I am flirting ight now", cause otherwise we wouldn't know.
I didn't watch it beyond that... the dead fish kisses were the last straw for me, which allowed me to close the curtains on this boring shitshow...
If I have offended anyone with my review, I apologize.

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I cant call this garbage, because I think garbage would be insulted by that

This is one of the most ugliest, horniest and thinnest plot that I have EVER come across in my entire journey as a fijoushi. Absolutely no plot. The characters are horny all the time. I mean it, they are horny ALL the time. I dont think that is physically possible but that's a thought to be pursued for yet another day.

I started watching the first episode where the first 20 minutes was either about guys jerking off, talking ablout sex or doing sex. Literally, they did this for 20 minutes. of course with 3 minute scenes here and there that make you feel like there is a plot, but naah, its just a bait for them to showcase more sex or sexual-connoted scenes.

you feel like you are watching porn at some point - some scenes are so bloody unrealistic that you wonder if the screenwriter was horny and decided to put all his fantasies to the written word and publish it as a script. Really, the Kama Sutra does a gross disservice to its image as a sex book. I think this series really provides good competition.

please consider this situation. you want to ask directions to a stranger ( a complete, random, unkno stranger, mind you). Even if you were a model ( and taking into consideration the stereotype that models are generally promiscuous, even though they might not be IRL ) would you go and stand so close to a stranger that you could smell what he ate for lunch, just so you could know directions??
What did I tell you?
Porn.

Let me give you another instance. One of the scenes open with the brother feeling bad about his lost brother. Its truly an emotional scene yeah?? you might expect the following scenes to be filled with tears, friends hugging him for comfort, words of love, longing (platonically of course) for his brother, and even if it isnt THAT emotional atleast scenes that truly cement his relationship with his brother and make us feel - oh yeah, this dude really loves his brother.
That's what any sane person would expect right?
Wrong.
What actually follows, is dudes discussing what helps them jerk off.
For one its underwear (which is really gross btw), for the other is 2D anime and so on.

So, if anyone is looking for a class "How to turn really nice heartwarming moments into horny, sex-oriented shit" please refer to this great masterpiece called "PlayBoyy".

I mean, let me be clear. I am not a fictional snob. I really dont mind explicit scenes. But you need to have a basic story plot for me to even be hooked you know?? Sex can be used to fill gaps that you cant fill no matter how much you rack your brains for, but sex alone cannot be a story.

I gave this story 1, cause they didnt allow me to give zero. I think, in retrospect, even a zero is too much of an award for this piece of sex trash.

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