Last Christmas, Episode 11

Apologies for the belated finale of Rape-hugMas. Incidentally, this year there happened to be another busy holiday that got in the way. But I think you will agree that the wait will have been worth it - this is a true Christmas classic Rape-hug that everyone (i.e. noone) will enjoy. 

The Actors

Rape-Huggist: Tamaki Hiroshi ♂
Rape-Huggee: Katase Ritsuko ♀


The Context

This is a repeat rape-hug between these same two characters, and this time Tamaki is far more assertive. That's the thing with rape-hugs: it's like cocaine in that you push the limits of humanity further each time. Although these characters are not the leading pair, their romantic storyline - if it can be called that (it can't) - is a running thread and it will now be finally resolved. 

The Result

She docilely accepts the advance, people watching swoon at the romantic gesture (?) and most importantly the dorama ends and I never have to pretend to care about these two again.

The Depiction

The event takes place in a lobby in front of a giant white Christmas tree, in plain sight of many people. She is actually prepared to finally break up with him, but that is bullshit, I mean, who breaks up with someone in front of a giant albino Christmas tree? So she turns to walk away when he tells her to stop. Yes, he "tells" her to stop, barking the command, but really, she is a smart woman who knows his rape-hugging history and is playing Jedi mind tricks on him. 

Plucked up with confidence, Tamaki starts trutting around saying incredibly douchebaggy things like:

"I hate women like you"

"You are bothering me" and

"There are women everywhere"

Then he is so overcome with blind rape-hug rage that he cuts himself off mid-sentence and lunges at her, like he is some sick fuck who gets off on scaring women.

Then, in an insult to all women's taste in men, all of the females in the vicinity pout and swoon in despair when they see Hiroshi finally commit himself to a single woman and suddenly be taken off the marketplace. Do Japanese women actually think he is a good catch? What am I missing? It's scenes like this that make me despair at the state of humanity.

Awkwardometor ☆☆☆☆
The elements for a five-star rape-hug are in place, with the repeat offender Tamaki Hiroshi doing some of his best work so far on J-Dorama Rape-hugs. There is threatening pre-offence speech, the jumping-spider-like attack and the wide-open space with so many people looking on and thinking that this is not only okay, but desireable. However, as mentioned above, she obviously wanted this to happen (if not orchestrate the whole event). She basically covered herself with lamb's blood and walked into the lion enclosure at the zoo. Still, that far from nullifies the legitimacy or awkwardness of this atrocious scene. We believe here that eliminating rape-hugs from doramas includes more than just name-and-shaming tactics, but education and empowerment of possible victims. Namely, we all need to spread the word that "not no does not mean yes". And that is my only thing on my Rape-hugMas wishlist this year.




Video
Watch the entire sequence with his douchebaggy false confident walk and innane and repulsive speech. Hiroshi is the worst.

Have a happy and safe 2013 everyone!

Nemureru Mori, Episode 9

 

We continue Rape-hugMas by going back to the classics. Here we present the pre Japanese Dorama Golden Era Nemureru Mori (Sleeping Forest). It's like watching crappy Peanuts Specials every year. You don't really enjoy it, but surely someone at some point enjoyed it, right? Right? Otherwise why would it still be on TV? Do programmers really not give a crap for the last few weeks of the year? Or am I just a Grinch? Do I maybe just need a hug? Anyway, on to the rape-hugs!

 

 

The Actors

Rape-Huggist: Honjo Manami ♀
Rape-Huggee: Kimura Takuya ♂


The Context

They are an ex-couple that is going through a rough patch because he loves another woman and doesn't really like her. She is kind the crazy ex who desperately wants him to love her, so at this point she decides to go all-in, literally throwing herself at Kimura.

The Result
His hat falls off. Also, soon afterwards she is murdered. 

 

The Depiction

Relevant to this scene is that Kimura's character works as a genius event-lighting expert (and all of his events seem to include solely With or Without You by U2), which gives the spectacular backdrop for this rape-hug. She visits him on set, they have a heartfelt chat from an uncomfortably long distance, and as he walks away we see him getting tackled. It's just uncalled for. We don't even see her approach. It reminds me a little of this commercial:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tbSpAsJSZPc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Other special touches to this rape-hug are the slow-motion whiplash of Kimura, the shot of his stylish lighting-director hat falling to the well-lit cobblestone ground, and the closeup of her hands in what appears to be a heimlich maneuver.

Awkwardometor ☆☆☆☆
This is one of the creepiest female-on-male rape-hugs in recent memory. There is not only the nighttime rear suprise-attack, but also the creepy things she says as she hangs on.
"If I do this... You will become warm. And I won't be cold."
If that was whispered by a man wearing another human being's face, it would still be in character.

Video
Enjoy the force of impact in real time. It's something you just can't prepare yourself for. You know it's coming, but then BANG! Every time.

Yume no California, Episode 2

The Actors

Rape-Huggist: Kaito Ken ♂
Rape-Huggee: Shibasaki Kou ♀

The Context

They are a couple who have been dating for quite some time, and it is quickly established that the reason they are dating is only because he has money and she doesn't... have a personality. Before and during the rape-hug he talks trash about her friends, but because he is from a good university he does it in a way that kind-of makes sense to a weak-willed female who is a model and makes it clear that she isn't very smart. Because from the outside, this is the perfect Japanese relationship: A rich, older, jealous man and a dumb, younger beautiful woman. This scene comes when she is starting to make other friends - one of whom owns a penis - so he becomes extremely posessive and forbids her from seeing them again, and suggests that she stops working so she never has to go out into society again. You know, "love".

The presence of a rape-hug in this particular dorama could have been fortold by glancing at the title of this episode which is 「君を抱きしめたい」 "Kimi wo dakishimetai / I want to hug you". That's a red-flag right there. Actually, I think this establishes prior intent.

The Result

They soon break up. Good. However, as profiled in episode 7, she rape-hugs another character. See, it's a vicious cycle like bullying where the victims then become the assailants. We must break this cycle.

The Depiction

 

 

This rape-hug is structurally extremely similar to the previous entry in J-Dorama Rape-hugs (Sleeping Forest Episode 7). They are both of jealous men who are trying to prevent their partner from leaving them. They are at home at nighttime. Their victims are both emotionally-dead and they approach them from behind while saying very creepy things. Compare and contrast the two.

Again, it is very difficult to really get a grasp on domestic rape-hugs, but I do know one thing for certain. That, if you are hugging an emotionless person from behind while saying anything, it will sound very creepy. Come on "Work with me and I'll encourage you?" Sure, that's an awkward translation by a fan-subber, but context is everything. He could be singing the Lion King sountrack and it would sound creepy.

Awkwardometor ☆☆
This gains one star more than the Sleeping Forest episode 7, based on the motives of the males. In Sleeping Forest, he is trying to hide the fact that he murdered her entire family before her eyes when she was 11 years old. In Yume no California he is trying to make her withdraw from society so she will be entirely his. Okay, when I put it like this, it almost sounds like I'm trying to make an argument that subjugating women is worse than multiple homocide. But in terms of the actual contact, in the first rape-hug they are both hysterical, where in the second he is complete, douchebag male tarnishing the good name of the hug.

Video
There's not much to see that wasn't in the GIF, but try watch this video and read the subtitles without thinking "Wow, this guy is a total psychopathic douche-nozzle."

Nemureru Mori, Episode 7

The Actors

Rape-Huggist: Nakamura Toru ♂
Rape-Huggee: Nakayama Miho ♀


The Context

 

The two of them are engaged to be married within a few months, and they start hitting troubled times when she gets flashbacks of her childhood. She is having thoughts that she killed her entire family as an 11-year-old and wants to call off the wedding incase she is a cold-blooded killer. Yes, the storyline is as convoluted and ultimately silly as it sounds. Being the man, he takes matters into his own hands and strides over for an uninvited hug. 

The Result

She doesn't return any pressure, but I guess the rape-hug was successful as the wedding goes ahead as planned. But [spoiler alert] it turns out, obviously, that he was in fact the killer all along! Oh the plot twists!

The Depiction

The filmography is quite typical for an interior rape-hug - namely a long shot as the rape-huggee strides/runs to the victim, and then an extended shot of their expressions. Here, the attack is from behind, and then they rock like a pirate-ship as he whispers really weird things into his ear.

Awkwardometor ☆
Domestic rape-hugs are often difficult to judge, especially true in this scene. His intentions are seemingly pure in trying to assuage her fears, but her expression and the fact that he suddenly comes in from the rear makes it all decidedly less romantic.
I have a theory that most rape-hugs in Japanese doramas between people that are already a couple is a desperate attempt to make up for a total lack of chemistry. Whenever these two are on-screen together, they seem to be controlled by dyslectic puppeteers. They never share a smile, or a look, never have any physical contact, and they are always sad. Sure, this is supposed to be a dark/mysterious dorama, but I feel that people should still act like people. Perhaps this is deliberate to forshadow that he is actually the murderer of her entire family, but more likely is that they are both poor actors. (Having seen both in other doramas, I vote for the latter.)

Video
Sometimes the animate GIF doesn't allow you to fully appreciate the speed of approach and the impact upon contact. Also, the fansubs show some of the excellent dialogue that do not make the rape-hug any less odd.   

Guilty, Episode 9

The Actors

Rape-Huggist: Tamaki Hiroshi ♂
Rape-Huggee: Kanno Miho ♀



The Context
This is a repeat rape-hug between these two characters, who were spotted rape-hugging in episode 4. (Note that Tamaki Hiroshi is the patron saint of J-Dorama Rape-Hugs for the most frequent and the most disturbing rape-hugs in all of Japanese Dorama-hood.) While the first rape-hug was when he professed his love for her, and there was a kind-of relationship between them, nothing really happened, except for that she - a psycho serial killer - kills a few more people, and he - a detective - fails to stop any of the killings. In this rape-hug, I guess he is reaffirming his love for her, in his own special way. This time, he finally finds out beyond reasonable doubt that she is going around passively murdering people, but instead of arresting her, he tries to tear down her apartment which is full of pictures of people she has and is still planning to kill.




The Result
Again, the result is negligible - they are kind of together, but then again they never get together. What I mean by this is, the drama ends with her killing herself by drinking poison, and he discovers her and defiles her dead body by French rape-kissing her corpse, thereby allowing them to be dead together.







Man I hate any dorama with Tamaki Hiroshi in it.

The Depiction
This rape-hug begins with quite a lengthy fight-scene, him trying to destroy the room, her getting in his way, and him thinking that is the best possible opportunity to make his move. I mean, they've been dating for several episodes now, and as far as I can tell he's still on first base. 

During his freak-out he grabs her by the shoulders, which is usually what a man does when a woman is freaking out. Then he says that he loves her in his over-dramatic manner with his violently contorting face, she starts crying (an acceptable reaction), and then he closes the deal. Then he continues the torture by whispering things in her ear.




Yes - the translation actually uses the words "I've caught you". How come no-one has ever picked up on the rape-hug epidemic in Japanese TV?


Awkwardometor ☆☆☆☆☆
This easily gains the full five stars for awkwardness. Any time that there is a fight-scene where the woman is not a martial artist or somehow incredibly good at fighting because it is one of those stupid comedy dramas for teenage girls, then things have gone horribly, horribly wrong. There is also the long pause beforehand, the "I've caught you" line, and the creepy whispering in her ear. Sure, you could give any rape-hug by Tamaki a five-star just on reputation, but he keeps outdoing himself.

Video
Watch the incredibly disturbing fight-scene turn into the above rape-hug. 
 

Buzzer Beat, Episode 7

The Actors

Rape-Huggist: Mizobata Junpei ♂
Rape-Huggee: Kanjiya Shihori ♀


The Context
He is a professional basketball player on the verge of being cut from the team, and she is a college student studying to be a flautist. The end up moving in together - making it clear that they are just friends - to save money. Then suddenly, he starts feeling hug-rapey. and she feels the creep of evil about to happen. She gets up and flees, however she is a woman, and he is a professional sportsman so he quickly grabs her.


The Result
They end up together. I mean, you knew this would happen all along, but I was just hoping that the rape-hug would be the deal-breaker rather than when friendship blooms into love.


The Depiction

 
The opening act of this scene begins with them talking on the floor. This is when his conversation gets creepy, he says that he likes her, and she says "What is this? It's a strange situation", as she gets up and tries to flee. Like a greyhound at the track, as soon as the prey moves he also gets excited, chases her and grabs her from behind, wrapping his arms over her arms and holding her firmly around the stomach. 

"Wow."

That is the word she utters. "Wow". My thoughts exactly. Only, whereas my "wow" is more to do with the fact a man is chasing a woman to rape-hug her, hers is "wow, I just made a boyfriend."

They stand there motionless as he whispers in her ear his case for them being together. I have to give him credit for this, as if he is unsuccessful, instead of having a girlfriend he would be kicked out of his house, and have a criminal record and a restraining order. That's one hell of a risk. 





Awkwardometor ☆☆☆☆☆
I'm giving this the full level of awkwardness. For one, it is from behind and there is the typical blank look of fear on her face. Also taken into consideration is the extremely awkward conversation (also, thanks to the fan-subber for the stilted English translation that adds to this) and there is the quotable "wow" to keep this rape-hug extremely fresh in your mind. I guarantee you that this will not be easy to unremember. But then, any time a man is literally chasing a fleeing woman to rape-hug her you're probably looking at a 5-star on the awkwardometor.

Video
"Enjoy" the gut-wrenchingly awkward conversation and the pathetic attempt to flee. Also pay attention to the placement of his hands - they almost brush the underboob - and in his attempt to minimise surface-area contact he clasps his own fist on her midsection which makes it look like he is giving her the heimlich. 

 

Love Shuffle, Episode 1

The Actors
Rape-Huggist: Tamaki Hiroshi  ♂
Rape-Huggee: Kanjiya Shihori ♀

The Context:
 He is dating a girl with zero personality, and in a last ditch attempt to prevent her from leaving, he goes in for the kill.

The Result
As would be expected of a rape-hug in the first episode, this misguided display of affection was not received as he would have liked, thus setting up the premise of the dorama to have several people switch partners over several weeks.

The Depiction
Tamaki Hiroshi is a true professional at Rape-hugs - and it's amazing that he is still only 32 years old! He has still to his his rape-hugging prime. We here at J-dorama Rape-hugs.com expect great things from him in the future. Here, he is in top form.
First, he completely misreads the situation where a girl is trying to distance herself from him.
Then, he stands there motionless, staring at her like he has been lobotomised.
He runs up to her and attacks her from behind, which is all the more amazing since he approached from the side.
Then he doubles down and professes his love into her ear while he has her encased in an unwanted hug.

What annoys me the most is how he couldn't quite get the arm motion right. I appreciate that he was carefully trying to avoid touching her boobs. Speaking from experience, it's always difficult for a taller man to hug a girl from behind without at least brushing her breasts. Instinct tells you to go above the breasts, but in reality your arms could slip down a few centimetres into the erogenous zone. In reality below the breasts there is less chance of inappropriate contact, but in that case you definitely need to be sure that the hug is consentual.

Here, we see Tamaki Hiroshi straddling that no-fly zone, as if the script doesn't specify whether the rape-hug should be above or below her boobies (or perhaps doesn't even specify that it needs to be from behind). This makes me think that we are probably witnessing a method-acting rape-hug here. Usually we could entrust Tamaki to the task, but there is that split second before impact where he thinks he might be going too low to the boobies, so he recalibrates his arms and grabs the safe areas of her shoulders, ending up in a hug that is far too high, almost an atttempt at strangulation.





Awkwardometor ☆☆☆☆
This is a startingly awkward rape-hug for one in the first episode. It is from behind, he has the crazy eyes, and nothing about the situation suggests that a hug would be approriate.

Video
See the crazy eyes, the speed of approach and the slight hesitation of the arm placement. So much going on in such a short amount of time. 

Jiu, Episode 5

The Actors

Rape-Huggist: Shirota Yu ♂
Rape-Huggee: Kuroki Meisa ♀


The Context
This is the 2nd rape-hug of the series (the previous one is covered here), under almost the same circumstances - the only difference being that they did the dirty after the first rape-hug, so their genitals have already touched. Again, this rape-hug comes after she throws a punch at him, he swats it off and decides that it would be a perfect time for a hug. I honestly can't blame him since he was so successful last time. The main difference here is that while holding her hostage in the rape-hug posiition, he patronises her with Christian things like "I want to save you". (By the way, where does this idea come from that you can "save" someone by boning them?)

The Result
They end up in bed together again, which makes it sad when he dies.

The DepictionAgain this rape-hug takes place at night, after a disappointingly short and badly filmed fight-scene. Seriously, she is supposed to be an elight police SWAT officer, and one guy simply wraps her up? They both end up standing for the duration of the rape-hug with their muscles flexed while he gives his pattronising "I'll save you" speech. (And yes, he is Christian, if you're wondering. Even Japanese Christians are patronising.)




Awkwardometor ☆
This would be more awkward, however a girl loses all rape-hug credibility after sleeping with the guy. Talk about giving off the wrong signals. I'm not saying that it's fair game, but it would be far harder to prove in the court of law.
 

Video
See the shitty fight scene and heavy breathing in real-time. 

Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, Episode 4

The Actors
Rape-Huggist: Kamenashi Kazuya ♂
Rape-Huggee: Oomasa Aya ♀





The Context
This is a lame teenage-based drama where a good-looking popular guy tries to turn a socially awkward female into a confident woman, and they end up falling in love (*Note: I got so fed up with it that I stopped watching after the first rape-hug. So technically, I don't know if this is what happened... but I still know.) He will get free rent at the mansion he lives in if she turns into a lady, so when she agrees to go meet a man for an arranged marriage, he gets so excited that he rape hugs her.

The Result
As you can see in the video below, the rape hug only confuses her, since she is so socially awkward. Eventually they probably share a mutual hug and/or kiss in about the ninth episode, but the effect of this particular rape-hug is quickly forgotten.

The Depiction


What you have to understand about this dorama is that it is terribly overacted. He is so popular that crowds of women literally fall over when he passes by, and she is so socially awkward that she sleeps in a coffin. I am not making this up. I guess teenage girls like this kind of crap, but I digress. This rapehug begins with him pacing slowly behind her like an American lawyer from the South in a 1950s TV drama. Then, without warning he rape hugs her and whispers creepily in her ear. Then he begins dancing around because he thinks he will get his free rent. I guess this is a lame attempt at humour, but I firmly believe that you shouldn't joke about rape-hugs.



Awkwardometor ☆☆
In general, this rape-hug is not overly awkward because it is a terribly acted drama, and you know from reading the introductory blurb about this dorama that there will be many rape hugs anyway. It's just a shame that I had to watch four episodes to find the first one. Then again, do not confuse a paltry 2-star awkward rape-hug with implicit approval of rape-hugging a socially awkward female from behind in her own bedroom. If a girl can't be safe from rape-hug-attacks in her own room, what has the world come to?
 
Video
Observe the incredible overacting from Kamenashi with his sneak-attack followed by his stupid dance. Also pay attention to her face when she realises she has been rape-hugged in the behind. It's like rape-hugs are a standard excercise at Japanese Drama Acting school, because they all seem to do it the same way. 

Nodame Cantablie, Episode 11

 The Actors
Rape-Huggist: Tamaki Hiroshi ♂
Rape-Huggee: Ueno Jiri ♀







*Remember the name Tamaki Hiroshi. By my own anecdotal evidence, he is by far the rape-huggiest J-actor around. Every dorama I've seen of his, he commits rape-hug, and often this includes some of the most violent and inappropriate ones. This certainly is a great introduction to his body of work. 

The Context
They are both music students, and she has been chasing him like a pack of rabid dogs after a terrified 6-year old carrying a bag of dead kittens. She even rape-kissed him earlier on, but he couldn't take a hint - all the way until this - the last episode. Like many final episodes of Japanese doramas, the girl gives up on the guy and goes to her hometown. In this case, it is in Kyushu - the very bottom island of Japan. While she is there, he realises that he likes her and takes the bullet-train, local train and taxi all the way from Tokyo. This is a very long trip and prohibitively expensive so it cannot possibly be spontaneous. Then, from the taxi he gets a phonecall from her, and the taxi passes her walking alongside the river. He gets out of the taxi without her knowledge and just watches from afar. If he were wearing a rubber mask, this would have changed the context completely. Then, he begins a confident stride and rape-hugs the crapp out of her.

The Result
She is shocked, and he doesn't help the situation by making thinly veiled threats ("If you reject me again..."). After about 90 seconds, she touches his arm to make the rape-hug legal. Then he is introduced to the family, and you'd think everything is fine between them. But no, they never really get together - at least not until the 2nd special episode.

However, the biggest apparent result of this rape-hug is thousands of girls wetting themselves at this special moment. Seriously, there are message boards talking about how "suteki" and romantic this moment was. All I have to say is: Really women? Really? Really? And that is why I began this website.

The Depiction



We have a dramatic sunset backdrop, and a series of sweeping shots. Also, the point of impact is so violent that it reminds me of this nature video. But visually this rape-hug is most notable for the range of facial expressions. You can clearly see his expression when he decides he's going for it. Then his face truly gets scary.  Tamaki at his rape-huggy finest.
As great as his face is, I can't get enough of her sheer state of shell-shock. I mean, she has been rape-hugged in the behind from a guy who has literally travelled half the length of Japan to commit this act.
Then, after they stand there for a long time, a boat goes by with her father on it.



Awkwardometor ☆☆☆☆☆
This rape-hug gains the full 5-stars for awkwardness. In fact, it was this very rape-hug that sowed the seed for J-Dorama Rape-Hugs. For the full awkwardness and sheer-dragged-out-ness, do check out the video below. 


Video

Bonus: 

Like many dorama's Nodame Cantabile is a remake of a manga and anime. Either way, here is a cartoon version of the same incident. Some may say that this dorama was merely being true to the original, but that doesn't make it any less rape-huggy. Yes, it is very faithful. Faithfully hug-rapey.

Discuss: Is a rape-hug better or worse when it is in animated form?