The latest drama penned from “Queen of Romance” Eriko Kitagawa, and as expected full of all the usual cliches and trappings of her most famous works.. Must say that after “Hanbun Aoi” I’m not super eager to dive into another romance drama from her so soon, but Suzu Hirose is SUCH a sweetie in the role of the addled Asagi that I just HAVE to keep watching and see what comes next!
Umino Oto (Ren Nagase) and Asagi Soramame (Hirose) are two individuals whose paths have crossed a number of fateful times, the first of which they had bumped into each other while listening to the same music on their airpods (a fact they get a kick out of when they accidentally switch pods and hear the same song!)
A few months later Umino (who is a singer-songwriter) is sitting at a park composing where a frazzled girl stops to refresh her face in the cool water of the fountain. He immediately recognizes her as the ipod girl from months back, but before he can say anything, his phone flies out of his hands and is about to go into the water!
Luckily the spry Soramame is able to intercept the phone and save it…but as she is handing it over to him…the fountain sprinklers go on, DOUSING her in cold water!!!!!!
A mortified Oto begs to pay for dry cleaning for her, but she waves it off, saying she’s much too busy and has places to be! Scurrying away, she steps out of his life once again…but not for long!
The reason for her rush is that Asagi is in town to meet up with her fiance, to go over details of their upcoming WEDDING! But, as these dramas usually go, he is only there to inform her that he’s fallen for someone else and that the wedding is OFF! She's been unceremoniously DUMPED!
A devastated Asagi tries to keep a positive outlook on things, but ends up going to a five-star hotel to blow the wedding money on deluxe lodgings…and ALL the fancy food and wine she can consume in order to drown out her problems!
At the same restaurant some tables over, Oto is with his savvy manager (Wakana Matsumoto), who , after hearing his latest offering, tells him that while his songs are catchy enough, they lack feeling, and says that it’s because he’s never really been in love. (MAN, this HAS to be the BIGGEST cliche whenever there’s a struggling songwriter in a drama, huh?)
When Oto goes to freshen up, he comes across Asagi once more, who is now a drunken mess. He reminds her of who she is and once again offers to pay for the clothes cleaning, but she cleanly says that she never cleaned the clothes so there ain’t no bill. Through her slurring, he learns that she’s been dumped by her fiance, and though he’s concerned about her state, she waves him off.
After saying goodbye to his Manager, Oto is alarmed to see the still inebriated Soramame teetering on the edge of a bridge railing. She’s taken off her engagement ring, and is pondering her future. When the ring slips away from her, she leans over try and catch it, sending her dangerously over the railing- where Oto luckily leaps in to grab her!
He tells her suicide isn’t the answer, to which she adamantly tells him she had no intention of killing herself! She seems OK, but he is on alert to what she may do. As one of her shoes fell over the bridge when she was pulled back, Oto takes it upon himself to piggyback her back the the hotel.
It’s while on his back that the tears of all the frustrations of the tumultuous day that Asagi has been holding in come out, and Oto stoically carries her home without a word as she silently weeps behind him.
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com
