I’m a woman in my 20s. When I go on a first date, the man often tells me about women he’s met in the past, and almost every time, I hear about someone he didn’t pursue a relationship with because she seemed to have developed serious romantic feelings for him (so it ended after the first date).

I’m Paper Airplane, a male member who asked my wife and daughter, glued to *Koi Tsuzuku yo Doko Made mo* and all its heart-fluttering moments, “Am I more handsome than Takeru Satoh?” They ganged up on me, shouting, “Move! You’re in the way!” I look in the mirror, convince myself I’m probably more popular than Takeru Satoh, and go on dates. My idiot brain is buzzing with delusions that have absolutely no chance of coming true… Oh, and by the way, the only people who’ve ever called me handsome are women from the club and older ladies…

I’m Date◎Yume, a male member. > For those who fell in love at first sight—or had someone fall for them—could you share your experiences? That’s never happened to me at all. There are quite a lot of male members, so I imagine there may be at least one like that among them. Still, I think it’s safe to say the chances of meeting one are extremely low. > “Fell seriously in love from the very first meeting!” When someone says, “I fell seriously in love from the very first meeting,” I think they mean they’re not just in it for the money—they also want to enjoy the dates themselves and have a real relationship. For that man, I think it probably means, “I’m fine with just going to a hotel.”

Maezawa from the CEO’s office will answer as well. > Love at first sight from the very first meeting!? I’m surprised—does that happen often? I’ve never heard of it. If anything, I suspect the men may simply be assuming that on their own. Apparently, there are men who take a woman out for a meal on the first date, move on to an adult relationship afterward, and then give her only ¥10,000 when it’s over. The ¥5,000–¥10,000 described as transportation expenses is set by the club’s rules, so that ¥10,000 is only the thank-you payment for the meal. The man’s excuse is usually: “She agreed, so I thought the transportation fee set by the club would be enough. It was a misunderstanding.” Of course, if the woman had agreed to that, the club wouldn’t hear about it. These men are taking advantage of the fact that women often feel uncomfortable bringing up the allowance themselves, trying to get intimate relations for free. So I’ll say this as strongly as I can: at the very least, once you enter the room, confirm how much allowance you’ll receive. If they won’t pay the amount you want, leave immediately. Also, if a man says the allowance for an adult relationship is ¥20,000, then after subtracting the club’s transportation fee, it’s effectively only ¥10,000. So if he offers ¥20,000, I think you should at least ask, “Does that mean ¥10,000 after excluding the club’s transportation fee?” If a man says, “The club transportation fee can be just ¥5,000, so it’s ¥15,000, right?” it would probably be wiser to turn him down. Anyway, I got off track. If all he means is that he fell seriously in love, then I suppose the above explanation might apply. But if he says, “There was someone who seemed seriously in love, so I didn’t continue the arrangement with her—we ended it after the first date,” then perhaps he simply doesn’t want to admit that the woman rejected him and is pretending he was the one who turned her down. Or maybe he wants a relationship limited to intimacy—meeting at a hotel, doing only that, and avoiding everything else because it’s too much trouble—which makes you wonder if that’s basically an escort service. Perhaps he talks that way strategically. But to say there are many men like that… I feel it’s more likely they’re just showing off. After reading Roma’s answer, I found myself strangely convinced that men like that really do exist. Even if they don’t actually like the other person at all, they can say: “I’ve fallen for you. You don’t need to give me any allowance.” Then, if they date without receiving an allowance, they could end up getting millions of yen worth of money or gifts every month. And then the man gets to say things like: “Why am I so popular?” “I don’t want to deal with that kind of thing, so I turn down women who seriously fall for me.” That’s how the story goes, apparently. It’s true that some wealthy people may think they’re acting like ordinary people, but they won’t take someone to a family restaurant or a chain izakaya, and they may wear a watch worth tens of millions of yen as casually as someone else wears a watch worth a few tens of thousands. Even the way they talk reveals that their sense of scale is completely different from that of ordinary people. So perhaps perceptive women end up deciding that going along with the serious-love strategy will ultimately get them more money.

I’m Tetsu, a male member. He may just be trying to look cool. One person’s side of the story isn’t necessarily the truth. For all you know, the woman may have thought, “Love at first sight from the very first meeting!?” just as you did, and be telling people behind your back that she was the one who cut things off with him. But if that’s the kind of thing he says, wouldn’t that actually work in your favor? You could say, “I’m not looking for a serious romantic relationship either, so it sounds like we could have a good arrangement.” Why not turn his own words to your advantage? Go ahead and have your fun with people like that（笑） There are plenty of questionable stories going around. Take them with a grain of salt.

Seattle. “Kanegon,” lol. Saving money is a good thing, so keep earning as much as you can. That guy was probably just lying because he wanted to brag.

I’m Kazu, a male member who doesn’t believe that even a man who looks like Yutaka Takenouchi could make a woman he’s just met fall genuinely in love with him. I’ve basically said everything I wanted to say just by introducing myself. From a man’s perspective, I’m only interested enough on a first meeting to think, “I’d sleep with her if it wasn’t going to be a hassle.” So from the woman’s perspective, she’s probably only interested enough to think, “I’d sleep with him if he gives me at least 80% of the allowance and the sex is better than merely passable.” But maybe that older guy really does make women fall genuinely in love through money pheromones. Didn’t you happen to see a bundle of Fukuzawa’s portraits peeking out of his pocket? Apparently, once you gather about a hundred people’s worth of Fukuzawa pheromones, they can make someone fall genuinely in love.

I’m Flag Maker, a column writer. It’s either a fantasy or a lie meant to make him look like a popular ladies’ man. Either way, it’s a sad story… Just reply, “You really are popular, aren’t you, [Name]? I thought so too!” He’ll probably be pleased. Then, in your head, you can quip, “You said you didn’t want anyone to seriously fall for you. So you are happy about it after all, huh? LOL”