My love for this series comes as a very pleasant surprise. I was not excepting myself to like this at all, and was fully prepared to watch the first episode, and then shelf it until infinity. After coming from Senpai, Danjite Koidewa, which I dropped mid-first episode, I was a little worried about where my head would be at with this one, but I decided to trust my gut anyways, and good thing I did. Minato Shouji Coin Laundry is a surreal feeling of a forbidden love that claws at your heart whilst also being hilarious in and of itself.

Let's Dive In.

My worry for this series was definitely the age difference, especially since this was one dealing with a high school (underage to of age) and a grown adult almost in his thirties. It's a very quick turn-off, it's a very quick, "no, this is not the move," but I gave it a shot anyways. The only reason this age gap didn't throw me off was because Shin (the high schooler) was the one initiating the relationship. The one wanting to hold Akira's hand, kiss him, go on a date with him, be his boyfriend, etc. And Akira being the adult of the two of them was the one doing everything in his power to prevent it from happening. Telling Shin he had more going for himself than him, telling Shin his crush was only temporary, telling him to move on and start college, etc. Had this been vice-versa -- Akira initiating everything on Shin -- then this would've immediately been dropped. But it's not like that. This isn't grooming or anything of the sort. In every instance, Akira is trying to persuade Shin out of admiring him, and it's handled with such great care while also being entertaining and silly. Yes, Akira's feelings for Shin are obvious from the first episode, but he suppresses them in the most responsible way possible. This was definitely giving forbidden love, which I can somewhat like given the circumstance, and yes, this was one of those circumstances.

The writing in this is lovely. Anytime Shin was going on one of his ridiculously beautiful monologues about his feelings for Akira, I found myself getting emotional because it was so touching. Especially the one in the hotel and the note he wrote to Akira, it was all so beautifully put together. Outside of Shin, the writing and characterization for Akira were perfect. His childish demeanor, yet stern attitude. His sudden joy of the smallest things, the emotions we see play on his face during his internal monologues. Gosh, it was like a perfectly wrapped present you don't want to open because it's too perfect.

Their relationship was nice to watch, There were a lot of instances when it felt like they were running in circles, but it was nice to see Shin flirt, Akira get flustered and reprimand him, only for him to have this internal monologue about wishing he could say it back. I won't lie, I was a little shocked that they ended up getting together in the end. I was so sure this series would either take the, "we don't get together at all" route, or the, "we get together after Shin is finished with college" route. But the ending was the best part o this entire series. The way Akira pours out his heart because he believes Shin is leaving only for Shin to say he's staying, and yet still they have this incredible moment, full of silliness and perfected emotions. And these two had decent chemistry. There might've been times their physical chemistry wasn't always there, but for sure, their emotional connection was subpar, especially when I get teary-eyed just watching them stare and cry with one another. This honestly couldn't have been any better.

Akira's whole situation with his swim coach was a little frustrating. Akira being a grown adult should've been able to handle it accordingly without acting so -- well, childish. That was the only thing that I can think that really frustrated me about his character, his inability to just spit it out and continue to take us on this elongated journey through the 12 episodes of him just trying to explain his feelings to his coach. Would've rather this had been resolved immediately so that Sukama could've been a mentor for his relationship instead of the thing that's stopping it.

Moving onto the side characters, I really loved Shin's sister. I think she was adorable and liked how she was Shin's wing woman. she played a nice supporting role in the help of getting them together.

Asuka and Hiiragi's relationship was a lot more irritating because Hiiragi just never looked interested, and even if he didn't know how to show it or whatever, I don't know how Asuka didn't just run and move on. But aside from their relationship, I really liked Asuka's character. he was playful, genuine, and a lovely person. I would love to see him in a main role.

Ratings:

Story: 8.5/10 - A really strong story. There were times when something felt a bit draggy, and a lot of times it felt like nothing was going anywhere in the story. but aside from that, it was entertaining and a really fun watch, It kept me wanting to come back and finish, which is the most important part.

Acting: 9/10 - such, such a good job from the actors. Everyone did so well in their roles, Takuya definitely took the lead as the best out of all of them. Tomoya would for sure be my second favorite, with Sho following behind. Either way, they did an incredible job, all emotions were accurate and of perfect timing.

Music: 5/10 - Kind of hated the intro song, very distracting and loud and obnoxious, but everything else in the actual series was fine.

Rewatch value: 7/10 - I rarely rewatch, and this probably won't be much of a difference, but I could for sure see myself going back to watch certain parts.

I highly recommend this series. It going to be tough now because I thought that Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss was going to be my favorite Japanese series of 2022, but now these two have gone head to head, and I'm not positive anymore how I feel. Either way, this was a beautiful series, so well done, and now I think I want a season two even though I envy season two's. Sigh.