I liked it a lot, too much since it was not well made, unfortunately not, but the character of Kaoru was very touching and well played, the actor that played him did very well, I had never seen him before and I liked him a lot. Now I’ve learned he’s a pop idol in a group called Snow Man, but I’m afraid I’m over the age limit for that stuff. I also learned that he’s a model, which is very understandable and perfect for him, but for me it has the same results, so I’ll simply gladly wait to see him in another movie.
He is called Raul (Raul Maito Murakami).
This show is all about learning to love, not only Manami and Kaoru but also all the others. Kawahara apparently had really fallen for her, alhtough I did not feel that until it was said at the end, and because he had real feelings for her he helped her with Kaoru and let her go, and of course Manami’s father was a tyrant… who apparently becomes another person when she threatens to leave him… Kaoru and Manami learn together to love each other but also themselves.
It’s also a story about prejudice of course, and stuff like that, but most of all is a story about accepting each other and learning to love both each other and oneselves.
For the record, I think in the story he’s 23 and she’s 35.
Or, well, maybe I just watched it during an emotional time so it resonated something in my soul, but whatever… I still thought that it should be watched at least twice, to better appreciate it because first time I didn’t get everything because I didn’t really know Kaoru, like when he told Manami they could go to a hotel, as if that was an acceptable thing to say, but once I understood the character fully, it does make sense. That’s how he sees himself, the world and women. He believes he’s stupid and worth nothing outside the host club, he only knows women/people who think/say he’s stupid or those who like him for how he acts in the club, and women who like him are always met at the club, where he acts, pretends to be what they want, and that is the only way he thinks women can want him. It touched him when she said he’s not stupid, and the “reward” was to be with her like he never is with other clients. He’s so confused when she gets offended, and when she walks away he thinks it’s the end, but he doesn’t want that and calls her back about their lessons… even his voice changes now, no more as confident and more childish.. he is a good actor and a striking figure. Tsubasa is prettier but he is unforgettable. It’s not everyday you feel so much someone’s emotions, charming man one second and vulnerable kid the next… I’m curious to see him in another movie, to verify if it was him or it was jusst the right moment for me to feel that way…
The last episode was hurried, not the plot I’d have liked but I can see it being Kaoru’s insecurities making him do this, to make sure she still wants him. I didn’t like that he was dancing when she sees him, why? Not worried at all she might not want him anymore? … His lack of self-worth should make him doubt. They know each other, like, four months now?
He can’t act with her, so I didn’t like how it was written, but I do like the last image, how when he kisses her the word love is all around them.
This show is not well done, I said it before, the abrupt fade-to-black moments were unacceptable, I don’t do that even in my home-made videos (and you can check, I posted a couple on youtube a few years ago on Wang Duo I quite like - another actor I like really a lot, he really is good). In a film, or miniseries or whatever it is which shows up internationally it’s unthinkable. At the beach it’s the worst, two abrupt ones that made me think they forgot to include the scene when they sit down, so they added it later in a very unprofessional way…
This show talks about host clubs: night clubs where charming young men pretend to love you to make you spend your money in drinks and stuff… I mean they only talk about champagne or such, but there might be the occasional snack to eat… and it’s their official job, they’re there as hosts, so you kinda know what’s what beforehand.
This is a miniseries:
1-
Manami is a teacher in a catholic school - well, there’s a nun so I suppose that’s what it is - and shi only has girls in class, but they don’t respect her. Manami doesn’t do anything to make them, she just takes it.
She meets her ‘new fiancée’ Kawahara because their fathers know each other and arranged the marriage.
When a rich mother complains to the school that her daughter is spending lots of money at a host club, the school orders Manami and her teacher aide Sakura to retrieve her, so she goes.
Young Natsuki was with Kaoru, one of the host - with this I mean they were sitting at a table talking. His job as host is to talk to women and get them to buy more drinks and spend a lot of money.
Manami insists th girl should leave, Kaoru mocks her a bit for her strict, no fun attitude, and the girl tries to stay but the club owner stops her from entering again .
When Manami sees her at school the next morning, Natsuki is sad because nobody seems to care about her.
The girl’s mother insists on having a letter from Kaoru, a promise that he won’t see the girl again, and Manami won’t stop until she gets it. She tries at the club of course, and star host Tsubasa tells her that he is well educated while Kaoru is not, which does not interest her at all because she’s only there for the letter. When he keeps saying ‘later’ and refuses to write it there, she waits and then follows him home.
When she refuses to enter his apartment, because it’s not appropriate, he thinks she might have a wrong idea about him and tells her that he never slept with the underage girl, whatever Natsuki might have said to appear like an adult (indeed, that’s what Natsuki had told her).
Still, since Manami won’t enter they go talk on the roof and he manages to write the letter for her, but it seems written by a child, so he admits that he only had the first two or three years of school and no more, that he has no father and his mother is a parasite (yeah, she is, constantly asking him money and otherwise leaving him on his own). That they had no money and he just never learned, he can’t even write his name in Kanji. She stops him from walking away and insists on teaching him how to do it, and you can see in his posture how he feels lost and embarrassed, but he applies himself and she really enjoys teaching him, and he gets frustrated when he makes mistakes but sticks to it and learns how to write his name.
I so relate to Manami’s emotions here about this lesson because it’s wonderful to teach someone who wants to learn, so rewarding, it’s like winning together :-) :-)
When he sees how she writes her own name his reaction is adorable, he likes her surname because Ogawa is so easy to write, he says :lol:
At work, he tells his boss that he can make her fall in love and come to the club.
Kawahara is seeing a married woman and only wants to marry Manami because it’ll help his career. Manami told him about her past right away: she once had a serious relationship but when her fiancée left her she lost it, she kept calling him crying, following him, leaving him gifts. A stalker indeed so he called the police on her and she had to leave the company. She also tried to kill herself, but it’s not easy to let oneself drown, she didn’t choose well. She does not tell him about the attempt, though.
Her father found her this teaching job.
2-
Natsuki runs away from school so Manami asks Kaoru if he saw her and he finds Natsuki for her. Kaoru told her that his love is on sale, can only be bought, so she should keep studying, go to university, get a good job and make a lot of money, so she’ll be able to buy his love… how nice of him :) Her mom always speaks of her unconditional love, and when Natsuki asks Manami which one is better, that or bought love, Manami’s answer surprises her: “we’ll never know” is not what the girl expected, and Manami can see a change immediately in her attitude, so when Manami drops a chip she picks it up and eats it like Kaoru did, earning herself a smile from the girl.
3-
Kawahara still wants to marry Manami and they meet her parents together. Her best friend the journalist is the one Manami’s man left her for, but she dumped him and now she cares about Manami a lot. Manami has told both about her past, but not about the suicide attempt.
Tsubasa ‘gives’ Kaoru his best client, a very rich woman, very demanding, and she’s buying jewellery for him when Manami comes in and Kawahara buys the rings for them. Honestly, Manami looks the leasts interested in the rings, and Kaoru looks embarrassed to be shown off like a pretty thing. They all take a room, but Manami changes her mind and leaves. Kaoru is very hesitant, not used to this kind of things, but of course he won’t say he’s never done it; the woman gets offended thinking he doesn’t like her that way because she’s older (well, she’s a woman, he’s little more than a kid… not sure how old she is but she’s probably over forty, although she’s stunning … actually according to Google she was 50 in this… wow woman, us mortals can only wish…) so she throws wine at him. When he has to sign the hotel receipt or something, he thinks back to his ‘lesson’ and then he calls Manami. He doesn’t want to ask directly, so he congratulates her on her engagement and talks of how much he loved to look at trains as a child, but he never had a choice on what to do because of his ignorance, so Manami is the one to offer, she insists he can do it even if he has a learning disability. She gives him a book/magazine on trains to practise, and she laughs when she’s with him. Manami even asks for advice from her teacher aide, so she buys a pencil for Kaoru so he can erase mistakes. At their next appointment, he plays the fool and she goes away. Everyone told him he was stupid as a child, now he said it about himself and she didn’t contradict him, she just went.
Kawahara follows her, spies on her and learns the name Kaoru when she goes to the club to talk about his ‘homework’… and what a difficult scene that was. Rich Akina does still name him for the number one spot in the club, and he probably thinks they’re alright for a moment, but I could feel something was wrong, that she wanted to humiliate him. I had to pause for a while, it was hard to watch.
Akira tells him in front of everyone that he’s stupid, and not him or anybody eles can say a thing because, as the boss says, in a host club women have fun and can do whatever they want. Manami stands to leave but Akina stops her because they saw each other at that… jewellery store, hotel? Anyway, Manami simply says that Kaoru is not stupid and goes out. Kaoru runs after her and hugs her.
Natsuki treats her better now.
4-
Kaoru hugs her from behind in a very manga-like scene, adorable, but being so uptight and proper she fights the contact. :-/ Kaoru offers Manami to go to a hotel and she feels insulted, but he wants to continue their lessons, promises to do his homework and she accepts to teach him. He told her she lied, that he’s been told he’s stupid his entire life, but Manami protests telling him that he isn’t! It means a lot.
At school, Sakura gives her a book on teaching people with learning disabilities and teaches her some things.
When his mom calls Kaoru doesn’t answer. Good. She was calling for her partner that wants money :-/
Kawahara asks Momoko about the club, and she says that it’s because of a student, then Momoko talks to Manami about it. When Momoko warns her to stay away from hosts, they have a fight, but they’re still friends.
Kaoru is all set on becoming number one now; Manami spent time preparing his lesson, with colors and everything, but he doesn’t show up and doesn’t answer her calls, so she eventually goes to the club to check on him, and Tsubasa tells her that’s Kaoru’s usual strategy with women, to make them come to the club, and he also tells her that it was Kaoru’s plan from the start ot make her fall for him so she’d spend her money for him, that he wanted to take advantage of her… she knows he’s trying to make Kaoru look bad, and… she says she’ll order everything Kaoru wants… that night Tsubasa is named number one, Kaoru is the second… and then it turns out he made her spend more than 500.000 yen… she gives him the lesson she had prepared already and goes out.
School’s over for now, summer starts. Sakura comes clean with her so she won’t believe he had any romantic feelings, and tells her that he’s not interested in women, and only wants to be a good friend (and isn’t it sad that in this society, whatever place you live in, this is necessary? Because indeed if a man helps a woman, volunteers help, it’s because he wants to bed her, isn’t it?). Kaoru’s boss tells him that a good host must make the women happy, for them to have fun, not to make them regret the money they spent; he looked at Manami’s bill. After this scolding, and looking at what she prepared for him, Kaoru feels bad.
Manami comes home to find Kawahara with her father. She can’t even let him kiss her, but she keeps the engagement because she can’t say no to her father.
Kaoru goes to tell his mom’s partner to stop sending her to ask him for money. When he calls Manami, she does go to meet him, and he gives her back the money she spent, and then he says to put a stop to it, because he doesn’t deserve her kindness…
I mean, here he says that it’s getting too hard… really? What?, since he’s not really studying all that hard yet? Barely, almost nothing one might say. The feelings are getting harder, he kept saying he’d never fall for a girl adn now he can’t keep up with all these feelings, and when it’s Manami who calls him back he can’t understand why she does it, what’s in it for her. He thinks she’s in love with him and admits he feels the same, he sort of accuses her of falling for him, like she shouldn’t have, because to him it makes no sense at all, but we can see how Manami is different with him, those are the only times that she laughs, and when she jokes with him like a kid it feels like she’s living her ‘kid phase’ for the first time and that’s why he’s good for her too.
5-
Kaoru starts having feelings, tells her so, but she says to stop saying such things and focus on their lessons, and gives him back the money. Kaoru admits to his roommate and only friend at the club that he can’t write, so the other now understands why Kaoru never posts on social medias.
This episode shows Kaoru admitting it willingly to someone - sure, his roommate is his friend, a good person, but this is the first time anyway, Kaoru never wanted anyone to know before. His face always shows the hurt, the embarrassement, when he wants to hurtt or to escape.. it touches the heart.
Kawahara tells Manami that he had kept seeing another woman but it’s over now. So she tells him the truth about teaching Kaoru. And Kawahara tells her dad about Kaoru!
Kaoru keeps doing his homework, but she shows up with Sakura to help so an annoyed Kaoru drags her to a library to buy something. The book is for Kaoru’s little stepbrother, and it’s all great as long as she’s the one reading the book to the child, ut when the child wants him to read, it’s so difficult he gives up after one sentence.
Manami’s mom goes to the club, ordered by her husband, to tell Kaoru to never see her again. She gives him money and tells him to leave her in peace, and she gets drunk to get through with it.
Natsuki’s mom was against the idea of her going abroad to study, but Manami sticks to it, wanting to help the girl, and she does. But, Natsuki forgot her phone at school and so she sees Kaoru come to talk to Manami through th closed gate, and sees him taking her hand…
This episode ends with him facing his feelings and going to her… his ‘I hate you’ is complex (the subtitles were correct, I checked, he says kirai), but it’s clear what they mean, basically they just admitted to being in love with each other.
6-
Manami and Kaoru go to the beach on a train, I think he asked for one day together or something and then they’d stop it. At the gate, he says he’s starting to hate her, and she says the same, but he asks for a day with her, like a school trip, a goodbye trip. He took a day off for this. They joke and talk, he tells her of how much he would have wanted to go to school and she… she tells him of the suicide attempt… and there was no need for her narrating voice to point out she’d never told anyone, I had noticed she didn’t even tell Momoko. He makes her feel lighter.
They play games, run, have fun, talk about themselves and then they kiss on the beach… the day ends though, and they agreed it was to be the end of it.
She switches the phone on and finds lots of calls, because Natsuki told on her, the jealous child.
Also, Kaoru is confronted by Kawahara, who punches him making him fall down the stairs.
7-
The guy actually broke his own hand punching Kaoru. The police asks questions, wondering if the incident is related to the host assassinated. Tsubasa goes to visit Kaoru then tells Momoko that he’s in a hospital, and she tells Manami. Kawahara had just revealed that he saw her with Kaoru so she’ll probably add 2 and 2 together and realize the truth… maybe…
Manami finally decides to leave her parents’ home and go live alone. When she goes to visit Kaoru it’s already after hours and she can’t enter, and when she calls him he lies about being at a club surrounded by women, but then he sees her outside.
Tsubasa doesn’t want to work with Akina anymore - we guessed, since he gave her to Kaoru, but now she comes to the club with a knife to hurt him. The boss and his men help and he is unarmed, but Kaoru’s friend got injured in his arm.
Kaoru’s mom asks him again for money for her man, 3 millions… I mean, the face of that woman!!!
8-
Kawahara tells Manami her dad is home because at his company people complained about him for abuse of power. He keeps insisting they marry as quickly as possible.
Akina confesses she used all her money for the host Jin and when she had no more he became cold, she threatened to kill herself and accidentally killed him. She tried again and became addicted to Tsubasa - who suspected her already because he knew Jin and knew he had trouble with her… but still had her as his best client for quite a while to get money anyway, it seems… - and then Akina decided to make them pay, these men who use women (… well… not sure I feel for her as Momoko does, who accuses Tsubasa of ruining her life… I’m conflicted, it’s not like he courted her for her money, she came to him and it’s an official job she knew about, she knew he was working… but of course girls and desperate women can lose themselves in these places because they want to believe the lie as long as it lasts…).
When she heard of the incident at the club, Manami rushed there worried for Kaoru, then she fainted so Momoko left him to care for her.
The boss tells Kaoru that he’s been in prison for killing a man in a fight, years ago, but Kaoru is grateful to him for sort of saving him, he had nothing before the man stopped three guys beating him up and gave him food to eat and a job. He offers to do anything to help, and Boss just tells him to clear the place up, ruffling his hair… :-) it was adorable.I’d like to know the actor’s name.
It happened years ago, just Kaoru’s age, and the man said he wanted to stop being a host because he had fallen in love)
The clulb opens one last night, but Boss has decided to close it after this incident. Manami asks Momoko to stay at her place until she finds her own, but dad locks her in her room… he yells that she can’t do anything and he had to find her jobs for her, which she knows about and that’s why she wants to be more independent, and mom hits him and lets her run away. Good :-p
Kawahara apologises to Kaoru and asks him why he didn’t tell on him.
9-
Manami makes it to Momoko’s place.
The police questions all the hosts, but when they tell Kaoru to read carefully before signing, it is very difficult for him. Momoko and everyone is telling Manami to stay away, but Sakura is worried for Kaoru’s dislexia. Manami goes to the police to tell them about it. Everyone’s released. Kaoru’s boss thanks Manami, while his mom is just annoying, poor guy.
Manami signs for a place of her own. Kawahara tells her to break the engament, comes clean about punching Kaoru, and tells her that Kaoru loves her more than he does, and when she says Kaoru doesn’t want to be with her he doesn’t think she should give up.
Kawahara then goes to Kaoru’s place to give him Manami’s new address. Kaoru goes, they talk and eat together then he falls asleep.
10-
Manami asks if he wants to live with her but he’s worried about her school and what will happen to her for living with a host, so he tells her he’ll look for a different job.
Manami tells the school about wanting a relationship with Kaoru, and she’s fired. She also tells her mom. Momoko tells Kaoru to not hurt her or she’ll kill him :-) but then her dad comes to yell at him to leave her alone, and other horrible things, but when Kaoru takes it without reaction, dad seems satisfied that he can control himself, and tells him to study something and get a job and be a respectable man.
11-
Manami helps him prepare for interviews, and he tells her he cut contacts with his mom, told her to stop calling him, that he won’t give her money anymore.
The students insist on talking to Manami and know why she’s leaving them (as if she resigned willingly…).
Kaoru applies hard to entry a hair styling school. Kawahara tells Manami he’ll go to New York to work there. Kaoru refuses to asks for special treatment in reading the questions so of course he fails the exam, so he thinks he’s not good enough for her and leaves her… I mean, talk about on-again-off-again relationship… they make my head spin…
Manami’s mom loses it and asks for a divorce. Kaoru thinks for a bit to go back to being a host because that’s the only thin he can do but it’s not what he wants. He asks Boss if he’s his dad by any chance but no, he says no, just to be clear.
Some days later - well, he gave the exam when school started for the girls, and now it’s September 27th - she goes to the same beach they once visited, where they said they’d go together to see the firecrackers show, and she finds Kaoru there, who has finally understood that he doesn’t want to live a lie anymore pretend to be who he’s not. He tells her that he’ll try again to enter the school and they get back together. Once again, they kiss on the beach.
The last scene shows up Manami’s mom going out to work and dad staying home and putting on an apron… not sure they’ll divorce now… I think they’ll live like this. Her plants are new and growing again.
Manami has a new job at another school.
Kaoru/Taiga Takamori is Raul
Manami is Fumino Kimura
Tsubasa is Keishi Arai
Akina is Michiko Kichise
Momoko is Minami Tanaka
Sakura is Ryosuke Mikata