Netflix's gay romance Soul Mate has been called the most infuriating show of 2026. Queer love takes many forms on screen, from the twee innocence of Heartstopper to the bump and grind of Heated Rivalry. Soul Mate takes yet another approach, tenderly following the bond between two men across Berlin, Seoul, and Tokyo over 10 years. However, how that connection is defined remains somewhat ambiguous.
Plot and Characters
Ryu Narutaki (Hayato Isomura) and Johan Hwang (Ok Taec-yeon) first meet in a Berlin church that has just been set ablaze. Despite saving Ryu from the fire, Johan is initially resistant to forming a friendship. It is not until the pair accidentally meet again that they become something more. Over the following decade, the two men visit each other in Seoul and Tokyo, growing closer until Johan moves in with Ryu. Together, they form a unique family when Ryu's childhood friend Sumiko Shinonome (Ai Hashimoto) joins them with her baby.
Themes and Tone
Soul Mate is incredibly moving in its exploration of displacement and connection across multiple cities and cultures. Drawing on the calmness of Japanese slice-of-life dramas, writer/director Shunki Hashizume gradually teases out something touching and even beautiful between Ryu and Johan until melodrama overtakes the story's conclusion.
Critique of Ambiguity
What is not as beautiful is the show's reluctance to depict this brash Korean boxer and sweet Japanese ice hockey star as anything more than friends until the very last moments. From the moment Johan surprises Ryu in Japan, it is clear that there is something deeper than friendship, and that feeling intensifies as the story continues. Four episodes in, a scene shows the two men scrubbing each other's backs while sitting nude in a sauna. Japanese cultural norms aside, this occurs just one episode after Johan drew a picture of Ryu while he was sleeping.
Not long after, the pair decide to help Sumiko raise her baby together, even applying to become the child's official guardians. On paper, this reads as a 'Gay Romance,' as Variety described the show upon its announcement. But within the context of the series, one might wonder if the pair are in love at all. Not once do Ryu and Johan share physical intimacy, and there is no declaration of their feelings until the very end.
Queer Representation
Queer people are used to reading between the lines to see themselves on screen, and gay romance does not need explicit displays to be gay. Soul Mate is queer, deliberately so, yet what also feels deliberate is how Hashizume skirts around this to an infuriating degree. The emotional weight of what unfolds between Ryu and Johan depends almost entirely on their love being romantic, yet the portrayal is decidedly platonic, more bromance than romance. Without any sense of interiority, their connection remains frustratingly vague.
This is not the first time a Japanese romance has avoided a kiss between its male leads. Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard is a notorious example from 2020. Japanese media is famously coy about physical intimacy, especially queer love. Yet such intimacy does exist, as seen in other Japanese Netflix ventures like last year's 10Dance movie, which included a full-blown makeout session, or the dating show The Boyfriend. Soul Mate could have been progressive in a similar vein.
References to Queerness
What is even more frustrating is that there are references to queerness throughout Soul Mate. Ryu is driven to that church at the beginning because of guilt after his gay teammate Arata comes out to him. Little is done to unpack this and how it impacts Ryu's feelings towards Johan. Johan also encounters queerness when his favourite bar, later revealed to be gay, gets attacked by homophobes. The words 'Gay bastard' are painted across Johan's front door, yet we never hear how he feels about this firsthand.
Bringing up gay themes in relation to other characters without addressing the central pair creates a bizarre disconnect. Ryu and Johan never show romantic interest in any other character, and they never really show that kind of interest in each other. Could they be asexual? Possibly, but that is never discussed or hinted at. It is as if someone has cut out every scene of intimacy between the pair, spoken or physical, while keeping the rest of the story intact. The result feels hollow, despite the best efforts of Isomura and Taec-yeon.
Cast and Creator Statements
When asked about the true nature of that connection by Teen Vogue, Taec-yeon said: 'It’s not about being physical,' explaining how the story 'shows very different varieties of how love can be expressed.' Isomura added: 'There are a lot of LGBTQ+ shows in the world, a lot of depictions being more affectionate, like having a kiss scene or a love scene, but we don’t have that. It’s more about their emotional connection. I feel that it’s a very new way of capturing a relationship between two people.'
That in itself should not be an issue because love and queerness are fluid. The problem is when elements that could be interpreted as more explicitly queer are actively avoided. While accusations of queerbaiting might be a step too far, it does feel like Soul Mate is hesitant to reckon with the true nature of the feelings involved.
Conclusion
For some viewers, that will not matter. Queer audiences are accustomed to reading between the lines, especially in countries like Japan or South Korea, where same-sex marriage remains out of reach. Plus, the story is still moving, brought to life with stunning production values. It is also worth noting that Japanese and Korean men sharing affection on screen like this is progressive in its own way. But at a time when BL (Boys Love) is on the rise globally and other Japanese Netflix ventures have been celebrating queerness more openly, Soul Mate could have gone further to emphasise the queer feelings that underpin this soul mate connection.
That final declaration of love at the end, as effective as it might be, is not enough to undo the issues that preceded it. Queer love does take many forms on screen, and soul mates are certainly part of that, but the soul mates in question should not be so vague and ambiguous in the first place.
