Happy of the End

Dark, disturbing, realistic, and brilliant

First of all – this is not a BL series. It is a gay series that takes the viewer to the dark side of society, and in my opinion it's been the best LGBT series of 2024 so far.

There should be trigger warnings of violence, male and female forced prostitution of minors, torture, murder, and suicide. Doesn't sound exactly heartwarming, does it? But then there are some glimpses of happiness in all this mess, which are the more touching because of the extreme contrast to the overall situation.

The series tells the story of two young men living on the fringe of society. Chihiro (Beppu Yurai) was kicked out of and disowned by his rich family as an adolescent because of his sexual orientation. As a young adult he tries to make ends meet with casual jobs and and prostitution. Keito/Haoren (Sawamura Rei), who experienced child abuse by his mother's partner, was abandoned by his mother at very young age. Kaji (Kubota Yuki), who later becomes Keito's closest friend, takes him to work for Maya (Asari Yosuke), a BDSM pimp whose clients are men and women who find pleasure in torturing, or even killing, kids.

The two young men meet in a bar, where Chihiro approaches Keito, who he thinks is wealthy, with the intention of fleecing him. When they get to a hotel, Keito unexpectedly beats Chihiro up as Chihiro has stolen cards from Keito's employer. When Chihiro wakes up in a pile of rubbish, Keito ”kidnaps” him and makes him help move apartment.

Keito is on the run from his former ”employer”, because after almost being killed by a client he had reported him to police, and in the eyes of the pimp was thus responsible for his 5-year sentence. This is why Keito moves house frequently, but Maya finds him once again, leaving a camera with photos of frogs as a warning near Keito's doorstep. On top of all the disturbing scenes of child abuse, Maya's malice is illustrated in a scene where he kills a frog by squeezing if to death with one...