恋愛ニート～忘れた恋のはじめ方 Episode 1
From Tokyograph:
Rin works in the sales promotion department at a publisher, though she is treated as unreliable by both her superiors and her subordinates. One day, she and her friend Nanako go their friend Miho’s “divorce ceremony,” where they meet three men: a dentist named Naoya, a flavorist at a major food company named Kota, and a handsome young man named Shunpei. The story focuses on the relationships between these 6 characters.
I got around to watching this. I didn't think too much of the synopsis, but I like NEET stories, plus the goddess herself, Nakama Yukie is in it so of course I had to attempt the first episode. I'm also a fan of Ryo who I saw on Code Blue.
By just watching the first episode, I get the feeling this story is about these 6 people who try to open themselves to love. Rin is the typical no nonsense, semi-bitch career woman who has to take care of her 2 younger siblings and get them through school. Her two best friends are in kind of opposite sides of the love spectrum: one is kind of living the Sex-in-the-City-bachelorette and the other is just getting out of a divorce. In fact, the 3 meet the 3 soon-to-be-suitors(?) in said friend's divorce ceremony. Okay, seriously, is this real? A divorce ceremony? Think of a typical wedding ceremony, but instead of saying vows, you get to break your ring and celebrate being free again. What the hell Japan?!
Anyway...the 3 dudes: one's a famous dentist, one is a flavor chemist (invents artificial flavors for gum and such), and the last's a freeter. The light side of the show is how for some reason or another (it's explained in the episode) all 3 males try to woo the 'bitch, please' Rin who has no interest in love whatsoever: she has siblings to take care of, a job she loves and her girlfriends, what more could she want? Drama ensues, Rin pretty much gets told by her job to get the stick out of her ass, and she decides that hey, maybe being a bit nicer would be kinda-sorta-good and that maybe, it's okay to do the things *you* want to do and be happy for *you*. Life isn't just about the work.
What really got me interested is how the show is going to delve into (I think anyway) views on relationships in our time. People are marrying much later, if at all, birthrate in Japan is pretty much nil, etc. The show focuses on why both sexes are averse to the M word. For example, here are the guy's "excuses":
"I'm enjoying my life right now. My work is going well and I have fun friends. But that won't be the case of marriage. Living with someone means I have to change this lifestyle. I don't want to take on such a high risk." -The dentist
"Women say that "someone kind is nice", but they actually look at appearance don't they? On paper, personality is useless...I don't know how to approach them (women)" - Flavor chemist dude
"You meet, kiss, make love, is there anything more than that?" -Freeter
For the ladies, the reasons are between responsibility/no time for love (Rin) and enjoying independence and doing what you want (Ryo's character).
The dentist's friend (who is also Rin's boss I think) replies that hey in the end, no man is an island and we inevitably just want someone to love (thank you Beatles)."We can't be afraid to shoulder through, we can't be afraid to get hurt, we can't be afraid to go too deep." At the end of the episode the boys realize that they do want to have that connection, so of course, they all end up calling Rin!
This is as general as it gets, but I think the dialogue between the 3 men, and even the 3 girls in the episode. sum up what today's society is thinking. With all the twitters, facebooks, jobs, friends, etc. Love and marriage is just another burden. In the end I guess we're afraid of opening ourselves like that. There is no username to hide behind in a divorce, no troll face icon when you want to be an ass but don't want people to know it's you. God forbid you actually have to tell someone you like something they said or did to their face instead of a +1 or pushing a like button. It does seem like it's getting more difficult to do these face-to-face relationships, but it's nice to know that this drama is acknowledging it and saying, hey, loving isn't really a bad thing thing."As long as you can't love, you can't *be* loved.
I was really surprised by this episode. Or maybe my expectations for jdramas are so low now that this one really threw me for a loop. Our way of connecting to each other is changing, but maybe we shouldn't forget the old school ways. I'm looking forward to the second episode. I just hope that stays good. It's been so long since I've been stoked about a Jdrama. I'm also watching Lucky Seven and Hungry, but that's more for eye candy (have you seen the food in Hungry?! Holy crap *why* is this drama shown at 10PM?!)
Quotes are from arashilovezs' subs.