Ossan's Love (Japanese: おっさんずラブ, Hepburn: Ossan zu Rabu, lit. 'Middle Aged Man's Love') is a Japanese television drama produced by TV Asahi. The series follows Soichi Haruta, a romantically unsuccessful office worker whose male boss and roommate confess their romantic feelings for him. Noted as one of the first Japanese television dramas in the boys' love (male-male romance) genre, Ossan's Love was initially released as a single-episode television special in 2016, which was adapted into a seven-episode television series in 2018. A feature film sequel to the television series, Ossan's Love: Love or Dead, was released in 2019; a second season of the television series titled Ossan's Love: In the Sky aired that same year.
| Ossan's Love | |
|---|---|
 Promotional image for season 1 | |
| Japanese | おっさんずラブ |
| Genre | Comedy, BL |
| Written by | Koji Tokuo |
| Starring |
|
| Ending theme |
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| Country of origin | Japan |
| Original language | Japanese |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| Original release | |
| Network | TV Asahi |
| Release | December 30, 2016 – December 21, 2019 |
A new season aired on January 5, 2024, with Tanaka, Yoshida, and Hayashi reprising their roles.
Synopsis
Soichi Haruta, a single 33-year-old man, has been unsuccessful in getting a girlfriend. One day, he discovers his boss, Kurosawa, secretly collects images of him and learns that Kurosawa is deeply in love with him. Unsettled by Kurosawa's bold confession and romantic pursuits, Haruta seeks advice from his friends, discovering in the process that his male co-worker is also in love with him. Caught in a love triangle, Haruta navigates through his feelings for his two love interests.
Cast and characters
- Soichi Haruta (春田 創一, Haruta Sōichi)
- Portrayed by: Kei Tanaka
- Musashi Kurosawa (黒澤 武蔵, Kurosawa Musashi)
- Portrayed by: Kōtarō Yoshida
- Kurosawa is the manager of Haruta's department and is in love with him.
- Ryota Maki (牧 凌太, Maki Ryōta)
- Portrayed by: Kento Hayashi
- Maki is Haruta's 25-year-old roommate who works in the same company under the design department. He is in love with Haruta and becomes protective after discovering Kurosawa is in love with him. In the original 2016 television special, the character was named Yukiya Hasegawa (長谷川 幸也, Hasegawa Yukiya) and was portrayed by Motoki Ochiai.
Production
Ossan's Love was inspired by producer Sari Kijima's experience of being looked after by a female friend while in college, and her desire to explore the subject of romantic relationships between co-workers.[1] Scriptwriter Koji Tokuo noted that rather than writing the series as a moe love affair between men, he instead framed it as a romantic drama that merely features men instead of a male-female couple; consequently, Ossan's Love specifically avoids depictions of homophobia or other LGBT-related issues.[2] While Ossan's Love is an original work, Tokuo has noted both shōnen and shōjo manga as among its influences, particularly Marmalade Boy.[2] The series was heavily marketed through social media; "Musashi's Room", an Instagram account featuring in-character posts from Musashi Kurosawa, became widely popular and gained more followers than the series' official account.[3][4]
Ossan's Love was first broadcast as an hour-long television special on December 30, 2016, as the third part of TV Asahi's "Year-end Strange Love Drama" (年の瀬 変愛ドラマ) series.[5] The program starred Kei Tanaka as Soichi Haruta, Kōtarō Yoshida as Musashi Kurosawa, Motoki Ochiai as Yukiya Hasegawa, and Sae Miyazawa as Asuka Minato. Following positive response from the special, TV Asahi created a 7-episode television series based on the original television special, which was broadcast in 2018.[5] The 2018 series appeared on TV Asahi's Doyō Night Drama (土曜ナイトドラマ, lit. "Saturday Night Drama") programming block. Tanaka and Yoshida reprised their roles, while Kento Hayashi and Rio Uchida replaced Ochiai and Miyazawa, including characters that were in their original roles.[6]
On January 22, 2019, TV Asahi announced that it would produce a second season of Ossan's Love for release in 2019. The second season, Ossan's Love: In the Sky, is a re-imagining of the series that retains Haruta and Kurosawa's characters, as well as the love triangle plot, but is set in an airport and is not connected to the first season's narrative.[7]
Episodes
Television special (2016)
| No. | Title | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Special | "Ossan's Love" Transliteration: "Ossanzu Rabu" (Japanese: おっさんずラブ) | Tōichirō Rutō | December 30, 2016 | |
Soichi Haruta, a single 33-year-old salaryman working at a real-estate office, discovers photos of him secretly taken by his boss, Musashi Kurosawa, to which the latter admits he has been in love. Haruta confides in his friends but discovers that his co-worker and roommate, Yukiya Hasegawa, is also in love with him. Haruta is unsettled by both their romantic pursuits, and after an altercation at the company's Christmas party, he eventually rejects them both. However, during a night out with Asuka, his childhood friend, he realizes his feelings for Hasegawa and later confesses to him. | ||||
Season 1 (2018)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original air date | Japan viewership rating [6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Open the Door!" | Tōichirō Rutō | April 21, 2018 | 2.9% |
| 2 | 2 | "Stop Fighting" Transliteration: "Kenka o Yamete" (Japanese: けんかをやめて) | Daisuke Yamamoto | April 28, 2018 | 4.2% |
| 3 | 3 | "Your Name" Transliteration: "Kimi no Na wa" (Japanese: 君の名は。) | Yuki Saito | October 23, 2018 | 3.8% |
| 4 | 4 | "The Third Man" Transliteration: "Dai-san no Otoko" (Japanese: 第三の男) | Tōichirō Rutō | May 12, 2018 | 3.5% |
| 5 | 5 | "Can You "Coming Out"?" | Daisuke Yamamoto | May 19, 2018 | 3.9% |
| 6 | 6 | "Musuko-san o Boku ni Kudasai!" Transliteration: "Please Let Me Take Care of Your Son!" (Japanese: 息子さんを僕にください!) | Yuki Saito | May 28, 2018 | 3.9% |
| 7 | 7 | "Happy Happy Wedding!?" | Tōichirō Rutō | June 2, 2018 | 5.7% |
Season 2: In the Sky (2019)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original air date | Japan viewership rating [8] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1 | "Attention Please" Transliteration: "Atenshon Purīzu" (Japanese: アテンションプリーズ) | Tōichirō Rutō | November 2, 2019 | 5.8% |
| 9 | 2 | "To Avoid Love in the Middle of the Airport" Transliteration: "Kūkō no Chūshin de Ai o Sakebu" (Japanese: 空港の中心で愛をさけぶ) | Daisuke Yamamoto | November 9, 2019 | 4.7% |
| 10 | 3 | "Endless Rain" | Yuki Saito | November 16, 2019 | 3.5% |
| 11 | 4 | "We Can't Ever Hate Each Other" Transliteration: "Kirai ni Narenai Watashi-tachi" (Japanese: 嫌いになれない私たち) | Tōichirō Rutō | November 23, 2019 | 4.6% |
| 12 | 5 | "Am I Not Good Enough?" Transliteration: "Ore ja Dame ka" (Japanese: 俺じゃダメか) | Daisuke Yamamoto | November 30, 2019 | 4.3% |
| 13 | 6 | "Seven Days with You" Transliteration: "Ore to Omae no Nanokakan" (Japanese: 俺とお前の七日間) | Yuki Saito | December 7, 2019 | 4.2% |
| 14 | 7 | "And Then Someone was Gone" Transliteration: "Soshite Dare mo Inakunatta" (Japanese: そして誰もいなくなった) | Yuki Saito | December 14, 2019 | 4.3% |
| 15 | 8 | "Merry Christmas from the Heavens" Transliteration: "Tenkū no Merī Kurisumasu" (Japanese: 天空のメリークリスマス) | Tōichirō Rutō | December 21, 2019 | 5.1% |
Other media
Film
A film sequel to season 1 of the television drama, Ossan's Love: Love or Dead, was released in theaters nationwide on August 23, 2019. In its opening weekend the film sold 239,000 tickets, for a box office gross of ¥343 million.[9] The film grossed a total of ¥2.65 billion, making it the twelfth highest-grossing Japanese film released in 2019.[10] Several cheer screenings were held throughout the theatrical run.[11]
Manga
A manga adaptation of Ossan's Love illustrated by Umebachi Yamanaka was serialized in the manga magazine Be Love from 2018 to 2020.[12] The series was collected into four tankōbon volumes published by Kodansha:
| No. | Release date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 13, 2019[13] | 978-4-06-515273-7 |
| 2 | August 8, 2019[14] | 978-4-06-516772-4 |
| 3 | November 3, 2019[15] | 978-4-06-516772-4 |
| 4 | March 13, 2020[16] | 978-4-06-518929-0 |
Remake
A Cantonese-language remake of the first season produced in Hong Kong was first announced in February 2021. The remake stars Mirror members Edan Lui and Anson Lo, as well as Kenny Wong. It was later broadcast in Hong Kong on ViuTV beginning June 28, 2021. Episodes 7 to 15 had new content that was not present in the original Japanese version.[17]
Reception
Critical reception
Ossan's Love was credited as one of the series that brought interest to the boys' love genre to mainstream audiences outside of anime and manga fans,[18][19] and was praised in Japan and Hong Kong for its positive portrayal of same-sex couples.[19] The series' popularity is noted as influencing the production of live-action television dramas and films featuring male-male romance, such as Pornographer (2018) on Fuji TV, What Did You Eat Yesterday? (2019) on TV Tokyo, and Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! (2020) on TV Tokyo, and the live-action film adaptation of The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (2020).[20] James Marsh from the South China Morning Post gave Ossan's Love: Love or Dead a score of 3 out of 5 stars.[19]
The official guidebook for the first season sold 100,000 physical copies within its first week of sales.[21] During its second week of sales, it sold an additional 56,000 physical copies and became the best-selling official guidebook for a television drama since the 2011 television series Ikemen desu ne.[22]
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Confidence Award Drama Prize | Best Drama | Ossan's Love | Won | [23] |
| Best Supporting Actor | Kōtarō Yoshida | Won | [23] | ||
| Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix | Best Series | Ossan's Love | Nominated | [24] | |
| Best Actor | Kei Tanaka | Nominated | [24] | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Kento Hayashi | Won | [24] | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Rio Uchida | Won | [24] | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Nene Otsuka | Nominated | [24] | ||
| Television Drama Academy Awards | Best Series | Ossan's Love | Won | [25] | |
| Best Actor | Kei Tanaka | Won | [25] | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Kōtarō Yoshida | Won | [25] | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Kento Hayashi | Nominated | [25] | ||
| Best Screenplay | Koji Tokuo | Won | [25] | ||
| Best Director | Toichiro Ruto, Daisuke Yamamoto, Yuki Saito | Won | [25] | ||
| Special Award | "Musashi's Room" (tie-in Instagram account) | Won | [25] | ||
| Tokyo Drama Awards | Grand Prix | Ossan's Love | Won | [26] | |
| Best Actor | Kei Tanaka | Won | [26] | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Kōtarō Yoshida | Won | [26] | ||
| 2019 | Confidence Award Drama Prize | Grand Prize | Ossan's Love | Won | [27] |
| Elan d'or Awards | New Face Award | Kei Tanaka | Won | [28] | |
| Producer Award Encouragement Award | Yumiko Miwa, Sayuri Kijima, Yuki Jinba, Chizuko Matsuno | Won | [28] | ||
| Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix (Spring Drama) | Best Series | Ossan's Love | Won | [29] | |
| Best Actor | Kei Tanaka | Won | [30] | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Kento Hayashi | Won | [31] | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Rio Uchida | Won | [32] |