This series got off to a strong start, with an age difference plot where a 17-year old (almost 18) aggressively pursues a man 10 years older. At first it's charming and fun, as Akira, the 27-ish owner of a local laundramat, is a bit scandalized that a high school kid is after him. The dialog and interplay between Akira's discomfort with the situation and Shin's cocky confidence that he was going to get his man was entertaining and cute.

But instead of dwelling more on what I would think would be the central conflict (the age difference), the plot devolves into an endless loop of both characters drawing back from each other - Akira because he's afraid that if Shin spends so much time with him his schoolwork will suffer and he won't get into a good school, and Shin because he doesn't want Akira to blame himself if Shin can't get into a good school.

The thing is, it's not zero-sum. Being with someone you love is energizing and their support can help you get through difficulty, so it just feels like the story is just forcing the characters into a holding pattern until Shin is 18 and graduated.

In addition, Akira has been harboring an old crush on his high school teacher, Sakuma, who is an interesting character - a bit hapless but mature and a real gentleman, an ably acted. The storyline was too long and dragged-out, however, like much of this series.

The other problem for me is that Akira is so immature and devoid of any impulse toward self-examination that there is no character progression - just a passive 2D character that things happen to.

The series really has nothing to say and follows a fairly conventional course, which is a shame given it's "forbidden relationship" elements. It's a fluff piece, with a lot of cute moments, but by the end the characters have been running in circles so long that I stopped caring what happened to them.

The ending is quite lovely and doesn't follow the usual fomula, which made it a delight because I wasn't correctly anticipating every line of dialog like I usually can in series like this.

If you like cute and fluffy, you may enjoy this. I don't mind recommending it - but you may want to give in to the urge to fast-forward though tiresome parts - you won't miss anything and it may make the show more enjoyable for you.

This would have benefitted from being about a third shorter - then the thin plot would have marched foward without repeating the same pattersn over and over, and the ending would be more anticipated.