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| Haru and Mahiro Takasugi in "Mr. Bride" |
AS some of you know all too well, the slew of new dramas this season have been disappointing me left and right, with a whole bunch of once-anticipated shows going immediately into the “pass” or “watch only if I have time” folders.
I had remarked last time that I was holding my hopes out for the upcoming HARU drama, and PRAISES to HEAVEN, after quickly BREEZING through the first episode, it looks like “Watashi o Oyome-kun” is EXACTLY what I’ve been waiting for!
Watashi no Oyome Kun ~ “Mr. Bride” tells the story of a highly efficient, svelte and professional saleswoman named Honoka Hayami (Haru) working for RACCOON Electronics, a manufacturer of household appliances like vacuum cleaners and such. Composed and highly observant, there is nothing that her eye misses, and her near superhuman ability to close sales has earned her the nickname of “ACE”!Her kouhai is an earnest and hard-working young man named Chihiro Yamamoto (Mahiro Takasugi) who looks up to her completely, lingering on her every word and frantically taking notes upon her instructions as she schools him in the ways to become the best salesperson he can be!
“Work with a sense of cleanliness” is her motto, and, as she straightens his necktie for him, it’s easy to see why he's simply smitten with her and sees her as PERFECT wife material- she seemingly has it ALL!
Even in the workplace and, indeed, even among some of their clients, Honoka is seen as this unattainable perfect partner, one they can only dream of having....
"She's perfect!" they gush.
But what her co-workers don’t know is that outside of her fastidious work life, lies the REAL Honoka no one sees, and once she is behind closed doors of her own apartment, she sheds her professional composure......and reveals that she is in fact, an untogether MESS, sloppy in both her living habits and attire, a house FULL of garbage and spoiled food, hallways crammed with litter, and barely a place to stand!! WHAAA!!!
Yep, THIS is the real Honoka!!! What would her coworkers say if they could see her now! But this identity of hers must be kept locked away so her work life can thrive…
Back at work, Yamamoto adores Hayami and would like nothing better than to get closer to her, but he has quite a few obstacles in the way, including a hotshot newbie in the department named Ren Hanazuma (Kentaro Maeda) who immediately tries to ingratiate himself into Honoka’s circle...
...as well as a SEXY yet overly aggressive colleague named Reina Akamine (Sawa Niimura) who has her eyes set on bagging Yamamoto all for herself (and does not care for Honoka Hayami in the slightest!) ! In an attempt to win him over, Reina has Chihiro downing down wine at a company party, where he has to practically fight her off!
Honoka excuses herself early as she can’t wait to get home and unwind, and it's only when she's on the the couch in her pajamas watching TV and knocking back beers that she can truly relax! But her lazy evening is interrupted by a knock on the door. Who could it be??? Checking the peephole, she is surprised to see a VERY drunk Yamamoto there, claiming he has come to return a handkerchief she left at the picnic. Surely this could have waited til the next day, but in his drunken state, he just HAD to see the woman he’s infatuated with, and insists on coming in and washing her handkerchief for her!
Honoka is of course adamant to keep him OUT, but once he gets his head in her door, he at ONCE realizes her terrible secret- his wonderful, composed and efficient senior…is a FRAUD! Yamamoto cannot believe what he is seeing- the trash, the spoiled food, the dirtiness...everything he's thought about his beloved senpai has gone up in smoke!
In his drunken haze, Yamamoto has no filter and has no problem voicing his incredulousness to the place, much to the chagrin of a wincing Honoka as he begins cleaning things up in a panic!
She takes his criticism gamely, but soon realizes that all of these expectations of her being a perfect bride have been unfairly placed upon her simply because she is a woman. Getting her gumption up, she exclaimed, why is it a woman HAS to be this perfect WIFE for ANYONE anyway??? And with that she soundly kicks him out of the apartment! 
The next day a hung-over Yamamoto is beyond embarrassed at his behavior the night before and bows for forgiveness over and over and over again! Pulling him to a conference room, the two talk things over until she has accepted his apology and further, has promised to keep what he saw a secret!
WELL, Honoka has no desire to do THAT and would love the simply sweep things under the rug (no pun intended)…but that evening she gets a call from her parents (Takashi Ukaji and Yasuko Tomita) who, after hearing of a friend’s daughter having a child, is calling to ask about HER state of relationship affairs!
Honoka fights them off, saying she is just FINE, but they’re worried. They KNOW what a slob she is and Dad even moans, “I just have worries about you dying in a room full of garbage!” (LOLOLOL) When Honoka insists that she is swell and the apartment is perfectly clean, they suddenly announce they're intention of DROPPING by that weekend to SEE for THEMSELVES!!!
! ! !
There's nothing she can say to dissuade them and afterwards, looking forlornly at her disaster area of a home, knows she cannot do it alone! Seems like Honoka will be needing Yamamoto’s help sooner than she thought!!!
When Yamamoto arrives on her doorstep, Honoka is taken aback by the sight of him done up in complete hazmat style cleanup gear! He's come to SERIOUSLY take the place "to the cleaners!"
It's a seemingly insurmountable task, but Yamamoto gently breaks it down for her, teaching Honoka how to sort out things, how to choose what to discard, what to keep, and above all, making PLACE for each thing to be stored!
It's certainly hard work getting the place in tip top shape but with Yamamoto's guidance, it finally gets done. And when she sees what her place REALLY looks like, she can hardly believe it! Yamamoto is a miracle worker!
She cannot believe this guy would come over and do this for her, cleaning and even COOKING for her. Even odder is the fact that the only payment Chihiro wants is the opportunity to come by and clean her place AGAIN! Seems her apartment has all the newfangled gadgets (though she's never used them of course) and he's just dying to try them out! Whether this is true on not, Honoka can only gratefully accept his proposal!
It is through this interaction of Yamamoto, the only one who knows her secret, coming over each day to come and help clean and organize Honoka’s place, that a strange and wonderful relationship begins to grow…
YEAH YEAH I KNOW, this drama is just FULL of cliches and is probably one of the most PREDICTABLE shows on the air, but guess what? I DON’T CARE. All I want out of my j-drama watching is a show that can entertain me, make me smile and make me cry, and ya know what, this first episode did it ALL!
Thank HEAVENS for the power of Haru, who besides looking even MORE beautiful since the last time I saw her, has become one of the more RELIABLE acts out there- one that I can COMPLETELY count on!
PS: Quite a twist seeing Mahiro Takasugi playing the kind-hearted and thoughtful Yamamoto, since I know him best as Rena Takeda’s selfish and manipulative fiance Manabu in “Oi Handsome”! What an insensitive creep he was- truly a JOLT to realize this is the same guy!Here's hoping to seeing him in a decidedly better light, LOL!
With a show like this that is part Hotaru No Hikari and part Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu, it just HAD to be a hit with me, and I'm already dying to see what happens next!!!!
