As a drama structured primarily for main character Tsuyu (Riho Sayashi) to give tips on making cheap and easy-to-fix meals, “Mentsuyu Hitori Meshi” doesn’t have much on the actual story content side, but I must say I’ve been developing a mild crush on actress Mayu Yamaguchi as Riho’s co-worker Iriko Togoshi who is Tsuyu's main adversary in more ways than one!
For one, she is the complete opposite of Tsuyu. While Tsuyu wears cheap and comfortable clothing, Iriko is always dressed professionally to the T. Where Iriko is calm, collected and immaculate in all her jobs, Tsuyu is a sloppy mess!
Their main point of contention , however, comes in making meals. Tsuyu is a carefree and lazy girl who uses the cheapest ingredients and the least amount of work in making her food- a far cry from Iriko, whose virtual Martha-Stewart levels of perfection in the kitchen is a source of both inspiration and aggravation to Tsuyu as she tries to keep up with her!
It creates some fun scenes with the demure Iriko politely listening to Tsuyu's crude cooking tips every day, knowing how slapdash the methods are...but secretly curious just how Tsuyu's meals must taste!
Nonetheless, whenever Tsuyu happens to feel she is getting a leg up on Iriko, it only takes a quick comparison between their cutlet sandwiches to see which one is clearly the "winner" here! Even Tsuyu has to demur this time...but she's not giving up!
Their relationship is best summed up in this clip where Tsuyu has just been praised by the boss for her meal (who rewards workers she likes with seat pillows) and is trying to playfully rub it into Iriko’s face. But once Iriko tells her ways she could have IMPROVED the meal, Tsuyu is instantly back to being dejected, AHAHAHA! I love the calm and collected demeanor Togoshi has to Iriko’s antics, patiently keeping her composure as Iriko has her fun, before dropping the bomb on her LOLOL.
It’s Iriko's refined aura that makes her so attractive to me!
You know, going over these screencaps I made of Mayu, it occurs to me how much she reminds me of early Haru Kuroki, and we all know what a FAN of HERS I became! Got a feeling Mayu's going to be growing her resume in big ways!
She has certainly come a long ways since her early days when she was playing the little sisters kind of roles in dramas like REVERSE and the daughter of Kimura Takuya in "I'm Home"...
... will be interesting to see her make the transition from high school girl to more grown up roles like these!
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PS: Also great to see Natsumi Okamoto again (here as one of Tsuyu’s odder co-workers), really loved her in “Pâtissier-san to Ojousan”! Very funny how she always needs to be "keeping an eye" on Tsuyu!
Just a bit of the "spice" that keeps this mostly routine foodie show entertaining for me!
