There’s something captivating about watching rivals inside the same industry with contrasting personalities suddenly being thrown together. It’s an electrifying dynamic that’s fun to watch either fall apart or somehow work.

Adapted from the manga Ameiro Paradox by Natsume Isaku, the Japanese BL Candy Color Paradox starring Kimura Keito (Onoe Satoshi) and Yamanaka Jyutaro (Kaburagi Motoharu) makes it work. And it does it inside an industry famous for blurring the lines between right and wrong, between ethical and morally questionable.

Inside a high-stakes news world where headlines are ruled by the sensational, Onoe Satoshi dreams of changing the world with his pen. He wants to reveal truths with his writing, but he finds himself competing with a charming co-worker with the ability to capture scandalous stories on camera.

Jaded by the industry he works in, photographer Kaburagi Motoharu uses his body, money, and informants to uncover celebrity scandals. He develops quite a reputation, becoming increasingly popular at the magazine where he works.

Thrown together for a story, Onoe and Kaburagi are immediately at odds, their different styles pitting them against each other.

Or so it seems.

While Kaburagi comes across as rather emotionless and unethical, he has a subtle but evident interest in Onoe and his work, Kaburagi’s admiration and respect for his kind-hearted, naive co-worker endearing.

Having worked inside a newsroom, I found the division between using talent to ethically write truths and writing headlines for clout to be blurred realistically in Candy Color Paradox. It gives the series the edge it needs to be more than just a romantic comedy. Although Onoe and Kaburagi are rivals, they have no discernible bitterness. Instead, the tension that develops is fed by Onoe’s apparent fascination with the man he wants to dislike for stealing headlines and Kaburagi’s subtle respect for Onoe’s desire to champion truth through his writing.

There’s an evident thread of attraction between the two men that slowly but continuously builds as they chase after a story that feels as sad as it does sensational.

Moral Dilemmas are the hardest part of being a reporter. It’s interesting seeing a relationship being born from that. Finding trust, respect, and love inside a fast-paced web of blurred choices is somehow heart-rending. It’s like finding the calm inside a storm.

Kaburagi and Onoe’s attraction to each other feels like that kind of calm.

For a love story born amidst an industry known more for tearing apart love, check out Candy Color Paradox on Gagaoolala.

Rating- 4 out of 5