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ファイト／ステイナイト 
Well, I decided to continue this since it's too late to quit now with only 5 more episodes left. At this point, I'm just watching it to see if Riiko can quit her lousy job and become a patissier. There better be tons of cake shots in the upcoming episodes. Plus, it looks like the story will start to ramp up next week with the introduction of Soushi's ex-girlfriend. Speaking of that ex-girlfriend, I think I've seen the actress in another series/film before but I can't for the life of me figure out her name. If you're wondering about Osen, I'm still interested to cover it but I'll have to wait until the end of each monthly cycle (which is going to be soon) before getting the series from whatever bandwidth still remains in my account. As it is now, however, I'm not sure if I can actually get this week's copy of xxxHOLiC easily. I wish I have a 100GB download limit but I don't see the point when the season is slow like during summer/winter.
Episode 6
Continuing from the previous episode, Namikiri Gaku asks his assistant to keep the recent development on Night a secret between the two of them. In order to have more time to test Night, Gaku calls Riiko, telling her that they are currently keeping Night so they can fix the damage on his right arm. Riiko is worried about the price but much to her surprise, Gaku tells her that this is a "No Charge" special campaign. LOL, yeah right. At the office, Riiko becomes nervous when Soushi starts touching her forehead checking if she has fever. Back at Kronos Heaven, Gaku puts on a surveillance system to monitor Night 24/7 but when the boss comes in, he quickly hides them all. As it turns out, the boss just wants him to develop 02 quickly (Night was referred to as 01). When Riiko goes back, she's surprised to see Night already waiting for her....wearing only an apron and a boxer. After the usual round of "I love your Riiko", Night becomes jealous when he sees Riiko looking at her cellphone (the one with the sticker from Soushi) like it's her preciousss.
At Kronos Heaven, Gaku is surprised to see the data revealing that Night is somehow capable of having recollection. Back in the apartment, Night's jealousy is interrupted when Riiko receives a phone call from her mother, asking Riiko if she has a boyfriend. Riiko wonders why the sudden question so her mother explains that today she's on her way to a relative's wedding. Much to Riiko's horror, her parents are also on their way to her place. When the parents arrive, Riiko has hid Night at the closet but her father goes there as well and spots Night hanging from the ceiling. Thanks to Night's sensor, the parents' name are revealed as Izawa Yoshiharu and Izawa Makiko. Night then takes off the apron, revealing his naked torso, impressing Riiko's mother, who thinks that Night is one hell of a good-looking guy. The father, however, is not as impressed especially when Night flexes and introduces himself as Riiko's boyfriend. Riiko tries to claim that Night is just a friend but her father asks her if that's the case then why Night is parading around nekkid.
Riiko claims that Night's clothes are still in the laundry but her father clearly doesn't believe this. Things go from bad to worse when the horny landlady comes to bring a dish for Night so Riiko tries to make her leave. Inside the room, Night gives massage to Riiko's mother while telling her in a velvety tones that there are 28 types of massages that he can do. The dad is obviously not impressed especially when Night blurts out that Riiko 'purchased' him. In order to stop further misunderstanding, Riiko sends Night to Fujiko's bar. Over there, Night gets a lesson as to why he should respect the father if he loves Riiko. The next day at Asamoto, there's a meeting about the upcoming Coupe du Brno international patisserie concours, a competition for up and coming patisserie makers. Soushi who showed little enthusiasm during the meeting is scolded by Masashi, his older brother. Masashi thinks Soushi should quit if he no longer has motivation in the business. He seems to believe that Asamoto doesn't need anyone like Soushi.
When Soushi returns to the office, he finds Riiko looking depressed because her lunchbox has fell onto the floor. She entertains the thought of eating the octopi sausage until Soushi stops her. An embarrassed Riiko tries to get out but stops when she sees Night at the office carrying a box of carrots. As it turns out her parents have decides to visit her workplace. Not surprisingly, Riiko's mother quickly sets her wandering eyes on Soushi. Upon finding out that Soushi is the son of the company owner, Riiko's father gives Soushi his own, straight-from-the-farm carrots as omiyage. Before they embarrassed her further, Riiko asks her parents to leave. Later on while fixing the lamps at the office, Night gets a visit from Mika who wonders if he's okay. Mika tries to convince Night that she really likes him but Night also tells her that he really likes Riiko. In desperation, Mika tells Night that Riiko likes Soushi. This causes Night to be jealous so he confronts Soushi, asking the guy if he loves Riiko and can make her happy.
Soushi, however, convinces Night that Night has nothing to worry about since he feels nothing for Riiko. This, for some reason, stabilizes Night's jealousy to a more manageable levels. However, the changes also causes overload in Night's system. At home, Riiko's mom is making dinner with the help of Night. When Riiko goes home, she's shocked to find coming out of her toilet. Riiko's father is also weirded out by this, wondering if Gaku is really an electrician (he claimed he's an electrician). Things get out of control when Night offers massage to Riiko's father so Riiko kicks both Night and Gaku from her home. Before they left, Riiko's mom can't help herself from saying that even the electrician is hot. LOL. Later on that night, Night returns to the house to enjoy family dinner with Riiko's family. Riiko and her father, however, gets into a fight when her dad points out that despite moving to Tokyo, Riiko still hasn't fulfilled her dream to be a patissier (pastry chef). He thinks this is because Riiko always do things halfway.
He starts listing out Riiko's failure and her tendency to quit, causing her to be upset and leave the apartment. Riiko runs to a lake but because she's hungry, she goes to her office and eat the carrot that her parents gave to Soushi. Upon seeing Riiko devouring the raw carrot, Soushi can't help but asking if she's a rabbit. Riiko eventually explains that she had a fight with her father. She also tells Soushi that she actually wanted to be a patissier but never get to realize that dream. Soushi suddenly starts to eat the carrots, prompting Riiko to tells him that he looks like a horse. Meanwhile, Night is informed by Fujiko that when a father scolds her daughter, the father does it out of love. Upon hearing this, Night wonders how he can make the two reconcile and stumbles upon a magazine featuring a family having picnic. Because of this, the next day he wakes up Riiko and her parents and take them to a park. Once they get there, Night and Riiko's mom force Riiko and her father to get on the boat together, hoping that the two will talk somehow.
On the shore, the mom tells Night that the one who suggested that they visit Riiko was actually her father. Unfortunately, despite being on the boat together, Riiko still fights with her father. When Night appears in a high-speed boat, the father becomes pissed off and tries to chide him but this causes the boat to become unbalanced and tip the fat guy off into the water. In the aftermath, both Riiko and her father are grumpy even when the family takes family pictures together. To make things worse, because Riiko fights with her father, the two inadvertently rips off the family photos they just took. The two get into a fight once more before Riiko ends it by saying that her father knows nothing about her. And oh, she hates him too. Night tries to chase after Riiko, telling her that the reason Riiko's father scolds her is because her father loves her. Riiko, however, retaliates by asking Night how a robot like him can possibly understand. She believes what Night just said was his programming so she orders him not to say those things to her.
Back at Kronos Heaven, Gaku and his assistant come to a conclusion that Night has developed self-awareness. Unfortunately for them, the boss' right hand made overhears this. Meanwhile, Riiko receives a phone call from Soushi who suggests that she makes a new cake out of the carrots that her father gave him. He also shows her the cake-making competition and suggests that she enters that competition since she wants to become patissier. At the same time, Night is busy searching for pieces of the photograph that Riiko ripped apart earlier even though it's already late at night. Back at the office, Riiko has finished her first attempt at making cake mix using carrot but it doesn't taste good so Soushi suggests that they try again. Whilst doing so, he asks her why she wants to be a patissier. Riiko tells him it's because when she was in primary school, she and her father went to see a film about a patissier girl who makes sweets for other people. Back then she thought it'd be nice if she can make people happy just by making sweets. The two continue making cake mix after cake mix using different method but they still can't get the right taste.
In the morning, Riiko receives a phone call from her mother, saying that she and her father are leaving. Because of this, Soushi urge her to go and say goodbye to them. When she arrives there, it's obvious that there's still some tension between them. Night then arrives bringing with him the photograph that the two ripped apart. He's been looking for the pieces all night long and stitched it back using clear tapes. Suffice to say, Riiko's father is impressed by Night's determination. Riiko uses the opportunity to apologize to her father, promising that she'll try harder here (in Tokyo). Back at Kronos Heaven, Gaku is scolded by his boss, who thinks that they can't possibly sell something as dangerous as unit 01. Because of this, he wants Gaku to collect Night and fix it right away. Meanwhile, Riiko goes back to the office to give the cake mix a try again. This time, however, she's successful because she adds Kibi (millet) sugar while boiling the carrots. Riiko, however, almost falls over because she hasn't had a good sleep. Soushi manages to catch her but after doing so, he suddenly embraces her. At the same time, Gaku is seen taking Night away from Riiko's apartment.
Impression
That ending would have been more poignant and make sense if Riiko actually showed some kind of positive emotion for Night, whether it is attraction or even something as simple as concern. But as it is now, what is it exactly that Gaku took from Riiko? It seems like nothing significant was taken from her since Riiko can't care less about Night. Let's put it this way: what were we, the audiences, were supposed to feel with that final scenes? Was it "Oh yay, Riiko is finally going somewhere with Soushi and that annoying robot is finally gone?" Or was it "Oh poor Riiko, her important robot was taken away from her"? Neither works for me because in order for the 1st statement to work, I'd have to sympathize with Riiko and Soushi and root for them. The problem is, I don't care about them getting together. The chemistry is just all wrong. In order for the 2nd statement to work, Riiko should have shown more concern for Night. The only alternative left is feeling sorry for Night because he's like that dog that no one wants. But in that case, then maybe the show shouldn't have spend the majority of its story focusing on Riiko.
On a more positive side, this episode was kind of fun, especially when compared to last week's episode. Night's interaction with Riiko's parents and Gaku were amusing and I wish there's a spin-off based on wacky adventures of Night the super-robot. I couldn't help but laughing everytime Riiko's mother goes horny the minute she sees the men in Riiko's lives. And although it's cliche and probably has been repeated many times in other stories, I think Riiko's situation with her father is easy to identify. This is especially true if your aspiration for future career does not match with what your parents want you to do. On that note, I find it interesting that TV writers tend to write TV fathers in unpleasant light. It makes me wonder if most people have had unpleasant experience with their fathers in real life and somehow the experience influences their writing. Admitedly, TV mothers have had their own share of negative portrayal as well. In most cases, however, it's always the father who's seen as the bad role model in a character's life. Or like in Riiko's case, the father is the stumbling block that the character needs to deal with.
Questionnaire: Is your current job or your future career aspiration match with what your parents want you to do? If it doesn't, was there any difficulty in convincing either one of them that this is what you want to do in your life?
Preview
Next Week: Fur will flies and claws will be bared as Riiko tries to fend off attack from both Mika and Soushi's ex-GF.
I guess I'm the luckier ones out there since I get along well with both of my parents. I always find it weird watching a show where the parents and children don't get along or worse, at each other's throats. It feels so exaggerated sometimes.
And yeah, this drama is not making much sense but I'm just watching it to see how far it'll go. It's silly that Riiko pays so much money for Night then just ditch him at every opportunity. She could have gotten something that she actually wants instead.
My father is fine with letting me do what I want to in life. My mother is more, um, "possessive" but in the end she lets me do what I want and supports me/gives good advice. So even if it's not always a peaceful relationship, I guess I am also lucky.
It is interesting to see how withdrawn Riiko's mom is in this episode; I mean she didn't get involved in the dispute between the father and her daughter letting time flow until they make up.
Although it got a bit emotional in the end with Night finding the photograph and all, I was not really affected when Gaku took Night with him.
It seems it will start to get more interesting with the next episode. The girl playing Soushi's ex-girlfriend is Ayana Sakai, I've seen her in Jotei and Mop Girl. She had pretty negative roles in these ones so it seems to me that she always plays the role of the bitchy/possesive girlfriend.
I think the problem here is Riiko's passive-agressive act. It gets really annoying at times. I do feel sorry for her since she was basically deceived by Namikiri to buy Night but still, she could have said no......
My father is quite strict if he doesn't know well the kind of things that I want to do. But I think it's typical of a father to be protective and want the kids to have a good job and position. It doesn't help paying for kids' school is so expensive these days.
i think one of the problem with the series is riko is too much of a prude maybe . and her charcter is written a bit too boring. there can be more intimate moments (but of course w/o getting it on) and tensions and funny scenes btw she and knight sicne they do live together. but it's not fully explored. it's a pity. it's like the concept of humanoid boyfriend is actually quite tentalizing. but b/c of the target reader of original manga it's staying pg 13.. but still alot can be done with words w/o showing anything. like i was suprised to learn that knight can eat/drink and i wonder if he needs to go to bathroom after he eats, lol.. there can be alot of random and funny conversations like this but it's never fully explored..like it'd make riko more endearing if she asks such questions but ask it in a innocent and nerdy way like it boggles her mind. but it's not done. it's a pity. so we're left to feel that each of the charcter is a robot in their own way.. not just knight..lol.
but just like you i'm ifnishing the series as well b/c this season there's alot to watch and i've alread watched 4 episodes of this. and like riko's mom i think all the men in the series is easy on the eye.. lol.. and i'll watch any thing that has to do with food.
as to your question, i was the kid who's always got the best grade amongst my siblings but instead of becoming a doctor or study science/business(i'm asian,lol) i became an artist(i work as an illustrator) now. i got into univ. as econ major and came with a design dgr. i changed my major w/o telling my parents until i've got it anddone the deed(i dont' recommend it kids, after all your parents pay for your tuittions) i guess afterwards my parents weren't happy. but out of their concern my dad did tell me something that still kinda drives me. he jsut said that "well, you better be the best artist there is..(well he doesn't know the difference btw designer/artist/illustrator back then.) well for a few years they still worry i'd starve lol. so even today(i've been working as an designer/illustrator for 10 years now) everytime i try to slack off i remember what he said so i try to make sure i get better so i dont' starve..lol.
The girl playing Soushi's ex-girlfriend is Ayana Sakai
Thank you for the information. That's why she looks a bit familiar.
I forgot to mention that some people probably see screenshots from episode 5 instead of 6. That's because I made a mistake in naming last week's screenshot folder episode 6. So if your web browser cached in the images, you may see the old images instead. This is especially problematic on Mac-based browsers. To solve the problem, please refresh your browser by using the reload buttons. The new images are there.
the father is like the obstacle that rikko and whoever the guy she will be with because rikko is a girl and the most sensitive person in daughters life are the fathers.
A boy usually in conflict with his father while a girl with her mother. It's kind of weird to see Riko fighting with her dad because normally the dad will be the one who's all accomodating while the mom will be the one who want to send her to piano course, knitting course, etc. Or at least that's the case with me.
i'm encouraged to hear you'll still include osen here, eventually. commenting on osen would be my pleasure and privilege--i'll have to restrict myself to 20 pages per reply per episode ;p
haven't watched this series, but your comments make it sound intriguing. sort of.
haha i'm surprised not lots of ppl liked this drama i adore it for sum reason i think its so cute:)
i've seen soushi's ex in japanese magazines too! i've always wanted to be doing something related to art and i am still not in that department. my parents finally don't care about what i do because they have come to realize that they can't stop me and they know i would be happier if i did something i like =p
my parents don't care either way what i do, i can drive i bus for all they care as long as i'm happy ^^
and i agree with you there about the lack of chemistry, altho i do like the actor that plays soshi (he played nanba in hana kimi hehe)
I only saw one episode of this and already knew it's going to stay 'that way' throughout the rest of the series. Reading your review confirms it. I agree with all of your thoughts on Riiko, they could've done a lot with the dynamics between her and Night. Her character is way too prude and jumpy, and not in a cute innocent kind of way. I don't know what they're trying to accomplish with such poor character developments all around. I would've loved to see more of the pastries, but my patience is short when the story focuses so much on Riiko's annoying character.
But on another note, please review Osen, I'm on episode two already, it's such an underrated dorama according to the viewership in Japan (might be because it's aired at a later time spot). Osen is a nice balance between the actual plot and informing people about traditional Japanese food/cooking. It's like the Japanese version of Bambino!
The ex-girlfriend does look like Sakai Ayana. I feel sorry for her, it seems like all she ever plays are the antagonist in every drama series I've ever watched with her in it. she's quite pretty, though.
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