I can ignore age gap when it exists only in the name. Where the characters act so out of character for their given character background they're given that the age gap and the resulting power gap doesn't manifest at all. But, not here. The characters are realistically depicted. But, that also means that the age gap and the power gap becomes real.
The older actor is significantly more mature than the younger one. He is also significantly more accomplished. He is clearly a mentor figure to a younger person who looks up to him and significantly more child-like, in a very real sense, compared to himself. While 24 and 31 are not far apart enough to raise eyebrows in every situation, this is definitely a situation where it would be concerning. Because the effective age gap is a lot larger because of additional power gap and hierarchial gap.
It would be really gross for the older actor to encourage and misuse his young colleague confusing respect and gratitude as sexual interest. The responsible and the moral thing for the older, wiser person to do is to stop the boy's confusion as soon as he realises it and help him see wisdom and to not soil the mentor-student relationship. This kind of a character dynamic would be better served in a shounen. The older character is giving a much older sibling vibes. Romance stories should not be written around these kinds of dynamics. A good shorthand for what kind of dynamics should not be sexualized is if at any moment you feel that an inter-character dynamic can be likened to a familial dynamic in anyway, that's your sign to stop writing a romance centred on these characters and go back to the drawing board. Acquaintances energy. Green. Friends energy. Green. Family energy. Big flashing Red flag.
I can ignore age gap when it exists only in the name. Where the characters act so out of character for their given character background they're given that the age gap and the resulting power gap doesn't manifest at all. But, not here. The characters are realistically depicted. But, that also means that the age gap and the power gap becomes real.
The older actor is significantly more mature than the younger one. He is also significantly more accomplished. He is clearly a mentor figure to a younger person who looks up to him and significantly more child-like, in a very real sense, compared to himself. While 24 and 31 are not far apart enough to raise eyebrows in every situation, this is definitely a situation where it would be concerning. Because the effective age gap is a lot larger because of additional power gap and hierarchial gap.
It would be really gross for the older actor to encourage and misuse his young colleague confusing respect and gratitude as sexual interest. The responsible and the moral thing for the older, wiser person to do is to stop the boy's confusion as soon as he realises it and help him see wisdom and to not soil the mentor-student relationship. This kind of a character dynamic would be better served in a shounen. The older character is giving a much older sibling vibes. Romance stories should not be written around these kinds of dynamics. A good shorthand for what kind of dynamics should not be sexualized is if at any moment you feel that an inter-character dynamic can be likened to a familial dynamic in anyway, that's your sign to stop writing a romance centred on these characters and go back to the drawing board. Acquaintances energy. Green. Friends energy. Green. Family energy. Big flashing Red flag.