Starring: Hayami Mokomichi, Mizushima Hiro, Aibu Saki, Ueno, Natsuhi
This show was one that I should have looked up before I started. Instead I, along with the friend who found it, were swayed by the beautiful men on the cover. WHEN will we ever learn?
Izawa Riiko (Aibu Saki) is a temp worker at a company that specializes in something near and dear to my heart: BAKED GOODS OMG. She sucks at love, and has been rejected by all the guys she likes. She comes across a really strange (yet hilarious) man from a company called Kronos Heaven. When she visits, she is asked to take a test describing her ideal lover. She thinks that it’s a dating service, and goes ahead and completes the test. Little does she know, she also accidentally orders a robotic lover customized to her preferences. She gets a 5-day trial, and then must pay 1 million yen. She names him “Night Tenjou”, and at first only sees him as a household appliance, but falls in love with him when she sees how deep his devotion is. Asamoto Soshi (Mizushima Hiro) is Riiko’s incredibly gorgeous (and multi-lingual!) boss, through various events, gains a keen interest in her (because she makes AWESOME desserts, apparently). Of course, he eventually falls in love with her.
The warning sign really should have been this: THIS SERIES IS BASED OFF OF A WORK BY YUU WATASE. Now, I do like some of her work as a manga-ka (Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden, for example), but her tendency is to make a “heroine” that is not only completely inept, but also completely braindead. Riiko is absolutely no exception. Another bad thing about her is that she’s willing to give up her life dream of being a patissier to be with Night.
It’s kinda hard to compete with someone who only has to be repaired, and has superhuman strength and speed. But the incredibly gorgeous Soshi can speak French! That’s sexy. Also, he encourages Riiko to follow her dreams, and go to France to study. It seems like he’s irresponsible, but he actually just doesn’t like the way his older brother runs the company. His idea of pastries are filled with warmth and love without sacrificing taste, just like his grandfather always taught him.
Riiko, being the terrible judge of character that she tends to be, has a best friend named Ito Mika (Ueno Natsuhi). Mika has a very special personality trait: she only likes guys that don’t belong to her (i.e. already have a girlfriend, are engaged/married), or are the object of someone else’s affections. She successfully steals Riiko’s first crush, but drops him once Night is in the picture. She then focuses her attention on stealing Night away. Um, and Riiko still continues being best friends with her. Okay, sure.
The end is a little “sad”, but also realistic. At first, she hides the truth about Night from everyone, but eventually Soshi finds out that his competition is a robot. He invites her to come to France with him, but she’d rather be with Night. Certain events happen that make reverse that choice for her, but it’s all for the best.
The story itself wasn’t bad, but Riiko was just so stupid that it made the show difficult to watch at times. And then Soshi would reappear, and his hotness would make everything all better. If you don’t really care about that too much, and want something a little more light-hearted, go for it. Otherwise, don’t bother.
Rating: 2.5/5
Love Like Oxygen 