Welcome to my Saturday blog post, where I give thoughts on dramas I’m watching, whether at the beginning, middle, or end. Whatever I want, because I’m petty that way.
This week, I started recapping The Crow Club with episodes 1-2. Our first of the four couples is very cute, and there’s a ghost. What more could you want?
I also started recapping Oops! Mysterious Sounds with episodes 1-2. I thinks it’s going to be a supernatural, mystery, college BL, but so far it’s messy college relationships. They’re fun.
In this week’s Mid-Week Update on my Patreon, I wrote about all the shows I’ve finished but haven’t reviewed, including You Summer, My Storm, why The Last Oath is torturing me, and Hold on, Harutora Kun is working for me.
Join my Patreon to get a Mid-Week drama report, as well as advance notes and rough drafts of the shows I’m recapping.
What did I watch this week?
As a fan of Many Things Gothic, the drama world is serving right now. We’ve got gothic vampires(ish) with Nour, and gothic goths with The Crow Club, and then there’s the gothic romance that is:
The Missing Piece – 请记住我的名字 – 2026
Currently airing something-isn’t-quite-right Chinese BL, I’ve watched 8 of 15 episodes.
Our Gothic Innocent is trapped in a contractual relationship with a sister-obsessed Gothic Hero, but all is not as it seems.
A million years ago, I spent a summer reading novels with women either running from or standing in front of creaky-looking manors. A lot of Victoria Holt. While there are no creaky manors, this show has just about everything else.
Our Gothic Innocent might as well be a governess to our Gothic Hero’s sister
We start in the middle of a confusing mess of circumstances with an unreliable narrator. We’re in our Gothic Innocent’s head, and while he narrates what’s going on, there are hints he may not have everything right.
He thinks he’s in a contractual relationship with our Gothic Hero for the sake of the sister. She’s engaged to the heir of a wealthy family, a man she’s loved her entire life.
A man who is also our Gothic Innocent’s ex-lover.
And whatever sister wants, sister gets. So Gothic Innocent is forced into a relationship with the Gothic Hero to keep everything a secret from the sister. The sister is a spoiled but sweet young woman who wants to befriend her older brother’s boyfriend. She has no idea about anything.
But our Gothic Innocent has his own reasons for going along with this, even if his feelings about the Gothic Hero are VERY conflicted. He seems to hate the Gothic Hero for putting him in this situation, while also wishing the fake relationship were real. He’s somehow both pathetic and strong.
Also, why do his memories sometimes seem… wrong?
As for the Gothic Hero. Well, he’s a Gothic Hero. What he’s doing and why are part of the big mystery.
It’s confusing, silly, and overdramatic, just how it should be
This isn’t a sweet school BL where the main issue is passing the exam and bottoms with low self-esteem. Gothic Romances are basically the extra dark chocolate of the Soap Opera World. It’s the kind of show where I WANT to see a lot of crying, fighting, and tragically wrong decisions.
And it’s fun to watch something on this scale while also watching things with much smaller stakes.
If you’re in the mood for something with bigger highs and lower lows that is going to really drag you through it along with the heroes, give this a try.
And now for something completely different. A final review of:
Duty First, Kiss Later – キスは捜査のあとで – 2026
Currently airing police age-gap Japanese BL with 10 episodes.
An easygoing older cop is at odds with a stern, serious young cop, until the younger cop reveals his true feelings and gay panic ensues.
This was fun and kind of different, with two grown adults with jobs grappling with new feelings and a new relationship. It falters in the second half, partially because of the source material, but doesn’t ruin itself.
The pleasure of this show is in the characters, particularly our Older Cop
He starts as one of those too eager people-pleasers. The kind of person who gets along with everyone and wants to help everyone. On some level, a pretty ideal cop.
The problem is he doesn’t just want everyone to be happy. He also wants everyone to like him.
Our Younger Cop finds this people-pleasing both annoying and attractive. In part, because he wants the older cop to take things more seriously. In part because he’s totally in love with the oblivious older man.
The actors do a great job of bringing these opposites to life. Our Older Cop can be charming, annoying, panicked, insecure, excited, and frightened by his own feelings. He’s totally believable as your friendly, neighborhood cop AND someone going through something of a rebirth at an older age.
The Younger Cop is mature and stern, but not immune to feelings and growth either. He tends to have the bigger, more dramatic reactions and then has to sit with his feelings and calm down.
Seeing them grow closer and evolve together was the best part of the show.
The problem is the “Kiss” and “Later”
This is one of those Japanese shows with rare kissing and little intimacy, even of the casual kind. While I think there are cultural reasons and broadcasting rules involved, it’s a little unsatisfying.
This bothers me less in a show about High School students, but the leads here are adults. Also, the shows with High School students I’ve been watching have more physical closeness than our two guys here, even without kissing.
And this show even has “kiss” in the title!
The other issue is that, towards the very end, it decides that it really IS going to be a COP SHOW. While earlier episodes had small-scale, community policing, small stuff in it, suddenly we get something bigger and more dramatic.
It’s following the manga (which is not translated into English yet). And for me, it didn’t work in the manga either. While it tied into their growth as people and as a couple, the tone doesn’t fit the rest of the show. The characters get lost in the last-minute, underdeveloped police dramatics.
I wish both the manga and the drama had stayed with the more grounded, day-to-day feeling police work and not tried to go so BIG.
But it’s not a show I wouldn’t watch again
I’d say that easily 75-80% of it is a satisfying watch. In particular, the Older Cop grappling with his feelings and the emotional places it takes him made it worth it.
I think if you’re interested in a show with more mature characters and go in with low expectations of intimacy and the ending, you could enjoy it too.
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