Just Reviews : Totsuzen Desu Ga Ashita Kekkon Shimasu

“Totsuzen desu ga ashita kekkon shimasu” is another drama this season tackling the issue of women in the marriage mart. I love Nishuichi Mariya so this review can be pretty biased so I’ll limit my review to plot and characters. However, since this is also flumpool vocalist’s Yamamura Ryuta first foray into the acting scene, I think it’s only given that I comment on his acting as well.

Anyway, here is a summary of Totsuzen desu ga ashita kekkon shimasu : Episode 1–2

Takanashi Asuka (Nishiuchi Mariya) is a successful banker who has an old fashion dream, she wants to be a housewife once she got married. However, her long-time boyfriend decided to break-up with her on her birthday. This leaves her in tears as she attends a friend’s wedding, and enter Nanami Ryu (Yamamura Ryuta) or Nanaryu for short, a TV announcer who have a sharp tongue and has no interest whatsoever in the marriage mart.

To add salt to Asuka’s wound, she has to fall in the pool when she tries to catch the bride’s bouquet during the ceremonial throwing of bouquet. Nanaryu, being the wedding’s host, tries to make a joke of Asuka’s “passion for marriage”, but it sounds sarcastic to Asuka’s ear and she made it known to him when they crossed path in the church.

Well, the two is set to cross path more often since one of Asuka’s colleague, Ono Hiroki (Morita Kanro), is hitting on her friend, Kiriyama Rio (Nakamura Anne), and he invites them to his posh pad. Little did Asuka know, Ono is old friends with Nanaryu and he happens to be staying at his place. When Asuka thought that she was trying to wake Ono, she gets a surprise when she was kissed on the lips by a half-awake Nanaryu whose bad habits includes kissing people when he is half awake. Let me line up on this one.

Not knowing that he kissed Asuka, Nanaryu makes her recall how she drunkedly made a fuss on wanting to get married and become a wife all night. Nanaryu deduce that her ex-boyfriend must have ran away because he felt trapped in their relationship. He also adds that Asuka must be not serious with her job so she should just attend goukons and get married.

After two unsavory encounters, Asuka tries to avoid Nanaryu as much as she can, but her friends have other plans. It’s the nightmare of belonging to the same circle of friends. The two find themselves crossing paths one way or another and Nanaryu later learned that Asuka isn’t someone who kills time at work until she get married. He learns that Asuka is very dedicated with her job so it’s a huge question why she wanted to be a housewife in the first place.

As it happens, Asuka wants to be a housewife because she admires her mother so much. Her fondest childhood memory is seeing her mother at the other end of the bridge waiting for her and her brother when they got so late from playing. She also shares that her mother might be an ordinary housewife but she gives 110% of her strength for her family. However, Nanaryu decides to be his jerk self and says that Asuka’s hosuewife dream is like a fantasy since reality is messier, and even gives her statistics of how many couples in Japan ends in divorce and that she shouldn’t depend her happiness on her husband since there are chances that he’ll betray her and so. In the end, Asuka gives Nanaryu a much needed slap.

Anyway, Nanaryu isn’t really that much of a jerk, he did feel sorry for what he said. One rainy night after Asuka had to get her things from her ex-boyfriend’s place, she finds Nanaryu at the other end of the bridge with an umbrella in hand. He says sorry and gave her a jar of candy that she has been eyeing when they went on a grocery trip together.

Asuka finds the thought sweet so she and her friends attend Nanaryu’s welcome back party where actress Sakuragi Yuko (Takaoka Saki) is also in attendance. One jealous colleague of Nanaryu decides to drop the bomb on Nanaryu by announcing to everyone that the reason Nanaryu left for New York was because he was involved in an affair, oooh! Before that colleague can drop a name, he finds himself drenched with ice-bucket water courtesy of Asuka.

Nanaryu went after Asuka to give her coat and the two got to talk. Nanaryu thanked her for what she did and Asuka says that everyone has something that they don’t want others to know. She thanked him for the candies he gave and later on, he asks if he can fall in love with her, woot! Just when you thought that Asuka would agree, she asks if he has any intention of marrying someday, he says it’s impossible and he gets pushed away.

That said, Asuka is now firm on her resolve that she will only date those that has intention of getting married and Nanaryu would be last on her list.

If Nanaryu has no intention of getting married, there is someone interested in it and has interests with Asuka as well. Enter Akihito Kamiya (Yamazaki Ikusaburo), Asuka’s senpai who is preparing for a financial show with TNN (the same network where Nanaryu works). Kamiya has the looks, the money, and most of all, he’s nice. Nanaryu catches a glimpse of him one time he’s on his way home from work, most of all, he sees him with Asuka and they look like they get along well.

Well, if Nanaryu saw Asuka with another man, Asuka also saw Nanaryu with another woman and it has to be Sakuragi Yuko of all people. Asuka has her suspicions that Yuko might be that woman Nanaryu rumored to have an affair with so she was almost teary-eyed when she saw them exiting a hotel and even sharing a taxi ride. Unknown to her, the two did meet in the hotel but they were with two of Nanaryu’s TV bosses and it was just a coincidence and being gentleman on his part so he walk her home.

Asuka was still feeling bad when she enters the same hotel to bring some documents for Kamiya when she sees him having a meeting with Mikami Hibiki (Sawamura Ikki), he’s friend of Onno’s and boss of Nanaryu’s. In the end, the party of three goes out drinking and Asuka must be feeling really bad with what she saw earlier that she drank all the cocktail that she could. Mikami even teased her that she looked with Kamiya and they should just become a couple.

Mikami shared that he drank with Asuka and Kamiya to Nanaryu, not knowing the real score between Asuka and Nanaryu. Nanaryu looks uneasy upon hearing that tidbit and he decided to ask Asuka for dinner. Asuka asks why and Nanaryu says that he wants to see her, but Asuka is still having ambivalent feelings for him so she didn’t reply.

Well, fate must be working for them because he ran to Asuka on his way to hotel since he can’t sleep at Ono’s place. Asuka tells him not to contact her again because she doesn’t want to deal with a womanizer like him, when asks to clarify, she tells him about what she saw and he tells her that he was just hitching for ride to the station and that there’s nothing between him and Yuko. Yet you call her by her first name, ha!

The drama moment between them was cut short when Asuka’s dad sees them by the sidewalk. He recognizes Nanaryu and immediately calls his wife and soon enough, Nanaryu is at Asuka’s place, having dinner, while her mom gushes on how she’s a big fan. The next thing we see, Nanaryu will also be sleeping at Asuka’s place and they had a moment when Nanaryu visited Asuka’s room and while they were talking, one thing lead to another, and Asuka found herself on top of Nanaryu, I love this kind of coincidences.

Instead of moving away, Nanaryu hugs her and asks if he can call her by her name, Asuka agrees. The two were getting cozy when when Asuka’s little brother, Kanade (Hayama Shono), goes to check on the noise they heard downstairs when the two fell earlier. When he opens the door, he sees Asuka reading a book on her bed while Nanaryu is sitting on the pillow, checking his phone. The two denies about whatever noise they heard downstairs and before Kanade closes the door, he tells Asuka the she’s reading the book upside-down, haha.

The next day, the evening talk show hosted by Nanaryu and Yuko have started and just when things seems to be getting good between Asuka and Nanaryu, Kamiya decides to get in between the would-be couple by asking Asuka something she’ll be very interested, Kamiya asks her to marry him.

Comments

Wait, what? How can you ask her for marriage when you weren’t even dating or something? That is so sudden but I guess that’s the very reason this drama is called “It’s sudden, but we’re getting married tomorrow”. However, I thought that the marriage proposal will come from Nanaryu first and not Kamiya, so what will happen now?!

Anyway, Totsuzen’s (title is too long ) first episode was a bit weak, in my opinion, it didn’t give you that feeling of wanting to check the next episode. However, episode 2 is where they revved it up! So if you feel that the 1st episode is so-so, you gotta see the 2nd episode quickly because that’s when things really becomes interesting. It’s when Nanaryu starts to show a bit of envy with Asuka’s coziness with Kamiya, Asuka getting hit with realization that she can work it out with Nanaryu (aka change his mind about marriage), and so.

Speaking of marriage, it’s still not clear why Nanaryu despises marriage that much. If his affair with Yuko is indeed true, which seems to be a common knowledge within the network’s bosses, then I assume that he despises marriage because he fell in love with a married woman who had the gall to have an affair even though she’s married. As for Yuko, she has this classic haughty bitch look that you just want to hate, haha. That scene where Nanaryu’s colleague almost blabber her name, she still looks so compose as if daring the guy to spill her name. I’m still iffy if she really has an affair with Nanaryu, adultery is a huge deal especially for public figures, so let’s wait and see what’s the real story between the two.

As for Asuka’s desperation for marriage, I think that it’s pretty common for those in long-term relationships for women (and some men) to assume that their relationship is headed for marriage. It’ll be such a waste to spend more than 5 years with that person and had it amount to nothing. It’s very cruel especially to women who has to worry over their biological clocks. However, just like Nanaryu, I don’t understand why Asuka is so dead-set to becoming a housewife just because she admired her mother so much. I guess the career-woman in me can’t accept that since it’s acceptable nowadays that both husband and wife are working.

Plot-wise, this drama is pretty solid since the last time I checked, the manga is going smoothly, which gives the writers vital material for the script. I haven’t read the manga, but based from comments, they change some of the events order but nothing major. Acting-wise, this is Yamamura’s first acting project so let’s give him a chance, haha. Seriously, he kinda nailed the tsundere attitude, but there’s something off-putting with the way he raise his eyebrow, maybe it’s just me? Nishiuchi and Yamamura do have the chemistry, especially in the 2nd episode, that I can’t wait for more. I don’t really see Kamiya as a threat but he has the upper hand and that’s being interested in marriage, but I do see Yuko being a threat, I mean, she should at least put those haughtiness in good use.

All in all,  Totsuzen desu ga ashita Kekkon Shimasu might be your typical josei drama,OL’s in complicated relationship, but Nishiuchi is always known for her fresh and sweet attitude and it radiates to this drama.I’ll definitely watch more this drama!