Minato Shouji Coin Laundry (2022)

Forcing yourself onto someone to make them love you? Protip! Don't.

If I could, I wouldn't give this series any at all stars in terms of the plot. So don't let the one star fool you—I personally find this series atrocious. If you don't agree, that's your opinion, and this is mine.

I started watching this mostly for the cast, and I thought the premise seemed cute. But in the very first episode, I realised that I probably wasn't going to like this series. I do tend to give shows three episodes, though, to see if they improve before I can allow myself to drop it. This one didn't even after four episodes.

To start off, Shin has a very unhealthy crush on Akira and he's incredibly possessive, jealous, and even controlling- and he's just a high schooler. In Japan, people tend to have respect for their elders, even if they aren't *elders* but still older than them. Shin has no such respect for Akira and his boundaries and privacy, all he seems to care about is that he gets to start dating Akira, who does NOT want the same thing. And Akira has time and time again told him that it isn't happening because of their age difference, among other reasons. Despite this, Shin doesn't give up. Is that romantic? Some people seem to think it is, that Shin has a cute and even admirable determination. I completely disagree. Take a no for an answer, there are terms for that kind of behaviour especially when it gets into sexual territory. Do I doubt that Shin could go that far? I don't, and that's the issue with his entire character. Shin forces himself onto Akira several times, trying to kiss Akira despite having been told many times that Akira doesn't want to kiss Shin. How is that seen as romantic in any way whatsoever? I don't get it.

This is why I'm dropping Minato Shouji Coin Laundry. Coercion is not romantic, it's not attractive, and it's not a good premise for a TV show.

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Wholesome...

While Minato-san is often annoying to watch and scared of his feelings, the story is a wholesome one with some scenes which are bringing tears to your eyes or very fluffy feelings. For western cultures this seems a bit silly, but I guess in Japan this is more reality for denying yourself for whatever reasons and even just being gay is still hard. Also the "side couple" brings lot of enjoyments with an adult who is social akward by any standards which brings its own dynamic with his young would be lover.

I won't spoil anything, so I'm just saying, they did a great job bringing this series to life. I hope after Season 2 there will be another one :)

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It's really enjoyable overall, except for some parts

I really like it for the 1st 7 episodes or so and it just dropped....I mainly love how fluffy and cute they are at beginning, esp when they are bickering and teasing each other. I especially love Shin's attitude. He seems to be way more mature than Minato despite the age gap!

I'm glad eventually Minato sort things out and it all work out, but the drag makes me feel a bit frustrated at some point, honestly. I continued watching bcoz I wanna know the ending, which luckily didn't disappoint

I'll still say its worth the watch overall. I was really really happy for most part, just a bit draggy towards the end, which actually is so common in many dramas. Or maybe, im just impatient lol

Oh, I love the music, its so cute that I didn't skip the intro and actually enjoy watching. I also love the setting where we keep seeing ocean, makes me feel like im healing too. Makes me wonder how it feels like to stay in a town like that where the beach is clean. not overly commercialized, just locals hanging out, like big communal family. Must have been nice

Shuuu sensei is so cute!! Thats a brownie point as to why I keep on watching too

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regarding the adaptation

I was very interested in watching this, as I am a big fan of the original manga, and was curious on how they'll adapt a story that had 3 volumes when the show first aired. My guess was that they would either stretch the plot out or expand the story, and they went with the ladder, which can sometimes lead to the adaptation straying too much from the source material, or in this case, risking the possibility to include any future material in sequel seasons.
While I haven't watched the second season yet, the first one managed to blend the original pieces and side stories wonderfully with the main plot, expanding the overall universe and characters in a way that doesn't ruin the story, but makes the fans of the manga feel like they received bunus content (if that makes sense).
What also helped the show keep that "Minato Shoji" feeling was the main cast's ability to perfectly portray our lead characters, as well as the editing and music that kept the summer nonchalant, slow life type of vibes.
Can't wait to watch season 2!!!

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This is going to make your heart flutter

This is cute and filled with a lot of emotions, with each episode they touch on topics of heartbreak, love, jealousy, self-love, friendship, and family, Now, I would recommend watching if you're looking for a Japanese bl that has that soft melodrama romance with some funny scenes in between filled with all sorts of emotions with a teen and an adult at the center of it all.

The age cap is alright and pretty much valid from Minato's perspective, for reasons I will explain:
Majority of the show (mostly in the beginning cause this is still ongoing) Minato is very reluctant to show any emotions towards Shin regardless of how he feels when he's with him. Minato is more mature and an adult, who's outgrown his teens and is going through that self-acceptance stage in his life after overcoming his past. He's well aware that his actions will have repercussions he'll have to face and live with for the rest of his life and as such he is very cautious with the choices he makes.

(Take my word for it your going to fall in love with Shin's death stare) Shin is super charming yet aggressive at times and somewhat overly protective with his love for Minato-San. I do think Shin will at least wait another year before anything too serious he's still a high schooler after all. Minato-san is not overly dramatic but has super high gay panic with Shin that will make you smile at your computer screen like crazy.

The storyline is short and cute with sad moments here and there. We get to see both Shin and Minato's stories and Minato-san's past with his sensei. Shin's friendship with Asuka is super adorable and their bickering is not overbearing it's cute. Asuka is so precious we also get to see his side story too.

I think you should give it a watch, it's going to make your heart flutter, and who knows this might be the cutest Japanese bl you watch this year.

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Unexpectantly nice

When I first read the description for the series, I wasn’t sure what to think of it. I don’t enjoy minor–adult romance stories and was expecting a series following this kind of narrative. And oh boy, I am so glad Minato Shouji Coin Laundry didn’t turn out to be like this! Instead of a weird age-gap, adult-falling-for-minor-though-he isn’t-supposed-to story, we got an adorable series.

Things I liked:

- What I probably liked the most, is that Akira never made a move on Shin before he turned 18. This is a huge deal to me since many series don’t seem to care about legal dating ages in their storylines. It is a huge part of their love story, as Shin feels mature enough to date the 10 years older Akira, who on the other hand did fall for the younger but keeps to his morals of not dating a minor.

- The intro video. A very sweet and cute, simple one that fits perfectly for the story.

- Homophobia is not displayed in this one. Holy shit I love this so much. As a member of the lgbtqia+ community seeing the characters just being able to love whatever gender they want without experiencing hatred is so amazing. The arrival of the ex-girlfriend kind of made me worry about possible homophobia happening, I’m so glad it didn’t go down this road. And though insults never happen, the directors decided to keep the inner conflicts of the characters (e.g., Akira being worried about his former classmates finding out he is gay), which is awesome. Love this.

- The main- and subplot. Both plots are good(one more than the other though), as they all connect and don’t add unnecessary characters. Let’s talk about the Akira and Sakuma-Sensei plot first. When Akira was still a student he fell madly in love with Sakuma-Sensei and even confessed to him on his last day of school. After 10 years of not seeing his former teacher, Akira thought he had overcome his feelings and moved on. But then Sakuma returns to teach, and Akira realizes he still has feelings for him. Tough this messes with Shin’s plans of pursuing Akira, he starts to root for the two, wishing his crush a happy life. Long story short, after nervously avoiding Sakuma for some time, Akira decides to finally tell him that he still likes him but is turned down. Not long after Akira realizes his feelings for Shin. You can feel the inner conflict that Akira has and feel for him since Sakuma is a likable character and lovely person. Also, seeing Shin heartbrokenly rooting for his crush warmed my heart because it shows that he is trying to mature as a person, so he can have a chance with Akira.
The subplot is about Shin's best friend Asuka and his sister Sakurako both falling for Hiiragi, an architect. Sakurako and Asuka have already become good friends when Asuka finds out about her crush on Hiiragi. He doesn’t interfere much with it, as he knows that Hiiragi will reject the girl. The architect and the student share a past as friends, so he hopes that Hiiragi will choose him as his lover. This subplot works well, I enjoyed the scenes with Sakurako and Asuka bonding as friends.

Things I didn’t like:

- This might be an unpopular opinion, but Akira’s character being all immature and goofy was a bit draining, especially when he said himself, that he wanted to be more responsible. At some point his behavior just got annoying.

- Unhealthy start of a relationship. In the earlier episodes it seemed like Shin wasn’t all that much into Akira, but more into the idea of being in a relationship. Later this of course gets explained, still, the first episodes felt weird because of that.

- The inclusion of Akira’s ex-girlfriend wasn’t necessary in my opinion. It was nice to learn about his life before the laundry store, but it didn’t contribute to the series. The ex-GF felt like a character that was only there for explaining some stuff and throwing in unnecessary clichés to make Shin feel intimidated and jealous.

- Shin leaving in the 11th episode felt forced to me as if they felt like they had to throw in another cliché, just for the sake of having one.

- Shin's personality at some points in the series (not all the time!). Oh my god, if he doesn't want to kiss you, take a goddamn hint. Akira always acted reluctant to perform skin-ship with Shin which I, as said before, loved. The counterpart to that is that Shin always seemed to force himself onto Akira, trying to make him uncomfortable BEFORE becoming an adult(!!!). Didn't like that at all.


To sum up, I did enjoy watching it, it’s very sweet and wholesome (The scene when they held hands in bed>>>). Though I wish I would’ve watched it once all the episodes were released because waiting made me forget some stuff about the previous episodes. Not really rewatchable IMO, but lovely for a one-time-experience.

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Heart-Fluttering Moments Ahead in this

I'm not lying when I tell you that this series has made my heart flutter several times within these first 2 eps. And that rarely happens. The acting and dialogue at the most significant parts catch me off guard in the best way possible, just like they do for Minato!!!

Something else I find very charming and unique is the heart-warming moments from Minato interacting with the older adults and everyone else in the town. It's common for BLs to forget that their characters are real people who interact with and live lives that don't solely revolve around their love interest,😭 so this smaller detail is really refreshing. And the story has already progressed so much in only 2 eps that I feel like I've watched an entire season - no need to worry about being bored or feeling like no progress is being made! The only negative I can see is that Shintaro (the love interest) is a minor (17 yr), but I'm hoping the series handles that aspect well.

Overall, I'd recommend this Japanese BL to anyone looking for something youthful, light-hearted, funny, calm, and slice-of-life.

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A shame

It's a lovely drama. I binge watched all 4 episodes in one night. You don't even realize there aren't anymore episodes left because it's so heart fluttering. I can feel that episode 5 and the next next few ones are gonna be rather emotional. I got goosebumps by the end of episode 4. I could really sense Minatos feeling and how much of a weight he must have been going around with.

Its such a shame that people only pay attention to their age gap. 10 years really isn't anything and it wouldn't matter either way if they both want it. Minato also scolded himself for finding a minor attractive. The Series doesn't make the relationship between a minor and an adult look normal. They don't romantice it. Obviously they know what they're doing.

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I had to drop this, one episode was enough.

I know that a lot of people love this show but I simply can't get over the fact that an adult (who's nearly 30) is into someone who's still in high school.

I know that this is not reality, it's only series, but I have met way too many creepy men when I was a teen, I have heard way too many real life grooming stories. I find this concept creepy and disturbing. As someone mentioned to me, there might be a time skip but I'll still know that almost a 30 year old man used to like a teen who's below 18... there are way too many real life people who are only counting down the days for someone to become legal. Maybe to teen viewers such concept can still be cute. Because I know that I had celebrity crushes as a teen, and those celebs were +10, 15 years older than me. But as an adult I think it's disturbing when an adult goes after teens.

I don't know if the older love interest acts creepy, like I said I dropped the show because I simply would not be able to enjoy the show because of teen-adult love interest concept.
I don't judge anyone who likes this show, because like I said it's not the reality. Some people just want to watch cute guys and fluffy scenes. But I do judge everyone who's in their late 20's or 30's (and older) and finds teens attractive. Or the ones that romanticize teen-adult relationships.

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