The Story
Tsuyoshi Shikkari Shinasai (translated roughly as "Tsuyoshi, Hold Tight" ) is a story about a guy named Tsuyoshi. The story is somewhat like Cinderella with a few notable exceptions. There is no prince (or princess in this case) to save the poor schumck, Tsuyoshi, from getting slapped silly by his mother and sisters. The holy instrument of communicating displeasure is the "SLAP" which is used at every availible opportunity on Tsuyoshi by his sisters and mother. One of the more common slapping techniques involves a slap by one of the females immediately followed by slaps from the other two.
The Characters
Igawa Tsuyoshi (Ah Qiang)
The youngest of three children (two daughters, one son). Still in high school. Considering the abuse he absorbs from his family, he turned out amazingly "well adjusted". Generally, when anything goes wrong, even if it isn't his fault, he's the person that gets the blame (and consequently the slap). His mother and sisters are domineering people and have forced him to take on all the chores traditionally considered woman's work such as cooking, washing clothes, etc. (in other words, he's a slave) He has very bad luck and to make things worse, his birthday is on Christmas! Although his subservient role to his sisters and mother could considered embarassing, the associated skills that he has aquired have proved useful more than once. He is a sincere, resourceful person and dreams of meeting the perfect girl, but until then, dirty magazines will suffice...
Mai (Xiao Wu)
The perfect girl might have just shown up in episode 13 and her name is Mai... she works at her parent's little mom n'pop bento shop. She is quite a contrast to the other females in Tsuyoshi life, she's kind and gentle (but she also knows Akido..). Tsuyoshi first met Mai while fetching some cigarettes for Keiko. Because of a series of misunderstandings, Tsuyoshi almost gives up Mai and what seems to be his one true chance at happiness without even trying to grab it.
Keiko onesan (Hui Zi)
Tsuyoshi's older sister. A chain smoking OL (Office Lady) who works at Ikebukuro Department Store. She makes a habit of getting totally smashed after work and dragging various objects/landmarks home in her drunken haze. The objects include bus stop signs, noren from restaraunts... She's the more vicious of the two sisters and has developed slapping into an artform. She is supposed to be quite attractive (at least the cops in the local police box think so..) but the fact that she hasn't married yet worries her mother. Considering her short temper, it isn't very surprising. Also, it doesn't help that, like all of the Igawa girls, she can't cook. She's generally the first to initiate any Tsuyoshi bashing fest that the other two will join in on. She's also not very good at karaoke..
Noriko (Dian Zi)
The younger of the two sister. Works part-time at a fast food restaurant while attending college. Not as good at slapping Tsuyoshi and almost appears to be "soft" compared to her older sister Keiko. She also has a "weird thing" for gaijin. (gaijin is term normally reserved for blond-haired, blue-eyed type, but would also be applicible to any foreigner in Japan)
Okasan (mother)
The frightening thing about her is the fact that at one time, she was actually a nice and shy girl. However after she "trapped" herself an unsuspecting man to become her husband, she slowly de-evolved into what she is today... an unrefined (couldn't think of a better word) obasan. What she lacks in style is made up for in the power of her slaps. She's also a pachinko addict. She has occasionally shown hesitation in slapping Tsuyoshi, but she can usually overcome it. Still, deep down somewhere (really deep, really far down), she has a soft spot for Tsuyoshi. The same could be said for the sisters.
Watanabe-kun (Du Bian)
Tsuyoshi closest friend. This is by default since no other friends have shown up yet. Watanabe is constantly trying to get to Tsuyoshi's sister, Keiko. (can you say "drooling, animal lust"? I knew you could..) Keiko on the other hand thinks Watanabe is a geek and a pervert. A favorite nickname used by the Igawa girls is "aho-nabe". (aho = idiot, moron, etc) He also supplies Tsuyoshi with dirty magazines for the occasional favor.
Yumi-chan (You Mei)
Watanabe's kid sister. She has a crush on Tsuyoshi and is very nice to him but she is "just a little too young" Actually, "crush" might be too light a word since she plans to get married to him when she grows up. Of course, Tsuyoshi didn't have much say in this matter. Yumi is nice to Tsuyoshi, but that is not to say that she is incapable of performing "the slap". She has demonstrated her ability (but not on Tsuyoshi). With the introduction of Mai, she has found a rival in her affection for Tsuyoshi which has brought out her more sinister persona..
Keiko the dog (Huizi)
A mutt that Tsuyoshi found Yumi-chan "torturing". Tsuyoshi mistook him for a "her" and gave him a female's name, Keiko. Actually quite intelligent and provides some comic relief once in a while. Not to mention that he is actually my favourite character in the show. Have a look at him, he's Soooo CUTE.
Otosan (father)
The absent figure who Tsuyoshi looks to for guidence in the lower of his low points. Tsuyoshi's father was re-assigned by his company to another city. Rather than uproot his family, he moved to his new assignment alone (not particularly uncommon in Japanese society), leaving Tsuyoshi at the mercy of his mother and sisters. We latter find out that he once occupied the position of household slave that Tsuyoshi now holds. Unfortunately, Tsuyoshi wasn't bright enough to realize this at the time. In the first episode when Tsuyoshi's father is boarding the train to move to his new assignment, he gives Tsuyoshi a good luck charm. On the charm, the inscription very roughly translates to, "I leave all of my burdens behind.." This and his departing father's enormous grin has Tsuyoshi a little baffled.. Of
course, it slowly starts to sink in with every slap he receives from the Igawa girls that maybe his father had a very good reason to be happy that he was moving away.
Sagino-san
Just like her mother before her, Keiko managed to trick some poor slob into marrying her.. this
schmuck being Sagino. This match made in hell began under rather dubious circumstances... Keiko, who was without a date for the night, went trolling for men at the train station. Unfortunately for her, all of the men that she worked with had other plans. After getting a bit frustrated with the number of rejections, she ended up with a man who she had just bumped into, Sagino. They ended up going to the horse races where Keiko lost her money. Although they had fun, Keiko went home drunk thinking that she would never have to meet this man again. The very next day, Keiko had an omiai (an prearranged matchmaking session). She didn't want to go through with because she had a hangover but guess who showed up...
Keiko was generally unimpressed with Sagino. Sagino, although having a pure and noble heart, physical resembled the Pilsbury Doughboy and was.. well.. a rather average Japanese businessman. Keiko had an ideal image of her future husband; successful, handsome, and above all.. RICH! To say that Keiko was disappointed with Sagino as a potential mate would be an understatement to say the least. The fact that Sagino's parents were the Japanese equivalent of the Beverly Hillbillies didn't exactly appeal to Keiko either.
One the other hand, it was love at first sight for Sagino. Although Keiko rejected him over and over again, Sagino's persistence in the matter paid off and... well, they're not quite married yet..
When is The Show On?
Okay okay, for those who want to watch the show (Anime), it is on TCS8 every Monday and Tuesday Night at around 1 am (Singapore time). Too late??? Have a look at it and I can be sure that you will get hooked on the show. Yeah, and remember to look out for the dog Huizi okay.
NOTE: The series has ended its run in Singapore during the early months of February 1999.
