Soft, mellow LGBTQ+ dramas that revolve around food, cooking, and coming to terms with one's identity and feelings

Though they are a bit different, both of them are "Old Man Yaoi" that includes the holy trinity : Gay people, food, and age gap

There similarities between these dramas are so many! To keep it spoiler free, I'll just stick to the basics. While Mitsuya Sensei revolves around cooking, The Novelist revolves around writing. Both explore the relationships between older men that are creative individuals (a culinary expert and a writer) and the younger men who pursue them, who gets to know them through their respective creative arts (cooking and writing). The only difference is that Mitsuya Sensei is more on the Slice of Life, soft, mellow, easy-going side of things while The Novelist is more on the emotionally heavy side with a tinge of melodrama. But the similarities really similaritied with these two!!

Both are dark, gritty portrayal of two messed up individuals in a mafia-esque setting which touches on sex work and the plight of the poor and the downtrodden. Both follows two people as they try to hold onto each other despite their circumstances trying to tear them apart.

While Double Mints is more about obsession and is a lot darker than Happy of the End, the latter is more subtle and understanding in treating its characters. Happy of the End, though portrays all the hardships and bleakness of the characters' lives, still focuses on hope, will to survive, and well, more positive stuff. Double Mints on the other hand is downright dark, tragic, and portrays violence and sexual abuse on a very disturbing scale. They are similar in certain themes, but also very different in the overall vibe.