To be sure, this story is a lot more of the same. A few more BL tropey ‘flags’ that trigger Bl developments were introduced that Mob (Inukai Atsuhiro) wiggles out from with seemingly little enthusiasm or creativity to them. Just like he did in all the other seasons. This time, honestly, I did not find any of it even funny or humorous. It felt old and came across as the usual modus operandi. Even his parents seemed relegated to a more tertiary role. And his brother was, well, just his brother. It was all more-of-the-same. Everyone looked – tired and ready to move on.

While this franchise started out on an innovative note, it ended in a bromidic tone. It got stale, redundant and formulaic. However, its worst sin is its travesty became unfunny because none of it was visionary anymore. The format, style, and execution had been done ad nauseam previously, so the expectations were the same. It also became rather evident from a physical standpoint that the actors were getting too ‘old’ to play young college students or high school students. Some of them are now in their 30s. They looked too spurious and heavily made-up.

What I had a significant issue with was why. Why did Mob fight so hard to be involved against falling into the trappings of the ‘flags’ of BL development? I thought we would get an answer. Would it not have been easy to have simply stated that he is straight and is not interested in developing a relationship with a male? I could never figure out if Mob was straight and if so, was he terrified that if he fell for one of the flags, he would then turn gay; or he was in fact gay and just did not want to be in a relationship; or he simply wanted to be able to pick his own partner? Is any of that important or even relevant especially since in essence this is nothing more than a parody? Perhaps not, but the ending forced us to ask those questions. It lost its humor a long time ago and the parody mechanisms became overused, and so I could not figure what the series objective was? Mob never appeared to be happy and was constantly battling to stay out of a relationship. That did not look like a fun way to live.

In all sincerity, I do hope this is the final chapter in this anthology. While I had a great affinity for Seasons One and Two, Season Three was a bit of a let-down and this current season pretty much hit rock-bottom for me. It is a snooze fest and boring. I believe every trope, cliché, set-up, and stereotypical metaphor gay encounter one could think of had now been exhausted. Sure, I know this is satire, but I barely cracked a smile and never once laughed. There is nothing new here and nothing creative was introduced except at the very, very end when Mob finally finds love. I will not spoil it for you, whether it is his long-time bromance interest, Kikuchi (Ito Asahi) or the younger and ever eager and starry-eyed Hatano (Ryo Sekoguchi). Whoever you are thinking it is, do not expect fireworks or explosions. It all concludes in a bit of a whimper with an ever so slight hint that maybe this is still not the end. I groaned. I had hoped this was finally the end to this insipid series. I found this last installment anticlimactic, mundane, and banal. Now the concept of living in a world of BL seems more like a living hell rather than heaven.

Honestly, it was all the minor characters who played their roles with tongue-in-cheek creativity in flippant and glib demeanor that gave us a sensation we were watching life in a bizarre BL world. All the ‘flag’ characters were simply spot-on, and we knew they were comic-book characters or caricatures like the recurring supporting casts. They gave this last season a greater sense of fun and returned it to the parody it was supposed to be. Kudos to all those guys who made gay love look cute.

I do hope this franchise has ended for good. And I certainly did not have a fun time watching this overused theme get stale and boring.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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