A lot of men want him…but the customers at the bar wouldn’t dare touch him.
Some years ago, Fujimori wrote a highly successful love story. Like any wise publisher, Fujimori’s decides that he should do so again. The problem with that, however, is that that first and only love story was based on his real feelings with a twist to give it a happy ending. So he goes to the local bar to discuss the minor details of his problem with the bartender, because that’s what bars are for, at least the ones I’ve seen on TV and in movies. Oh, but this bar is better, because apparently it’s also (unofficially) there to let handsome men relieve their sexual frustrations. The first story has little to do with the bar and more to do with Fujimori while the rest of the stories have everything to do with the bar and its two staff members and almost nothing to do with Fujimori.
Only the first story can claim to have a fully-realized relationship while the rest are just teasing the readers with possibilities. Because these stories are more flirtatious in nature than the earth-shattering confessions of love seen in most other BL (or at least, the ones I’ve read), would-be love interests come and go, shifting the focus more and more to the bartender with his devil-may-care attitude and his easily frustrated employee. Because the main characters don’t stay main for long, the stories continually take unexpected turns, keeping things fresh and exciting.
Even though I was disappointed that the love story they seemed to have been building up through all those short stories never reached any sort of climax, it does keep the playful vibe of La Vie en Rose, ending things before they became serious.