TERRACE HOUSE TOKYO 2019-2020 PART 2: Energies & Relationships Shift As New Housemates Arrive

When it comes right down to it, Part One of any Terrace House season serves as an appetizer – a preface, a preview, a hypothesis. The real meat, the real drama, the real body of the show usually arrives in Part Two, and Terrace House Tokyo 2019-2020 is no exception. In the latest 12-episode installment, we see some new faces move in and some new perspectives on what it means to live in front of the TH cameras.

Before we get into the new people though, let’s reflect on our original six – Haruka, Kaori, Kenny, Risako, Ruka, and Shohei – and answer the burning questions that popped up in Part One.

The very last shot of Part One is Risako contemplating her own feelings for the elusive Kenny – does Risako reciprocate his feelings?

During Week 13, titled “All or Nothing”, Kenny has made his confession of like and Risako tells him her thoughts and feelings: she likes him a lot too but wants to get to know him more before they even begin to start dating. He nods and accepts.

Later on, he makes leaps and bounds past everyone’s expectations and plans a cute date to the beach with her in his customized bus. As foreshadowed, the date is rained out and the two end up hanging out in the bus sharing drinks. It’s a prime rom-com setting and Kenny gives one last confession to get Risako’s attention by telling her that he’s leaving Terrace House the week of his band’s headlining show.

Risako says that she thought she had more time to make a decision about the two of them but it’s now clear to all that that was a fantasy – Terrace House is a kind of magical setting, so it’s easy to forget that it doesn’t last forever. Throughout the episode, she cries a lot and goes over her feelings in her mind. She sees him perform a song that he dedicates to her and she can’t help but cry, especially later at dinner when he breaks the news of his departure to the rest of the housemates and tells them of what he’s learned:

“I think I’ve gotten better at expressing my feelings to my crush. I think more about what would make them happy. I’ve been pretty selfish in the past. I was stubborn about keeping my own pace. I mainly chose partners who were okay with doing what I wanted. But I think more about what the other person might want now.”

With these words from Kenny, all she can say is that she liked him and that she doesn’t want him to go. It’s a bit of a somber moment and it seems that the chapter on Risako and Kenny has closed….or has it?

During Kenny’s “last supper” in the house, amidst the goodbyes, we find out that it’s not just Kenny who’s leaving – Risako decides to leave Terrace House, too! What?? Just to be clear though, they’re not dating, and Risako still doesn’t know what she wants, AND she still won’t kiss Kenny on camera, but they will leave the house together and she will follow him on his journey and…that’s basically it. When a person (or two people who are definitely not dating) leave the house, they are gone. Sure, the other housemates may reflect on them or the panelists may crack some jokes at their expense, but generally a Terrace House exit comes with a heavy door that automatically locks until they decide to be a guest on a future season.

Can Kenny redeem himself in Part Two?

It’s hard to say. In the end, Kenny’s storyline wraps up nicely when he leaves the house; he gets affection from his friends who are sad to see him go, he gets his feelings out there, he ultimately gets the girl, and he gets to go on tour with his band who will undoubtedly receive a ton of new fans because of the show. He also gives the first kiss of the season, albeit after a small struggle from Risako. This aspect of the show is always a little polarized – because it’s an internationally popular reality show, there are bound to be parts of Japanese dating and hookup culture that will leave people uncomfortable.

Japan itself is a very patriarchal country that has its fair share of issues when it comes to #MeToo and gender equality, so it’s no surprise that this extends to what happens on an often-times pleasant reality show. And yes, Terrace House is pleasant, but it has its moments of social antiquity – from extreme heteronormativity to forcing a kiss onto someone – that makes me, and many viewers like me, cringe.

This happened last season in Terrace House: Opening New Doors when there was a really awful, grabby attempt at a kiss between two housemates after their so-so date that left viewers debating consent and rape culture as the panelists reacted in a way that quickly devolved from timid concern to dismissive jokes. The situation launched many articles and Reddit discussions but in the end it always seemed to come down to “Japan has a lot of catching up to do.”

With all of this in mind, Kenny’s attempted kisses with Risako (yes, there’s another awkward one later on) are a little hard to pin down as skeezy or not. Judging by how both of them act and react to the first attempted kiss, it seems quite clear that it was not their First Kiss and that they have definitely smooched off camera – something that would in no way surprise me. Yes, it’s a reality show that involves dating, but PDA in Japan is just not really a thing like it is in the U.S. or elsewhere, and when it is a thing, it is often labeled as immature and something to poke fun at. I know this from personal experience from when I’ve heard chuckles and jests of “rabu-rabu”, or “lovey-dovey”, from older Japanese folks when my husband and I have scandalously shared a quick kiss in public that one time… but I digress.

The way the scene went down made it seem like it was more Risako-not-wanting-to-kiss-on- camera as opposed to Risako-not-wanting-to-kiss. However, it’s still a little muddy. Later on, Risako is discussing the attempted kiss with her male parkour friends and says that she dodged the kiss because she wasn’t expecting it then. One of them hypothesizes that her pulling away was her true feelings, as the other friend turns it into a metaphor for parkour or whatever. In the end, she says she doesn’t know. Risako’s perspective on the kiss in that instant goes from “not now” to “maybe not ever?”

However, in the end she decides to leave the house with Kenny and this reveal, along with everyone’s sad goodbyes, seems to give him the green light for redemption. But personally, I don’t think he was redeemed at all. He decided to get a personality in his last two episodes and then has not one but TWO bad kisses with his crush? Nah. Thank you, next.

Does Shohei have feelings for Kaori? Will he attempt to pursue anyone else in the house?

Well, we were left with hope in our hearts and then – poof! – it was gone. Just like Shohei.

Every now and then in Part One, there were inklings of feelings and potential between Shohei and Kaori and it turned out to just be an illusion. In a scene at the end of Week Sixteen, “Orange Flavor First Kiss”, the two sat in the Playroom and realized their entire tenure with each other had been based on a misunderstanding; they liked each other but both thought that the other had a girlfriend or fiancé. It becomes clear that their feelings were strong but their communication and timing was way off. Their exchange left feelings of potential between the two, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

As for pursuing other members of the house, Shohei showed little to no interest outside of curiosity for the new girl Emika, who asked him to share a beer with her in the sexiest way possible (according to the panel) and her telling him she’s interested in someone who has clear career goals (something he infamously does not have). In the end, Shohei left the house during Week 18’s “Bros Before Hoes” episode at the crack of dawn, with little to no fanfare. He has always been someone to do things his own way and his exit was very much his way. I’m sure Frank Sinatra or Sid Vicious would be proud.

For the most part, Kaori’s storyline is very subdued, but will things heat up for her as the show goes on? Is she still into Shohei?

With Kaori, we found out fairly quickly that her and Ruka were not going to happen. When asked about him by Haruka in Week 14, “Just a Moment, Please”, Kaori could only laugh a little and say that Ruka was “in a place where he should focus on himself” and then (thanks to editing) immediately brought up Shohei. She then told Haruka that she was really into him and respected his opinion, especially when it came to her illustrations. It became apparent that she had been playing it cool with her feelings but the truth was that she still really liked him.

When Shohei left the house however, she showed no real emotion outside of disbelief and confusion. Perhaps we could have learned more of her feelings once she started missing him, but it wasn’t meant to be; in Week 20’s “The Third Flower”, Kaori announced that she was leaving the house to rent a flat and live in London for six months.

Despite being one of the more docile and closed-off housemates of the season, Kaori still left a big impression with her kind disposition, her lovely talent, and the searing “will-they/won’t-they” story line that all of us Kaori X Shohei shippers ate right up. She will definitely be missed.

Will Ruka make enough strides in Part Two and find a girlfriend?

Ruka, Ruka, Ruka. When one invokes his name, one can’t help but shake their head a bit. Despite being the most good-natured OG housemate, Ruka never really goes anywhere romantically in Part Two. He is very young and very sweet but he is – as the panelists put it – simpleminded, and it doesn’t get him very far with the women in the house.

Where we last left him, Ruka’s had a crush on Kaori and it has continued into the beginning of Part Two. However, the last nail in the coffin of Kaori being able to look at him in a romantic way gets pounded in during Week 13’s “All or Nothing”, when she finds out he’s interested in working at an Avenger’s-themed bar.

You see, everyone that comes into Terrace House has a goal or a dream in mind. Ruka’s dream was to help people and be seen as a hero. That’s nice, right? Well, don’t hold your breath. What started out as a simple dream devolved into something truly baffling.

Here is the breakdown:

• Being a hero who helps people
• Being a Marvel hero
• Being an actor in a Marvel movie
• Working at an Avengers-themed bar (the moment any romance between Ruka and Kaori died like Black Widow and Iron Man)
• Being Spider-man, with superpowers
• Having CGI web to make it look like he’s Spider-man (as comedian Tom Segura would put it, Haruka’s brain quite literally ctrl+alt+delete and then rebooted when she heard this)
• Wants to appear to be like Spider-man to anyone who sees him

To go along with his incoherent ambitions, Ruka’s love life doesn’t go anywhere in Part Two. Despite these fallbacks, he’s still handsome and he’s still miles ahead of everyone else when it comes to kindness and bettering himself as a housemate. But maybe it’s time for Ruka’s tenure at Terrace House to come to an end.

Will Haruka grow and become more sociable in Part Two?

When we last left Haruka, she was having a hard time making real connections with anyone. At the beginning of Part Two, she went on a date with former Terrace House Aloha State housemate and honorary cherry boy, Yusuke. He is a brilliant musician but he’s very shy and has nothing but sad luck when it comes to getting dates. On their first date, Haruka got his hopes up with compliment after compliment, saying how she’s always thought he was cute and so on like that – it’s really awkward to watch.

On their second date, the two of them get bubble tea and Yusuke teaches her how to play the ukulele – a callback to Part One when Haruka got a guitar in hopes that Kenny would teach her and they would grow closer. Goddamn, Part One was so long ago. Anyway, on their second date Yusuke reveals that he is “interested in her romantically” , she awkwardly turns him down, but then suggest that they go to a fireworks festival as friends. And just when you think it can’t get any more cringe, in the next episode – only a day before the festival! – Haruka calls Yusuke on the phone to tell him that she doesn’t think it’s best to go with him to see the “hanabi”, or fireworks, as soon as she gets to know the new male housemate, Peppe.

Ooh, ouch. But it doesn’t stop there because it’s not the last we see of poor Yusuke.

After Haruka has flaked on their outing and is hanging out with Peppe, we the audience are tortured with a three-minute-long scene of Yusuke watching the fireworks, alone and completely emotionless. Yes, you read that correctly. Three entire minutes of Terrace House Tokyo 2019-2020 are dedicated to a cringey, boring Terrace House member from two seasons ago as he watches a firework show. It is like being forced to watch your sad friend’s Snapchat story from the 4th of July or something; to say that I was pissed as I watched this the first time it premiered would be an understatement.

The moment cements Haruka‘s place in Terrace House hall of fame forever – her entire run on the show so far has been her confidence, arrogance and beauty letting her skate by from one awkward moment to another, all the way up to the last scene of Part Two. But more on that later.

Despite her tendencies to ignore other people’s feelings, Haruka has made strides with her personal growth. She’s no longer waist-deep in the drama and almost becomes the new Kaori or Shohei, by listening to the problems of the newer housemates. She still doesn’t really know how to properly communicate with people, but she becomes more at peace in the house and with the new housemates, particularly with Peppe. Speaking of the new housemates….

With the departure of four different people at the beginning of Part Two – Kenny, Risako, Shohei, and Kaori – we were introduced to four successors, the first of whom were Emika, 21, a university student and Giuseppe, or “Peppe”, a 26-year-old manga artist from Italy, making him the very first person in Terrace House history to not be of Asian descent.

The two immediately leave their mark on the show: first, we found that Emika is secretly an enormous flirt who once dated an adult man during her first year of high school (an unfortunately common practice in Japan) and she eventually earns the nickname “Erotika” from You, for the way she asked Shohei to share a beer with her. She isn’t afraid to go on dates with the men in the house and she seems to have a more progressive outlook on relationships between men and women – something that gets her in trouble towards the end of Part Two.

As for Peppe, him being on the show is kind of a big deal: it showcases just how international the show has become and, as noted by the panelists, Peppe’s arrival immediately changed the energy of the house with his Italian. As an American foreigner living in Japan, it’s interesting to see another “gaikokujin” on the show who can bring their country’s dating culture into the Japanese fray. Luckily, Peppe wants to do just that, by creating a manga that will help Japanese people understand that Italian men aren’t all stereotypically suave and aggressive, that they too can be awkward and inexperienced when it comes to dating.

As for Shohei’s successor, we’re introduced to Ryo, a 26-year-old basketball player hoping to make it to the Tokyo Olympics. Ryo quickly becomes a hero in the house when he comments on the ridiculously filthy the kitchen and bathrooms are, essentially jump starting us into a new era of Tokyo 2019-2020. Along with cleanliness, he establishes himself as a younger, better Kenny 2.0 in that he gets caught in the middle of a love triangle fairly quickly, like, almost too quickly.

And that brings us to one of the best and most interesting housemates so far this season – Hana. She’s 22-years-old, she has long pink braids, and she’s a professional wrestler. She’s also a bubbly romantic who can’t help but react to everything as if she were in an anime, but not in a weeb way that makes everyone cringe. This part of her personality really comes out when she first meets Ryo – the girl literally covers half of her face with her hands to contain her enormous smile. It’s really cute but also a surprising way for a grown adult to react to another grown adult she just met.

Nonetheless, Hana is completely smitten with Ryo and, due to her inexperience with dating or men, she recruits her fellow female housemates Haruka and Emika to give her advice and help get him to notice her. With anyone else, these scenes would come across as infantilizing and a little creepy, but Hana is so damn likable that they turn out cute and charming.

However, this childlike approach to romance does come with its downsides, namely, a misunderstanding of how men and women can interact with each other. This, along with the fact that Emika also has a thing for Ryo, caused some tension between the two girls and a big argument ensued. To put it simply, Emika didn’t like how people in the house (Hana) were lumping her and Ruka together in a romantic way and decided to confront Hana about it. Hana got defensive and said that the way Emika would act with Ruka (i.e., staying up late together to watch a rom-com, napping on the large couch in the living room at the same time) caused her to think they could be a couple.

The argument devolved into a big mess and in the end, Hana didn’t look that great – her very narrow view on men and women, as well as her obvious possessiveness towards Ryo made her come out looking immature and catty. However, it doesn’t take long for the tables to turn.

In the last episode of Part Two, Week 24’s “Pink Rose”, Emika has Ryo take her out for some obscenely expensive sushi as a reward for wearing his basketball merch everyday (a really, really weird thing to do for someone who’s not your significant other). Despite showing little enthusiasm during the date, she hums and sighs about being in heaven as soon as they’re back at the house and in front of Hana. The scene is a little awkward and it makes Emika look like the catty and immature one.

While the love triangle is chugging along, a simple romance is blooming between Haruka and Peppe. From the first Italian c*cktail he made her, to their Pokémon Go outings, to Peppe buying her a pajama set to match his own, the Haruka X Peppe ship seemed to be slowly gaining speed – they even almost kiss! But things are a little complicated – during a date to the beach where Peppe was going to confess his feelings, Haruka told him that she was planning on leaving Terrace House. Because of this, Peppe invited her out later for fancy drinks, gave her pink roses (as a symbol for potential love) and told her the truth.

In any other reality show, these grand gestures and beautiful romanticism would result in a sudden response of any kind, but this isn’t just any reality show – this is Terrace House. Therefore, Haruka told him that she needed time to think it over and that she needed to get to know him better, even though she’d been living in a house with him for weeks at this point. It’s a little too much, especially after they almost kiss and after Peppe had told her that he hurries to finish his manga work so he can hang out with her and Haruka – in all of her self-centered and awkward wisdom – decides to tell him her true feelings the night before his big deadline for his manga. It’s a moment that ends the episode as well as Part Two but guess what, it’s a goddamn cliffhanger.

We don’t know what her answer is yet, and international viewers will have to wait months to see the next episode in Part Three – does she feel the same way he does or will she reject him the same way she rejected Yusuke?

Until Part Three. But before then, here are some highlights from Part Two to look back on:

• • Rui Hachimura being brought on as a guest panelist
  • Tori-chan admitting she likes Ruka for his looks and because he’s a bit “simpleminded”
  • Ruka doesn’t know what “it’s” or “please” means
  • The panel trying so hard to figure out the logic of Ruka’s Spider-man goals that they forget what an actual spider can do
  • Tori-chan being dubbed Ruka’s “lawyer”
  • Haruka saying Yusuke reminds her of a sea mammal even though he doesn’t think it’s a compliment
  • Emika’s cute swimsuits that everyone thinks are scandalous
  • Peppe describing his very first kiss as “orange-flavored” after he’s prepared Haruka an orange-flavor c*cktail
  • Emika being the only sane woman in the house for not thinking that “it’s too hot to go to the beach”
  • Hana telling Ryo that if she wins her next match, then the two of them will go on a date, knowing full well ahead of time the outcome of her match
  • Shohei saying that he’s taking a break from drinking and then immediately taking that back as soon as Emika asks him to have a beer with her
  • Kaori having enough money to just rent a flat in London and then peacing out on Japan

In conclusion

There was a lot of fear that Part One of Tokyo 2019-2020 would be a nightmare repeat of the Aloha State season, which seemed to drag on and on, due in part because it generally take Terrace House time to find its footing. Thankfully, there was plenty of tension early on and the drama, as well as the dynamics kept things interesting. With Part Two, we were treated to even more interesting relationships, better food, and new housemates, like Peppe the charming Italian “manga-ka”, or manga artist, and Hana the romantic professional wrestler.

If you’re reading this and you’re still on the fence about watching this season, please consider tuning in because the trend will most likely keep going – Part Two was better than Part One, and I have a feeling that Part Three may be even better.

What do you enjoy about Terrace House Tokyo 2019-2020 so far?

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Watch Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020