Cute mini-drama I somehow completely missed from last year starring Haruma Miura (in his final role) and Mayu Matsuoka as two people from opposite sides of the spectrum who are thrown together and how they affect each other.Reiko Kuki (Mayu Matsuoka) is a reserved and frugal girl who saves every penny and only treats herself to the bare minimum when it comes to comfort. Thus she has grown to appreciate every little nuance in things, the delightful taste of an affordable snack and hidden values tucked away.
If she has one thing she wants to splurge on, it’s a little ceramic dish with a monkey eating a dango which she has been saving up for. She's been staring at it through the shop window for MONTHS and is here to finally get it!
But just as she’s about to walk in and purchase it, a loud, affluent looking guy scoops up a bunch of dishes INCLUDING her Monkey dish, and whisks them away!PS: Mayu looks so doggone adorable in this scene, LOL
Reiko is devastated and tries to lose herself in her job. She is an accountant for a toy manufacturer, and an efficient one, at that! In fact, she is considered cold and unfriendly among her peers for her all-too businesslike attitude.
But all that is set to change when the president’s son gets demoted to the accounting office for overspending, and Reiko recognizes him as the guy who bought her monkey dish right out from under her!
His name is Keita Saruwatari (Miura) and he’s been sent to accounting to learn a thing or two about managing his money. And as the department’s ace, it falls to Reiko to be the one to school him!
She already has a dislike for him because of the dish, but she will soon learn that a guy who’d been affluent his whole life can’t easily change and begin saving money! Expensive Lunch Sets VS Homemade bento? Vintage Aloha shirts and Starbucks drinks? Looks like it will take ALL her effort to bring him around!!
And yet, while Reiko is teaching him about saving and responsibility, Saruwatari teaches her a thing or two about learning to open up to people and enjoy others company! In the end, it may be that the two are equally beneficial to each other!
Also starring Shohei Miura as a Money Managing lecturer (with secretary/coordinator Karen Otomo) whom Reiko has had a crush on for years…
Jun Itagaki (Takumi Kitamura) as a fellow worker who is the first to find the attractiveness of Reiko’s frugality...
...Stunning Hitomi Seira as Saruwatari’s one-time fiancée...
....and Yuko Yagi as his little sister (who gets on fabulously with Reiko!)
Also First Summer Uika and Riho Nakamura as Reiko’s co-workers…(PS: Been seeing LOT of First Summer recently- this is the THIRD drama in a row I've seen her in!)
Breezed through this in one sitting and though I wish the ending was a bit more solid, at four episodes, you can’t go wrong- Mayu Matsuoka was a sheer delight to watch and it was nice seeing Haruma Miura again, an actor I’ve always liked and was counting on seeing more of in the years to come. A nice send-off for him.
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com
EDIT:
I mentioned above how I wish the ending was more "solid". After posting the entry, I went to dinner. Then I thought about why I felt the last episode seemed a bit unfinished: because Miura's character wasn't even in it! And THEN, it occured to me- Did Miura pass away during the shooting of this drama?
Going online I read up on it and YES, it seems that Okane no Kireme ga Koi no Hajimari was meant to be 8 episodes long, but Miura passed away after episode 3. So using what they had, they put together a sort of conclusion for the show's 4th and final episode. Knowing THAT, when I went back and re-watched the ending, I take back calling it a weak episode- I realize they gave us a touching and poignant end with what they had. In fact it chokes me up the more I think about it.
PS: And I didn't realize it til I re-watched it again, but they even had a sweet tribute at the end of the show, saying "Haruma-kun we'll always love you" from the cast and crew. And now I'm getting teary eyed again....
Really hoping they can complete it someday as the four episodes I've seen have been amazing, ALL 10/10 winners, so fun and heartfelt, and I'm dying to see how it all turns out... I really feel like this could turn out to be one of the best dramas I’ve ever seen!
