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naokiscoffee · 5 months ago

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What makes Itazura na Kiss: Love in Tokyo so special?

Season 01 Episode 02

We’re once again starting the episode strong. Kotoko’s strongest personality points are shining as brightly as ever.

“I can’t forgive Naoki, that’s why I’m serious this time, I will beat Naoki on these final exams”

Her determination, seriousness, and optimism are taking the wheel. Unfortunately, this also highlights how unsupportive her friends are. Truth be told if someone who’s in the lowest grades class says she will beat the student who’s first place in studying is hard to take that seriously.

When faced with this, Kotoko quickly settles for being on the bulletin board; or basically having her name written on the same paper as Naoki. Now this is a more realistic goal that I can get by. Her friends though think differently.

This here is very important. This is exactly what sets Kotoko apart from the rest of the people around her. Her friends limit themselves by saying “No way! We’re in Class F you know”, yet she doesn’t let herself be held down by such restricting thoughts or preconceptions. This is a very healthy and admirable way of thinking.

Also, I absolutely love how she’s doing all of this just to get back on Naoki for saying “I don't like girls without a brain”.

Something I hadn’t realised last re-watch is just how much of a pivoting moment this is for Kotoko. Naoki’s changes have always been obvious to me, but I never realised how Kotoko had also changed. I cannot picture Kotoko aiming for the top 100th place under any other circumstances.

I always really enjoy the dinner scenes in this version, they make everything so much more cosy and domestic. Another subtle detail that can easily be overlooked is how Naoki’s eyes follow Kotoko for a split second as she makes her way upstairs to study. He’s already showing interest in her.

Noriko is living her dream; she’s making midnight snacks, and she even has someone to vent to about how Naoki. She also feels close enough to Kotoko to speak to her about her worries and fears, and she even shows her pictures of Naoki as a child, which she would have probably never shown anyone else.

When Noriko speaks about how she misses taking pictures, my brain immediately jumps to when Kotoko becomes the reason why she gets back into the hobby later on (Kotoko has awakened the photographing beast in Noriko lol). This is also when Noriko first gets the feeling that Kotoko might like her son.

“Irie was already handsome even when he was little”

(I can already see Noriko’s brain going: so you think my son is handsome?!!)

Unfortunately, despite her seemingly innocent intentions, Noriko has seriously scarred Naoki by having him cross-dress as a child. This also helps us understand why he is so afraid of being wrapped up in a scandal at school (think back to the confession scene in the last episode).

Kotoko’s friends are beginning to notice the change I mentioned earlier, and don’t know what to make out of it. Just then, Naoki just pops up out of thin air. I really like the camerawork in this drama, and how the camera work conceals him so that his arrival is a surprise for us as well.

This is also an iconic moment, we’re learning more about Naoki; he would rather break his own rule and talk to her at school than take out a girl's bento box (and to potentially have people figure out that they are living together) (the trauma and fear are still there).

“if your nosy classmates see this it would cause a commotion”

Bro, you have already caused a commotion.

This scene here is a gold mine. For the first time ever, we are seeing Naoki get extremely worked up. Up till this point, nothing anyone has said or done has affected his stoic attitude, yet Kotoko has managed to do it, and I am eating it up. I know, they’re not a couple yet, he doesn’t like her yet, and they’re basically fighting, but nonetheless, I find this scene to be terribly cute.

Our girl is not only positive and hardworking, she’s also generous; she offers the picture back as long as he tutors her for a week, to get into the top 100. That’s a reasonable offer if you ask me.

“in other words, it’s a waste of time to challenge the impossible” Kotoko has proven this statement wrong, time after time.

“Mom, could you make snacks for two? and bring them to Kotoko’s room please?”

Naoki is finally beginning to have an outward sign of the change that’s taking place and is very nonchalant about it. By saying this he is also … everyone that he’s helping her study. This shift is clearly very shocking for all of the family.

Also, a few small details that are easily missed; Naoki has enough tact to get Kotoko’s permission before entering her room, but he doesn’t have enough sense to keep the door to her room open, while Kotoko leaves it open a few moments earlier. I haven’t decided yet if this is just Naoki having a lower EQ, or if it’s him knowing his family’s ways better.

All the bickering that has been happening this far makes this interaction feel warm and domestic. You can also see the two of them symbolically start to blend together; she’s studying (which is his thing), and he’s using her ridiculous pen; he organised and printed out a neat table, yet he uses her cute flowery washi tape to tape it together, and she crosses out the days with stickers. We’ve already seen them influence each other personality-wise, and now we have a physical representation of it.

Naoki is already beginning to not only adjust to Kotoko but to even accommodate her, we see him accommodating her as he’s helping her practice her vocab at school; “on purpose” “What?” “On papasu”. Our man troubled himself with going ahead and writing down a whole exam for Kotoko, and is even patiently and calmly explaining the equation to her. 10 points in his favour!

Another point that requires close observation; when Naoki and Kotoko fall asleep, neither has a blanket on, but in the morning, when Naoki wakes up, he has a blanket around him. Now if you look in Kotoko’s spot and all around the room, you’ll see that there’s no other blanket in sight. I think it’s safe to conclude that Kotoko was the one who put the blanket over him after having woken up first.

This, this is Kotoko as seen through Naoki’s eyes. As he makes his way into the kitchen he does a double take, and this is what he sees. I am sorry to say this, but this boy is already smitten.

Even though Kotoko can’t cook to save her life, she can obviously make a heck of a good coffee, which, as @Machitsuki2 mentioned in one of her videos, is basically the only thing he actually likes.

Now it’s exam day, and as Naoki makes his way down, he slows down a bit, perhaps in hesitation. Here, again, we see them adapting to each other; Kotoko is not outright speaking to him, and is thus somewhat abiding by his rules; and Naoki actually speaks to her willingly.

We’re transported to three days later; exams are over, and Kotoko runs around the school with Kinnouske’s arm around her. Watanabe, who is perhaps Naoki’s only friend (who is often overlooked, but is an amazing character), is also perhaps Naoki’s only source of emotional reason. He’s already poking Naoki towards being jealous since Kotoko has already “moved on to another boy”.

“it’s none of my business,” he says, as his eyes keep following her. My man, that is not something someone who doesn’t care would say or do. Another big change, Naoki is actually beginning to socialise with his classmates, something that even shocks Watanabe.

“you have never done anything like this in all three years here”

Think back to episode one when Kinnouske was gathering donations for Kotoko. What did Kotoko tell him in a fit of rage…?

If your answer was “Do you even have friends?” Then you are correct!! I’ll leave the rest to you.

The more I see Kotoko, the more I love her; she goes straight to the first place to make sure that Naoki is not affected by helping her. Naoki follows in her footsteps and only looks at her results. He also breaks his only rule, and actually talks to her at school, and has the audacity to then say “I told you this many times already, don’t talk to me at school”.

When Kotoko goes over the quote that Naoki mentioned earlier, he even smiles at her.

Now, unfortunately here’s where all hell breaks loose. We were making great progress, but this next part is an absolute setback. Ironically, a rumour comes out once again, also technically caused by Noriko, with the additional help of Kotoko’s friends. Regardless of the outcome, the picture was in fact a sweet gesture from Noriko.

In spite of everything, I feel terrible for Kotoko; her friends not only undermined her efforts on the exam when they learned that Naoki tutored her, they even broke the promise of not telling anyone about them living together, on top of that, Naoki is (understandably) very mad at her.

“since you wrote a love letter to me, perhaps you don't mind the rumour. but it really bothers me. Don’t screw up my life anymore”

This statement just proves that rumour is what bothers him and what holds him back, and Kotoko is there to fix that.

One minor omission from the Manga that I feel would have been a great addition/introspective is this scene.

We see Naoki leave before Kotoko begins to cry. In the Manga, Naoki sees Kotoko crying before She storms off. now this is a very minor difference, but it would serve as a good explanation for a few later events.

Bonus:

It’s all in the details; Kinnouske wiping down the table after picturing Kotoko as a servant is top-tier comedy.

#itazura na kiss #itazura na kiss love in tokyo #jdrama #Im finally back

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kursed-arcana · 5 months ago

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Reddit Talk: Amy Rose Compared to Shounen stereotype? Lol no (a part of my Future Character Assassination of Amy Rose post)

First of comparing amy to shounen heroines is like comparing water to sand. The majority of shounen heroines have very littler personality or fleffort put into them. 1998 is when adventure cwme out. What shounen heroines around then have anything in common with Amy Rose? They have to strive for independence, be bubbly, girly, dedicated to one boy who they love and obsess over while also being selfless and compassionate to others in need. Willing to stand up to the one they love for what they believe in amd willing to see the good even in villains who have antagonized them. This caries over into adventure 2 and heroes at least.

If anything she has more in common (but no enough to hit the stereotype markers) with well known shoujo protagonists such a Sailor Moon, Kotoko Aihara, and Tohru Honda. The first 2 being credited with starting the immature, stupid and lovesick heroine craze of the time. All 3 are significantly different then ewchother and Amy but are well known characters from this time that she can be compared to easily. Love, selflessness, dedication to what they believe is right are common traits in at at least 2 of those 3 and Amy.

Sonic era amy did have a few more shounen strokes thrown in due to the anime. With a little sass and temper thrown into the mix for slapstickk humor. But it is also around this time sega started letting sonic be shown to reciprocate her feelings, as shown by sonic x series 1 finale, sonic unleashed, sonic and the black night.

I'll give you two shounen heroines examples from this time. One done wrong and one done right. Amy can easily be compared to Sakura Haruno. Sakura started out around the same time as adventure luckily wnd you can easily see some similarities. Pink hair, green eyes red dress in love with a cool blue boy (seriously sakura was a major amy rip off which is why i loved her). Here's where they differ though. Sakura femininity was portrayed as a weakness, she was characterized as shallow, and her intelligence and talents were often ignored. Amy wasn't depicted as fairly intelligent back then. She mainly intuition, nor was she semi violent like Sakura, then came in with the sonic x influence. While Sakura was a weak cry baby who couldn't establish independence Amy immediately did. Now around the time of sonic x and part 2 of naruto they have more in common. Like I said the slaptick humor and violence trope. Being more aggressive overall but Ironically the thing these two have the most in common is toxicity and sexism in the fandom derailing their character growth. Sakura only had one fight of substance in part 2 and kishimoto kept flailing to make Sakura appear to his fans until he derailed his plans for her repeatedly ruining her character. Ironically a fate similar to what Amy is now going through.

Now let's loon at soul eater. A shounen series with well written female characters fulfilling a variety a tropes. But I'll compare Amy to the primary lead Maka Albarn. Absolutely only one thing in common besides slapstick humor moments. That would be a willingness to reachout with empathy to an inititally villainous character. Maka is not a girly girl in anyway. She's a headstrong woman on a mission with daddy issues. Nor is romance a primary focus of her character.

Also lol modern amy is way more sterilized then a modern day shounen protagonist and has way too little personality to be compared to a shoujo one. She's solely made for the sterilized girl boss age American audience where female characters have no personality or faults or character trwights beyond beingg a voice of reason for the boys and being there just to be a girl character. I.e. what Gwen tensyson was reduced to and many more female characters in the u.s.

I can keep going but this discussion is always the same trite nonsense at the end of the day. Oh well, more work has at least been completed for my eventual post on the character assassination of Amy Rose post I'll eventually put on my Tumblr. Thanks for the shounen anime spin. That was at least a new and incredibly faulty take

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