I have misread shows before. Even the capsule for this series was a tad on the vague side, so I thought it was going to be a ridiculous comedy about two men who try to out-sexy one another for the love and attention of all the women in Japan. I didn’t realize that they would try and out-sexy one another for the love and attention OF one another, Yup, it’s yaoi. And what is the name of this show? Well, it has a lot of alternative titles: “Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu”, “Dakaretai Otoko Ichii ni Odosarete Imasu”, “Dakaretai Otoko No.1 ni Odosareteimasu”, but I’ll stick with “Dakachi – I’m Being Harrassed by the Sexiest Man of the Year.”

So, our hero Takato Saijō (on the left) is the top of the charts. He has been the sexiest man in Japan for five years, the person women most want to be with, the person most men want to be. He has been an actor for years, making the difficult transition from child star to adult star successfully. He is charming and witty and convivial and always makes time for his fans. His adoring fans. His endlessly drooling adoring fans.

The movies and TV shows he appears on do well in the ratings and the box office and he has a dedicated fan base. Until…..until THAT day. Whatever passes for ‘People’ Magazine in Japan releases the latest standings and he has slipped. He’s….slipped? Sure, it’s second place, but it might as well be the train to Loserville. He has been supplanted by Junta Azumaya (right), an up-and-comer who has made a big splash on the scene.

Our hero is not worried, as he has fended off rivals before and this one will probably be easy to squash….until…until his agent gets the brilliant idea to put them in a movie together, showcasing both of their talents, to the eye-bugging interest of all the women in Japan. Kind of like having Tom Cruise and Dwayne Johnson in the same film (or whomsoever are the two hottest stars nowadays. I don’t do celebrity.)

After a hard day of acting, they go back to Takato’s apartment, as Junta could use some pointers on how to bring out the best of his acting. What started out as a mentor session quickly turns into a sex session. Junta has to have him. Takato acceeds to all of this with the level of decision-making akin to whether you will eat a burger at Wendy’s or McDonald’s. Yeah, right, whatever.

OK, so they are both hopelessly gay and Junta is some kind of sex machine, as he can go three or four times an evening. The story details all the sex that they have, while hiding this fact from fans, friends and others, that they are gay for each other.

Now, I had never really invested into yaoi. Or yuri. It just does not appeal to me, but I was a bit taken aback at the sheer amount of sex that would go on in the episodes. At least twice a show and sometimes three, to the point it was a real drag on the plotting. Do I really need to see them tonsil wrestling in a too-small car by the shore of Tokyo Bay? Or having them in severe undress situations? How many times need I see the moonlight glinting off Junta’s full and firm buttocks?

To their credit, I don’t see even disguised sex, more like results, like a hand grasping the sheets, or a sweaty brow or, the King of it all, angel wings sprouting out from the back of Junta. Does that mean he had his orgasm?

It’s just I have seen hetero shows that didn’t have a tenth of the sexual content that this one did. Now, if you get off on hunky dudes and just the merest thought to two guys being intimate make you damp, then this show is for you.

Even when one of them explores something hetero, it comes off as half-hearted. Or maybe he is bi or omni or pan or deep dish or flatbread or whatever and will go wherever the wind blows him. That was a terrible analogy, but I think I will let it stand.

The underlying story is one that I think got overwhelmed by the sex and that is: what happens when your time is passing? You can’t be Number 1 forever and when you are Number 1, there is only one direction you can go in. Is there more to life than being Number 1 and can you still be charming and graceful without the blue ribbon about your neck to prove it? How hard can/should/might you fight to retain it? Whatever happened to Robot Jones?

I think I would have liked to have seen more of that, rather than a painfully thin excuse to go a-porking again. And again. And again. Now, if that IS what you want, without it being X-rated, you will gobble down this show (I have to choose my terms better). If, like me, it doesn’t need to be that excessive, you might wish to look elsewhere. Oh, and in doing final research, there is a caliber of a semi-promise of a second season-ish.

For me, binging is a problem, as you really see how sex-soaked the episodes are, sacrificing salient plotting for another roll in the hay. I was already bored with the sex action, even with my two-episodes-at-a-sitting, so unless you are deeply committed to this, you may find it a bit of a drag point.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork           8 (They are hunky)
Plot                  7 (Deeper examination of celebrity needed)
Pacing              7 (Too much sexual hi-jinks)
Effectiveness   8 (Good use of emotionality)
Conclusion       7 (It reaches a ‘coupler point’, but hasn’t ended)
Fan Service      6 (A similar show would be “Mahoromatic”)
Bingability       5 (Just too many sex sessions)

Overall            7 (Who thought sex could be boring?)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. Did…we?