Aahana Swrup
Created by Shunki Hashizume, the Japanese drama series ‘Soul Mate’ (Originally titled ‘Sôrumeito’) presents the story of two men who build a life of happiness together. Ryu Narutaki is a Japanese collegiate ice hockey player, and Johan Hwang is a boxer hailing from South Korea. Their meeting in Berlin is entirely random, yet just as fateful, involving a burning Church and some life-changing decisions.
This becomes the start of a relationship that spans decades, survived over long-distance phone calls, short international trips, and eventually, a home built together in the same apartment. Their unique family further expands when Ryu’s friend, Sumiko, a recently widowed new mother, moves in with her baby, Kanau, turning them into a four-person unit. Throughout the story, the significance and sanctity of Ryu and Johan’s relationship remain evident. Yet, given the ambiguity surrounding their dynamic, fans might find themselves intrigued by the extent of their love for each other. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Johan and Ryu’s Unlabelled Sexuality Remains Impactful on Their Narratives
At its core, ‘Soul Mate’ is a series about fateful meetings, chosen family, and the groundhasking love that innately exists between humans. Just as crucially, the series also centers on the exploration of these themes in a pair of queer characters, highlighting their profound love for one another. The show doesn’t feature any scenes portraying an explicit “coming out” for either of the protagonists. Yet, their sexualities are made apparent through a number of mundane, ordinary, and commonplace moments. Off-the-bat, Ryu’s reasoning behind visiting Sumiko in Berlin stems from his guilt over staying closeted while Arata, one of his closest friends, gets unintentionally outed.
Throughout the process of Arata’s subtle but impactful bullying and social ostracization, Ryu feels like he’s doing something wrong by withholding visible solidarity from his friend. Moreover, the fact that the latter has also confessed his unrequited feelings for his fellow hockey player further adds to his guilt. All of these foundational storylines that come with Ryu’s character introduction are directly tied to his sexuality, despite never being verbalized as such. On the other hand, the story makes Johan’s sexuality a bit more obvious in the text. After the boxer leaves Berlin and returns home to Korea, he has to serve a mandatory two years in the military. Upon his homecoming, he visits one of his only friends in the city, Hyeong, the owner of a gay bar. At the bar, Hyeong and Johan become victims of a hate crime after a group of delinquents arrives to cause trouble.
Afterward, the boxer’s former promoter, who has a bone to pick with him, arrives and frames him for an arrest. Although the legal trouble only extends to a night spent in lock-up, the incident brings bad press to Johan. He gets outed as a queer man, given his presence at a known gay bar, and receives tons of backlash for getting involved in a civilian fight as a former boxer. As a result, he becomes a social pariah, constantly facing trouble at the hands of his neighbors and fellow townsfolk. People vandalize his apartment and loom as threats outside of it. This entire storyline prominently deals with the homophobia Johan faces as someone who exists outside of heteronormative conventions. However, the biggest witness to Johan and Ryu’s sexuality remains their striking love story itself.
Johan and Ryu’s Romantic Love For Each Other is Silent But Prominent
Over the course of eight episodes, ‘Soul Mate’ explores the depth of Johan and Ryu’s relationship with nuance. Their gravitational pull towards one another remains present from the very beginning, but their love story has a slow burn. From the very beginning, they inspire and motivate the best parts of each other. Thus, it’s no surprise that they decide to keep in touch even after their respective departures from Berlin. This turns what could have been a one-off vacation meeting into a long-distance friendship. Regardless of the physical and geographical distance between them, they continue to stay in each other’s lives. Eventually, this distance is bridged when Ryu asks Johan to move in with him in Japan. It’s then that their relationship truly begins to take shape as an inarguably romantic affair.
As Ryu and Johan share a home, they also begin sharing a life with one another. They support each other’s dreams, share in domestic chores and responsibilities, and build their chosen family together. In scenes where the duo is hanging out with Seiichi and Sumiko, their married friends, both pairs of couples are presented under the same light. The level of physical intimacy and affection between Seiichi and Sumiko remains in harmony with the dynamic between the two protagonists. Moreover, Ryu and Johan’s non-platonic love for each other becomes that much more doubtless once Sumiko moves in with them in the wake of her husband’s death.
The trio starts living together as a family, with the two men taking up roles as young Kanau’s guardians. All three of them have a similar dynamic between each other in relation to Kanau, as the toddler’s co-parents. Even so, the relationship between Johan and Ryu stands out as something more intimate that goes beyond the platonic. Lastly, the film pitches one last solidification of their romance through the bittersweet ending that the two men find. As the film ends, it concludes with Johan and Ryu verbalizing their love for one another, leaving no doubt in the viewers’ minds about the nature of their relationship. Ultimately, ‘Soul Mate’ pitches a love story about a quiet, eternal, and life-changing romance between its protagonists, Johan and Ryu.
Read More: Are Julius and Henry Gay? Do They End up Together in On Swift Horses?
