Mommy Dearest: Haru in “Fake Mommy”!

Haru gets motherly in Fake Mommy

 Kaoru Hanamura (Haru) is an intelligent and succesful businesswoman working for a prestigious company. But when she is skipped over for promotion by a subordinate for politically correct reasons, she takes it upon herself to quit the company and reinvest in her career. 

But she is soon to find that the business field isn’t as open as she’d like, and having mysteriously quit from a top company doesn’t make her seem a good candidate. When we meet her she is just on her latest rejection, from a food company called Rainbowlab.

Dejectedly leaving the employment office, Kaoru is suddenly called out to by  a woman pulling up in a sports car.  This is Mamie Hidaka (Rina Kawaei), the president of the Rainbowlab company, the one which had just rejected her for a job.

Yes, she admits, her company DID just reject Kaoru for the business position at Rainbowlab, but she has a DIFFERENT kind of job she’d like to hire her for- to TUTOR her daughter Iroha (Aoi Ikemura) who is trying to get into a prestigious academic school.

It’s true, Kaoru is smart and, as a graduate of Todai University, certainly has the brains and know-how to help a child get into school, however she had no experience at ALL as a teacher, and certainly has no desire to try! But this Miss Hidaka is adamant about having Kaoru as her daughter’s teacher and offers her more and more money to take the job. And with no other job options on the table, Kaoru reluctantly takes the job...for the time being!

Kaoru has heard that TWO tutors who had been hired had given up and quit, and after only one exasperating evening with Iroha, it’s easy to see why- Mamie’s daughter is apathetic and has no desire to sit down and study, rejecting the school study books and preferring to ignore her teachers and read her ipad.

It’s only when Iroha draws all over the apartment walls in an act of supposed defiance, Kaoru realizes she’s mathematically mapped out the entire solar system on her own that she sees this kid is actually really, really smart.

When Iroha sees that Kaoru “gets” her and the things she is interested in, she opens up to the stodgy woman and thus begins their new tutor/student relationship. Kaoru is amazing at Iroha’s intelligence and is proud to draw out her natural talents every night, and Iroha is delighted to have a teacher who understands her!

Seeing how well the two are getting along, Mamie then drops the ultimate bomb on Kaoru: once her daughter had learned all the necessary prep for the exam…she wants Kaoru to accompany Iroha during the school’s exam and screening interview…and pretend to be Iroha’s MOTHER! WHATT!

You see, though a successful businesswoman, Mamie is self acknowledgedly crass, garish and vulgar, traits that are always a no-no with school boards and SURE to get Iroha rejected. No, she need someone svelte, composed and capable to be stand as Iroha’s parent, and she’s gunning on Kaoru for the role!

As impersonating someone in an official capacity like school admissions is HIGHLY illegal, Kaoru naturally balks at this, and nervously waves it off. That is something she just CAN'T do!

Mamie laughs and lets it go for the time being. Is she even serious? Kaoru can't tell!

In the meantime, Mamie is having a hard time at her company, with various problems overtaking her at every turn. More and more often she must call on Kaoru to stay later and later to watch Iroha as she deals with problems, and though Kaoru always happily agrees,  an altercation on the road one day with another driver casts Mamie into a negative light not even Kaoru can help her out of:

While waiting for some children to cross a crosswalk one morning, a car behind Mamie rudely honks his horn and the outspoken woman rolls down her window and cusses him out. Unfortunately for her, her explosive actions are caught on camera and her moment has gone viral.

The company is doing their best doing damage control to the company brand, but the worn-down Mamie is soon to realize that this altercation will surely put a black mark on her and will NEVER pass the scrutiny of the prestigious School academy. In a rare moment of concession, Mamie tells both Kaoru and Iroha that she’s given up trying  to get her daughter into the school as she’s just ruined it all. 

But knowing of the huge potential  Iroha will be wasting if she doesn’t get into this school, Kaoru finally and, against her better judgement, agrees: She WILL INDEED play Iroha’s Mother  for the school exams and admissions interview and, if Iroha should happen to get IN, will CONTINUE to portray Iroha’s mother as such time need BE!!!

With new hope and the realization of what a wonderful thing Kaoru is doing for them, the three embrace as a would be family of daughter and two moms, ready to take on the school education system!

With Mamie’s partner at the company Kuroki (Koji Mukai) posing as father, counterfeit family portraits are made up, documents are forged, and the sham Mother/Daughter relationship is a go!

On the fateful day, Kaoru stoically walks with Iroha into the halls of education with Iroha and is ready to give the performance of her life, when who should be admitting them but Kaoru’s childhood FIRST LOVE, a Mr. Tomoya Sasaki (Aoi Nakamura)!!!

 Though he apparently doesn’t recognize her, this throws a SEVERE wrench in Kaoru’s confidence and she realizes this “Fake Mommy” business might be more that she can handle!!!

 Only time will tell if she and Iroha will succeed!!!

Aw man, ya gotta LOVE Haru- she’s back with yet another one of her trademark “Feel Good” family dramas, and at episode 1, it’s been So sweet and charming! This has possibilities to be SUCH a fun one, can’t WAIT to see what happens NEXT!!

Notes on "Toto Nee-Chan" at The Halfway Mark (Episodes #1-78)

Yes, these are musings about a 6 year old asadora, I'm late to the party! 

Feel free to skip.

 Just wrapped up week 13 of the Mitsuki Takahata led "Toto Neechan", (Episodes #1-78), and in anticipation of what's to come in the second half of this fine asadora, I decided to share some thoughts and notes I began jotting down during my viewing that interested me, starting from week 2!

WEEK 2:

The Kohashis Starting a New Life Without Father

The role of Tsuneko passes torches to Mitsuki Takahata and immediately the drama gets better! She really has charisma! All three daughters are now played by older actresses and at first I thought the actress playing Yoshiko was Suzu Hirose and thought, WOW, Suzu is SO YOUNG but I realized they got another actress to play the mid-age Yoshiko. Wonder how long this young actress will be playing her.

With Yoshiko depressed in school  because she has no Father and then the family contest with the three legged race, I was thinking OH NO THE FAMILY DRAMA CLICHES are HERE! At this point I thought, “I don’t know if I can watch an entire asadora of this.”

But THEN, I saw the PIGEON episode and EVERYTHING changed! In episode 12, the girls learn grilled pigeon meat is big business. 

Not realizing the grilled meat is a special kind of farmed pigeon, they go off and try to catch those dirty urban pigeons to MUCH comedic entertainment!

Seems this drama could be entertaining as heck when it tried!

WEEK  3

Kimiko moves her family to Tokyo to stay with her dominating Mother.

Tokyo! AHAHAHA, I can’t count how many times dramas have used this old town set piece with the L shaped river and that iconic wood bridge, but every time I see it, it’s like visiting an old friend!

AS I mentioned before, I thought the lady playing Kimiko’s Mom Takiko didn’t look old enough. She looks same age as Tae Kimura! But when I realized it was Mao Daichi, I thought there couldn’t be a better choice acting-wise. She has such presence.

I love the scenes with Tsuneko and the Grandma. It’s like Takiko has already figured out that Tsuneko is going to be great. I wish they showed more of this bonding.

I really loved the way this drama was shaping up!!

BTW, the Toto Neechan drama banner might be the most succinct summation of the character ever- Tsuneko’s running ALL THE TIME in this asadora!

WEEK 4

Moving In with the Moritas, Girls begin School

After fighting with her Mother again, Kimiko and the kids move in next door to the Moritas who run catering service, who lodge and employ them.

LOL Had no IDEA this was Rina Kawaei until I looked up the credits- that odd hair style makes her totally unrecognizable!

Introduction of Kentaro Sakaguchi’s "flower guy" Hoshino. Hope to see him as infrequently as possible, though his character seems affable enough.

When the Moritas marked the deliveries the girls needed to deliver and said "make SURE you don’t mix these up!” I KNEW it was gonna get mixed up and the girls were gonna get blamed. Fortunately the guy who messed up confessed right away because I don’t want to sit through a whole week of the girls being bullied.

Speaking of bullying, I couldn’t wait to get past the part with Tsuneko being picked on at school. Cliched and irritating to watch, but I guess they needed it so they could have her and Aya become friends?

Don't know the actress "Junko Abe" playing Aya. Super pretty!

WEEK  5

Missing School Uniform, New Flower discovery

Sakaguchi is back as the flower-obsessed guy. At least this character is pretty funny.

Mariko's school uniform is missing and Tomie's the one who took it. She tore the outfit and this leads to Tsuneko sneaking back to the Aoyagi home to use their sewing machine, resulting in her reconciliation with Granny. YAYYYYY!

PS: Gotta say, sometimes they shoot scenes that really capture the time period, like this one with Hoshino studying some fungus. Looks like a real 1930's picture!

WEEK  6

Kimiko VS Mother

A drunken Kumai blabs to Kimiko that Takiko is the one paying for the girls’ tuition, not him.

Kimiko angrily confronts Mom and asks her to leave them alone.

No one knows how Kimiko found out and that rascally Kumai never got busted for his slip!

 I felt so bad for Yoshiko when she gets turned away by Takiko, she loves her Grandma (and her snacks!) But now that Kimiko and Takiko are back on the outs, Kimiko doesn't want her Mom talking to her daughters.

Tsuneko finally finds out the reason for mom and grandma’s feud and a truce is made. 

Letters from Father get passed on to Kimiko and they joyfully read them. But all the time all I could think was, "What about Yoshiko? Isn't she still wandering out there lonely?" 

I felt like something bad was gonna happen and I wasn't wrong as the neglected child falls into the river. But luckily Big Sis arrives in time!

WEEK 7

Mother/Grandmother Reconciliation, New Teacher With Radical Lessons/Toothpaste

I thought it was a nice “period piece” touch showing Tsuneko brushing her teeth with tooth powder but it was to set up this arc’s story of Tsuneko trying to sell toothpaste.

Tsuneko and the gang making prototype Sensodyne.

Hairi Katagiri appears as a radical new teacher with female empowerment ideals that  really make an impression on the girls. A great character, one of the best roles I've seen Hairi in!

Speaking of selling toothpaste, when they first introduced Osamu Mukai’s character in week 1, why did I think he was going to be helpful to Tsuneko. Instead we get yet another “great business idea that gets ruined when collaborator swindles them” trope. The look on Yoshiko’s face says it all.

HAHAHA, I loved the joke set-up here- Tetsuro threatens to tell Sokichi’s wife about his flirting with some lady, which she overhears and looks angrily at them. Later we see Sokichi delivering bento with a hand marks scratched across his face, LOLOLLOL

BTW, I am more convinced than ever that they  are pushing for Kentaro Sakaguchi to eventually become Tsuneko’s husband. 

Lucky he’s a likeable character in this because the last thing I need is more mopey Sensei.

WEEK 8

Tsuneko Graduation/Start Trading Company

Tsuneko is set to graduate and it's time to say goodbye to old friends and start looking for a job!

Really interesting when Tsuneko begins learning about being a typist and learning about the Japanese type machine. This is the kind of enrichment I love from watching historical dramas.

Himena Negishi as Yoshiko: At this point (seven weeks), it occured to me that this might be the longest time we’ve spent with an actress playing a ‘younger” version of the adult role. 

She is really, really great (I particularly LOVE the bonding between her and Grandma) and I’m beginning to worry about how hard the transition is going to be when they (inevitably) switch to Hana Sugisaki.

BTW, whenever they had scenes with Tsuneko and Aya Nakada, it always reminded me of the 70’s anime “Candy Candy” for some reason. Maybe seeing Aya in her flowery "European style" blouses with white lace collars just screamed “Shoujo Manga”…

I just noticed they have a instrumental flute version of Hanataba wo kimi ni. Reminds me of the various BGM versions of Dreams Come True’s “Love Love Love” in Aishiteiru To ittekure”.

Tsuneko begins at Birds Nest Trading. 

Hey, there’s Erina Mano! Hey, she's bitchy!

This doesn't bode well for our heroine....

WEEK 9

Tsuneko learns the Ropes at Birds Nest Trading, gets Bullied

After a couple of really great arcs, we get this one which had me infuriated.

When Erina Mano’s character tells Tsuneko the reason she won’t give her work is because she’s slow has to be the dumbest thing ever. 

In the first place, how will she learn if they wont give her work??? 

And in the second place, how the hell would they even KNOW Tsuneko was slow, anyway? 

She never gave Tsuneko any work to do!!

It doesn't make sense, If they’re so busy, why malign Tsuneko learning? And then they harass her by knocking her paperwork on the ground. Like, WHAAA??? Aren't these adults? What would you gain by doing that? Just cliched bullying. 

Aiya, speed this along, please.

And after that bullying, I get to watch Hoshino falling in love with Tsuneko.

OK this arc ended with Hana Sugisaki taking over the role of Yoshiko and as expected, it’s a rough transition!

Even Tsuneko and Mariko look arunned to see this new actress playing their sister,LOL

Saburo regularly gripes about asadoras segueing into WWII, normally I don't mind it but I have to admit when they began hinting at it in this week’s arc, my first thought was “OH NOOO we’re going into the war storyline, hope it doesn’t take over the drama!!!".

War, here we come....

WEEK 10

Still trying to accept Hana Sugisaki as Yoshiko, especially since her character personality is so different as well (rebellious against Tsuneko, etc) but I’m glad to see she is still the one going over to Takiko’s all the time.

Hoshino’s proposal to Tsuneko. When he proposed marriage, my first thought was “WHAT! They're getting married? I’ve been shanghaied!”, LOL!  But it ended up being rather sombre affair…

PS: I see they have upgraded from tooth powder to toothpaste proper, LOL

WEEK 11

Tsuneko Fired, Tomie Marrying, Moritaya Closing

WOW, a LOT happened in this chapter.

Yeahhhh,  A wild Mirai Shida appearance! Had no idea! And as a very cool character who saves Tsuneko from being harassed at a bar.

LOL as soon as Tsuneko said Tada was her most reliable friend,I wondered how long it would be Tada backstabbed her, turns out it was the very next scene, AHAHA!!

The end of an arc. Somehow very sad to see the Moritaya Kitchen cleared out!

Yay, Tsuneko gets hired at Kodo Publishing company!

Got goosebumps when the narrator said “The Publishing business will be Tsuneko’s lifetime work”!

She's reached her destiny at last!

WEEK 12

Kodo Publishing, The closing of Aoyagi Timber and departure of Takiko and Co.

Tsuneko starting in earnest at Kodo Publishing. VERY interesting watching her learn about the editing, design and such about publishing a magazine.

HAHAHA, saw Karasawa Toshiaki in the preview last week, and when Tsuneko is warned about dealing with a certain person with difficult personality, I said, “AHA, that’s gonna be Karasawa Toshiaki!” And sure enough it was LOL!

Narrator said he was going to be important in Tsuneko’s life. Hmmm.

December 8th 1941, We have reached the point where they bombed Pearl Harbor.

The closing of Aoyagi Timber and departure of Granny. The end of another big arc and very sad as the narrator informs us that it's the last time they ever see her.

And in the previews for next week, looks like the war is here at last…

WEEK 13

It’s War!

In a fast forward move, we are three years in the war (Thank you NHK for sparing me the details of which I’ve already seen thrice over in dramas) and part of the girls' duties is to go in search of food. LOL, the farm they go to looks like the one where Agri and family stayed ..looks like the exact same place. LOL.

BTW, just like Agri, there’s an elderly person strictly berating everyone about not taking the war seriously and it is revealed that their child got killed in combat...Do they have this character trope in all their war-based asadoras?

Nice to see the return of Shida Mirai if only for a short time…

…and just like that, it is announced over radio that at last that War is OVER! 

Very thoughtful of NHK to encapsulate the war into one arc...Now we can get back to the story of Tsuneko again!

Get ready to dive into the second half of this intriguing drama!