Yume no California, Episode 7

The Actors
Rape-Huggist: Shibasaki Kou ♀
Rape-Huggee: Domoto Tsuyoshi ♂



The Context
In this dorama, Domoto is the classic "dick in a glass case" / eternally in the friend-zone. She is an old classmate and who happens to be a model (and way out of his league). She is dating another man who she doesn't really like, so when they have an argument, she immediately arranges to meet the friend-zoned friend. Spurred by her weakness, she pulls a hideous face and takes a huge run-up for the dramatic rape-hug.


The Result
This rape-hug results in him being totally confused and her feeling guilty because in Japan inter-gender friendships cannot allow any physical contact - inluding accidental hand-brushes when opening a door. It would have been an inconsequential event, however, this was also overseen by a mutual friend who instead of being shocked at a violent rapey-hug, assumed that the two were having freaky monkey sex at any opportunity and was too embarrassed to mention it.

The Depiction
The cinematography pulls out all the cliche stops for this rape-hug including Shibasaki's hideous face of torment as she makes the decision to rape-hug, then a sweeping long-shot as she makes violent contact and he stands his ground like a loyal (and dead) British soldier in the Boer War. Then, upon contact we hear the beginning of the dorama's theme song 'California Dreaming' to indicate the magnitude of this shocking overseen event, and see the very different emotions on both their faces.

Contrast the Ali-like speed of her hands, with his daytime gargoyle defenselessness against her. 

Awkwardometor ☆☆☆
This is extremely awkward for a female-instigated rape-hug due to several factors. The facial expressions lend some credibility to my suspicions that Shibasaki is kind of crazy. He is playing a character who seems to be a virgin - or at least acts like one - and has absolutely no idea what to do. He's basically in a prison of rape-hug. Add onto that, the setting of a park at night (prime raping real-estate) and that they are overseen by a mutual friend. It would have been a four-star awkward rape-hug if this wasn't so obviously a device to extend this dorama a few episodes-worth of superflous forced dorama airtime.

Video
Enjoy the rape-hug in real time, along with the annoying introduction to California Dreaming.  

Yume no California, Episode 4

The Actors
Rape-Huggist: Tanabe Seiichi ♂
Rape-Huggee: Kitagawa Hiromi ♀







The Context
These are two peripheral characters in this human dorama. He is a coworker of the main character and he has a wife and a child. She is also a co-worker who has fallen in love with him despite the fact that he is morally out of bounds. However, as Chris Rock once said “It's hard for a man to turn down sex … if they chase us, we can't run that fast.” So, by the fourth episode she asks "are you not feeling well?" he can't control his emotions and commits rape-hug.

The Result
To put it nicely, the rape-hug cured her affections. It's like really wanting to own a pair of skinny jeans, and you save up for months and months, and when you finally get a pair and try them on you look like a douche because you are wearing skinny jeans. That's because it's the moment you realise that you are basically wearing leggings with pockets and a belt. 

He is like those pair of skinny jeans. She has been biding her time, and then finally he cracks. But just before he does, she realises that his hair is stupid and he is nowhere near as smooth as she once thought. She just stands there like an alien probe victim standing alone in a field unsure of what just happened.

Fair enough. When a guy's reaction to a girl asking "Are you not feeling well?" is to rape-hug her, then he probably isn't well at all.


The Depiction
The rape hug begins with him dramatically turning his head - evil hamster style - and the camera takes a wide shot showing the rape-hug as a silhouette in front of the sunset. It cuts to close ups of him panting and looking scared, her face in sheer terror, and his face as he closes his eyes. It is unclear whether he is savouring the moment, or if he is regretting his actions. Then the scene cuts away to an unrelated scene as this 'romance'  is basically thrown under the rug.





Awkwardometor ☆☆☆

In his defense, she had been sending signals his way for a long time - but this was definitely not one of those moments. How could he screw this up? If he wanted to cheat on his wife and kid, he had every chance in the world but he had to ruin it - an amazing feat really. This was a layup. But instead of scoring the easy basket, he pooped his pants, slipped in his poop, and fell face first into his poop. 

Video
Pictured: How to ruin a sunset.