#7 無償の相槌

We Assumed Hairstylists and Makeup Artists Were Always "Nice People"

The episode opens with a confession: had they assumed that people in service jobs — hairstylists, nurses — are always brimming with hospitality and treat you kindly no matter what? When one host asked to have her hair cut dramatically shorter, she expected the stylist to lead with something encouraging, like "given the shape of your face, maybe leave the front a bit longer." Instead, the stylist opened with something closer to doubt — "are you sure about going shorter?" — which left her uneasy. Nothing the stylist did was clearly wrong, but it was so different from the hairstylist image she'd built up over the years that it caught her off guard.

Getting Pre-Emptively "Diagnosed" by a Hair and Makeup Artist

On a work job where hair and makeup were handled entirely by a professional, she said her greeting — "yoroshiku onegaishimasu" — and was immediately told, the moment she was touched, "you're a little dry, aren't you?" Where she'd hoped for reassurance, something like "everyone's like that this time of year," she instead got a comment that made her anxious from the start. Later, simple foundation creasing along her double-eyelid line was mistaken for something else, and she was asked, "are you wearing eyelid tape?" — which left her confused. While her hair was being touched, the artist spotted some waviness and remarked, almost with satisfaction, "you've got quite a bit of frizz, don't you," which didn't feel good either. As a point of comparison, she noted how cosmetics-counter staff tend to phrase things without directly rejecting a customer's choice — something like "would you like to try this shade too?"

You Know Your Own Face Better Than Anyone

On the men's side, one host described leaving everything to a professional, and even though something felt off when he checked the mirror afterward, he trusted that "the pro knows what they're doing" and went out as is — only to have his manager and stylist tell him back at the office, "that looks wrong," prompting him to fix it himself. A friend, Kei-chan, had a similar experience early in her TV career: she left her look entirely to a full-makeup professional with no input of her own, and afterward a friend who'd watched the broadcast messaged her, "they made you look ugly on purpose, huh?" Makeup artists have plenty of skill and knowledge, but they don't necessarily know a person's own features or what that person wants to highlight — especially on busy sets where an artist might handle around 100 people in a single day, leaving little room to tailor the look to each individual.

The Confession: "I Can't Do Unconditional Love"

The main segment opens with a confession: doing something for family or people close to you, and still finding yourself expecting gratitude or something in return, unable to simply act without wanting payback. One example: the bathroom lid at her parents' house had been broken for years, so during a visit home she measured it, went to a home center, and bought a replacement. She got a "thank you" on the spot — but six months later, on her next visit home, she found herself pointedly asking, "this bathroom lid, that's the one I bought six months ago, right?" — fishing for another round of thanks. In a related story between friends, Kim apologized excessively during a falling-out with Taku, then grew frustrated that the same amount of apology and gratitude wasn't coming back.

The "Payback" Baked Into Gifts and Birthday Presents

The same pattern shows up with edamame: she gives detailed instructions on exactly when the recipient should receive it, whether to boil it right away, and even how long to boil it. She also recalled buying suit deodorizers and similar items at Tokyu Hands for Tabata Yuichi's birthday. She had him open the gifts on the spot so she could see his reaction, explained how to use each item one by one, made him promise to always carry them, and later followed up to ask how he liked them — at which point Tabata told her, clearly exasperated, "please don't give me birthday presents anymore." She admitted she'd even checked in on how he was enjoying the items again a month later, making the episode a moment of recognizing her own habit of expecting something in return.