Wednesday, August 1, 2018

[R18] Dakarete kara Hajimaru Koi

抱かれてから始まる恋
Dakarete kara Hajimaru Koi


About: Love stories between two people that seemed to start backwardly than "normal" flow of romantic progress. In other words, drunken mistakes that eventually lead to a more serious relationships.

Trivia: There is a second season, which is absolutely necessary to the stories, but this summary will only cover the first season.


Akagi Subaru (CV: Sugakiya)
MC woke up one morning with Subaru greeting him cheerfully. Though being hopeful a relationship would start between him and MC after a night together, she told him she would treat it as a drunken mistake instead and left his place, being having no memory of the previous night to prove he was telling any truth at all. She thought he is just a player that she had fallen for his tricks, but Subaru is actually a staff for an izakaya she goes to. Because he is very friendly to everyone, he seemed like someone who is unfaithful and fake. He mentioned he always assumed to be a host whenever he told people he worked in a bar. Subaru met MC as she is a regular of his bar and always goes there alone. He wanted to approach her many times but he never found the opportunity, until that night. Although MC wanted to forget that one-night-stand ever happened, Subaru wanted to properly date her instead. He asked to see her again and they spend some time together in a cafe that's quite famous among female customers; he wished to open his own cafe in the future that no one would feel out of place (i.e, men felt like they cannot enter that cafe unless with female company because of the 'feminine' theme). MC was convinced he's for real in the end, and that she believed him when he swore before that eventual night, Subaru had properly and clearly stated his strong attraction to her and hope she would accept him as her boyfriend. They agreed to start a relationship from there.


Igawa Komari (CV: Sakurai Masato)
MC met Komari when he was sheltering from the rain while on the way home from work. He said he has no home and offered himself to be her 'pet', in exchange for someplace to sleep and eat. Perhaps feeling sorry for his situation and saw how lonely he is despite the cheerful front, she agreed to take him home. At first, MC stated that she will only be giving him a couch to sleep in and dinner, and refused his offer for sex as compensation, but she changed her mind in the middle of the night. He asked her why she changed her mind about them having sex and (I'm not really sure if it has anything to do with her decision) told him her story about her previous relationship and the bad breakup which ended it. Komari, in exchange, told her that because his parents always fought with one another, he ran away from home and instead drifted from different 'masters' to another, running away whenever there an emotional connection was had. His motto is never to believe in anything intangible, and only believed in himself and none else. He doesn't understand the concept of love nor he ever wanted to believe in such a thing. But after being cared by MC for some time, he felt something he never experienced before. He anticipated to be home with her and shared their private time together, way beyond just keeping the relationship restrictively physical. He decided to tell her how he really feels for her and that he is adamant that he will not be running away again.


Mitsui Daichi (CV: Margarine Tengu)
Daichi and MC are drinking buddies ever since they met at the same bar and made it a regular event to come together to drink and talk their worries away. Daichi, a worker for a major manufacturing company, was only recently ended his previous relationship of three years that just almost reached the point of talking about marriage. He was consumed with loneliness and disappointment of the failures of that relationship that he began to distract himself with work. MC is his first real friend that he treasures the most. He can be completely honest with her like laughing together and give each others advises and encouragement whenever necessary. He really wanted to keep their precious friendship for as long as he can. But one night, they were both very drunk and somehow it ended with them having sex at his place. Come morning, both were no longer able to face each other and he found it very difficult to break the awkward silence. Daichi tried to play it cool; acted like it was exactly as he wanted it to be but inside, he regretted it completely. They met again for a drink at another place just to change the environment but caught in the storm and missed the last train home. The first thing he suggested for them is to stay the night at the nearby hotel, although later he realized he could have just called for a taxi home. In the hotel room when talking about sleeping arrangement, MC said she has no problem with sleeping together on the bed. She thought they were now 'sex friends'. Daichi was very upset when she said that and refused to talk to her anymore afterwards. In two weeks, he called to meet up again after giving themselves more time to think about each other. Daichi confessed to MC that he didn't want to lose her, and let her know of his new feelings for her. Fortunately, MC's feelings were mutual, and they became a couple.


Ikezoe Kanato (CV: Domon Atsushi)
MC was the manager of her high school basketball club, and Kanato was one of the active members and players. They were close then but not to the point that they would date. He simply views her as one of his friends, while in fact MC has a very strong attraction to him even after 10 years had passed since graduating school. They met for a drinking party one day. Kanato, being a good friend, asked if she's seeing anyone right then, and offered to introduce her to one of his friends. MC, unable to tell him her real feelings, agreed to it. However later she asked to stay a night at his place because she had missed the last train. Added with being drunk and with a burning will, she asked, tearfully, for him to have sex with her, just once - and that they both would forget about it ever happening the next day. Kanato was overwhelmed when he asked the reason why she is this determined/desperate; she had been hiding her feelings for him since high school. He was not going to agree to her plea but eventually goes along when he has no heart to say no to her when she was crying in front of him. The next morning on, they went on their lives as if nothing had happened. Kanato was deep in his thoughts during these times, questioning himself what he felt for MC. He always thought her to be a good friend - the type of girl he would be comfortable and easily being friendly with. On the day when he was supposed to introduce her to that other guy he promised, he told her the whole truth. It seems that he had always liked her as well since the club days, just that it didn't clicked to him that it was a romantic type of attraction. After he reassured MC he's not doing it because he wanted to take responsibility of the drunk sex, they agreed to date.


Morita Aoba (CV: Kawamura Masato)
Aoba is an accountant for a company that only has enough employees that one could know each and every single one of each other. He is a workaholic, although if there's no reason for him to be working late, he will be seen getting home as soon as he can, at exactly the same time. This made a rumor of him having a secret child between the employees. MC is one of his colleague and they happened to be drinking together and she gotten very drunk that lead them to having sex at Aoba's place. He assumed she consent to it because she liked him, but the next morning, MC said that was not true. He was a bit disappointed but let the whole thing go as a drunken mistake. She went straight to work from his place that day, only to find herself back there later because they were both splashed with dirty puddled water by the passing vehicle on the streets. Aoba was yet to give up on trying to date MC so he asked her if she felt anything negative about him. He told her he himself has nothing against her so he felt like if they were to pursuit a romantic relationship, there would be nothing to lose. She agreed and their stories as a couple starts from there. It turns out, the 'secret child' of Aoba is his pet cat, Cocoa, named after his favorite food.


Final say: This is quite a daunting series to me while I was pretty new in the fandom, as well as VERY inexperienced with my listening skills. I remembered I need to repeat Kawamura's volume so many times just to understand what the heck is going on... which lead me to die every single time Kawamura used his cat-person voice. I really, really, violently, enjoyed Sakurai's kansaiben though. Don't ask me why, I just have a thing with that dialect. HOWEVER, the themes of some volumes conflict with me, as an AroAce, because I can't really empathize. At all. Why can't a platonic relationship between a man and a woman be possible? Why does it HAS to be romantic?

No comments:

Post a Comment