Asian Addicts Anonymous

How appropriate. When Maho is confronting Kasumi there is a video of a shark in the background. It’s suitable for Maho’s character. She doesn’t care who knows that she sleeps around…unless it gets back to her husband of course. Even then, it feels like she would play the wronged wife card. This episode felt like hers in that she was viciously attacking our two leads. Even Yuri’s coldness and flippant remarks couldn’t touch her when she is on a roll.

Episode 3: Falling in Love

Kasumi breaks away from the magical first kiss with Yuri and says…”thank you for your hard work.” Snort. Poor Yuri. She always makes him feel awkward as hell, doesn’t she? Kasumi herself doesn’t understand the kiss and kind of pretends it away…? She avoids the topic and asks how everything is. Does he need her to adjust the pleats at all? Breaking the awkward atmosphere are Yuri’s workers. They were worried so they come bearing supplies and food. This saves Kasumi from having to talk to Yuri now.

The next day Kasumi drops off laundry to Maho and collects more. Maho flounces down the stairs with Yuri’s jacket, hinting at their affair. Maho then says Yuri and Kasumi have been getting closer of late. Kasumi denies this. Maho then roughly grabs Kasumi’s arm and attacks her for kneeling. Kasumi once more explains who she does it and Maho says it makes her look pathetic, like she’s hurt, like she’s working hard. Kasumi says she will do it no more then. She goes to leave and Maho yells after her. How dare a middle-aged cleaning woman dare to dream? Major props to Kasumi staying calm, but I’m hoping someday she will let Maho have it. As Maho walks away laughing, Kasumi bows politely and leaves. Now, this doesn’t mean Kasumi is unaffected, but it was good that she didn’t let Maho see how badly she was affected.

The day of the exhibition arrives. Fukami-sensei praises Yuri for a great piece. He must be in love to be able to produce new art, right? Wait, they aren’t artists, but designers and then he likens them to obedient dogs. Fukami-sensei’s assistant interrupts his diatribe and apologizes to Yuri. He’s drunk. Shirai thanks Fukami-sensei for coming and asks when his own new work will be done. Fukami-sensei avoids this question and we get a stare down between Yuri and Maho. Something went further south in their purely physical relationship.

So what happened? Maho unleashed her pure viciousness. At this rate, she won’t be able to even keep a physical relationship with Yuri…I’m all for that. They are in Yuri’s bedroom and he is being unresponsive to Maho. He is upset that she came into his room without permission when he was out and took his jacket. What is she doing? Yuri complains about Maho going against the rules. Enter manic Maho. She laughs. Are they equal? True, she has no power, but he is merely a designer hired by her company. He may be a little famous now, but he is nothing. Designers are a dime a dozen and there is no one who even appreciates his work. For once Yuri has no snappy remarks. Her parting shot is that if women knew who he really was, no one would love him. Seriously? Does she even know who he really is, or does she only think she knows? Unlike the older Kasumi, Yuri lets Maho know she’s getting under his skin with her remarks.

Back at that track, Tsugumi’s spider senses are tingling. Every time he jumps, he hears a noise. His friend doesn’t. Tsugumi wipes himself down with a towel while looking around. Nothing. How can he miss the girl hiding behind a moving cart of soccer balls? She is ecstatic that she got some candid shot of our jumper’s abs. Poor Tsugumi.

Kaichi apologizes and finally confesses his mistake to Yuri. The older designer takes this well. He warns Kaichi to ask him if anything isn’t clear next time to avoid such situations. Yuri then asks if Kaichi apologized to Blanches first. No. They are the ones who deserve his apology the most. Thus Kaichi brings a gift to Kasumi to apologize. Kasumi accepts the apology and tells him bowing down is not necessary. Kaichi explains he was too afraid of Yuri to confess the truth originally. He then hands over part-time pay to Kasumi courtesy of Yuri. Oh, Kasumi’s face.

At the office, Lily (you’d see this written as Ayase Riri) sidles up next to her boss and begins talking about Kasumi. Who? Wow. Honey Angel, Honey Angel. She got to talk to Kasumi-san thanks to her helping them out. The older woman has been married and divorced and is currently single and living with her high school aged son. Yuri likes Kasumi, right? No comment. Yuri tells Lily to go back to work.

Enter the angry Kasumi. She hands over the money. Is it too little? Don’t take her for a fool. Yuri very awkwardly says it was thanks to her kneeling and the hole in her knee that made him think of using pleats and changing the perspective of the installation. Thus, she earned this money. Lily looks embarrassed for Yuri while Kasumi is only getting angrier. So she won’t take the money? How about dinner with him? No as well? Look, Yuri designed these awesome rugby shirts. Will she go see a game with him? LOL. Super awkward Yuri has exploded all over in front of his crew and Kasumi. What this woman makes him do. Lily interrupts. This is too awkward and is making Yuri very pitiful. The angry Kasumi interjects that she doesn’t think so. A counterattack? She tells him to stop teasing and messing around with her. Poor Yuri. He says he understands and will never ask her out again. Kasumi then bows and leaves.

It is lunchtime at school and Tsugumi’s friend rushes to get him. Now is not the time to be eating. Tsugumi puts down his empty bento…but he’s already done? His friend then drags him to the bulletin board in which his pictures have been tacked all over. Tsugumi is horrified and tells his friend to help him rip them down. His friend laughs—aren’t they well taken? Not the point, dude. Looks like these were printouts from a personal blog. Not sure if that girl did that herself or some other student did.

Kameko goes to Tsugumi’s workplace and he is checking her out [a basket full of only candy…raises eyebrow] while she mutters under her breath how she has to apologize and tell him properly. She then glances up and exclaims “eh!” This shocks Tsugumi. Eh, what? She thought that he would have to scan each candy individually, but he did not. So now what? She needs to apologize, but needs more time. Why did she choose candy when she hates it? This entire time she is muttering to herself. Tsugumi must not be able to actually hear everything she is saying? He gives her the total and she hands over money. He gives her the change and she suddenly points at something, slams a sucker down on the counter and runs away. Tsugumi pursues. She’s from his school, right? She took those pictures of him, right? Kameko says nothing and just runs away. That was your chance to apologize, girl! Tsugumi goes back to work and his coworker teases him. You can’t really tell what Tsugumi is thinking.

Lily has decided to stalk Kasumi. She doesn’t want the older woman to misunderstand Yuri. Lily joins Kasumi for snacks and beer and lays it all out for her. Yuri is someone like a mole. He devotes himself to work and gives an extra 300% if it means it will give a better design. Since the time Lily has known Yuri, he’s never approached a woman much less asked one out. This surprises Kasumi. Yuri was trying to ask her out? She’s dense. Really dense. Kasumi then asks about Maho. Lily explains that Maho approached Yuri and that their relationship is an “adult’ one for the sake of business. Kasumi is not in this world, but things like that happen all of the time. Lily hands over a flyer for the rugby match and asks Kasumi to reconsider. I like this Lily. Yes, I do. This explains why Maho gets weird looks from Yuri’s staff from time to time.

So now Kasumi is torn. Should she go? Should she not go? She is thinking hard on this when her son arrives home. Is he late thanks to his part-time job? No. He was eating out with his friend. Kasumi then asks her son to accompany her to the rugby match. LOL. Safety buffer? Who is she going with? A customer. A man? It is not a date. Seriously? A man asks a woman to a rugby match and it’s not a date? Kasumi smiles and tells Tsugumi there are such instances when it comes to adults. Right. Keep deluding yourself, Kasumi. Oh. I mean, she’s not wrong. But we all know that Yuri considers this as a “date.” I like it when Tsugumi says it is not fair for his mom to bring a third wheel like himself. He’s teaching his mother about relationships. This mother and son duo. Again, I like them. I think Tsugumi would support his mother if she decides to start dating.

So…does Kasumi go or not? Oh, she most certainly goes. Yuri is like a little kid, he’s so happy to be there. I do agree with him when they are watching the match and she realizes it wasn’t an official game—he calls her an airhead. Not nice? True. But…Kasumi really can be an airhead at times. It is a good time for them. They have fun and get into the match. She even naturally calls Yuri with “kimi” which shows closeness. She uses this often with her son. Yuri is happy about the familiarity…but should he be worried since she mentioned her son? I say this because it can be a flag that she doesn’t think of him as a man (she does, though, but still).

We break from the happy couple to see a distraught Fukami-sensei. Why did he avoid talking about his work? Because he cannot think of any new designs. He is upset as he is hopeless. Even his wife has left him. Reiko laughs. This is because he is infatuated with women, isn’t it? Reiko makes the 6th woman of his house. She calls him an artist who needs to find comfort and inspiration by rushing to the bosom of a woman. This brings on some chest fondling. Meh. Ah, we also learn that Fukami-sensei has some type of malady. He says it feels as if air molecules are pressing down on him and Reiko asked if he needs his medicine to which he replies he already took it. Reiko goes in to finish making the meal and Fukami-sensei picks up the flyer for Yuri’s show. Now…is Yuri is son or just his student. I’m curious.

Back to Yuri and Kasumi. We find them playing on the field together after the match. Yuri wonders if he is an odd person. Kasumi replies that to some degree all people are strange. That is why people have differences and fight. Yuri reveals that he was not raised by his family, but in a children’s hospital. He assures Kasumi he is perfectly healthy now. But he feels he lacks something since he was not brought up by his family. This may explain why Yuri does have such a childish and obsessive side to him. I’m guessing this incident happened after Kasumi left him.

The two get some coffee and sit down on a bench. Kasumi says she does not know how to approach or deal with men because it has been so long. Two little boys run by. One drops something and Kasumi calls out to him to come back and get it. She immediately recalls the past. She tells Yuri about the young boy back then that she liked called “Amuro.” She never knew his real name. This boy carved her a shell shaped music box that she still has to this day. Yuri says nothing. I guess I was expecting him to announce he was that boy especially when Kasumi said he reminds her of Amuro, but he doesn’t. Why?

The two head to dinner and pass by the installation area. They decide to go in. Kasumi is once again mesmerized. Guess who else is there? The jealous witch of the East Maho. As Yuri is surrounded by his fans, Kasumi heads out to the hall where Maho approaches her. She asks if Kasumi came alone. Kasumi says she was passing by and stopped in. Maho then points out her super expensive shoes. For some reason, I recall a scene with Kasumi earlier. She was packing away the cleaned clothes and said clothes and accessories are sad as they reflect the loneliness and sadness of their owners. Anyways. Kasumi compliments the shoes and then Maho derides Kasumi’s sensible sneakers. Wench. Just that exchange was enough to shake Kasumi’s confidence and she leaves. Bad Kasumi.

Once Yuri realizes she is gone, he gives chase, but she is no where in sight. I’ am not sure what I think of this thoughts below comparing Kasumi to a little bird he caught. That…doesn’t sound good.

The little bird that I finally caught always disappears immediately. It’s the same as back then.

Kasumi goes to her usual spot for beer and food and laments that she has neither youth or beauty. D’oh. Say what? True. Kasumi does not have youth, but she is not ugly. She is an understated pretty. If they didn’t make her frumpy at times, she would be much better looking. That said, she has a brilliant and girlish smile. She leaves and runs into Yuri on her way home. He finally found her. You mean he’s been standing outside all of this time? Kasumi immediately takes his hands in hers and he pulls her into a hug.

Why me?

Because you’re my hime-sama [princess]. Because you’re my destined person.

Your a strange person.

Whatever.

Kasumi is very happy and cuddles into Yuri’s embrace and that is where we end this episode. Previews for 4 are not good. Why? Because Kasumi is always there pushing away Yuri. Does it have anything to do with her ex-hubby? I really want these two to have a happy ending. They deserve that. I am also curious about Tsugumi and Kameko. What will happen with Kasumi’s son and his stalker (for lack of a better word)?

So, will Kasumi figure out that Yuri is Amuro all on her own? Or will she need a nudge in that direction? Given their very strong bond in childhood, I suppose there is no surprise that they have a tangible bond even as adults when they don’t know who the other is. When did Yuri realize Kasumi’s real identity? Was it from episode one or episode two? Did he just have a hunch that Kasumi only confirmed now? More questions than answers.