A Revry original, Unconventional is a really well-liked queer dramedy that feels totally different from the usual stuff. The heart of the story is about two pretty eccentric queer siblings and their partners trying to build a family that doesn't follow the traditional rules. It takes a super raw and unfiltered look at queer life, diving deep into things like mental health, addiction, and how complicated identity and relationships can get. It’s not afraid to get messy or show people at their most vulnerable, and it really pushes boundaries while showing a lot of different queer experiences. The first season has nine episodes, and each one is about a half-hour long. The story centers on Noah, a grad student who’s been struggling for years to wrap up his PhD. He’s been with his husband, Dan, for nine years, and they’ve recently gotten married and moved to Palm Springs. While they're trying to figure out how to start a family and have a baby, they decide to shake things up by in...
The plot is simple. Hibiki works as a bartender and is a secretly obsessed fundashi (boys who enjoy romantic or sexual relationship between two men), who likes to draw BL, watch anime etc. But at work he pretends to be your regular run-of-the mill guy. While working, he loves to day dream about real life people in front of him in various BL scenarios. When the first two customers arrive, he has funny day dreams about them. Hibiki’s overactive imagination often misconstrues their innocuous interactions as romantic connections. He gets overexcited about his fantasies, often lost in his own world. This continues when his older boss' male friend comes to meet him. When a young bartender joins at work, he even dreams of shipping them with two separate customers, till he feels maybe those two are better with each other.
The humor in this funny outlandish comedy comes mostly from the lead man's hysterical reactions to his own imaginations. He has this relentless enthusiasm and almost every scene is silly and energetic. The jokes may not be the best but the lead's reactions and excitement cover up for everything. He captures the suaveness of a bartender and combines it with the giddiness of a fudanshi. The actor is just too good. The other actors playing his colleague are decent in their. part but the focus is so much on Hibiki and rightly so, that you barely have even time to notice anyone else. Don't expect too much of actual romance happening here, since all the scenarios actually happen in Hibiki's imagination. Despite no plot development, character growth, or meaningful progress; the show still worked as a collective of gag humour, mainly because of the amazing acting by the lead. An interesting thing was also that all his BL scenarios were normally based on the drinks that he would make and the story behind that would also add to the humor.
Those who love silly comedies may respond well to the offbeat humour in Fudanshi Bartender. It parodies BL tropes cheekily with outrageous scenarios, wacky characters, and over-the-top fantasies. I quiet enjoyed it for what it is and if you wanna have a good laugh and watch something silly, I would definitely recommend this. (6.5/10)
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PS : do you think the owner can actually see something with his hair???
And I agree. I am glad it was only 2 episodes. Any longer would have diluted the silliness and fun of the show.