Tiger and Dragon, Episode 4

The Actors
Rape-Huggist: Ito Misaki ♀
Rape-Huggee: Odaka Junichi ♂


The Context
The above GIF says about everything that needs to be said. He's simply not confident enough to make a move on the girl he likes to the point where he avoids her, and then the girl he likescomes out of nowhere to attack him from behind. You can see the instant where his face changes from "Loser" to "Mojo"

↓

Oh how quickly a male temperament can change with femular attention. 

An extra bit of context can be provided by the previous episode where she rape-hugs another guy simply because she tought it was cute he was a virgin. We may have our first female serial rape-huggist (with different victims) on J-Dorama Rape-hugs.


The Result
They end up together, although it becomes a running joke that they don't consumate despite the fact she is a notoriously loose woman. It's funny how rape-hugs can actually be funny when it's perpetrated by a female.

The Depiction
Here we see a sponateous from-behind attack. Also note how she tries to be too cute by burrowing her face into his shoulder-blade, even though he can't see it. This also hides her face, allowing us to focus on the pinnacle of this portrayal - his change of expression. Usually rape-hug expressions go like this:
1) Shock
2) Staying still
3) Acceptance

(*Note: this is pretty much the same reaction you would expect by someone being mauled by a grizzly bear during mating season)

However, the portrayal of rape-hug in Tiger And Dragon is perfectly executed and perfectly acted-out. This is one of the reasons that Tiger And Dragon is one of the few Japanese Doramas that is genuinely funny from beginning to end. 







Awkwardometor ☆
This is a very unawkward rape-hug because of his expression that almost says "Oh yeah, I planned this all along." even though he obviously didn't.

Video
See, you can joke about rape-hugs!

 

Tiger And Dragon, Episode 3

The Actors

Rape-Huggist: Ito Misaki ♀
Rape-Huggee: Arakawa Yoshiyoshi ♂

The Context
Misaki's character is that she is a ditz, and he is one of the students living in the house who are studying the art of 'rakugo' (Japanese sit-down comedy). They are not involved - in fact she is dating the son of the master, and has slept twice with a different student. Anyway, at this point in the dorama it comes to light that he is a virgin. He then says how his only love is the theatre, which is her cue to say "Aww, how cute" and rape hug the virgin from behind.


The Result
Negligible. There is never any romantic or aggressive intent between the two characters, and her reaction is almost dehumanising him into a teddy-bear-like figure, as in "virgins still exist?"

The Depiction
The depiction is actually quite shocking, combining some of the most sinister rape-hug elements in quick succession: she runs out from behind the bookshelf on the left to rape-hug him from behind mid-sentence while six people simply look on and do nothing. This is a prime example of the bystander effect.




Awkwardometor ☆
Having once been a virgin myself, I know how incredibly awkward situation this must be for the male victim. The last thing his confidence needs right after exposing to everyone that he is a virgin is an attractive female fe-man-handling him out of any emotion other than lust, especially in a roomful of people he knows. However, the overall awkwardness of this rape-hug rates low because:

• Rape-hugs are nearly always less awkward when the female is the perp.
• There is obviously no malice intended by this action.
• Tiger and Dragon is a genuinely funny comedy, largely because it creates these awkward moments.

So basically what I have just said is that this rape-hug is less awkward because it is awkward. This makes sense when you remember that the awkwardometor is a gague of the awkwardness the viewer, not the characters. So basically, I might be implicity condoning rape-hugs - or willing to turn a blind eye - if the intent is only to embarrass male virgins.


Video
"How cute! Lets violate it!"

 

Sapuri, Episode 2

The Actors

Rape-Huggist: Eita ♂
Rape-Huggee: Ito Misaki ♀

The Context

He is a young, successful employee who is romantically only interested in his first love. She is a coworker who very much likes him and is frustrated with him being such a pussy. 

The Result

Considering what is written in the above paragraph, coupled with the fact that he rape-hugs her, you would think that this is finally the moment that they get together. Although I am not condoning the rape-hug gesture, perhaps she could un-make it a rape-hug by applying some pressure in return and saying how long she has waited for this moment. However, conditioned by years of Japanese rape-hug culture and the fact that all of Misaki Ito's characters are useless pieces of crap without any personality, she remains completely limp. They then stand in that awkward motion for about one minute of dorama playing time, long enough for some awkward dialogue (see the screen cap below) and for someone to accidentally walk in on them. Eventually, Eita's character apologises for his rash action and [spoiler alert] their genitals never touch.

The Depiction

Here we see the confident male preconceiving his actions, before taking the two strides and quickly evades the suggestion that he might be diving in for the kiss by swerving left - on which side cars drive in Japan - and remaining firmly in place for the long minute of this scene. Also, the scene is dramatically lit by a setting sun behind them in the board room they are in, and the orchestral music reaches its climax.

Awkwardometor ☆☆☆☆

Despite the expectation that the girl would be happy to be hugged, this rape hug is extremely awkward due to the extended duration of the hug and that at no point does she show any real emotion. Hell, I felt extremely awkward after a few seconds. At some point, you would expect Eita to think: 

"Why isn't she hugging me back? Maybe I should let go. Nah, that's impossible - I'm Eita. This is ging greaaaat!"  

Then somebody sees them, and instead of calling the police or informing HR of sexual harrassment, she thinks that this is a romantic moment and presumes that these two are dating, when in reality, you would get the same kind of experience with Ito Misaki as a sex doll. It's at times like these that I really hate Japanese Prime-time doramas (among many other legitimate reasons). I was surprised that this was the only rape-hug in the entire series, so there's at least that.

Video

Witness the lack of emotional depth in real time!