A Little Romance in “Kotatsu ga Nai Ie”

 There are about six or seven different storylines going on at any given time in each episode of the wonderful Eiko Koike-led drama “Kotatsu ga Nai Ie”, including Marie and her work, her husband lazy ways, her father’s housing problems and her co-workers romance troubles, but the one which I find I enjoy the most is also the one that’s probably the most insignificant to the overall story, and that’s whenever they cut to Marie’s son Junki (Ryuto Sakuma) and his interaction with his cute and bubbly classmate Reira (Kokoro Hirasawa) in school!

These scenes are always so sweet and charming. They remind me of the cutaways in OTOMEN whenever they'd cut to the school dorks (Emi Takei and Kazuma Sano) watching and commenting off to the sidelines about the school's goings on. In the same way, these scenes in Kotatsu lets you stop and take a breath!

Reira is naturally quirky and playful, a nice tonic to Junki's stand-offish and brusque personality. Although initially seeming like she's really bugging him, you can see him slowly soften up around her...and who wouldn't with such a dose of sunshine each day?

Their scenes are mostly buffers between other more important arcs, though there is a ongoing story of both of them having unrequited love for each other- both think the other hasn’t any interest in them and merely continue the relationship as friends, even while their attraction is deepening underneath!

Reira is an aspiring manga creator, and there’s a brief arc where she uses this excuse to visit Junki at home to meet his father Yusaku, a famous mangaka. She hopes to get his appraisal of her work and perhaps a recommendation, though these points go nowhere. 

But it does make her closer to Junki and it’s sweet to see how she unfailingly sticks up for him at school as a soundboard for him whenever he’s working out a problem at school, life or family.

And though you only get a snippet at a time each episode, it's nice to see the two develop a real bond with each other over time!

Just another great reason this drama is so satisfying!

Speaking of cute, there is this actress playing a character named Rinna who works at Marie’s office, Her name is Moka Ishikawa, and whenever they'd show the gang at work, I’d always think, WOW, that girl there reminds me of a young Majyu Ozawa, and if you know me, that is HIGH praise indeed! 

Generally a secondary character, she was mostly just there as filler while the main conversation revolved around Marie and Shiori (Chiaki Horan)...

But as time went on, she featured more prominently in the scenes, and I really loved the pretty outfits they'd have her in- very frilly and girly!

Got to the point where I was waiting to see more of her, and the show did not disappoint!

Going online, I didn’t have to search far to find out that she was among the mighty Bikini brigade and found cheese-cakey goodness aplenty! WELL WELL, looks like ANOTHER girl I’ll have to look out for!

Yep, there's LOTS to love here, and it that weren’t all, Kotatsu ga nai Ie features one of, if not my FAVE theme song of the season, the sassy  “Dame Otoko Kazoe Uta” by legendary Sayuri Ishikawa!

Was really hoping that the Red & White veteran would be singing this song at the Kohaku Uta Gassen this year, but looking over the published set-list,  it looks like it's gonna be "Tsugaru Kaikyo Fuyugeshiki" as usual….I'm sure it will be as majestic as ever, but wouldn't she want a change from those same two songs she always does? LOL!

All The Single Mothers~ Eiko Koike, Ryo and Rei Okamoto in "Watashi Danna o Share Shiteta”

 Harumi Morishita (Eiko Koike) is a single mother with a young daughter Saki (Kokoro Hirasawa) who seems to have found the perfect partner in Kyohei Amaya (Hiroyuki Hirayama) - a succesful businessman who supports all her needs as well as a home!

His parents, unfortunately, won’t acknowledge a marriage since Harumi’s been divorced, so the  two live a common-law marriage. Not big on ceremony, this arrangement is fine for Harumi, but she will soon learn that there is a darker reason for his reluctance to marry legally.

One evening she gets a call from the hospital that Kyohei has been in a terrible mugging and is near death. She and her daughter rush to the emergency room and break down at the horrible sight of the dying Kyohei on the operating table.

The catastrophe is interrupted, however, when a woman named Kanako Ogura (Ryo) enters into the room- and they announce that SHE is Kyohei’s Wife!

Wife? WHo IS this woman? Harumi is SPEECHLESS when ANOTHER woman shows up to the emergency room, a woman named Akane Fujimiya (Rei Okamoto)  and declares SHE is Kyohei’s Wife!!

WHAT IS GOING ON???

Despite the doctors best, Kyohei sadly doesn’t make it, and the three families are sent outside to grieve. They are approached by a female detective named Tsukamoto (Makiko Watanabe) who is investigating Kyohei’s murder.

She then drops a bomb on them: In Kyohei’s contact book, he lists the three women as “Wife #1”, “Wife #2”, and “Wife #3”! Not only do these ladies find that they are ALL being juggled by Kyohei, they are all now suspects in his murder!

Tsukamoto suspects that if any of these ladies knew there were two other wives out there, the knowledge could trigger murderous intent in them! But being a murder suspect doesn;t faze them, as they have a BIGGER question in mind:

“Am I Wife Number 1???” demands Harumi, only to learn that Kanako is Wife #1 and that SHE is Wife #2! Akane learns that she is wife #3, but she consoles herself, saying it's obviously ranked by age and as the youngest, naturally comes in third! These ladies care more about where they place in the book than the problem at hand, LOLOL

Sensing the interview getting out of hand, Detective Tsukamoto says, “The number doesn’t matter…” to which she is cut off when all three ladies yell “IT MATTERS!” LOL!

Seeing that she isn't getting anywhere with these ladies, Tsukamoto lets them off for now...

The next day, Harumi is to find that the death of her so-called “husband” is only the beginning of troubles for her- all Kyohei’s properties are about to be seized by his relatives, and Harumi is to be kicked out.

He HAD made preparations in the event of his death, however, a residency at a Share house for single mothers where she can live with her daughter, and, without a place to go, the Mother and Daughter end up packing and going over.

Harumi doesn’t know how she feels about this, but she is STUNNED when she discovers that not only is SHE meant to live here…but the OTHER TWO MOTHERS are here as well!

She and her daughter make plans to leave, and that’s when Fumie Someya (A wonderfully dramatic Mari Natsuki) steps in. She’s the executor of Kyohei’s will, and makes it clear that she knows everything about all of them. She further reveals that in FACT, Kyohei has left a huge inheritance to ONE of the ladies…but which one IS it? Someya says it’s for the one who proves to be his one TRUE choice!

Thus the three ladies agree to live together and knuckle down til they can deduce who the chosen one is and at the same time prove to this lady of their worth and nab the big jackpot!

And in the meantime, Tsukamoto works towards finding the murderer....

Everything will be coming to a head soon enough!!!
Posted by Zdorama