Machiko runs out of her boyfriend's home crying one night. They were about to have their first night together, but it was all too sudden for the naive girl... Maybe her kind homestay student, Danny, will sympathize with her. Surely, he won't do anything unfair to her...
Daniel, a foreign student staying with Machiko and her mother, shrewdly moves in on Machiko’s vulnerability after her lover’s quarrel. From his inner monologue we can tell that he is both misogynistic and xenophobic. It’s also implied that he has taken advantage of the absence of the man of the house to ingratiate himself to Machiko’s mother. It’s unlikely he could move forward with his designs on Machiko without the “physical persuasion” of her mom. Something has anyway contributed to his vulgar opinion of Japanese women.
What really makes this story stand out is the presence of Daniel to contrast sharply with Kei. Kei is caring and gentle where Daniel is conniving and rapacious. Kei is not only Machiko’s boyfriend but also her childhood friend and next door neighbor. The physical, spiritual and cultural closeness of Kei stands opposed to Daniel, who only came to know of Machiko recently and will be in a week’s time leaving her life permanently. Once Daniel fools his prey he even darkly hints to her at what may become of Kei should she not go along with him. By this artifice he gets Machiko to yield voluntarily to his carnivorous demands on her body.
There are some incredible scenes of debauchery in this tale that heighten its quality. Daniel indulges his sexual appetite on this “naive Japanese girl” while an unaware Kei apologizes to her and professes his love for and willingness to marry her. One can only imagine the smug and dishonorable Daniel relishing the words of Kei knowing that he had to learn a new language and travel halfway around the world and yet he still managed to introduce Machiko to sex before Kei. Daniel believes he can blackmail Machiko because he knows exactly how he would feel if he were in Kei’s place and had lost something irreplaceable to an interloper.
Thankfully the story ends with some relief. Daniel returns to his country taking nothing more than the memories of his carnal encounters with a burgeoning Japanese beauty and her sexually deprived mother. Happily Machiko doesn’t completely lose her mind but stays true to her heart and resumes her relationship with the boy next door. It’s a happier and less dramatic outcome for both that Machiko’s secrets aren’t revealed and it makes for a less rocky future for Kei not being forced to confront the decision of abandoning his true love or living with the bitter knowledge that his suspicions of that foreigner were well founded and that he will never have a chance to find Daniel and achieve a measure of revenge. It’s better this way. Although Kei may still wonder as to how Machiko became so sexually inclined and devious and why she occasionally seems underwhelmed and disappointed whenever they become intimate.
Last Modified Sun Mar 23, 2025, 5:23 pm