Howard Chua-Eoan, Columnist

Heated Rivalry and Manga Fans Have a Lot in Common

January 15, 2026 at 4:00 AM UTC

Updated on

January 15, 2026 at 9:35 AM UTC

Howard Chua-Eoan is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion covering culture and business. He previously served as Bloomberg Opinion's international editor and is a former news director at Time magazine.

Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, the stars of Heated Rivalry. — Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, the stars of *Heated Rivalry.*
Photographer: Harold Feng/Getty Images North America

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What do a homoerotic hockey melodrama on HBO and a genre of Japanese manga comic books have in common? Diehard women followers.

The popularity of HBO’s Heated Rivalry — a sudsy, sexy, titillatingly explicit melodrama involving closeted professional hockey players — has stunned show business experts. Since its inception on Nov. 28, Heated Rivalry’s until-then little known stars — Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie — have become pop-culture sensations, mobbed at public appearances, including the recent Golden Globe awards. Made by the Canadian company Crave (for likely a modest $5 million or less per episode), it’s been picked up for a second season by HBO.