Boy meets girl, or girl meets girl, or boy meets boy. Boy and girl, or girl and girl, or boy and boy fall in love, overcome some bumps in the road and in the end they are happily ever after. This is, with variations, the structure of most of the portraits of love that films and television series have left us.
Although it is evident that the vision of the relationships that world cinematography has, starting with Hollywood, is, to say the least, quite limited, cinema and television have contributed decisively – just like music, novels or advertising – to shaping our expectations about life as a couple. It also leads to frustration when, as often happens, the actual experience does not correspond to those expectations.
Much has been written about the role of television series in consolidating the myths of romantic love. Experts on the subject have identified up to ten myths: that of the better half (which assumes that we all have a predestined soul mate and we will only be happy with that person), that of exclusivity (the belief that we cannot love more than one person at a time), that of free will (which ignores that there are social, biological and cultural factors that influence our choice of partner), that of fidelity (which maintains that all our romantic and erotic desires must be satisfied by a only person), that of eternal passion (which leads us to think that the enthusiasm and ardor of the beginnings of a relationship can be maintained after months or years of living together), that of marriage (according to which, true love necessarily leads to a stable and lasting), that of love that conquers everything (the idea that love always prevails and there is no problem, inside or outside the couple, that it cannot solve), that of jealousy as a sign of true love (very deep-rooted, helps to normalize possessiveness), and the power of love to change people.
And I'm not referring to when we ask for changes that affect the personality of one of the members of the couple by asking them to stop being him or her, which can generate conflicts, when we demand permutations using the pretext that they have to do it "for love".
No. I point out that the way we build our personality, our hobbies and our way of thinking is also influenced by socialization, and depending on our life history there are some people who influence us more or less. In many cases, the person we choose to walk the path of life as a couple makes us evolve to become better individuals.
This is the force behind the Japanese series 'Doku Koi Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru', from directors Maiko Ouchi, Masataka Hayashi, Tatsuya Aoki.
Based on the manga of the same name by Keisuke Makino, the series, in the romantic comedy, thriller and legal genre, follows two young people: one of them is Shiba Ryoma (Shogo Hama), a 27-year-old elite lawyer with social anxiety turned into a the youngest partner of an important law firm. Regarded as the cold and ruthless "Ice King of Law", he is valued as legal advisor to numerous important clients, and Haruto (Katsumi Hyodo), a mysterious genius con artist, talented at disguising himself as another person.
Wearing a high-end suit, Ryoma is a perfect man who never makes mistakes and holds a position as a key member of the corporate legal affairs team of a large law firm, dealing with legal disputes such as mergers, acquisitions, and inter-company resolution. His hard heart has never shown interest in anything other than his job, but one day, at a bar where the president of his advisory board takes him, he meets Haruto, a con mastermind with captivating eyes, and a connection develops snapshot.
From that moment on, both begin to live together under the same roof, since Ryoma needs the work of an assistant to help him investigate the legal processes to present in court. Both join forces to solve complex cases, using unethical methods, while developing feelings for each other.
From that moment on, both begin to live together under the same roof, since Ryoma needs the work of an assistant to help him investigate the legal processes to present in court. The two join forces to solve complex cases, using unethical methods, while developing feelings for each other.
However, as the saying goes, "If you take the poison, it will reach the plate", and Haruto's "poison" gradually seeps into Ryoma's cold and firm heart...!
Produced by TBS Drama Stream and Netflix Japan, and scripted by Kawasaki Izumi, the series describes how two completely opposite people become secret boyfriends and solve legal problems in an exciting way.
If I admire something in Japanese BL series, it is their ability to delve into the psychological complexity of people. In this case, above other considerations, 'Doku Koi Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru' presents us with two very different young people with no initial ties to each other, and the sentimental and emotional repercussions that they will have to assume when one enters life of the other. None of them will be the same again.
Both will be marked not only by their involvement in the resolution of important disputes in a court of law. And in this look inside a shared existence is how the series delves into the depth of love between two human beings so different from each other, and how their lives will change from that moment on. The interpretations live up to the demanding level of this need to show how far love can go, and to what extent it has the power to transform people, for the better.
In his first leading role in a romantic drama, Katsumi Hyodo wins audiences over as her motherless character begins to love Ryoma's sensitivity and clumsiness. His love for Ryoma, his dedication to helping him solve important and complicated legal cases, will open the doors not only to the lawyer's house. When she meets Ryoma and realizes that he is in love with him, he stops being that man who gets into trouble by being part of a gang of scammers, and fully lives that love, opens his heart and tells her story, which is also linked to that of young people and adolescents who, like him, do not have a home and have been despised by society and even excluded from their family.
Despite this being the first time he plays a lawyer in a love story where he falls in love with someone of the same sex, Shogo Hama shows talent by building a strongly tsundere character, inexperienced in love, frustrated by his inability to express the feelings he gradually develops for Haruto. Win with high marks in this new challenge as an actor.
Ryoma, his character, is a fascinating young man who takes the viewer from coldness to warmth. The lawyer is strong, determined, determined and with a strong personality that projects an image of absolute control in his life, especially before his clients and his opponents in court. However, he carries the frustration of having been betrayed by his senior and having lost, for this reason, a trial that he had won.
The construction of this character allowed Shogo Hama to display a performance full of subtleties, in which Ryoma's external coldness contrasts with the moments of introspection and the decisions he makes since Haruto enters his life.
Over time, one comes to modify the other's behavior for the better, as they fight to resolve legal cases.
What will Ryoma do when his bosses find out that his assistant is a known scammer? Will love be stronger than his dreams of being a defender of the law? What will happen when Ryoma finds out that Haruto is the son of his worst enemy? Will Haruto's love warm Ryoma's cold heart? Will Haruto leave his past behind for love?
The toxic and romantic chemistry between Shogo Hama and Katsumi Hyodo, which almost transpires across the screen from the moment they meet, is one of the keys to the success of this unconventional series between an elite lawyer and a con artist, a few years younger.
These types of stories are preferred by the Japanese viewer, so having one of those plots set in the BL universe feels like a dream.