Fudanshi Bartender no Tashinami (2022)

High level male BL fan shows his powerlevel

First of all a thanks to the fansubber Furritsu for doing English translation.

Story:
Not a BL but also has enough content to keep a BL fan very happy if you can manage to get over the super weird male lead. A male BL otaku (a fudanshi) works as a bartender. Here he ships his male customers and really any guys near him into pairs in his fantasy while he prepares their drinks. Meanwhile his co-workers kinda watch the insanity unfold. The bartender is commited to getting every guy into a couple in his fantasy so he can make new BL content at home. So different guys enter the bar and different fantasy stories unfold based on what they say. It's a super short story too so if that sounds interesting to you then definitely check it out!

Acting/Cast:
The ability of the actors to not laugh during the situations is next level. The main guy also acts like one of the most odd characters I've seen and I watch jdramas so that limits high at this point. He's super neutral until BL situations happen in which case he'll go wild. Also the BL fantasy scenes were nicely acted as well, I got invested in some of them lol.

Music:
Pretty calm music. Jazz stuff and all that, very fitting to the bar location where almost the entire drama takes place.

Rewatch value:
As a BL fan I could definitely rewatch this show a bunch to see the BL fantasy scenes again. One of them looked super pretty too. But I can imagine that for non-BL fans there's less reason to rewatch.

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Love Letter + Parody = Perfection

As a love letter to and a parody of yaoi (and fudanshis), this two-part series adds up to perfection.

The story was hilarious, and like any good parody, poked fun at itself. Bartender Hibiki is a ridiculous and exaggerated BL fan, which he is aware of, just as he is aware of his exceptional mixology skills. His obsession with the perfect "ships" for the two other guy bartenders, as well as his fantasies about the male customers, is quite comical - and rings a bit true, at least to me. I, too, can find myself daydreaming about the perfect BL ships and story lines. (I just wish I could make a perfect kir at the same time I was daydreaming...) It is parody with affection and a love letter to the BL art form.

The acting is superb. All the characters nailed the humor. My personal favorite is Bartender Hokuto. She had some of the funniest scenes and lines (besides Hibiki).

I would re-watch it without hesitation. It makes for a great, rollicking time. Sort of reminds me of South Korean parody The Boy Next Door in terms of sheer hilarity.

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