Ossan no Pants ga Nandatte Ii Janai ka! (2024)

Who knew sexualities could be likened to old men's underwear?

I have to be honest, I started this show entirely because I knew Sota was playing a gay character, and the moment I found out he had a love interest, I picked the manga up right away. The manga impressed me so much already, I started to all the more look forward to the drama, and least to say, it didn't let me down.

The drama centers around Makoto-san, who's your usual old-fashioned old man. To add on to the synopsis, he's nearly ostracised by his family for always looking down on the things they enjoy and noticeably disliked by his subordinates due to that old-fashioned mindset of his. Nonetheless, it can't be more obvious that he's actually a really good father and tries his best for his family, so you can't help but root for him.

Rather than comedy, this drama focuses largely on the life aspect. It talks about gender stereotypes, the troubles older fans of idol groups have, the contemplation of whether your hobbies can translate to your career and more. Most notably since I tend to watch a lot of queer-centric shows, the issue I enjoyed watching get covered the most, was the difficulties in coming out and the horror of outing. Each issue is touched on in such depth, but in a way that makes it relatable that I believe if there's anyone like Makoto watching, it might get them to reflect and change their mindset, even if it's just by a little.

I like the realism in the character growth too. While Makoto does change his ways, he does make mistakes that he doesn't realise could hurt others around him until it's too late, and learns from it. Personally, I do see my own father in Makoto as a character, and myself in Mika, Moe and Kakeru in different parts, so I can understand some of their own actions, which makes the development from their cautiousness around Makoto and how they slowly open up all the more impactful and realistic to me. The writing's just so good, with how each character is "updated" each episode, slowly and surely, to the point you see the Okita family heal. It's simply satisfying seeing the characters and relationships develop, to the point where the characters that were updated by Daichi, end up updating others around them too.

Acting-wise, it's shockingly good. The ML, Harada Taizo, is mainly a comedian so I wasn't expecting much, but he did a relatively good job playing a character like Makoto, portraying his growth throughout the episode. And while it may be Sota's first regular role in a drama, he actually impressed me. Knowing Sota, Daichi's positivity and friendliness is very alike Sota in reality, so I wasn't shocked to see that, but he even portrayed the little complexities in Daichi's emotions well. Other actors did REALLY well too, but Higashi Keisuke especially impressed me in Episode 8 for the anger, desperation and utter love he possessed in his eyes <3

As for the music, I do think the soundtracks were used in place, especially that ochestra-ish song that plays whenever something impactful happens each episode, mostly when one of the characters is "updated". "Dancing Dreamer" by 4-CaraT as the Ending Theme is so unfairly catchy I was out playing that song all the time the moment it released. And this may be a biased opinion as a fan of the group, but "Update Life" by FANTASTICS (Sota's group) was also a nice addition in the intro! It's a nice sweet balance to the energetic ending song, and the opening sequence is also adorable.

Overall, I think this show is way too underrated and deserves to be widely known and watched by all families around the world. It's an endearing drama that manages to balance itself out well in all aspects. If you're looking for comedy, this may not be it, but it's a heartwarming show to watch, which I'd even suggest watching with your family if possible. By the way, the little 0.5 taken of the rewatch value is simply because I don't think the impact of the character and relationship developments will hit as hard on a rewatch, but still remains VERY rewatchable.

P.S. whoever styled Kakeru every episode deserves a raise and MadoDai (Madoka x Daichi) I love you so much please be happy together forever

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A beautiful addition to the world of dorama

I got interested in this dorama because of the fansubber who also does great work for another show I am currently watching. My roots lie in the world of Japanese drama, lately my focus has shifted towards BL drama from Thailand and Japan - so that's why the synopsis made this sound like a very intriguing dorama to me. The story contains a gay love story as part of its main plot, but it's also a story about family, friendship - and sometimes also the difficulties of living in a society whose ideas of what may be deemed acceptable is shifting very slowly.

Makoto is the father of a family whose members are slowly drifting apart. He is also someone who feels safety in holding onto his "ignorant" values. But one day he meets a young, gay man whose openness and spirit surprise him - and in order to save his struggling son and keep his family together, Makoto decides to update himself and his values. What follows is a story that watches him change - and thus influence the life of the people around him for the better.

It's a very warm-hearted story that believes in our ability to appreciate and understand each other for what lies inside of us and what truly matters. Friendship, love, our ability and want to connect with others. In reality this change may feel unrealistic at times, but in the world of "Ossan no pants..." it is something that results from communication, trying to see the world from someone else's viewpoint, from making new experiences. And even if you can't convince everyone, at least you are not alone, at least you have someone right next to you that you can count on.

The only thing I didn't like about this dorama was a very silly comparison that came up in one scene in one episode. So in the grand scheme of things it doesn't truly matter.
What I liked about "Ossan no pants..." though was so much more and much more meaningful as well. First I enjoyed that each member of the Okita family had an important part to play and had their own lil life within the story. Nobody was just there to simply exist, everyone had their own important feelings and life. My favourite part was probably Kakeru and how he slowly opened up once again. Watching his journey unfold felt very precious. Daichi and Madoka's relationship and their moments together felt special and moving. It was very easy to see the beauty in their relationship - and it was great to see that Daichi was not "just" the knowledgeable and strong gay guy who could convince everyone of his views - he is someone with his own struggles and someone who sometimes needs help as well. I enjoyed the friends at Kakeru's school. How the change in Makoto affected his workplace. I enjoyed watching his wife Mika and her own world of emotions slowly unfold. I enjoyed that one lesson of this dorama is to give each other time, not to rush into figuring out our own feelings, to be respectful of that process.
And of course I deeply enjoyed the way the lessons here were transported in a very dorama-like way. Lessons and words that stay with you while a grand orchestral soundtrack can be heard in the background. It gave everything a nostalgic/elegant feeling and tied up those moments beautifully.

Definitely give this dorama a shot if you love shows that focus on family or if you enjoy BL. Or if you enjoy the type of shows where you can watch people heal over time. It filled me with a lot of warmth.... all while filling my eyes with a lot of tears at the same time. ^^ Enjoy this amazing cast of likeable characters!

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