The lost-in-love laundromat owner Minato Akira (Kusakaw Takuya), and his besotted younger boyfriend, Katsuki Shintaro (Nishigaki Sho), are back in the second season of Minato’s Laundromat (Minato Shouji Coin Laundry).

Adapted from the manga of the same name by Tsubaki Yuzu, the first season of this Japanese BL was a nostalgic push-and-pull romance that took the overworked Minato from the city back to his hometown. Taking over his grandfather’s laundromat brought Minato face-to-face with a young man with a lifelong unrequited crush on him. Unable to forget Minato since he saved him as a child, Shintaro finally succeeds in entering a relationship with him.

The second season’s first two episodes focus primarily on the same push-and-pull energy that first brought Minato and Shintaro together. Despite their current relationship, Minato hesitates to dive into the intimacy he and Shintaro crave, further exacerbated by their age difference and Shintaro’s growing frustrations over Minato’s lack of communication.

One of my favorite things about the first season is how it presents two different generations and how they react to entering a same-sex relationship. The same goes for the second season. While it’s frustrating to see the communication issues and the wall it creates, it’s interesting to see how each now reacts to being a couple.

It’s easy to see the divide between how Minato and Shintaro approach their relationship. Shintaro is young, open, and ready to take on the world, a clear representation of a generation that feels less afraid of the reactions of the people around him. He is also fortunate enough to have the support of his family and friends.

On the other hand, Minato is shy, private, and hesitant about each decision he makes, a clear representation of the closeted past he’s still working to walk away from. While the age difference between them is part of the hesitation, the majority of it is being in a same-sex relationship for the first time, one Minato covets while also being hesitant to display openly. It isn’t easy to shake off thirty years of self-repression.

However, while I like how the series portrays the divide between them, there also comes a point where the divide can become too big to repair. I can understand the initial hesitation in the first two episodes, even after how the first season ended, but I hope the push and pull is resolved much quicker than in the first season. Otherwise, it will become less about the divide they need to overcome and more about the growth they seem unable to find.

Here’s hoping Shintaro’s patience is enough to bridge that divide. It’s beautiful how he works to understand Minato’s worries and how he tries to ease those worries while also communicating his own needs (i.e. the permission letter from his mother and the written wishes).

For an age-gap romance that explores the difficulties of a first-time relationship while trying to hold onto its humor, check out Minato’s Laundromat 2 now on Gagaoolala.

Rating- 3 out of 5