Rejoice Ladies and gentlemen, for as I hinted at in the last post, I finally figured out how to get the episodes. It took three times money spending to finally get things working but it was all worth it. Anything for yuri am I right?

First off before we begin, I need to make some things clear from the first post about this drama. The character names were right the first time around; Baba Fumika plays Shinohara Yuri, a university student who is looking for a new place to stay because she is being harassed by a stalker. Things have gotten so bad that she is getting used tissues in her mailbox -which is the last straw for her. This prompts her to go hunting for a new apartment. That of course still makes Fujiko Kojima as Ninomiya Kairi, an estate agent that Yuri goes to in search of a new (more secure) apartment.

So, that part is correct but what I got wrong was saying that Yuri was the gay one when in fact she is so straight she even has a boyfriend at the current moment in time. Now, now, don’t go throwing a fit yet! Believe! If you don’t, believe in me who believes! Indeed, Kairi is the gay one! She is so gay she might as well be level SSS.

So yeah, we are a go you all! It took quite a bit of money to get things going but I made it in the end! Anything for Yuri! But then again, the expenditure was totally on me. I kept going for the wrong VPN that just didn’t cut it! And every single one required payment >.< Even then I had to pay for the FOD premium subscription anyway to watch the actual episodes as they are not available to regular users, at least by the time I got there! Maybe there is a limited window where anyone can access them, like an hour after it goes up then it is locked?

Anyway the bottom line is that we are all set and as such, let’s get it on…

 

Now then, how to go about this? I usually try to mix things up, especially when it comes to my posts so I am thinking of approaching this series a bit differently. But I have been here since late 2000s and really, how much different can I make things? Then again, I doubt anyone has been with me since the beginning so I might as well recycle.

This time around though I am going to start with the characters, then a quick recap then my usual crazy thoughts. That should cover things nicely and I feel like people knowing the structure will help with follow-ups, like if one wants to skip spoilers (Hahaha), they know which part to read which one not to read! Things might change later on, for example we will know all the characters by the fourth episode I am sure so that first section will have no useful information.

So, characters…I believe in this first episode we have been introduced to more than 80% of all major characters. I have already talked about our two main girls, twice now but to go deeper, since we have more information on them, Shinohara Yuri (played by Fumika) is the one that we meet first and I guess if you want to have the No1 argument, she would be the Lead. That being said, it wasn’t even minutes before we meet our other girl Ninomiya Kairi (played by Fujiko). Actually now that I think about it, forget what I said about the Characters segment, because in this first episode alone it is kind of hard to get a complete lock on the personalities of not only our main girls but the other characters we meet.

I found myself flipping between views on what I thought their character would be, especially Kairi! She is a hard one to read and in fact it is almost the same for us as it is for the other characters in trying to figure out this mysterious girl that is Kairi. But what we do know of her in this first episode is that she went to the same Primary (Elementary) school as Yuri but the two have not seen each other since then. In fact Yuri had completely forgotten about her and it took some time for Kairi to recognise Yuri too (Or did it…?). We also know that she was an Idol back then and probably left school because of that as Idols usually attend special private school, well, some of them. Currently she is a working woman in Estate and the two meet when Yuri goes looking for a new apartment.

As for Yuri, her past is still a mystery, except for the few juicy (real juicy) details that we learn about her from Primary school courtesy of Kairi. We know that she was boyish, wearing shorts at that time, and that she was kind, giving her underwear to Kairi who had peed herself in class. In the present it is kind of vague, that line between kindness and aloofness, because sometimes she comes off as a simpleton (over Kairi’s peculiar advances) while other times she seems capable (her life and when dealing with her shady boyfriend).

If this were a ‘serious’ drama, that vagueness in personality would be a problem, a big problem! Why? Because come down the road when things get moving, and by that I mean when emotions finally need to get acknowledged, this partial personality usually ends up as a fatality. The girls usually ends up saying that she was only acting like that because they were good friends, or she was nice to her like that because she is nice to everyone or because she was just too naïve! Thankfully, this is not a serious drama and Yuri is not that much of a simpleton.

Back to Kairi, she is really a mysterious one! I could not figure out if she hard gay, highway gay or wannabe gay! Usually I can tell quite right away just from seeing the character in the first episode (Evidence is Karolina in Runaways and Hope and Lizzie dynamics in Legacies). I don’t mean to brag but my Yuri powers have kind of developed over the years! And yet this Kairi is proving to be a challenge! If she was hard-gay, she would all over Yuri’s friends too – they are super cute but she refused, I repeat, REFUSED an offered water bottle from one of them!!! A Lesbian refused a used water bottle from a cute girl?!

Does not compute!

Now, I know what some of you intellectuals might be thinking – Maybe she just doesn’t do germs and does not want to drink from a bottle someone has already drunk from!

HA! HA! HA!

You should see what almost she did to Yuri’s bottle!!!! We are lucky plastic is not on our food chain!

She is also not highway gay because I am willing to bet that she is already a Lesbian even before she meets Yuri again. Now, I know she was an Idol and we know how that goes around here, but she is no longer an Idol and the last time she saw Yuri it was in Primary school!! So who was she banging all this time and who made her come out?

Beeing a Wannabe gay is also out of them question somewhat because if she was that, then she would have been all over Yuri’s friends but this episode had nothing, na-da, no indication at all that she was going to go there! Like, I am even surprised at her lack of interest in those two friends of Yuri’s!! Like, what kind of Lesbian are you if you can’t see that!!!

Speaking of friends, Yuri has two friends and fellow college mates in Shiho and Tomomi. When you watch the episode, Shiho is the one that wears a mask in the beginning (due to a cold), has dyed hair and it is in a high ponytail. Tomomi is the kind of short, dark-haired one with plump lips. Shiho seems like that energetic friend while Tomomi comes off as the cooler, more level-headed friend, sometimes anyway. She seems to have that bit of simpleton going on as well. We don’t know anything personal about them yet and I doubt we will since this doesn’t seem like that type of drama so probably we will only be seeing them as they are with Yuri.

We also get to meet two male characters, one obviously going to be called Dick from now on, and that is Yuri’s boyfriend. She is onto these Manly showrooms, ranked No.2 in fact but as such he is very popular with the girls who are always taking photos with him at Uni, much to Yuri’s unpleasantness! He seems like kind of an idiot too but what do you expect, he will probably wise up later on when he finds that his girl has been taken by another girl!

The other male is Yuri and her friends’ professor at college. We have seen him in the teaser and I guess he will have a major role later on. From the teaser I thought he might be related to Yuri but it doesn’t seem that way from this first episode so we shall have to wait and see! Who knows, maybe there is a twist and he is in fact related to Kairi. Then again, she should have mentioned it since she dropped in once in their lecture but she did not mention anything about him so I guess that theory is debunked already!

This concludes the character introductions we got in this first episode, well, unless you count a mysterious character whose presence we are made aware of but whom we have not got a chance to see yet. Remember the Stalker I mentioned in the beginning who forced Yuri to move homes, and in effect get our to girls to meet? Well, it seems like it was just a one off gimmick. Their presence is part of the story it seems and I know most of you after watching this episode will have a few theories about that Stalker but on that note, how about we move on to the recap?

So, these episodes being half an hour long, or to be more precise about 25min, these recaps won’t be long. The episode jumps into the thick of things with Yuri finding more used tissues (We are not going to talk about what those tissues were used for) in her locker. This seems to have been going on for a while now and this time it is the last straw for Yuri. She literally goes straight to the accommodation office to look for a new place and there, the person that she speaks to is none other than Kairi.

At this point they don’t know each other, maybe, definitely Yuri did not who Kairi was. As for Kairi, that is a hard one but we will take the benefit of the doubt and say that she too did not recognise Yuri at that time. Without wasting anytime they go to check out some apartments and it is during this that recognition hits Kairi. I am not sure if it is intentional bad acting (Japan makes a business out of this) or if Kairi was pretending but after some business talk, Kairi switches gears as she call Yuri way to informally for two people who are basically stranger.

Kairi seems to have remembered that she was in the presence her long ago classmate who she has a deeper connection to (on her side) and one she hasn’t seen since Primary School. Yuri then remembers as well that cute girl from her class who was also an Idol but Kairi has a deeper memory of them than that. We learn that later. For now the two are just happy to reconnect as they hug and laugh and this where the face-planting happens as Kairi admires just how well developed Yuri turned out to be. So well she is not surprised that Yuri is getting Stalkers with ‘how delicious’ her body looks. They hug some more and we get a glimpse of something about Kairi here when she doesn’t want to let go. But even with her observations Yuri only mentions the length but she doesn’t seem to be that badly disturbed.

Yuri likes the place and she soon moves in, with the non-existent help of her friends Shiho and Tomomi. The two just sit there while poor Yuri unloads all her things by herself. She was almost ready to macho up a fridge almost her height when a helpful hand appeared…it was Kairi of course. With her help the two finish the unloading and afterwards Kairi even helped Yuri put things in place! Hell, they looked like a couple organising their new home or something. Meanwhile said friends were still not helping, Shiho crying about her cold and Tomomi complaining about being tired.

The three decide to be friends with Kairi after she reveals that she has no friends being a loner, when she saw the friendship-ring Yuri was wearing and her friends too. They exchange numbers (not with Yuri though) and later on Yuri will be getting Kairi her own friendship-ring (the implications of that scene…soon). Yuri is thankful to Kairi and is super impressed with her femininity. Kairi though denies the compliments claiming that she even sucks at cooking (but…).

Enter SCENE 2, that face-planting scene being the first, that puts a question mark next to Kairi’s character. Tomomi offers a sweating Kairi some water from her bottle, which Kairi turns down (Strangeeeeeeeee). She claims it’s because of her relationship with people but goes to say that if it is Yuri, she would probably be okay since she has known her before. Yuri offers her water from her own bottle and as she does, Kairi drops the line:

If it’s Yuri, I might even drink her spit or even saliva.

…I know! Everyone’s face was like..WTH? But of course them being straight and thus too uneducated, laughed it off as a joke, even though there were some exclamation marks all over the room! The number increased when Kairi all but emptied the bottle and looked like she wanted to devour the whole thing. With great timing Kairi chooses that moment to remember that she was supposed to be working so she runs off back to her job. Yuri’s friends though seem to be taken by Kairi and think her a fun person but there is this nervousness in Yuri which hints at her perhaps knowing that something is up!

The next few scenes put emphasis on our Stalker. At school Tomomi and Shiho tease Yuri by randomly pointing at students speculating if they were the Stalker. There we also meet Dick, Yuri’s boyfriend, and of course he is busy taking pictures with girls, I guess we should call them fans. He is so engrossed he initially swats Yuri’s hand away as if she was just another fan wanting to take a photo. Yeah, definitely not upgrading from Dick. That being said, he is not the worst Dick we have come across so there’s that.

On her way to work later on, they are of course having some friction and during the heated conversation Yuri brings up the Stalker situation because it seems Dick doesn’t look that bothered that his girlfriend is being harassed by a Stalker. Being a Dick he dismisses it as the Stalker being one of Yuri’s ex-boyfriends who is jealous of him that he stole Yuri away from him (What kind of boyfriend speaks like that on a situations like this?!). I guess this is a good sign maybe? I say maybe because it depends on who the Stalker really is…

A bit later on at work we are still in Stalker subject territory as when Yuri serves food to a guest, she kind of sneezes on the way, as it looks like she had caught Shiho’s bug. The customer sees that and while he starts out at pointing fingers that Yuri had put germs in his food, turns out he is a super creep when he instead licks his lips as if he is happy about the fact that Yuri might have sneezed something in his food. Yuri understandably wonders if he was the Stalker.

Even further on that point, when she heading back home, she feels someone following her and the scene turns into some thriller story with moody music, weird camera angles and everything! Seriously, I thought she was about to get jumped but once again, we see nothing. Not even a silhouette! Is this Stalker real or just a fit of Yuri’s imagination? But even then this is not the last time this episode we are confronted with this Stalker business. Makes me think this is going to be a big part of the story.

Because even when Yuri makes it to her home safely, later in the night she succumbs to the virus and calling Tomomi, turns out that Shiho spread her germs everywhere. Yuri is in bad shape though so when her doorbell is suspiciously rung in the middle of the night, she gets up in a haze and tries to open the door, thinking maybe that it was Dick (yeah right, in the middle of the night?!). But thankfully she falls there unconscious without even making it to the door. Sadly the person seems to have a key to her house as they proceed to insert it and get in! Of course the whole scene was shot like something out of a psycho thriller with that stupid chilly music and dark silhouettes.

Turns out though that it was just Kairi (…) who seems to have came over in time to take care of a really sick Yuri. She not only carries her to her own bed but even helps her refresh by wiping down her sweat.

And her we get SCENE 3, or maybe I should be calling these moments? I have to say I am surprised by the amount of constraint that Kairi showed her given how vulnerable Yuri was. And thus further falls the idea that Kairi is hardcore-gay because if she was, many things could have happened here, like accidental kisses or lecherous leering but shockingly she did everything like she had no bottomless well of lust for Yuri. Very commendable.

During the cleaning then Kairi gives us some details back in Primary School and here is where we learn of that time Yuri gave Kairi her panties because she had soiled hers in class. Kairi lets her know that she still keeps those strawberry panties to this day, which surprises Yuri but Kairi says that they are a treasure of hers.

It is quite a cute moment and the amount of restraint that Kairi showed totally won her some points because she was just a friend taking care of Yuri. And seemingly how independent Yuri is, this is probably the first time someone has cared for her like so. So, good going Kairi. But of course the moment is cut short as Yuri starts coughing and Kairi has to let her sleep.

Totally skipping over what kind of shenanigans Kairi might have been up to while Yuri slept, well, other than the fact that she brought flowers and a bottle of champagne, flowers that are of course…but of course – LILIES!!!!! (A billion points to house Kairi), we skip to next morning and said LILIES and champagne is the first thing that Yuri sees when she wakes up! Like, talk about impressions!

The second thing she sees is as equally point-worthy; a note, with made breakfast! A note signed off with a heart emoji! Like, talk about going straight for the gold! The smile that breaks out on Yuri’s face…Hanyan~ But the kicker is of course the fact that when she tastes the food, Yuri finds it delicious! Remember, Kairi said she sucked at cooking so either she was lying or she was telling the truth but Yuri actually finds her food delicious! I am ignoring the implications of that thought!

Another MOMENT happens next school day when Kairi comes over to visit and from the looks of things, at Yuri’s invitation. At first I thought Kairi had invited herself but thankfully that thought is washed away a bit later when she wonders if it was okay for her to be there and on re-watch I noticed in the lecture that Yuri was looking around the room seemingly impatient for Kairi’s arrival so yeah, Yuri invited Kairi over to meet at college and the reason being that she had some gratitude to show to Kairi for being there for her.

Something I forgot to mention was the during the night conversation with a sick Yuri, when Kairi was reminding her of that time back then, she mentions that she had wanted to be best friends with Yuri but in the end she ended up transferring schools without even thanking Yuri for what she had done for her back then! So back to the present as they are seated outside and Yuri surprises Kairi with a friendship-ring that matches theirs, she starts giving out to Tomomi and Shiho for not acting like Best Friends should be given what Kairi had done for her in the short time they have known one another. Understandably Kairi is super happy and I know she did not mean it that way but damn, if it did not look like a proposal! Sure for friendship now but…

And then of course as if it comes out on cue when she is happy, Dark-Kairi, as I am going to call her from now on in these situations, drops some disturbing lines when she finds out that Yuri had yet to drink the champagne and suggests they throw a party! I did not get the exact phrases but let’s just say there was more wanting to drink some kind of Yuri bodily fluid, again and there was some mention of pubic hair in there!

I really need subtitles for this! I will provide the episodes so you all subbers better get cracking too!

Anyway, like a hot knife through butter, Dick chooses that time to show up and frankly while I expected a shift in the usually calm (relatively speaking of course) Kairi, she seemed to take things in stride after finding out that Yuri had a boyfriend. Yep, this is the moment that she finds out but the reaction is not what I expected.

Instead of fuming or showing us a side we have yet to see and thus giving us (or me bad vibes), she proceeded to do what matters more to her, appreciating Yuri’s build from a distance! While her friends tell her of how Yuri wanted to lose more weight (I believe she mentioned earlier when she was talking to Dick that she used to be fat), Kairi just said that no, Yuri was just right! That she had the perfect balance. Of course her eyes were on Yuri’s but! But Kairi was channelling the dark side of the force so she was not stopping anytime soon, going on to say how so delicious indeed Yuri’s butt looked!

Yuri feels a chill go up her spine as if sensing the hungry eyes on her but when she turns it is all smiles at the table. This of course makes Dick notice Kairi and remember, she was an Idol meaning she is naturally cute so of course he notices and is instantly intrigued going so far as to even ask Yuri who that cute girl was. Yuri tells him and she asks to be introduced.

Another MOMENT perhaps is the reaction from Yuri. Sure we can dismiss it as natural for her being his girlfriend and all that but…There is something there I feel…That was a mixture of instinct and reaction! Then given what follows as the two (Yuri and Kairi) proceed to ringed-finger-wave and smile at each other across the yard in that way you just know something just got born between those two and well…

One just can’t wait for the next episode!!

And I just realised that I just combined my thoughts in the recap and thus the third section isn’t needed anymore! Ah well, this is my blog and I can do whatever I please so there! I mean we are even at 4k words and no one these days has an attention span that long so I will be leaving you here with some caps and I apologise but I might have to wait for a while before I upload the episodes because I feel like there is a spy among us. Like seriously, Japan is the second largest community visiting my blog so you never know…

But at least I will have caps galore to keep you all going until then, right? I mean it’s better to get the episodes later than never when I get black-listed, right? It might not even be until the series is over. I might experiment without warning so, do keep an eye out in the coming posts. Just know they are being uploaded and waiting as they come. And since I am using my own storage, I had to reduce the res to a lower ratio to save space but like I said, I am sure HQ releases will be appearing later. Fumika and Fujiko are just too big to be kept locked away on limited access!

Anyway, the caps and…

ja!