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halliescomut · 9 months

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Minato's Laundromat Season 2 Midseason(ish) Check-In

Okay, I am going a bit in reverse, but I desperately want to talk about this scene, first, and then we'll backtrack through the season so far. The main conflict of this episode is the ramping up of the fear/insecurity of Akira, and Shintaro's jealousy. After seeing Shintaro with Dr. Kirihara (who took care of Shintaro when he injured his back) Akira starts to become concerned that perhaps their relationship isn't just doctor-patient. And I'm not fully certain if it's that he thinks Shintaro liked the doctor first, but that it was unrequited, so he 'settled' for Akira, or if he thinks there is an actual romantic relationship happening, and that Shintaro is just not breaking up with him (for whatever reason). And we also see a bit of more focused jealousy from Shintaro in relation to Akira and Dr. Kirihara. But I think the most important scene we've had this season is Shintaro and Akira sitting down for a meal after Shintaro introduces him to Dr. Kirihara as his boyfriend.

It's the very first time that we see that distinction made in public to another person, and Akira is upset by it. I do empathize with Akira about feeling both caught off guard, but also nervous, in this situation, because we are all well aware of the daily violence and discrimination that queer people face. In that moment he's not considering that Shintaro wouldn't have said it if he thought the doctor was someone he couldn't trust, and it's entirely possible that Shintaro had already confided in the doctor regarding his sexual identity in the past. But that's not something Akira would have known. After this encounter/conversation, they're arguing about it over dinner. Akira feels uncomfortable about being introduced that way, he's worried about public perception, but Shintaro isn't concerned about the thoughts of others, he's proud to have Akira as his lover, and if he could he'd tell the whole world. Neither are particularly right or wrong in this situation, which is often the case in life, but more they are not willing to bend and compromise, Akira moreso than Shintaro, but both are still being quite stubborn. Shintaro does make a pretty funny joke about growing pains, at least I thought it was funny, in reference to Akira's consistent resistance to progressing their relationship in any manner., and it's made not to be dismissive, but to try and break the tension.

In an attempt to kind of end the fight Akira begins to compliment Dr, Kirihara, he's handsome, kind, responsible, etc., I think in an effort to express that he understand why Shintaro would form a friendship with him, but it sadly backfires. He specifically calls out that he's 'true adult' which is an area where we know Shintaro feels particularly sensitive about. He's consistently concerned that Akira see him as a child, and so he works very hard to be mature and showcase that he is responsible and can be a trustworthy and valued partner. He insinuates to Akira, that perhaps he(Akira) would prefer the doctor over him(Shintaro), which Akira denies.

Akira then asks Shintaro to list 10 reasons why he wants to be with him. And so he does, quickly, with little thought, he numbers off 11 reasons (cute laughing face, cute crying face, sexy voice, beautiful eyes, very caring, many vulnerabilities, but also well protected, hospitable, constantly changing attitudes, always willing to be helpful, likes to do things by himself). And some are silly, but some are incredibly insightful, and show how much interest and attention Shintaro pays to Akira. But when Shintaro asks Akira the same questions, all Akira can come up with is that he's handsome, which while true, would certainly be disappointing to hear from a partner as your only attractive trait. And this is what worries me. Akira does say that Shintaro caught him off guard, and he couldn't think on such short notice, and that's certainly understandable, but it's still giving very much "What else is there?" (Akira could certainly benefit from a sincere conversation with Lord Rogers for sure.)

And this is the scene where I start to get specifically concerned, because I'm of course worried about all of the characters emotional well-being, that's the point of the show, but for Shintaro in particular, while he may not hold back his emotions to the level that Akira does, he's still very much keeping the true depth of his feelings under guard. So in this moment where he's truly vulnerable with Akira, and Akira not only doesn't reciprocate, but also almost diminishes those feelings, he's dealing a pretty significant blow to Shintaro. In any relationship it's uncomfortable to come to a realization that you are more in it than the other person. That you consider their feelings more, or pay more attention to their likes/dislikes, that you simply listen and observe more. It becomes especially upsetting to see that effort dismissed, on top of little to no effort on the part of your partner to do such things for you. I can easily imagine the hurt Shintaro feels at not only being reduced to only his looks (even if unintentionally) but to also have it made clear that all of the effort he makes goes unnoticed and unreciprocated.

Before you all accuse me of being only on Shintaro's side, I will pause here to talk a bit about what he can work on. While I will easily admit that I give him a certain amount of leeway based on his age AND the fact that we do see him actively working towards self-improvement, there are still some areas where progress can certainly be made. Top of that list is his occasional callousness and dismissiveness in regards to Akira's feelings. We see this in the dinner conversation in his response to Akira's concern over being called his boyfriend, and his reaction to Akira's fear of being 'outed' to community members who have known him since he was a child. I do think that this is a combination of things, one being that Shintaro has a certainty that he is right about those fears being un-founded (that stubbornness again). Another is I think related to their generational gap and difference in experience, Akira has simply been alive longer and lived other places, giving him more insight into the potential discrimination they could face both as a gay couple, but also as an age-gap couple. Finally, I do think these reactions are slightly intended to diminish Akira's feelings in a non-vicious way. And what I mean by that, is it's an attempt by Shintaro to express that Akira is letting these fears be bigger than they should be, that he's seeing a tiger where there's only a housecat. The other thing that Shintaro could definitely work on is his jealousy. And while this is an emotion that both of them experience, Shintaro's slightly more confrontational nature makes it a bit more dangerous for him to fall victims to the green-eyed monster. You can see genuine hurt when Akira realizes that Shintaro believe him capable of cheating, and he doesn't know how to calm that fear.

Now that we've addressed that, I will do a quick rundown on the season thus far. Have I posted much about this show on here? IDK. But I did really enjoy season 1, and I thought the age gap was handled pretty well. Would I prefer it 1. Not be so large of a gap, and 2. the younger partner not be in highschool at the beginning? Yes. But those issues aside, I think it was handled as appropriately as possible.

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Back to my point. I was very excited to learn we were getting a second season, as I kind of felt like the ending of season one felt a little unfinished. Yes, Akira and Shintaro were now a couple, but there was still a bit of a feeling of loose ends. And returning for season two, I feel like there's also a little bit of a back step that happened. Or perhaps not even that, but more that there seems to have been no progression in their relationship in the time between the seasons, which is supposed to be a few months.

GIF by i-got-the-feels

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We start season 2 with Shintaro fully engaged in university, while Akira continues work at the laundromat, and things appear to be going well, but with their busy schedules, Shintaro feels a bit like they don't have enough time together. So his plan is to move in with Akira, which Akira denies immediately, instead placing him in the empty apartment next door. There's clear hesitation on Akira's part for them to move too quickly physically, and most often Shintaro is the the initiator of any romantic physical contact. Now, the pace you move as far as physical relations in a romantic relationship is up to each and every couple based on the comfortability of the participants, so I have no issue with this. But we are given insight into Akira's thoughts, and his resistance is not based on lack of desire, or nervousness, or even as far as we know lack of experience. It's solely based on the fear of falling too deeply for Shintaro and the possibility that because Shintaro is young, he may one day change his mind and leave Akira heartbroken. Now does this seem like a bit of an extreme reaction for a 30-ish year old man? A little, but we do have to consider that we learned in season one that Akira had literally been in Shintaro's place before. He had been in love with his teacher, and had even confessed to him, but now a decade later he's found love with someone else. Putting aside the fact that Akira never had a real relationship with that teacher, which is one factor in how he was able to let go of that relationship, it was still his first love, which is not a feeling or situation a person ever truly forgets. And as an adult now, with the knowledge that first loves rarely become only loves, I think he's looking at Shintaro, and he's not able to overcome the fear that in 10 years, Shintaro will think of him fondly, but be with someone else.

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On the opposite side, Shintaro in a pretty hefty bit of self perception, recognizes that their age difference and that his potential immaturity could be a reason for Akira's hesitance, and so he begins a campaign to show that he can be an equal and valuable partner in their relationship. He actively makes meals, works to be a good communicator. He keeps flirting, he doesn't let Akira forget that he not only likes him as a person and cares about him, but that he's attracted to him. And while he's not subtle about it, he's also not overly pushy.

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Moving further, we get to meet Akira's parents (who were adorable) and it becomes clear that Akira is at least not openly out to them, and I'm pretty sure based on context that Akira is not out in any fashion. They inform him that they are going to be renovating the apartment building that Akira and Shintaro are currently living in, and while that's happening he can live in their house outside of town. When they find out Shintaro is living in the apartment next door, they encourage Akira to take him as well, since the renovations/rebuilding are happening at short notice, so it's the least they can do to minimize the disruption. This again causes anxiety in Akira, as he's already struggling with his emotional and physical feelings for Shintaro, and he knows things will become more difficult for him if they're in the same house and around each other even more frequently. This is kind of where I start to get a little frustrated with Akira. I do truly understand his hesitancy, but I also recognize the potential harm that the emotional distance can create. It starts dancing into self-sabotage territory. If he stays distant, Shintaro will eventually become fed up with it, will stop trying, and will move on, so it all becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

As we move into episodes 3 and 4, we see a lot more closeness and acceptance between Akira and Shintaro, specifically, when they're alone at the house, it's easier for Akira to allow more skinship when there's no chance of being seen, I think. This is confirmed when they go to a festival in town (looking absolutely precious in traditional yukatas) and have a really good time, but Akira gets nervous to be seen holding hands with Shintaro. When Akira has the concern that Shintaro might actually be ashamed to be seen with him, so he does some research and buys some new clothes. This is a positive move forward, in that it shows that Akira not only has his own ability to self-reflect, but also that he cares enough to put time and effort into being a partner Shintaro can be proud of.

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Now we're fully caught up to the episode which came out today (8/2/2023). There's a lot more work and communication that needs to be done by both of them over the next 7 episodes, but both of them do genuinely have the foundation of love and affection that make it possible. They just need to take that leap of faith.