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| Yusuke Iseya and Haru in Survival Wedding |
Just stared watching the absolutely sweet romance drama “Survival Wedding” starring the always engaging Haru as Sayaka Kuroki, an almost-thirty magazine writer who leaves her job to get married, only to find herself cheated on and dumped by her fiancé Kazuya (Shunsuke Kazama), and suddenly without a job and mounting bills to pay!
Sayaka tries to get her old job back, but of course the position has been filled. “I’ll do anything!” she pleads, and so it is that she is introduced to Hiroto Usami (Yusuke Isaya, last seen by me in the hilarious “Kangoku No Ohimesama”), the Chief editor of a high-class magazine RIZ who tells her he can hire her for his magazine…but it will be to write a column for 30-ish women seeking marriage…and if Sayaka HERSELF doesn’t get married in six months, she will be FIRED!
Sayaka at first refuses. she says she can’t possibly do such a job, and even if she could, she can’t get over Kazuya so soon. Usami suggests she try getting back with her fiancé and marrying him. But Sayaka doesn’t have the confidence to win him back, and it’s here that Usami takes the reins of the situation, and, using marketing brand techniques and schemes used in the high-fashion world, begins schooling Sayaka in ways she can “upgrade her value” and ultimately win back her man, get married, and keep her job!
Things start off uneasily as Sayaka’s first lesson is to ignore her fiance for a solid two weeks while she works for the magazine as a perennial “gofer”. She struggles with the new demands of magazine (buying bentos for photoshoots, delivering manuscripts, etc) while having to ignore the texts from Kazuya.
She thinks this is a scatterbrained idea- “Why should I listen to this 40 year old guy with such a weird haircut?!” she sputters over drinks to her co-workers (Risa Sudo and Maryjun Takahashi), but they tell her that while Usami uses unorthodox methods, his success in the magazine proves he knows what he’s talking about. And just as the two weeks are up, she gets a call from Kazuya, desperate to met up with her! Usami’s plan worked!
She agrees to meet up with Kazuya, but Usami has MORE restrictions she has to adhere to if she wants to truly win her fiancé back. Meet for only a half hour. Say you are meeting up with an acquaintance. And DO NOT look back when leaving. But poor Sayaka, still madly in love with Kazuya, struggles to follow the plans. This winning back her love thing will be harder than it seems!
Survival Wedding takes me back to the more innocent days of J-drama storylines circa 1993-1995 where they take a whimsical plot of romance, add in a few charismatic actors and actresses, and then set it off running. You can almost guess where the story is going most of the time, but you are always charmed and engaged!
Sayaka is a very lovable character, and even in her capacity as a gofer, her sweetness shines through, (especially in one scene where she is offering a bento to a guy in a Polar Bear costume, which will figure more in later episodes)...
...but it’s her interactions with her boss Usami that really steals the show- the two are such polar opposites and their banter is fun and interesting...Looking forward to seeing where this show takes them!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com
