I've always had kind of a love hate relationship with Chinese historical BLs. Some are genuinely excellent, but then there are others that cram in so much plot that keeping track of all the layers of betrayal and scheming gets exhausting, and I end up checking out mentally. Part of the issue is also just how much content is out there in this space, so something really has to stand out to keep me hooked. In this case, the production value is genuinely impressive, top tier stuff, but story wise, I just couldn't bring myself to actually care about these characters. There's a ton of political scheming and backstage manipulation running throughout. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a hostage ends up falling for his own Prince Charming. The show runs eight episodes, each around 50 to 60 minutes long. After spending three years guarding the border, Fifth Prince Yin Qi gets called back to the capital because of a secret letter, only to end up walking straight into a deadly...
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)
Comments
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.