She has come to Kyoto at the advice of her mother- Naho and her husband Kazuki (Shunsuke Kazama) are expecting their first child and they want to make sure she takes it easy in the months until she gives birth.
While there she visits a few galleries and museums, and it’s there she first comes across the mysterious artist Tatsuru Shirane (Sumire), both by her painting (which mesmerizes Naho from the moment she lays eyes on it) and in the flesh.
Naho is captivated by Shirane’s painting and also by the woman herself- silent and mute since a devastating incident when she was younger- and wants to know more about her and her works.
Shirane is a protege of another artist whom Takamura has patronized in the past, the stern Shozan Shimura (Yutaka Matsushige), and it is immediately apparent that there is something mysterious about their connection.
Indeed, she is cautioned by a fellow art enthusiast who advises she stay away from Shimura lest she get entangled in something she can't get out of. But she is too obsessed with the paintings.
In the meantime, Maho’s husband has been struggling with a failed transaction at the Museum and he is being pressured into asking Maho to release a cherished family heirloom, a Monet Waterlilies piece to a seller.
Knowing full well Maho will never agree to selling the painting that has served as the centerpiece for their museum for years, Maxuki intends to go around Naho through her mother, Katsuko (Yoko Moriguchi), and we can see that even here, things are not quite as they seem…
This drama has all the makings of a riveting movie, and seeing that Iribito is only 5 episodes long, perhaps they always intended it to be more like a long theatrical film. (They even have scenes where it is shot in letterbox)... In any case, this is a dense and intriguing drama, one that I WISH was already done so I could watch it in one sitting!!!
Another fine performance by the versatile Mitsuki Takahata who is becoming one of the most engaging and reliable of the young actresses coming up today!
