Motokare no Yuigonjou

 Reiko Kenmochi (Haruka Ayase) is a keen-eyed spitfire of a lawyer who lives by only one credo: “I’ll only do it for the money!”. It’s this brash single-focused drive that gets her through her cases but also ruffles more than a few feathers among her peers, and when we first meet up with her, she’s being reprimanded by her superior for her overbearing behavior and has decided to leave the firm.

So it is that she has time on her hands when a mysterious new case appears before her, starting with the news that an old boyfriend of hers from years ago named Eiji Morikawa (Ikuta Toma) has suddenly died. They had broken up years ago and she had not thought of him since then. But she will soon be learning more about him than she ever knew!

No sooner has she heard the news when she is contacted by a Keitaro Shinoda (Yo Oizumi) about the death of her ex-boyfriend. Reiko doesn’t remember Shinoda but he tells her he was part of the college mystery club that both she and Eiji were in. He informs her that he had been in Eiji’s service as a sort of cook and steward when he suddenly passed away from pneumonia.
The problem, he tells her, has to do with Eiji’s will.

The problem, he tells her, has to do with Eiji’s will. Seems he was heir to a VAST pharmaceutical business  involving millions, millions that everyone wants a part of.  Besides promising things to past schoolmates and teachers, he’s also willed small fortunes to all of his exes, a group Reiko is keenly aware she is part of! But the confounding part of Eiji’s will is the final part…which wills the rest of his inheritance to the person who MURDERED him!

As Eiji passed away due to a cold, calling someone his murderer doesn’t make sense. But Shinoda says that as it was he who took Eiji out fishing in the cold weather which resulted in him getting sick in the first place, perhaps it can be said that he was the one who killed him. Reiko agrees to help Shinoda out as his lawyer when she learns she can get a huge chunk of his windfall, since she will already be there for the ex-girlfriend will-reading.

Crushingly, Reiko will find that unlike some of the other recipients (who get exotic homes and real estate), the only thing she is set to inherit is a dingy lawyer firm run by Eiji’s own lawyer, the kindly Murayama (Takashi Sasano). 

But on the other end of the will, the part about there being a murderer, things are looking more and more diabolical and suspicious, and Reiko is finding reasons to suspect  everyone involved in the will.  First there are Eiji’s  Father (Kenta Satoi) and Aunt (Hisako Manda), who are the ones who will directly benefit the most from his passing.

There is Eiji’s cousin Takumi (Jun Kaname, in another one of his classic arrogant rich boy roles)

 childhood friend/ family pet veterinarian Dojo (Toru Nomaguchi)…

and then there are the ex-girlfriends, whom, beside Reiko, including Asahi Haraguchi (Kanna Moriya) and Yukino Morikawa (Yuko Fueki) and a handful of others….

also the brash and outspoken cousin Sae (Nagisa Sekimizu) whom has had a crush on her cousin Eiji herself and unabashedly loathes seeing ANY of his exes getting ANYTHING in the will!

And last but not least, Eiji’s older brother Tomiharu (also played by Ikuta Toma) who has a multitude of reasons and grudges against his brother.

Reiko and Shinoda are doing everything they can to understand everyone’s motives, when Eiji’s lawyer is poisoned right in front of them!

 It’s now clear to everyone that there is INDEED a killer among them…but who can it be? At the moment they don’t know, but Reiko sees the clues are all there for her to decipher, and if she does things right, there may be a big payday for her after all!

Ahhh, another FANTASTIC role for Ms. Haruka Ayase who can now add the role of Reiko Kenmochi to her collection of Badass Chicks!!! 

She’s so cool, snappily cutting off people, talking back to overbearing bosses, clients and EVEN the POLICE, and when she is in “Eagle-Eye” mode, you see her keen brain taking note of every thing that is being said and done, storing it for the ultimate analysis!!!!

Also a thrill to see uber-pretty Nagisa Sekimizu back! really loved her in the role of Sakiyoshi in “Anonymous” and she’s stealing the scenes here as the seemingly “unrequited love” cousin with a huge chip on her shoulder!

 Motokare no Yuigonjou promises to be a good one!!!

PS:Seeing this scene with Ayase Haruka smiling in an elevator reminded me so much of a similar scene in her early drama "Hotaru No Hikari", the J-drama which has a special place in my heart for not only introducing me to Haruka but for jump-starting my J-drama interest! 

Haruka Ayase now:

...and way back in 2007!

She's matured so much since then but still carries that twinkle in her eye and still remains one of my BIG favorite actresses EVER!