Called Tokyo Neighbors, the 12-part series is currently being released on YouTube, with the first episode appearing at the end of May.

While it’s easy to focus on the series’ less-than-professional feel and the fact that the actors aren’t turning in the most stellar performances, these elements actually work to the show’s advantage. Rather than presenting exaggerated characters with polished or over-the-top performances, a caricature commonly portrayed by gay personalities on Japanese television shows, this series plays up the everyday awkwardness of the men onscreen.

The absence of professional lighting and conventional camera shots gives each episode a natural feel, adding to the sense of reality, which serves to highlight the fact that these lives and these experiences really do exist in Japan.

These men are, in fact, your Tokyo neighbors.

(Click on the closed captions button to view the first episode with English subtitles.)

Onabys Pictures, the group who spearheads the team of photographers, illustrators, musicians and actors involved in the project, is currently releasing a new episode of Tokyo Neighbors every Monday and Thursday on their YouTube channel.

The series, which centers around a Tokyo bar in Shinjuku's Ni-Chome district, follows different characters as they explore topics such as love, marriage and coming out, with an honesty and frankness that’s rare to find on mainstream TV shows.

While English subtitles are yet to be added to the rest of the episodes in the series, we’re hoping that they get added soon so we can follow them on their journey up until their very last episode, which is scheduled to appear on July 6, 2017.

For updates and more information about the series and the people involved in the project, head on over to the Tokyo Neighbors Twitter account.

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