Asian Addicts Anonymous

I think the Shibusawa family and Rei need a little bit of education on just what love, family, and loyalty means because none of them really seem to know.

Things are tense and awkward in the Shibusawa household after Kazu’s disastrous birthday party. Even the peppy Kenji isn’t as peppy as usual since he witnessed his brother asking Rei to move out with him. Kazu fails as a father for not showing proper concern for his son’s arm and just saying that it’s an important time and Kenji should be more careful. I mean, yeah, there are fathers who hide their true feelings with such cold-sounding words, but it really doesn’t seem like Kazu is showing true concern for the injured Kenji. During this horrible breakfast, Hitoshi announces that he’s moving out. He silently urges Rei to come with him and Rei silently tells him that she will remain.

On his way into work, Hitoshi gets a surprise when Onaka comes up to him and tells him to relay to his father that she has joined Muraki’s supporting party. I’m sure this is all to do things for Kazu to help him cement his position that he’s gunning for by getting rid of Muraki in some way. During his lunch break, Hitoshi goes to a realtor to start setting up appointments that day after work to see some apartments. He does tell the pensive Rei this. Hitoshi leaving would not make her happy at all as he is truly the one she is closet to in that household. After cleaning the house, Rei gets out the cake she made and starts unhappily eating it. Yeah. Some birthday party that was.

Kenji and his father meet for curry. Kenji stresses his worry, uneasiness, and unhappiness with the current state of their household. He even tells his father that Kazu has been a lot meaner since he married Rei. Kazu waves all of this away. Kenji then says that Rei should be the one leaving the Shibusawa household instead of his older brother. It’s all Rei’s fault the family is falling apart. Kazu will not let go of Rei, however, as one most stick to their path and not be dissatisfied with the choices they made. He almost seems like a normal person and father here. He knows his youngest son’s likes and dislikes and carries that knowledge with him. However, how Kazu acts in every other aspect…I just can’t like him or think of him as a good man or a good father. Anywho, Kenji does assert he will remain loyal to his father to the end. Nice sentiment, but at the same time, it can only hurt himself and the others around him.

Rei goes out and picks up some clothes. She then sees a sign about part-time workers needed. Looks like she still has working on her mind. Meanwhile, Kazu is at work where Sano is apologizing for the mess he made the night before. Kazu then says he’s sending him to some province as a governor and then he shall return to the ministry in 3 years. Sano is grateful for Kazu who is not just throwing him away somewhere and giving him such an important position. Sano…he’s really a warped person now full of his mood swings. I’m surprised he hasn’t started cracking completely and going after Kazu violently.

Rei sits at home and thinks of Hitoshi while Hitoshi house hunts. He falls in love with the first apartment he sees and takes it. He then goes home and tells Rei all about it and urges her to come with him once more. Rei again refuses. She’s married to his father and him suggesting such a thing is not right. Hitoshi stresses that Kazu just wants to control Rei. Controlling someone is NOT loving them (well…it could be a very unhealthy form of love, I suppose). Rei remains adamant that she will not leave with him and Hitoshi remains adamant that he will wait for her.

Enter crazy Nanami. This scene just made no sense to me. She immediately starts screaming at Rei for being a horrible person destroying the Shibusawa family and leading both father and son on. She then surprisingly yells at Rei to choose Hitoshi and leave with him so that Nanami can get over him and move on with her life at long last. Nope, can’t bring myself to like her, especially after this scene. Hitoshi succeeds in dragging her out and he does apologize. He’s ending things now. Nanami walks away crying and complaining about her pathetic life. She then runs into Kenji and rushes into his arms sobbing wildly. Poor Kenji.

At dinner, Kazu and Rei are all alone. Rei tells Kazu that she has found a place to work and will start soon. She also assures him that she will do her best to only work during the day and keep the house the way he likes it. Kenji then comes in and Kazu makes a statement about not being able to follow his wife around like a dog. He then tells Kenji that he understood what his son meant earlier and walks off. Kenji then tells Rei that he met Nanami who said she wishes to write a book with a woman like Rei as the protagonist. She said this while she cried on his shoulder for two hours. Awkward. Both Rei and Hitoshi have a restless night that night.

The weekend comes and Hitoshi is all packed and getting his things loaded up on his friend’s truck. Kazu can only sit morosely and Rei is also unhappy. Kenji is nowhere to be seen as he left the house early that morning. Kazu and Rei go outside to say their goodbyes to Hitoshi who looks back unhappily through the truck’s side mirror. I am surprised that Kazu said nothing to the very end. But then again, maybe he thinks his relationship with his wife will improve with the loss of his eldest son. Not that he wants that relationship severed. I did like that Kazu gave Hitoshi the old family picture as a good luck charm, but at the same time, it felt like it was a severing of ties and saying the old family is dead.

That night Kenji complains about how lonely and empty the house feels minus one person. Kazu’s brilliant idea is to have a baby. Right. He’s…I have NO idea how old he is, but he’s got to be in his 50s at least with a child that’s 30 and another that’s 26. Rei’s 37. Not optimal ages to be having a baby. Both Rei and Kenji seem less than thrilled at this idea. But Kazu seems genuinely interested in having a daughter with his wife. But since she is the one who would have to solely care for the child basically, it would be up to Rei. This makes Kenji relieved since Rei doesn’t seem to keen on trying.

Hitoshi unpacks all alone when he takes a break to eat the onigiri that Rei made for him earlier. He’s waiting for her. He believes that she will definitely come. At the same time, Rei is saying her goodbyes to him in his empty room. Morita then comes over and spills about one of Muraki’s sponsors being targeted by the tax department. If the sponsor is found to be dirty, then there is no way Muraki is escaping bad press. Hitoshi assures Morita that he’s prepared to go to war against his father and says that he’s going to ask around for more information. He then wonders if this news is why Sano looked so happy when he saw him at the ministry last.

The next day Hitoshi goes on his usual jog with Muraki and gives him advice about the pending tax investigation. Meanwhile, Rei shows up to work only to learn that Kazu has called complaining that Rei has a heart condition and is unable to work thus the boss hired someone else. Rei is furious. Is it true that her husband doesn’t love her at all? She goes to the ministry and tries calling him, but he refuses to answer either phone. Avoidance. Like that helps the issue at all.

That night when he gets home Rei lights into him about what he did since he did it without telling her. She then accuses him of controlling her and not loving her. Kazu tells her that a job must be something you are wholly dedicated to and believe in, not something you do to rebel. It isn’t Rei rebelling. It’s just Rei looking to find her own place outside the home so she doesn’t lose that part of herself. Kazu then says he controls her because he loves her and complains once more that Rei is being too greedy and hurting himself and his children. That is a low blow. Kazu doesn’t seem to care how he himself is hurting his wife and his children. So Rei looks up at the full moon and wonders if she’s only bringing pain and destroying the family that she had pinned all her dreams of love and happiness on.

The next morning Rei has breakfast all prepared only to have Kazu telling her he must eat out for breakfast and he forgot to tell her that last night. Right. No, that’s him rebelling against his wife and teaching her a lesson. What an ass. He then tells her that she will attend a party for the new English ambassador with him. Her only duty is to stand by his side and remain quiet. *cough*TrophyWife*cough* Needless to say this prospect does not thrill Rei.

They get to the party that night and Kazu doesn’t hesitate to show off his language skills (what he told Rei she should do in her spare time instead of working part-time). He also tells her to stick out her chest since she is the most beautiful woman there. Rei is quickly overwhelmed since she only knows Japanese and everyone is either speaking in a foreign language or about things that she does not understand.

She quietly slinks off and finds a quiet place to rest. She takes off the evil high heels and then she happens to catch the sound of Hitoshi’s voice. She looks up and there he is across the room from her. She stands up quickly, eyes filled with tears and silently calls out to him. It’s as if he hears her as he looks her way. The two immediately gravitate towards one another. Hitoshi then grabs her hand and runs off with her. Once they get to the elevator they start kissing. We end with their very long kiss and Kazu finding one of Rei’s shoes.

Well if things weren’t broken before, then they will be now. And we all know Kenji will blame it solely on Rei and get mad at his big brother for destroying their father’s happiness. Only Kazu wasn’t happy. No one in that house was happy. You can’t blame Rei for that. She only came into that household as she didn’t want to live her lonely and wretched existence. She wanted a family and love and happiness. She would have had no problem remaining loyal to her husband if he hadn’t shown a very dark, jealous, possessive, and controlling side.

I had to admit it was funny to hear Rei think to herself that she would never have met and fallen in love with Hitoshi if she had not met his father first in France. Ah, the irony.