Zettai Kareshi ep.03

April 30, 2008 | 15 Comments

This episode marks the beginning of complication for Night/Riiko's relationship, a part where viewers normally root for the couple. However, problem appears when there isn't much of chemistry between the two characters. In the past two episodes, the non-chemistry between the two works well because Riiko is not supposed to like Night just yet. However, in order for a romantic complication to work, the viewers must root for the couple to get together. Unfortunately, there is little chemistry between them and this affects the storyline. One of the reasons for the lack of chemistry is because the actors who plays Night and Soushi look a bit too young to be romantic interests for Riiko. I don't mind that the writers changed the setting from high school to cake business. But while they have done a good casting job Riiko (in relation to the changed setting), they didn't do a good job casting Riiko's potential suitors. The actors who portray Night and Soushi are okay as individual characters, but they don't spark chemistry with Riiko.

Episode 3

Riiko looks hesitant as she's about to put her stamp on the purchase contract for Unit 01 aka Night (note: in Japan you usually don't sign important documents -you put your stamp on it). Eventually, however, she stamps the document so Gaku congratulates her for her purchase. This means unit 01 is now hers. As for the 100,000,000 Yen price, since she chose to pay in installment, the interest rate will be 1%. She better hope that's 1% for the entire thing instead of 1% per month. Anyway, the installment is due at the end of each month. Since Riiko took an insurance police, a guarantor is not needed. As a thanks for her purchase, Gaku gives her a boxer underwear for Night to wear. XD Gaku also tells her that since she's taking a 70 years loan to pay off for this purchase, her payment will be 200,000 Yen every month. That means around 6451 Yen per day. In order to ease her mind, Night tells her that per hour, that'd just be around 268 Yen.

Gaku boasts that unit 01 is an outstanding and cheap household appliance. Now she doesn't even need to buy a washing machine or a dishwasher for 70 years. Night also points out that he's good at massage. XD Riiko is eventually disturbed with the entire idea and tries to cancel but unfortunately for her, Gaku points out that she already stamped the contract and proceeds to leave the house. After Gaku left, Night tries to kiss Riku but she refuses and they end up tangling their hands just as the landlady enters her apartment. Although Night tells her that he's about to kiss Riiko, Riiko claims that they are just practicing social dance. Back at Kronos Heaven, the president of the company is shocked when Gaku tells him that Riiko purchased unit 01. The boss coldly tells Gaku that this is business not his personal research. When Gaku argues that 01 wouldn't be a problem since he's perfect, the boss tells him nothing in this world is perfect.

At home, Riiko tries to calculate her living expenses and when she comes up short, she urges Night to find a job as well. Just when she's about to sleep, however, she remembers that she forgot to return to the office to check on the choux cream. Much to her relief, Soushi already took them off the oven and place them on the fridge. Riiko is also surprised to know that Soushi intends on taking them to the meeting. Later on, Riiko remembers that she and her co-workers intend on travelling together. Because of this, she asks her boss if she'd get her money back if she decides not to come. Unfortunately that's not the case. A co-worker suggests an optional Onsen trip which would cost each person an additional 10,000 Yen. Although Riiko wants to go, she has to refuse since she can't afford it. If that's not bad enough, Night comes into her office, telling everyone that he'll be working part-time from here on and his name is Izawa Night.

An embarassed Riiko tries to explain that they are just cousins and not newlyweds. This, however, forces her to come up with a last name for Night so she decides that Night's last name is Tenjou" just like the name of the Onsen they're going to. Much to her embarrassment, her co-workers point out that the actual pronounciation of 「天城」 is not "Tenjou" but "Amagi". L-O-L. I always knew that it's not only foreigners who have difficulty misreading kanji. Anyway, even bigger LOL happens when Riiko's boss is caught drooling after Night. Meanwhile, Soushi's attempt to present the choux cream is not successful because his brother yes-men decide that the appearance of the cake is not good enough. Soushi tries to convince them to eat them first before opening their pie hole but his brother tells him that appearance is most important when trying to sell something. He then breaks off the meeting and tells Soushi that a plain item like that won't sell.

Meanwhile, Riiko is in the middle of scolding Night for applying for a job at her company. Night explains that he just wants to always be together with her but Riiko asks him not to tell anyone that he's a robot or for that matter, her boyfriend. The two then bump into Soushi who tells Riiko that her choux cream didn't do well at the meeting. Riiko is not surprised to hear this and reminds him that she did advise him against it. Later on that night, Riiko begs Fujiko to give her a part-time job at her bar. Fujiko at first is against it since she already has a part-time worker, Kouta. Riiko, however, asks her if she can fire Kouta. LOL. Eventually Fujiko relents and offers her 2 days per week job at her bar. Much to their surprise Night also wants to apply so Fujiko also gives him a job. Fujiko then orders him to help Kouta lifting beer bottles but he instead lift Kouta as well. XD Despite Fujiko's constant questioning, Riiko denies that Night is her boyfriend.

The next day, Mika calls her boyfriend, telling him that she wants to go shopping but much to her shock, her boyfriend wants to break up with her. In retaliation, she tells him that she doesn't want to be with him anyway. She becomes jealous when she sees Night making love sign for Riiko and decides to make a move on him. She grabs his hand and tells him that his hand is manly but Night plainly tells her that's because he's a man. Meanwhile, Soushi tries to put the choux cream that Riiko makes into an Asamoto store managed by a man called Miura. At the office, Mika is flattered when Night gives her a flower to put on her desk. Much to her disappointment, however, Night gives flower to every single employee in the place. Moreover, she gives Riiko a rose to celebrate their eternal love's vow. XD Riiko is embarrassed since they are supposed to be cousins. As for Soushi, he manages to persuade Mr.Miura to order some choux cream for his store.

Later on that night, Soushi asks Riiko to have a meeting with him. This does not go unnoticed by Mika. When she sees Night waiting for Riiko, she tells him that Riiko has to work overtime tonight. She then asks him if he can accompany her back home since she's afraid going home at night. When they get there, she tries to seduce him by asking him to come in but Night refuses and tells her that he has to prepare Riiko's breakfast. When Mika asks her why he likes Riiko, Night tells her that there's no reason. Riiko is just special to him. Unhappy with the rejection, Mika decides to tell Night that maybe Riiko doesn't have meeting after all. She then insinuates that Riiko seems to like Soushi and that something nasty is probably going on right now at the company's kitchen. When Night gets back to the office, however, the place is already closed so he decides to wait outside. Unknown to him, Riiko is simply busy making dozens of choux cream all night long.

In the morning, Soushi and Riiko are about to deliver the pastry when Night appears and asks Soushi what he was doing to his Riiko all night long. Riiko tries to explain that she's just working while Soushi just laughs it off. Night, however, continues to be jealous, causing Riiko to wonder if robot can be jealous. Night reminds her that she's the one who want a slightly jelous boyfriend. XD Riiko, however, dismisses Night's jealousy and goes off to deliver the pastry with Soushi. Night's jealousy is transmitted by his bracelet to Kronos Heaven, causing the boss to be unhappy since he thinks Night hasn't progressed much. He reminds Gaku that if he can't achieve results, he can forget about having influence on future product development. At the same time, Mr.Miura seems to like the choux cream that Riiko makes so Soushi places some on display so they can sell them. Riiko is worried about this but Miura assures her that her choux cream is really delicious.

Later on, Riiko rides a bus with her co-workers to go to the Onsen but when they get there, Riiko finds out that Night has been hiding inside the luggage compartment. Mika becomes jealous when Night offers to buy Riiko a cellphone strap and later on, when he looks like he's about to kiss Riiko. As it turns out, however, Night is just going to show Riiko a magic trick. At the same time, Soushi is scolded by Masashi for placing the choux cream in the Ginza store without his knowledge. Masashi informs Soushi that he fired Miura from his shop manager position because of this. What an asshole. The news about the choux cream problem quickly travels to Riiko's division. Riiko, who's concerned about Soushi, decides to go back to the office but this causes Night to wonder if she likes Soushi. The two then end up having a minor fight which ends with Night destroying Riiko's phone strap. This causes her to tell him that it'd have been better if she didn't purchase Night.

Meanwhile back in Tokyo, Mr.Miura refuses to admit to Masashi that Soushi was the one who persuaded him to put the choux cream in his shop. Thankfully before he fires Miura, Soushi manages to arrive at the office to claim responsibility for the entire ordeal. Riiko then also comes to the office and tells Masashi that she's the one who made the pastry but Soushi tells his brother that he was the instigator. Masashi snaps and asks Soushi if he intends on destroying Asamoto's brand. Soushi insists that Masashi tries the choux cream first. Despite his initial refusal, Masashi eventually agrees to taste one. Masashi, however, continues to be an ass by saying that Asamoto doesn't need something like this. Before he exits, however, he tells them that he won't fire Mr.Miura but Soushi will take responsibility for this. Back at the Onsen, Mika manages to kiss Night after asking him to close his eyes because there's a glue on his face. This, however, effectively resets Night and when Riiko comes back to the room, Night claims that Mika is his girlfriend.

Impression

First thing first, this episode is actually really funny. I can't count the amount of time I laughed at some of the jokes. I like the part where Riiko misread the kanji for "Amagi" as "Tenjou" because I often do the same thing with kanji. It's easy to remember their first and maybe second reading but it's difficult to remember the other variations. And props to whoever came up with the idea for that fake drool that Riiko's boss secreted when she saw Night. I never thought that such manga/anime-like comic device can work quite well in real-life setting. I also love the part where both Riiko and Night ruthlessly asked Fujiko to fire Kouta just so they can get part-time job from her. Ditto where Night lifts Kouta along with the bottle. On a more serious matter, I really dislike Soushi's older brother, Masashi. He just comes across as a typical Japanese businessman who sticks by tradition and rules instead of being flexible enough to give new ventures a good try. And when he realized that he was wrong, instead of apologizing, he still acts like a bitter loser.

Mika really hits downward spiral in her role as a Riiko's 'friend'. Admittedly, it's quite appropriate for a Watase Yuu's series where the supposed best friend usually ends up being the back stabber. With friend like her, who needs enemy? As for Riiko, I highly doubt that she will ever be able to pay Night off completely. I think Gaku just wanted her to pay some kind of highly expensive rental price so he can justify continuing his research to his boss. This is interesting because if I remember correctly, in the manga they just give Night to Riiko so they can monitor his progress. But since this adaptation is loosely grounded in reality, they need to come up with a reason as to why a company would lend their expensive research property to a poor office lady. Anyway, since I haven't read the manga completely, I was rather surprised to see Night ended up being re-programmed after he was kissed by Mika. I find this amusing because it means there is a big security issue in his operating system. It's like using a Windows XP based computer: easy to get inflitrated by trojans, worms and viruses. For a supposedly expensive piece of equipment, the engineering/programming behind Night sure is shoddy.

Poll: Are you happy with the casting for this series? If you can change the cast, who would you change? Would you also change the setting (ie. from high school to cake business)? Is the adaptation pretty good in comparison to the original version? In my opinion, this adaptation is really fun. I just wish that Riiko and Night or Riiko and Soushi would have more chemistry with one another.

Preview

Next week: Riiko tries to get Night back by trying to kiss him. Unfortunately she's too short....

© memento 2003