Love in the Air

Trigger warnings: spanking, harassment, cyberstalking, SA, PTSD, trauma, abuse, anxiety attacks, gang r*, abuse of power, coercion, and blackmail.

I went into this show knowing nothing about it. I saw a photo of Boss and was like he's hot, I'm in. It was after the first episode finished that I found out that it was written by Mame. I tend to avoid shows by her after Tharntype, but I liked where this was going so I stuck with it. 

There is one thing this show is not. Tame. If you do not like the heavy bed scenes, this one is not for you. I was pretty taken aback by what they got away with putting in this show. 

For the first half of the show, there is very little to complain about, in contrast to most of her shows ... there were almost zero red flags coming from this couple. I was stunned. They have impeccable communication skills, and even though they do get jealous and act like possessive children here and there, they work through it with words instead of tantrums.

The biggest shock to me was the kink talk. I was pleasantly surprised at how these two leaned heavily into what they liked and ran with it. There was some light punishment play, praise, and cosplay. There is so much I could absolutely rave about. 

There was only one scene in which I really blame the director for allowing it to even make it to the show in this way. Payu is forcefully kissing and teasing Rain in a bathroom stall. You hear Rain's inner monolog so you know that he's absolutely into it, so we as the viewers are left to feel like it's an okay scene, but when you take away the fact that we can hear him. Payu cannot. He is just trying to make Rain upset and he's doing it by way of S/H. 

They missed a very big opportunity with this scene too because Rain does get aroused by it, he is into it. He realizes in this scene that he's attracted to Payu, even though he continues to try to deny it outwardly for a while. This scene could have been Payu teasing Rain without actively touching him, still annoying him, and being just as domineering. It was written and executed horribly and it was a disservice to their story because it was the ONLY time they stepped out of line.

Now there is a LOT about the second half of this show that made it almost unbearable to watch. I stayed because I like the actors and they specifically asked us to give the second half as much love as the first. 

This is impossible, however, because all the good things in the first half are thrown out the fucking window the moment we get to Sky and Pai's story. 

Their encounter starts very similar to Rain and Payu with Pai telling Sky that he owes him s*x because he saved him from the guards, but where that was obviously Payu teasing Rain this... is not but whatever. I still held out some hope. 

Sky goes home the next morning feeling used and rightfully icky about the entire situation and does his best to erase the night from his memory and move on with his life. 

Pai however is absolutely smitten. So now we have to watch through a few months' worth of Pai crossing every boundary Sky sets for himself. He is everything women are afraid of. Grade A stalker. This isn't how people should ever pursue someone, and the fact that it works and Sky ends up with him is really shitty writing. 

Not only because it's just genuinely a completely ILLEGAL way to go after someone you're interested in, but we also find out that Sky has severe trauma. (THANKS MAME. CAN'T WRITE A NOVEL WITHOUT GANG-RAPING ONE OF THE BOYS? FUCK YOU.)     

So, we have this kid who is still suffering very heavily from his trauma, going through another form of abuse and he just falls in love with the guy? I'm not about that. 

And somehow she tried to make it better by having Pai fight with himself and refuse to kiss Sky while he was passed out sick. That doesn't make him a good guy. Like bare minimum is not enough. Jesus. 

This entire second half was trash. Completely unredeemable. This really sucks because all that needed to be changed to make it tolerable was to have Pai pursue Sky as a friend and have their interest in each other grow naturally. Have them form trust in a way that makes sense. 

I dunno how she fucked that up so horribly, but I will only be rewatching the second half of that show one time, to fill out the episode breakdown. The first half I've already replayed about 1000 times and will be watching 1000 more. It's beautiful. 

This special episode is exactly what you'd expect. It's the last big hoorah of the couples enjoying their relationships. I have no complaints. 

First Half 10/10

Second Half 4/10
Special Episode 9/10