Filthy Casual for Life

When mundane office worker Kiyoshi Adachi turns 30 years old, he discovers that he has gained the ability to read minds due simply to remaining a virgin for his entire life. The caveat, however, is that he must make physical contact with a person to know what they are thinking about. Adachi believes there is no real use for this power until he accidentally hears the thoughts of his coworker, Yuuichi Kurosawa.

Charismatic and dependable, Kurosawa is the star of Adachi’s team at work, earning praise and admiration from everyone at the office. But deep within, Kurosawa harbors an intense one-sided crush for the gloomy Adachi—a fact that Adachi only learns because of his ability, and knowledge he tries to respectfully disregard. As Kurosawa treats Adachi with kindness and affection he has never experienced before, Adachi finds it increasingly difficult to ignore his coworker’s genuine advances.

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First, let me say that I thoroughly enjoyed the show, but something didn’t quite sit right with me. Red flags were flying up everywhere and it made me wonder whether this couple could really make it in the real world.

Adachi is anti-social, has no self-confidence, and no romantic experience. The whole premise of the show is he is a 30-year-old virgin who gained the magical ability to touch others and hear their thoughts. At first, he’s pretty bummed with this ability. Often, all it did was reinforce how negatively others thought of him.

Kurosawa is the exact opposite of Adachi. He’s good-looking, has good self-esteem, and romantically experienced. He fell head-over-heels for Adachi, despite only dating women, after a night of drinking.

IS KUROSAWA OBSESSED?

Throughout the show, Kurosawa shows a great deal of jealousy before they even start dating.

He jumps to conclusions about Adachi’s actions and often grabs Adachi aggressively.

Kurosawa is borderline obsessed with Adachi and this is constantly reinforced by his train of thoughts. Anyone that shows any kind of affection or perceived affection to Adachi immediately gets interference from Kurosawa.

WILL THE JEALOUSY SUBSIDE?

I don’t think so. Jealousy, in my opinion, is a personality trait. It isn’t something you can just set aside. Locking Adachi into a relationship isn’t going to cure Kurosawa of his jealousy. I would venture to say that locking Adachi into a relationship will make it worse. Kurosawa is aware that he will be all of Adachi’s firsts. His first kiss, his first date, his first sexual partner. That would act like a drug to someone so focused on one person.

WILL THEIR MARRIAGE SURVIVE?

The show would like you to believe that marriage solved all of their problems. For argument’s sake, let’s put this in real-world context. As previously stated, I think Kurosawa will become more protective of Adachi. He finally caught the center of his affections and he is not going to let him go. I think, in the end, Kurosawa will smother Adachi. Especially now that Adachi can’t read his mind.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I think the success of their relationship hinges on Kurosawa. Did marriage tame his jealousy or will marriage become more fuel to the jealousy fire? As Adachi grows as a person and spreads his wings, Kurosawa is not going to be the sole center of his life. Being with Kurosawa throughout the show only proved that Adachi was beginning to come out of his shell. He was becoming more successful at work and even landed a promotion.

That is to say it isn’t all doom and gloom. They managed to make a long-distance relationship work while Adachi was on assignment to open a new branch. Maybe that assuaged the jealousy in Kurosawa’s heart.

In the end, I wish the couple the best, because they’re both so stinkin’ cute.