Tsubame wa Modottekonai~ The Swallows Won't Return

 An extremely riveting human drama about a couple Yuko and Motoki Kusaoke (Yuki Uchida and Goro Inagaki) who, due to medical reasons, cannot successfully bring a child to term, and a healthy but down-on-her luck woman named Riki Oishi (Shizuka Ishibashi) with limited work prospects and a crippling debt. Between them is Plante, a Reproductive Medical Clinic dealing with infertility problems and act as go-between to match up those who can fulfill each other's wants.

Yuko and Motoki have been trying to have a child for some time now, but after a third tragic failure, feel things may be hopeless. With the pressure from Motoki's stern mother (Hitomi Kuroki) for Yuko to produce an heir to the affluent family's legacy, they are willing to try even an idea as outside surrogacy.

Meanwhile, Riki is eking out a struggling life through a series of short-term jobs. Through the advice of a co-worker Kawabe (Marika Ito) Riki applies to Plante (which she considers a dubious institution) solely for the money offered for donation of her eggs, though  the reason she puts on the application is "wants to help people". 

Upon arrival at the mysterious clinic, Riki is well to be cautious. But the woman who greets her, Aonuma ((Romi Park) seems considerate and friendly enough as she interviews her and explains what they might expect from her.

Giving up her eggs  is one thing but she is then told she is a prime candidate for child surrogacy. Riki is nervous  about the entire procedure, and only considers at the amount they will pay for her efforts. Part of her still doesn't want to do it. But little does she know she may be the PERFECT candidate to carry the child of a desperate couple, the one who can make their dreams come true...

Must say I was completely taken in by this show from the very  beginning... I know they've recently tackled a similar subject in the Haruka Fukuhara /Kyoko Fukada drama 18/40, but Tsubame wa Modottekonai seems like such a breath of fresh air, with all the predictable and cliched stories out nowadays, this is one where I'm not sure where it's going and am simply clamoring to learn more and more! So much so that I feel it may go on to become another BIG favorite!

PS: Oh My GOSH, Marika Ito is really KILLIN' IT with CUTENESS in this drama as the spunky Teruyo Kawabe!!!! As she's a co-worker of Riki's, I hope she won't be written out of the show and continues to appear, perhaps as Riki's confidante and friend?

In any case, I have HIGH HOPES for this drama!!!!

Keiko Kitagawa and Riho Yoshioka in "Rakujitsu~The Setting Sun"

As a huge fan of both Keiko Kitagawa and Riho Yoshioka, I've been quivering with anticipation ever since first hearing about their joint drama Rakujitsu waaaay back in June, and HALLELUJAH, it's finally begun airing and just this weekend I got to check out the FIRST episode!! Billed as a 'Psychological Murder Mystery", this first episode (of four parts) did not disappoint! 

The plot:

Keiko stars as Kaori Hasebe, an up and coming Director who has had a bit of beginner's success with her first film which was heralded and praised, winning her many awards. But in the back of her mind, there was always another story she wanted to tell if she had the chance.  Unlike her first venture, however, this movie's topic is dark and depressing, one that her backers aren't enthusiastic about producing and even warn her that her second film has to be a crowd pleaser or she may become a one hit wonder.

In the meantime, we have Riho Yoshioka as Mahiro Kai, a novice screenwriter working under a strict and demanding writer Rinko Ohata (Hitomi Kuroki). After years under her tutelage, Kai still hasn't quite gotten the hang of it, and has only written one drama chapter on her own.

With disappointment in her voice, Ohata tells Kai that if she doesn't improve, she may even have to be let go! 

With her job and future seemingly on the line, Mahiro gets a phone call from Hasebe about a potential project. She has to wonder why a popular director like Hasebe should be seeking out a third rate writer like her, but agrees to meet.

Through conversation, Mahiro learns that Hasebe chose her not because of her skills per se, but because she hails from the same hometown as her. And it is this town of Sasazuka that the dark story she wants to tell took place.

Hasebe asks Kai if she remembers a case some 15 years prior where a teenage girl named Sara Tateishi (Shiori Kubo) was murdered by her reclusive shut in older brother Rikito (Ryoma Takeuchi). After stabbing his sister with a knife multiple times, the brother then set the house on fire which killed his parents as well. 

Mahiro confesses not knowing about the murder and is taken aback when she learns that it is this crime that Hasebe wants to make a movie of, shining a light on the real people behind the story and the circumstances of what made the incident happen.

Hasebe then reveals her true motivation for getting the movie made- it seems when she was a very young child, Kaori was abused and frequently locked out of the house on the cold balcony of her family's apartment. Shivering and lonely, she found solace with the child living next door, who silently befriended her by touch under the balcony divider. She believed this child that saw her through her rough times was Sara Tateishi, the same girl who would later be murdered by her brother years later.

Who was this girl and what circumstances led to her death? These are questions Kaori wants to discover and document in film. Kaori asks Mahiro is she would write the screenplay for such a picture, one which would reveal the truth behind the murders and answer the questions always on her mind, but Mahiro declines, not wanting to chart such territory.

It's only some days later when Mahiro is at her mother's third year wake that she is convinced by a relative named Masataka (Mitsuomi Takahashi) to take the offer more seriously...and to start things off, he introduces her to a woman who says she knows the REAL Saya Tateishi.

Upon talking to this woman (Moe Tanaka) who was classmates with Saya, Mahiro learns that, far from being  a saintly and kind-hearted girl, the real Saya was a cruel and cunning manipulator who enjoyed seeing others suffer.

When this discovery is related to Kaori, the young director is flabbergasted. She is even MORE confused about what what really happened back then, and begins to wonder...could the child that befriended her under the divider be the family's OTHER child...the accused murderer Rikito?

She is even more determined to make her film, and this time, Mahiro is fully on board and accepts Hasebe's offer to write the screenplay chronicling the case. 

Together the two will traverse into the past, interviewing every possible person connected with the original case, and through it, new facts and secret cover-ups will all be revealed til the picture they get is one completely different from the one they thought they knew!

So far Rakujitsu (The Setting Sun) is an interesting drama with a solid cast which included not only Kitagawa and Yoshioka, but Ryoma Takeuchi, straight from "Roppongi Class" a suspense drama that was one of my big faves of the past season!

My only worry is that this drama will fall into the 'fetch quest" style of mystery, (with the characters just going from one informant who sends them to another, then they think they've found the bad guy, then it's a red herring, etc...) I'd rather have a show delving into the Kitagawa and Yoshioka characters, backstories of which they've hinted at and of which I'd love to hear more!

PS: As usual with these WOWOW dramas, the entire drama is soaked in this icky green/blue tint, but with how dour the whole story is, I guess it matches!