The Enduring Friendship of Kyoko Koizumi and Satomi Kobayashi

Satomi Kobayashi and Kyoko Koizumi in 1997's Renai Kekkon no Rule 

...and Satomi and Kyoko reunited in 2024's Danchi no Futari!

As some of you well know, one of my favorite J-dramas of ALL TIME is the 1997 romcom "Renai Kekkon No Rule", the story of a thirty-something woman named Asako Nakajima looking for love while dealing with a demanding job, a nagging sister-in-law, and TWO suitors who may or may not be the right one for her!

While the headlining stars of the show were Kyoko Koizumi and Toshiro Yanagiba as the bickering would-be couple, it was the moments with Kyoko Koizumi and Satomi Kobayashi (as the aforementioned nagging sister-in-law Chiaki) that STOLE every SCENE and made this one of the most FUN and ENJOYABLE shows ever!

The set-up is that Asako's no good brother has left his wife Chiaki and child to go off gallivanting somewhere, and without a clue where he went,  Chiaki has arrived with daughter in tow and has decided to stay with Asako til he returns!

At first I remember thinking, "Why is it Asako's responsibility to take care of what her brother does!" but the fast paced banter between the two became so entertaining to sit through that I didn't care, and I soon realized that despite the reasons, this zany pairing was the best part of the show!!

with Hikaru Nishida

I had mentioned before in my post about Kyoko Koizumi and her song "For My Life" (which was the theme song for the drama) about the undeniable chemistry between the two, Koizumi and Kobayashi were like a manzai duo in this drama, playing off each other in madcap style, and there was no better proof of their real friendship than in the NG blooper clips, which clearly showed how much FUN they were having shooting the show:

Watch as Kobayashi Satomi bangs into tables, forgets her lines and Kyonkyon and Toshiro crack up, Nishida Hikaru forget her lines when she is distracted by crispy nori being eaten, and the hilarity the ensues when the guy who plays Toshiro's Pop keeps forgetting it's his turn to talk! TOO FUNNY!!!!

Though the drama was mostly about Koizumi's character being wooed by Yanagiba's character, I always felt like the show could have been just as good watching Koizumi and Kobayashi going about their everyday lives!!!

While a Renai Kekkon no Rule Spin-off drama with the two actresses never materialized, I was STOKED to read about the 2024 drama "Danchi no Futari" starring BOTH Kyoko Koizumi and Satomi Kobayashi in the lead roles!  WELL, it seems like after all these years, we've finally got our wish to see them reunited!

Danchi no Futari tells the tale of two old childhood friends who grew up in a shabby apartment complex as kids, grew up, moved out and married, got divorced..and then, as older women, moved right back to those humble apartments where they hangout, eat food, talk story, and do all the "regular" things friends do day by day!

Whether it be helping older neighbors change their sliding door screens…

...or helping a young neighbor exterminate a trespassing cockroach…

It’s all in a day’s work for these two and the only reward they need is a hot meal and cool drink at dinnertime! 

For those of you who have kept up with Satomi, you know that these slow-paced slice of life shows are her real forte, with dramas like "Pan to Soup to Neko" and "Pension Metsa" all following this same formula where nothing much is going on and we’re just watching them live life, cooking, baking and eating!

Though the show doesn't have any real connection with Renai Kekkon No Rule, it nonetheless feels to me like a "sequel" to the show, and I can easily convince myself that Koizumi and Kobayashi are playing the SAME characters they did on that show, and know that this is exactly what they would be doing today!

Awwww, there are just some actors who give off a real vibe of friendship, and Kyoko and Satomi have it for sure!

SO GLAD to see both of them again! Going to enjoy this drama!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Favorite J-Pop Singles: Koizumi Kyoko / For My Life

One thing you can say about Kyoko “Kyon Kyon” Koizumi is that her shows always seem to feature some pretty terrific theme songs. This is, of course, no small part due to the fact that she inevitably sings the theme songs for the dramas she appears in herself! HAHAHA, that’s not always true, but with shows like Mada Koi wa Hajimaranai (featuring Beautiful Girls) and Boku ga Kanojo ni, Shakkin Oshita Riyuu (featuring Tsuki Hitozuku), it just SEEMS that way! But out of all of them, the one nearest and dearest to my heart is the song FOR MY LIFE from Kyokochan’s drama RENAI KEKKON NO RULE!

Kokiku 8/1999 announcement!

For My Life is SUCH a great little song, and I’d even wager that if push came to shove, I’d even say that it was my very favorite song from Kyoko, ever! Being the theme song from one of my very favorite TOP TEN dramas of all time doesn’t hurt, either! ‘Cause as much as I loved the song, the drama was JUST as GOOD!!!

“Renai Kekkon No Rule is the story of an average but goodhearted man named Koichi who’s just looking for someone who he can spend time with, a “nice girl”, if you will. He goes on a dating-service meeting, and meets the girl of his dreams in Asako (Koizumi). They seemingly hit it off, much to Toshiro’s delight, but it all comes crashing down when he realizes SHE has no interest in seeing HIM!

Fate seems to have other plans, however, and time after time the two cross paths and before you know it, they are thoroughly intertwined in each other’s lives and affairs, both literally AND figuratively! Along with Toshiro’s overbearing relations and Kyoko’s meddling co-workers and friends, it’s a crazy mish-mash of plotting, deception and…falling in love!!!

  

The actors in this show are all top notch, with a cast that includes Koizumi Kyoko and Yanagiba Toshiro as the leads, with an incredible supporting cast filled out with Kashiwabara Takashi, Koyuki (in her first ever drama!) and even Hikaru Nishida as the young love of Toshiro’s FATHER! 
But the one that really takes the CAKE in every scene she’s in just HAS to be Kobayashi Satomi, whose sarcastic and dramatically helpless attitudes both overpower AND assist Kyoko in her situations, at times being a dominating force in Kyoko's life, then becoming needy and pathetic at the drop of a pin!

The formula of the show would usually go like this: There would be a 5-8 minute opening scene or recapping scene and then it would have a computer print out a statistic based around the situation of the current scene. Like the one I have uploaded here, In this opening sequence, Kyoko’s lamenting that she didn’t have the guts to tell her father she isn’t getting married because he’s so happy about it. Then the computer beeps on and types up: 50% of parents want to see their children get married…then the hands of a clock would turn and it would go right into the theme song!

Folks, I just gotta say, this opening is a MASTERPIECE!!! Featuring the characters playing out a happily married life, the sped-up antics of Kyokyon and Yanagiba layered over crayon cartoon backdrops PERFECTLY captures the fun and zaniness of the show, and I love how even in the beginning credits Satomi Kobayashi’s stealing the scenes, first as a cat stowaway, and then cheering as the sun is ALSO emblazoned with her features, much to the chagrin of Kyonkyon and Toshiro!

Each time I watched that fun beginning, I noticed more and more “fun” things that you just couldn’t catch all at once- like when they’re packing the suitcase (to go to the moon!), you see things like a toy mallet which Toshiro bonks on Kyonchan’s head, then he picks up a bikini top which she promptly snatches away, then she puts on a boxing glove and punches a catcher’s mask off Yanagiba’s head, AHAHAHA, so much funny stuff crammed into this opening!!!

The song is an apt choice for the drama, as Kyoko sings about taking a chance “for her life” to go out and begin living as a professional single on her own, and the music just captures the happiness and spontaneity of the show, bouncy and sassy! But the song with the images of the credits, and you had SUCH A WINNING COMBINATION!!!

One thing that always seemed clear to me is that the actors and actresses involved in Renai Kekkon No Rule were having FUN shooting this drama, and there's no better evidence of this than this HILARIOUS NG montage clip I got off one of those NG shows. 


Watch as Kobayashi Satomi bangs into tables, forgets her lines and Kyonkyon and Toshiro crack up, Nishida Hikaru forget her lines when she is distracted by crispy nori being eaten, and the hilarity the ensues when the guy who plays Toshiro's Pop keeps forgetting it's his turn to talk! TOO FUNNY!!!!

Even after all these years, Renai Kekkon No Rule remains  one of my Top Ten Japanese Dramas of all time, and as the years go by, it becomes even more and more precious to me!