A reverse harem with a whole bunch of hotties? Sounds like the girl bloggers are winning with this one!

Katt: I shotty the reverse harem with the bishies! Sorry Marissa, but this is a point for the ladies, right? Not that I could really imagine any of the guys blogging this one…hm, it could have been entertaining. Ah well. Since I am in a celebrating mood after my last day of classes, I just had to blog! I’m going to step out of my regular blogging style for this first episode, too, because…well, the idea of playing THE DATING GAME is just waaay to tempting to pass up!!

But wait! I can’t just jump right into the dating game here. There is a plot, after all.

Kajika has just moved back to Japan after spending her childhood overseas and is now re-entering school. Her natural beauty earns her a lot of attention, although her bluntness and somewhat teasing personality causes her to be disliked by many of the girls in her class. Simultaneously, she is also extremely admired by them, which ironically causes the beginning of this episode to give off major lesbian vibes. We have to get Kajika out of this girl-dominated environment and fast!

Conveniently, Kajika does end up being pulled from this environment. It is kind of sad for her, as she was enjoying the opportunity to make the first female friend of her life, but hey–we need to get the plot moving, right? This split doesn’t really feel emotional to viewers, either, because it occurs so quickly. Anyway…what is the reason that Kajika has to leave? Her father calls her back to the U.S. for a mystery reason. Her father, I should mention, is the president of a huge company called the Burnsworth Company. Much like the rulers of older ages, Mr. Burnsworth is concerned with Kajika finding a suitable husband to eventually join her in taking the throne of the Burnsworth Company that she will inevitably inherit. In these days most fathers would leave it up to their daughter’s discretion to choose a husband, but not Mr. Burnsworth here. He makes things more fun.

Kajika is to play a game. A marriage game. Before getting into the nitty-gritty of it, Mr. Burnsworth tells Kajika that he has kept her hidden (on a beauitful Caribbean island…lucky girl) for much of her life for a reason beyond what she believes; Kajika thinks that it is because someone once attempted to kidnap her and her mother was killed at that time. Though this may be true, Mr. Burnsworth tells Kajika that there is more to it than that with the ominous statement that, “The fate you are forced to carry is a heavy one.” Hm, a statement like that obviously peaks Kajika’s curiosity, but Daddy won’t tell her any more until she chooses the man that she will marry.

And here, I will return to the marriage game. Mr. Burnsworth has hand-picked three men that he perceives as compatible with Kajika, and he wants her to choose one to marry. He won’t tell her who they are, and they don’t know about this little game, but he will arrange their meetings and leave things up to Kajika and the men from there. It will be up to her to choose and to make the one she chooses choose her back. It’s all pretty complicated and just sounds like the writer executed their idea a little questionably, but I can see things getting more interesting from this point onward as the ‘game’ begins. Because, you see, of course Kajika agreed to the game: she wants to know about this mysterious fate and perhaps meet some hotties along the way.

So, my friends, the game begins. And by game I mean The Dating Game because I am about to introduce you all to BACHELOR NUMBER ONE!!

Bachelor number one is Li Ren! Now don’t get confused, people, since Mr. Burnsworth clearly said that there will be three potential husbands and yet there are clearly four in the opening and in the promotional artwork. Don’t you recall the fact that Li Ren was in the room when Daddy announced the marriage game? Wouldn’t it defeat the purpose if he suspected that he was an option? The obvious solution to this is to lie about the numbers such that, after Kajika meets the other three guys, Li Ren realizes that he can’t possibly be a possible husband. Am I just reading into this a little too much? I don’t think so, since Mr. Burnsworth thinks after Li Ren leaves, “your unchanged facial expression can’t win anyone over.” Whoaaa, so that means he should be trying to win Kajika over!

Why the fans would like him: the childhood friend

Li Ren has an immediate advantage when it comes to the fans’ opinion as to who they want Kajika to hook up with: he is the childhood friend. This lets the fans’ imaginations wander as to how these two interacted as they grew up together, and also leaves room for limitless super-cute flashbacks in the series. It will possibly lead to Li Ren’s character building up as that-guy-who-always-liked-her-but-stayed-quiet-about-it, which many people will go for. I bet you already have some viewers rooting for you, bachelor number one!

Why Daddy would like him: a mature businessman

So why would Mr. Burnsworth choose a guy like Li Ren? Well, this game does in part have to do with the future of his company, so it is only logical to desire a son-in-law that knows his way aroun the business world. Li Ren here is certainly suitable in that respect as, even at his young age, he is the leader of a Chinese conglomerate. Wow, impressive! On top of that, Li Ren is extremely mature and has a sort of I don’t want to say brotherly protective bond with Kajika, which ensures that nothing bad will ever happen to Daddy’s little girl if she chooses Li Ren.

Why Kajika might choose him: opening up the emotionless

But whether the fans or Daddy like Li Ren or not, it is Kajika who will ultimately be making the choice of who she’ll marry. It is a common conception that women are drawn to men who they want to change; make a bad boy good, get a geek a social life, or even instill emotion in an emotionless character. In a flashback, we see that when Kajika first met Li Ren, his face lacked any kind of expression. Even as a child, Kajika longed to fix that emotionlessness and open up emotions in Li Ren. Back then, she managed to do so by surprising him with her reaction to his lack of emotion. Now, will she perhaps feels the desire to bring more emotion to Li Ren’s life–maybe even love?

And that is an introduction to bachelor number one! I won’t make any judgements yet since there are still three more bachelors to meet, but darn this does have potential as a very endearing possibility. Even though the introduction of the marriage game is a little awkwardly played in my opinion, it certainly has gotten me intrigued for future episodes. Expect me to keep an eye on this one!

Katt’s Overall Rating for Hanasakeru Seishounen Episode 1: 8/1o

Katt’s Anticipation for Hanasakeru Seishounen Episode 2: 9/10

Best of luck to you, bachelor number one!