Ototo no Otto or My Brother’s Husband is one of those really rare gems that you might fully know what you are going into but watching it is so much refreshing because it portrays gay people realistically. This is why we need to represent people in the most realistic possible way. There is a lot to unpack in this 3-episode series and that is amazing. The things that I want to talk about is the way that it handled grief and homophobia in Japan. These things are important but I want to start with the character of Kana because let’s be real here. Kana represents the young generation that is not yet polluted by the societal prejudices that we teach kids. I think what is important to note here is how the kids are actually more open to the idea of love and this is reflected on what Yuki said that people should be married not because of their gender but because of love. This is a beautiful sentiment and I wish that a lot more kids are like Kana and Yuki. Kana is such a kind soul. She is probably the best character in this show because of how she handles basically everything. She is so mature for her age so seeing some glimpse of the kid that she is makes my heart feel so full. Personally, I would love more people to be like her because this is what we forget when we turn to adults. We forget to be the better person who always try to understand other people and to always be open. I just really wish that by seeing this show, more and more people learn to tap into that inner child of theirs and find a way to be kinder to everyone around them. This would make the world so much better. Speaking of which, the story is about Yaichi whose twin brother died and his husband from Canada is going to meet them. The important thing to note here is that he is a good host and accepted Mike as his guest. He is processing the death of his brother while he is trying to fully understand what the situation means to him. There is a lot for him and one of the things that struck me is his homophobic tendencies at the beginning of the show. He is not rude and all but he was really homophobic with his thoughts. I have seen how common this is in the side characters as well who are meeting Mike. There is a certain level of silence that they will make you feel unwanted by them because of you being gay. There is no violence but instead there is silence. This, for me, is a harder way to handle because what can you do about It? I don’t know. This is why choosing to have his thoughts be transparent to us is important because we got to see him question himself as well. One of the things that shouted super homophobic is when he thought that Mike would also like him because he is a man and Mike is gay. This is super homophobic. Luckily, the writing is impeccable in this show. We got to slowly see his thought process change as he is exposed to Mike. He got to be more comfortable and realize a lot of things that he had never thought of before. I think these things are always important to do because we got to present him as a character but the development of this character is immense from how he is talking to Mike up to how he is handling his brother’s death. There is so much to unpack in this show but they are doing it so beautifully that we are reminded of how important giving people time to accept us. We cannot just ask someone to accept us immediately. It takes time to refocus one’s ideologies especially if this is something that they were taught. There are homophobic characters here but the show never judged them because the show is not about judging people. It is about understanding them and learning that these differences does not make you or them a lesser individual but instead it just makes you unique. This story was handled so well that the ending just felt like a great big warm hug that one can just feel. The attention to details and the writing is impeccable. It is unique yet it felt very familiar.