Two stories about Erectile Dysfunction in Asian TV

(Warning for Spoilers, suicide mention, and unethical Doctor interactions)

When I first started watching Asian television, I knew that there would be some topics that they would cover that were not covered in American TV, but I didn’t expect to find two stories about erectile dysfunction.

The first was Kakafukaka, a Japanese show based on a manga about four people who live in a share house, and the relationships they get into. The other was You Raise Me Up about a man who seeks treatment for erectile dysfunction after failing to pass a civil service exam several times. Both of the stories talk about how integral sexual function is to the self-image of a man. Not being able to masturbate successfully makes both men depressed and unable to function.

What I found interesting about the stories is what the situation was used to illustrate. In Kakafukaka, the story was about how sexual relations are important in emotional relations. You Raise Me Up used the erectile dysfunction to illustrate the pressure of internalized societal expectations on a man’s feelings of self-worth. Of the two, I found You Raise Me Up to be the better themed and executed work. So let me tell you a bit about these stories.

In Kakafukaka (which sounds to me like an onomatopoeia for the act of masturbating) a woman named Terada Aki who is completely unmotivated in her life moves into a share house after her live-in boyfriend cheats on her. She finds that her first romantic partner, who had sex with her in middle-school, also lives in the house. He is a published author on the cusp of becoming famous. His problem is that he can not finish his book because depression caused by his erectile dysfunction prevents it.

The twist is that the nostalgia of having her close to him turns him on, and allows him to write his book, so he keeps asking her to sleep with him. Terada’s mild nature and her lack of motivation leads her to agree to sleep in his bed at least until he finishes the book. The story is how physical intimacy gets in the way of romantic relations with other people. It also asks if physical intimacy is enough to make a relationship.

The story is played as a comedy, and the awkward situations ask questions about relationships, but never resolve them. In the end, it does not follow the traditional story narrative because it is open ended letting the audience decide these questions for themselves. I think that this lack of a traditional happy ending probably negatively affects its ratings on the streaming platforms that it is on.

In You Raise Me Up, Do Yong Shik has spent six years studying for a test that he has never passed. A humilating meeting with the successful students from his former highschool lead him into a severe depression that makes him want to kill himself. His best friend, a transexual psychic, says that this is a problem that she can not solve, and he should seek professional help. So Do Yong Shik visits a urologist, and finds out during the exam that the urologist is his highschool girlfriend, which makes him even more depressed.

I really liked this show. By the third episode, I had followed the principal actor (Yoon Shi Yoon) on instagram because of his stellar acting. This show is really worth your time, and it is only eight episodes long! What comes out through the subsequent psychoanalysis and treatments that our main character is given, is that he is a very sweet guy, but this personality trait is not valued in the world that he lives it. Kindness without financial and educational success means nothing to most of the people around him. The fear of not wanting to shame his mother. The disappointment of not achieving his goals. The embarrassment of looking bad in front of his old girlfriend. The distrust others have of him because of his economic status all lead him to intolerable situations that he must work inside himself to overcome.

There is a lot of angst and darkness that he must go through before he comes through the other side, but he does come through, and that is why this show feels so satisfying. The story talks about what it means to be a good man in a society that only seems to value material success and that makes it seem timeless. The comedy vibe in the beginning soon falls into a darkness, and the actors drag us through with them so that if we survive it, we feel like better people in the end.

This show also has the absolute best trans character I have seen in any work. His best friend, Jennifer, is a person assigned male at birth who is saving money for a sex change operation. She never turns Do Yong Shik away even when he is at his darkest because she understands darkness, and when he needs help, she is always supportive of him. It makes me want to cry.

Because of the mature and embarrassing subject matter, it is likely that most people will pass this work over, but they really shouldn’t. This series is gold. I also rank the main character’s first kiss in episode six number 2 in my best kisses ranking because of the emotion and the tenderness. (Number one kisser still goes to Jang Ki Yong who I saw in My Roomate is a Gumijo.)

In the end, I think that erectile dysfunction can be useful in a story if you want to highlight uniquely male problems with identity. The US probably doesn’t include it much in media because of the phobia most North Americans have of talking about sex and sexual problems, but because it is sex specific, it is a great way to begin a discussion of what it means to be a good man.