Zenkai Girl – Episode 2: Forgotten Kisses and Lunch Box Lessons
Awaken and confused, Ayukawa Wakaba doesn’t remember what happened the night before. The last thing she remembers is standing in a park and she doesn’t remember how she got back to her own home. She suspects Yamada had something to do with it, and maybe had assaulted her, but her apartment is spotless and she’s still in her clothes from yesterday.
The only thing she manages to remember is that she might be fired. After saving her job, Ayukawa is determined to find out what happened the night before. So she Yamada who confesses, during a lesson in preparing a lunch box meal, that nothing happened. Hesitantly she believes him…
… but then, in an act of jealously, she blames him for her situation and his three friends tell her that something did happen last night and that it wasn’t Yamada that kissed her but it was she that kissed him. The shock is too much and she punches Yamada anyway.
So, this episode is another standard fare of Japanese romcom packaged in under 46 minutes.
The Zenkai Girl Romcom Checklist
☑ Tsundere Female
☑ The Manic Pixie Dream Boy
☑ The Bumbling Friends Who Try to Put Tsundere in Check but Fail
☑ Cute Children
☑ That Awkward Moment When….
☑ Montage to Lead Character Overcoming a Difficulty
☑ Lead Character tripping/falling and prized item they spent hours on breaks/splatters everywhere
☑ Build up of potential cockblocking/love triangle
☑ Anime-ish reactions to every situation
☑ Tsundere Female Punches Out Manic Pixie Dream Boy
She is truly tsundere. Like the definition of tsundere is her.
Zenkai Girl is already proving itself to be another standard prime time drama, but fortunately enough providing a slight hint of originality that makes you want to continue watching the drama. We know all about Ayukawa and so we’re on a quest to see her either obtain her dream or accept the reality she’s in… but we know nothing about Yamada…
… and this episode sets up his story with a peak into his character. Who is Yamada and why is he a broke, an apparently uneducated, single father living in the ghetto? How did he get there? Who is this Hostess that left him alone with her son? Well, not all questions were answered, but we did a hint into his past.
Who is he? And what is up with the Chef Nishikido trend?
Apparently this uneducated single father was once a professional chef at a five star restaurant in the city… and as we all know chefs do make a lot of money. So now the question is why did Yamada leave this prestigious job and end up in the ghetto working at a hole-in-the-wall bar?
It doesn’t seem like he’s worried about it though. In fact he seems a lot happier in his current situation while Ayukawa is trying to run away from that way of life she was raised in.
Which is probably why Ayukawa blames Yamada for all the problems in her life. He’s happy where he’s at and he’s basically her struggle personified. An interesting twist to a story done too many times over on Japanese television.
Nothing scarier than a woman interrogating you at knife point who also hates you.
Another thing in this episode is Ayukawa’s relationship with Hinata. She has went from “hating her, she’s just a job” to now wanting to win her trust and approval. It also seems that, after a day, Hinata is warming up to Ayukawa. For some reason I’m finding their relationship progress a little too fast — but I don’t think the drama wants to put too much of a wrench between them. It looks like Hinata maybe the key in bringing Yamada and Ayukawa together so building up that Nanny/Child relationship now is imperative.
Zenkai Girl is proving to show some promise, let’s just hope it stays that way and not fall off a cliff.
Michiru... I'm sorry. Err, wrong drama.