Friday, November 19, 2021

A Hilarious Running Gag in "Konin Todoke"

In the first episode of Konin Todoke ni Han wo Oshita dake desu ga, Ahika Okada (Nana Seino) sees a hapless man named Shu Momose (Kentaro Sakaguchi) proposing a contract marriage to a woman in a restaurant to which he gets a glass of water in his face for his flippancy...
For various silly, silly reasons (including a loan of 5 million yen), Okada HERSELF ends up accepting the sham marriage union, where she does her best to perform as the dutiful wife.
One day, while working at Shu's Brother's Bento store, who should walk in but the aforementioned first marriage proposal recipient!  
Her name is Shoko Mamiya (a stunning Mai Fukagawa), and she instantly realizes all too well that Ahika ended up taking the marriage offer that she rejected, and after a brief chat where she lets Akiha know that SHE knows, she begins appearing in every episode out of nowhere to chide, tease and surprise Akiha!
Such a hilarious running gag- Akiha will be enjoying herself then a teasing voice will come out of left field and then, slowly turning her head, Akiha will see her adversary and exclaim, "Geh! Mamiya Shoko!!!" Always such a funny facial reaction from Akiha and  it's too funny how Akiha always has to say Shoko's full name, LOL!
 After I caught on to the gag, it became a ritual for me to wait and see when Shoko would make her surprise appearance in each episode
BOOO, episode 5 was a serious and sobre one with little jokes so Shoko's cameo was serious,too. Hope the FUN Shoko is back next time!
PS: I see they've got a spin-off mini series around Shoko called "Tonikaku Konin Todoke ni Han wo Oshita dake desu ga". Might be fun to watch, but for me, the BEST thing about Shoko is the way she bugs Akiha...will she still seem interesting in a show of her own? If someone picks it up, I'll watch.
You may be asking yourself, "I thought zdorama said he didn't like Konin Todoke"... Yes, as you may recall, I wasn't sure if I was going to continue this show due to its more aggravating plot points,  but I gotta say, once I embraced its sheer ludicrousness , I was able to enjoy the zaniness for what it was, and it's been very rewarding!