Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi

 Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi~ The King and the Wicked Woman: A wildly uneven and tonally inconsistent story of a so-called wicked woman from a poor family who suddenly becomes involved in a sham marriage with an arrogant wealthy heir to a vast family fortune.

Kanna Hashimoto stars as Ayaka Haneda and Ryosuke Yamada stars as Togo Nitta, an Employee and Boss of a Wedding Planner service, both of whom seems mostly unlikeable to everyone save those closest to them!

 Out of the blue they suddenly announce their MARRIAGE PLANS, to the shock of everyone, but we will soon find that both Bride and Groom have their own secret agendas for the union to take place….

On the surface, it’s your standard ‘fake marriage” romcom set-up, but the writers can’t seem to make up their mind if the characters are supposed to be loud and outspoken or kindhearted and sympathetic and what is presented varies wildly throughout the show, as if no one could figure out what the true characters motivations and purpose is!

I’ll say ONE thing for this drama: it’s FULL of stars, most notably in the actors playing the Parents, with actress Ryo and Muga Tsukaji as Ayaka’s humble Mom and Dad...

...and regal looking Nanako Matsushima and Go Riju as Togo Nitta’s refined and affluent Parents

Also a handful other others like  Ryoko Kobayashi as Saya Okada and Ryota Bando as Kento Kamiyama. These are the people that the Wedded Couple ACTUALLY care for, guess we'll see how they play into this set up....

Kento Nagao as Ayaka’s caring brother (who also serves as narrator)…

And as the couple's respective assistants/juniors we have Yuki Morinaga as Akita Koji, Nitta's secretary...

...and Ryota Miura as Haneda's wide eyed and gushing kohai Koki Takemoto!

Despite its’ scattershot and willy-nilly approach to the story, I’m guess I'm interested enough to see where this whole thing goes...and besides all that, MY OH MY, Kanna Hashimoto looks simply dazzling in this one!! If not for ANY other reason, I’ll watch it simply as a showcase for how PRETTY Kanna can get!

PS: There was this great gag where they're showing how Kanna's character Ayaka has been popular her whole life, and show a flashback where an online news crawl had dubbed her the "Once in a 100 Years Beauty", obviously making fun of the similar dubious title bestowed upon the REAL Kanna not so long ago, AHAHAHA!!

This isn't the first time a drama has taken a dig at that lofty nickname given her, looks like it will be awhile til Kanna can ever live up to it...or live it down!

The Meddling Mr. Matsujun: Tonari No Chikara

 Matsumoto Jun plays Chikara Nakagoshi, a kindhearted but entirely too meddlesome for his own good novelist! Nagakoshi has just moved in to a new apartment complex with his wife Akari (Aya Ueto) and two children, and he can’t wait to get to know his neighbors!

In this day and age, they say everyone knows everything about anything …except for their own neighbors. Chikara is  the exact opposite, an outgoing and super-friendly chatty man who loves talking and listening to people, which will become a problem when dealing with his new neighbors who would wish to be left alone.
On his first venture out, Chikara meets a lonely schoolgirl on the swings and immediately sees a problem-she has a loose thread on her sleeve and he wants to get it without scaring her.
Fortunately, he is saved by the resident “kook”, the self professed psychic medium Yoriko Michio (Nanako Matsushima in a hilarious support role) who removes the offensive thread from the girl’s shirt and introduces herself as the girl flees.

Chikara soon finds out how reclusive his neighbors are as all are stand-offish and very secretive. There is a student  (Kento Nagao) taking care of an elderly grandmother (Fubuki Jun) , a morose teen who some whisper is a killer (Hiroya Shimizu), and even a suspicious group of foreign girls who seem to be running some questionable service, ALL of whom look upon Chikara with mild curiosity and reject his greetings.

That evening as Chikara is beginning to make dinner for the kids (as Mom is held up at work), he hears the next door neighbors screaming for help. The diligent Chikara runs over to help, and finds a young mother (Emi Kurara) and the little girl (Erena Kamata) he met earlier that day.

The reason for all the screaming? Seems a big spider is in the bathtub and they need to get it out, a task of which Chikara gladly offers to assist!

He manages to catch and release the spider off the balcony, and as is happy…til the Husband manabu Kitsugi (Yukiyoshi Ozawa) comes home in which the mother and daughter immediately become quiet and nervous. Chikara senses something is wrong, but cannot place it and is asked to leave….

Upon returning home, he is read the RIOT ACT by his angry wife who came home late and STILL had to make dinner because he was off gallivanting to the neighbor’s!

She tells him she understands his empathy for others (it’s his best trait) but should consider his family first! Chikara agrees to try.

The next day he happens to meet the sad little girl on the swings again and reaches out to her, telling her is she has any worries, she can confide in him. She is about to say something when the apartment caretaker interrupts and takes him aside. Seems he’s been getting complaints about Chikara making a pest of himself, snooping on the neighbors at all hours. This really hits CHikara hard, and he realizes he has to rope it in.

That night, as the family is about to eat a karaage dinner, they hear a clatter next door and angry yelling. Chikara’s first instinct is to rush over, but knows he must refrain. But his kind wife relents, telling him to use bringing chicken over as an excuse to see what’s going on.

Chikara rushes over where Kitsugi tells him not to worry, that they were just playing. But when he sees Kitsugi’s sleeves dripping with water, he fears something it up and hastily invites himself in, much to Kitsugi’s irritation.

Bursting into the bathroom, he sees their daughter being made to sit in the bathtub drenched in cold water. Chikara immediately grabs the girl and pulls her out, but the Father coolly says that the girl LIKES to sit in the cold water. Chikara knows they are lying but when even the mother backs her husband up, he knows he’s beat.

Going back home, Chikara is devastated about the situation, wondering what he can do about it without resorting to the police, which may make things even worse.

But talking to the girl the next day, Chikara is determined to find a way to solve the problem and make the girl know that there is someone who cares about her well being and that she can talk to him whenever she is in trouble. He even helps come up with a way she can get in contact with him, and, for the time being, it helps alleviate the situation. But there will be more troubles with more neighbors to come!

The next morning the family is having breakfast when they are suddenly interrupted by a cry for help upstairs. Chikara once again wants to go out but knows he shouldn’t. 

Looking over at Chikara, Akari says “Why pause…you know you’re going to go help them no matter what we say!” And with that, the haplessly helpful hubby is off again!

This drama is a lot more lighthearted and wacky than I’m making it seem, however, wherever they’re dealing with the abuse and things. it does get  rather sombre. But for the most part, Chikara is a very goofy character, one that Matsujun simply disappears into!
By the way, WHY is Aya Ueto only playing these secondary Wife roles nowadays. I already said so in Hanzawa Naoki, but though I of course love seeing her, the roles she’s playing are totally for more up-and-coming actresses, NOT for someone as seasoned as her! Then again, you got Nanako Matsushima playing the town eccentric, so maybe they’re all just in it for the fun…