'Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020' Part 3: Vivi’s forced kiss on Ryo criticized by fans as unacceptable behavior
Ryo and Vivi's romance was one of the highlights on 'Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020' Part 3. What started as light flirting turned into a full-blown romance with the two of them spending most of their time together. Ryo would subtly relay his feelings across to Vivi but the latter believed in being more vocal. There were countless times this season when she waxed eloquent about Ryo's perfume and constantly sniffed his wrists on one occasion. She also asked him to lend her a hoodie and even though she established that she's sensitive to smell, she wanted a hoodie that smelt like him. After wearing his hoodie, she mentioned, "It makes me feel like I want to be near to you" and blamed it on his pheromones. Things were going fine between the two but cracks started appearing when he decided to do nothing about his housemate Hana's feelings towards her.
Things got really weird with both Vivi and Hana trying with all their might to get an answer out of Ryo and all of this leads to him finally announcing that he's quitting the show. In the wake of this announcement, Hana whisks him away for a private chat and comes clean about her feelings towards him but he maintains that he would just like to be friends. Back at the house, Vivi insists that he join her in the playroom and one thing leads to another and she initiates a kiss and an unsuspecting Ryo plays by ear. Vivi doesn't stop at a kiss, she also gets too handsy and climbs on his lap and they engage in a full-blown makeout session.
Fans who watched the scene were thrown off by this exchange between them and felt that the kiss was forced. On a Reddit thread, fans were complaining that it would be not okay if the roles were reversed.
"The thing that really is getting to me about the Vivi and Ryo kiss scene is that if the roles were reversed, people would be in an uproar. Vivi completely dismissed all of Ryo's verbal cues (saying it won't work multiple times, etc.) and body language cues and STILL pushed him into kissing her. Yeah, you might say he didn't pull away or stop her...but that does NOT mean he wanted it. That's the excuse of every rapist." wrote a fan.
Another comment read, "I strongly agree that Ryo was not into it. I have been in an almost identical situation as that before and I related to his reaction after the fact. His eye contact was minimal and he insisted she be true to her word and go to bed while she was still trying to cuddle with him and be affectionate towards him."
A comment read, "I think most people here on this sub know it’s not okay and have already expressed horror and disgust or at least agree it’s super cringeworthy."
Another comment read, "it’s unfortunate because 'surprise/forced kisses' are kind of romanticized in Japanese culture. I can’t tell you how many shoujo manga I’ve read with a scene like that."
'Terrace House: Tokyo 2019-2020' Part 3 is now streaming on Netflix.