Itazura na Kiss - Episode 15

After fourteen episodes of nastiness from Naoki, the inexplicable man of her dreams and Kotoko got married in what I can only describe as the fastest wedding in history. Surely, the series from now on will be a bed of roses, happiness and kittens?

Err... no. Husband or otherwise, Naoki is still an absolutely insufferable asshole of the highest degree, who once again succeeds in spending most of the episode belittling or otherwise ignoring Kotoko. It was bad enough when the two of them weren't together, but now they're husband and wife it's hard to keep my wish to see him horribly decapitated or the like in check - it seems like no end would be too good for him.


Mind you, he isn't alone in the world of unsavoury behaviour that seems to surround Kotoko. The Irie family decide to follow them so that they can spy on the couple's honeymoon (which was both stupid and irritating), Kinnosuke and Chris both seem to annoy one another as much as they do me, and Kotoko and Naoki meet another newly married couple on their honeymoon consisting of a shallow woman who seems to spend all of her time on the look-out for someone to have an affair with (hmm, sounds like someone I once knew, but we won't go there) and a weak-willed guy who finally asserts himself on his relationship by hitting his wife. Is it just me, or does everyone in this series seem to live in some kind of moral vacuum? It doesn't even feel like I'm being mean wishing that their plane back to Japan had crashed into the sea at full speed.

So, everything changes, yet everything stays the same, and my hatred for the various characters in this series is inevitably going to seep onto Itazura na Kiss itself. Is hate a rather strong word? Well, yes it is, but this series has (Kotoko aside) proved itself completely incapable of creating a single likeable supporting character who could be called a normal, decent human being. To my mind, that suggests that there's something intrinsically wrong with the series, and considering we're fifteen episodes in now, it's far too late to put it right.