I had already fallen in love with actress Mugi Kadowaki in the role of Saiko Sato in the spritely drama “Todome No Kiss” back in 2018 and she has officially entered Crush Status with “Ukiwa: Tomodachi Ijo, Furin Miman”as the entirely sweet Maiko Nakayama!Ukiwa tells the story of a young couple Maiko and her husband Takuya (Shunsuke Daito), who has just transferred to a new job and have just moved into an apartment complex next door to Takuya’s supervisor Ichi Futaba (Naotaro Moriyama) and his wife Sei (Naomi Nishida).Seeing Hubby off
Introduction to the team
At his workplace, Takuya is reconnected with his college friend Ayumi Fukuda (Misako Renbutsu) and he finds himself spending more and more time with her after work than coming home to his wife, and when he is at home, he is distant, leaving Maiko feeling lonely for most of her day.
With both Takuya and Sei always at work or business and never at home, Maiko and Ichi are the ones left to care for the home, and after crossing paths over and over, they become friends of sorts. In fact, Takuya's wife Sei leaves so early for work that it is Maiko who inadvertently sees him off each morning!Doing the grocery shopping
Putting out the garbage in the early morning hours
Meanwhile both Takuya and Sei seem to be gravitating towards illicit romances and further alienating their spouses. Alone in their respective cold apartments Maiko and Ichi lean on each other for support.
Aw man, as the naive and innocent housewife, Mugi was simply KILLING me here! Every action she does makes me want to give her a big hug! There was this adorable scene where they showed her outside sweeping the front of the apartment and she was chasing a tuft of rubbish that the wind was blowing around, trying to sweep it up with her broom, I DIED~!But it isn't just that, it’s the small quirks that really make her- the shy looks, the loopy way of moving around that she does, and especially that disarming smile of hers~! Maiko is such a sweet and loveable character, I can scarcely believe this is the same actress who played that dour ghost girl in “Omukae Death” or even that extremely racy movie "Ai No Uzu" such dark roles- she’s come a long way! Omukae Death
Ai No Uzu
PS: By the way, special note MUST be made of Sakurako Konishi whom, as the naughty office gossip Risa Atago, stole EVERY scene she was in with her manic pixie meddling! Apparently there is a spin off mini-drama of Ukiwa featuring Sakurako’s character, would be great if someone picked that one up, too! *crosses fingers*
