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"So, hold onto it."

THE ON1Y ONE (2024). EPISODE SIX.

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"[Closed] [Grand Opening]."

THE ON1Y ONE (2024). EPISODE SIX.

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HAPPY OF THE END Sawamura Rei as Keito / Haore Episode 1

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That's how I felt back then, always.

HAPPY OF THE END | EP. 1

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The On1y One Episode 4

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"At this moment, I completely forgot what the English teacher said about the difference between "up to you" and "down to you". Later, I realized, the moment Jiang Tian said that, my world was upside down. My world has been completely changed."

THE ON1Y ONE (2024). EPISODE THREE.

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Walk a straight line to me.

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"I might misunderstand you."

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I don’t like it. You being around my family.

CALL IT LOVE (2023) dir. Lee Kwang Young

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Yes to all of this!! Thanks so much for writing this because I feel we lack this perspective in this space or get drowned out.

Maya is so much more aware and attuned to the discriminations she face as a person who is hard of hearing. She doesn't like to brush them off and accept it as given like Kouhei who is quite passive. Her defiance and coloured view come as a result of the subtle/overt discrimination she faces that results in that very justifiable anger. She will definitely ease up especially after understanding Taichi more and interacting with him more. Also through interactions with others such as Yasu and those in the sign language class who are kind to her and accepts her which she needs.

As much as I love Taichi, he is very flawed. I hope when he starts working for the sign company he can mature his perspective and gain knowledge. Because I think a part of what the company director said is true. In reality the adjustments needed for those who are completely deaf and hard of hearing are different. If you don't acknowledge that then it is harder to provide the actual support needed for them. We need to accept the differences and not discriminate as a result of it. Taichi's idealism regarding deaf people should be treated as the same borders on ignorance and can actually hurt people as well as save people. Not to mention actually realising his own feelings towards Kouhei.

I for one am glad we get to see these characters in the wider world and how they grow instead of just focusing on solely on the romance because it makes it all feel so much more grounded which is what I love the most about Japanese dramas in general!

I do not like the hate Maya's character gets. Is she annoying? Yes. But she's so much more than a love interest. Infact she's not even Kohei's love interest at all. She's a very well written character. This writer always introduces new characters to bring a new perspective to the main characters life to bring a new conflict not to create drama but because these conflicts have always been there but because Kohei and Taichi are both people who'd rather not talk about them, they need outsiders to intervene and ask what their relationship means to them . This is very much important for the narrative. Infact this is the reason why I love this story. Because it gives the characters, even the side characters time to understand things. To communicate properly.

No one's perfect. Maya has a different coping mechanism. She's trying to protect Kohei from Taichi because she thinks Taichi is just using him and will throw him away soon. Is that assumption wrong ? Yes. But we cannot blame her for thinking so because, first she doesn't know Taichi well and second her life experiences have proved this assumption right. We cannot deny that most people do that. Maya brings a perspective from the partially dead community which is very much needed in the story to question things and to compare her life style with Kohei. Kohei used to be at a worse state when we began, due to Taichi's presence he now has a healthier way to deal with his deafness.

Sai and the company who's profits from sign language also brings an important perspective. Kohei has been feeling isolated his whole life from the hearing and the deaf community because he's inbetween, doesn't fit anywhere. It also portrays how capitalism takes advantage of everything but this company itself will give a much needed job to Taichi but his sole reason to do the job is because he wants to do something for Kohei and people like him. Not because he pities him but because he loves him that much. So much that he cannot not do anything. But that itself will make Kohei feel used . As if, Taichi befriended him just to climb the ladder.

This story is full of misunderstandings and will continue to be that way. Are misunderstandings annoying? Yes. But they are very humane. I love the way this story continues to handle them because humans miscommunicate and this is a story of how Taichi and Kohei grow as people through their support for one another and their presence in each other's life that brings the sunlight. I do not like the complains that they don't spend time that much together nowadays. Yes because this story is about them falling in love while growing as individuals. Their love helps them through it which is why I love this story. It's not just a BL. It's not just a story of a deaf person finding love as salvation. It's so much more than that. It's about Kohei and Taichi. And they are so much more than just some gay deaf-hearing men in love. They have complexities and opposite personalities which clash and cause misunderstandings but how they deal with it is what's the story is about. Because they are different, they love each other. Because they love each other they try to understand one another. Because of that, they continue to again and again and again chose to love one another.

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I HEAR THE SUNSPOT ひだまりが聴こえる (2024) EPISODE 09

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KIM YOUNG KWANG as Han Dong Jin CALL IT LOVE (2023), ep. 5

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All the Long Nights (2024) ‘夜明けのすべて’ dir. Sho Miyake

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In this soba eating scene, the gaga subtitles were off regarding the subject/meaning of Hiroko's thoughts.

そうそう ... 本来はこういう反応だよ ( Indeed, Normally that's how people would react )

危うく間違えるとくだった ( I almost misunderstood it )

This is important because it is essential to how Hiroko has been acting throughout this entire episode! From the moment Ayaka declared to pursure Hiroko infront of everyone, she has been gauging everyone's reaction to Ayaka's confession/actions. When the coworkers had a positive attitude towards it, it enabled Hiroko to answer positively to Ayaka's advancements and let her guard down momentarily. When confronted with a coworker?/business partner? who framed Ayaka's confession as a type of identity exploration of the youth "before they eventually settle down", Hiroko felt that familiar/what she had been expecting as the reaction to all of this from her experience in the past. This reinforced her mindset as it fed to her own biases that ultimately the world has not changed afterall and she nearly misunderstood that it was okay to be open about it and be accepted.

Ayaka on the other hand is almost blind/indifferent to everyone's reaction/opinion to her feelings as she bulldozes ahead to the detriment of Hiroko. They are both polar opposites. Hiroko cares far too much about what others think of her and subsequently of Lesbian relationships (either romanticing it through works of Yuri or not taking it seriously at all) that she has not even considered what she should do/want now that she can't avoid it anymore. Ayaka can't seem to understand why would Hiroko withdraw from acting on her feelings when she likes her and definitely needs help understanding Hiroko's worries. Even after Risa questioned her whether it was okay to say it infront of everyone after knowing what happened in the past, Ayaka did not get it.

Again, I dont think any character is particularly wrong in their actions (apart from that old man) they are all approaching it from their own insecurities or lack of it in the case of Ayaka. Not everyone will think about the major consequences of their actions before acting and some will only think of that and I love how this episode depicted it.

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Be My Favorite | Episode 7

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Ai no Nai Koibitotachi (2024) Episode 9

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There is so much that I love about Ayaka chan wa Hiroko senpai ni koishiteru episode 6 but I understand other peoples concerns.

Before we judge Risa and Mama (and others in the bar) we need to understand their purposes as characters within the story as well as what their personalities are like. Because it is as much as about them as characters as well as what they represent in this story. Firstly, they are representing three generations of lesbian attitudes and behaviours. Risa and Ayaka being unabashedly confident in themselves as they don't deliberately hide their sexuality (and also in Risa's case, seeing the lying about one's identity as cowardice) representing the confidence, innocence and straight forwardness of the younger generation. Ayaka represents the middle generation in this case who has experienced that acting on their feelings/being herself has consequences in the wider society that we live in as well as to the people we love (she represents to me the that our lives are bigger than our own quote). Which results in her being more reserved and cautious navigating this world still hiding aspects of herself depending on the context. Mama represents a more older generation who has also probably seen various types of queers walk through that bar opening up to her about their experiences as well as her own. She understands both the younger and middle generation (and might've gone through a similar path herself). She is the balanced voice of reason in this series as well as everyone's confidant. Hence why it is appropriate for her to reveal to us about Hiroko's past.

Hiroko has been living a double life to her own detriment for the last ten years. She has kept a facade of a cool co-worker/manager that is extremely capable of work, reliable whilst managing interpersonal relationships in a cohesive non-judgemental way - this allows her to avoid others attention to herself as a person as that would break the facade. But she was not always like this as seen in the way she confused to Chinatsu senpai in the past (which reminded me of Ayaka haha). The facade is the manifestation of her guilt she feels towards Chinatsu senpai and she sees it as her responsibility to maintain it at all costs otherwise in her perspective senpai resigning would've become meaningless. This was the main reason she was blind to Ayaka's advances because it happened at her workplace. In her personal life she is extremely open about her sexuality and though in the first episode in the lesbian bar she comes off easy going as she flirts with others (but I have a feeling that she did not have any serious relationships after the incident as her guilt would've been too strong).

For me it makes sense why Mama would tell Hiroko's past to Ayaka and Risa (and subsequently to us as the audience). Mama knows the history of Hiroko, before the incident and after the incident to who she has become today. She also one of the few people that knows that Ayaka likes Hiroko (which I think Risa might have picked up on as well). She can see Hiroko's walls that she has built to protect herself and knows that Hiroko won't let go of that facade to even give Ayaka and herself a chance. We need to judge Mama's actions through the perspective of Hiroko not our own. She had Hiroko's best interest at heart irregardless of her actions. If Hiroko is angry at her then we would see some confrontation regarding her and Mama (and the other bar guests in future episodes). But from what we have seen of Hiroko so far, I doubt it would be like that because Hiroko herself knows she needs some intervention to breakdown the walls she barricaded herself with. I think it is unfair to judge characters actions as if there is only one "right" way of doing things because that's not true in fiction or in real life.

I still love love Risa. I was really glad that she told plainly that it is Hiroko that Ayaka likes and it is her straightforwardness that actually gets through to Hiroko. It is also consistent with Risa's personality that she did that because like Ayaka she doesn't hide her feelings when it matters. She is highly passionate and loves Ayaka that she is trying to help them get together and decided to stop her unrequited feelings because she values her friendship with Ayaka. Her actions might not be the "correct" ones but she is a good friend in her own way and I want to appreciate that.

I am looking forward to seeing how Ayaka is able to break down Hiroko's facade in the workplace to show her that it is different to ten years ago. (But also thinking in terms of how there still is no law protecting those discriminated on the basis of their sexuality in Japan, I wonder if they will portray acceptance only within the current workplace itself)