Review of Kekkon Shinai Ep 1

The drama opens in an university lecture hall where students are listening to the lecturer talk about social trends regarding marriage. This ties in nicely with the introduction of our three main characters i.e.  Tanaka Chiharu (Kanno Miho), Kirishima Haruko (Amami Yuki) and Kudo Junpei (Tamaki Hiroshi) who all happen to be unmarried but due to various and different reasons.

Chiharu is a 35-year-old contract worker at a travel agency whose last relationship ended 5 years ago. Despite being a nice person who's frank, honest and on good terms with everyone around her, Chiharu's relationships never lasted long enough and of course, they all came to nought. However, Chiharu has never given up on the idea of marriage. She wants to get married and feels that it would be a good thing for her but she has no intention of being aggressive in her search of a marriage partner. As her friends gradually head towards marriage and childhood, she starts to freak out over the idea being alone when she gets older but at the same time wonders if getting married is really something she must do in her lifetime.

On this day, her ex-boyfriend Keisuke happens to bring his fiancee to the travel agency where Chiharu works in and she is caught unawares by this sudden meeting and the realisation that Keisuke has moved on faster than she imagined (Chiharu was sort of expecting that she would get married before Keisuke did). She tries to put up a pretense to conceal her uneasiness and helps them choose a honeymoon travel package. Before Keisuke leaves, he encourages Chiharu to work harder and get married soon but this leads Chiharu to wonder if getting married can really be achieved by putting in more effort.

Next up, Haruko is a garden planner who specialises in designing public parks and the gardens of private residences. Haruko derives great joy and satisfaction in her work despite the people around her thinking that it is high time she should get married since she's already 44. However, Haruko believes that her career will bring her more than a marriage can and has made up her mind not to get married for the sake of doing so or succumbing to social pressure. Unknown to everyone, Haruko was involved in an extra-marital affair with her married superior for a long time so it's not as if she had no relationships before. It seems like they have ended the relationship by now though so Haruko is not seeing anyone at present.

Last but not least, Kudo Junpei is a part-time worker at the florist Maison Floral who doesn't believe that he can get married no matter how old he gets. Being 32, Junpei doesn't have a fixed job yet i.e. no job security so he doesn't think he has the means to support a family. Having to cope with his own difficulties and being dense in the romance department, Junpei also feels that psychologically, he is not ready to get married and bear responsibility for another person's life.

Kouno Mizuki, Junpei's junior during their university days, comes to look for him regarding ordering some flowers for her exhibition. While talking about Junpei's attitude towards marriage, Mizuki who is clearly interested in Junpei, hints that there may be someone who doesn't care about his inadequacies and is prepared to spend the rest of her life with him but Junpei is dismissive of that ever happening.

While out for lunch with her juniors Morita Jun and Suzuki Mariko, Chiharu reveals that she is not upset that Keisuke has gotten married but rather because he has "overtaken" her in terms of being able to get married faster than her. Morita shares his viewpoint  that a guy may start to think about marriage seriously once he turns 30 because they will only be viewed in a favourable light at work once they marry and have a family. Maybe that's why Keisuke did not want to marry Chiharu when they were still dating because he did not see the urgency of it back then. When Morita accidentally blurts out that such men who are "in a rush" tend to get married to younger women who are perceived as having an advantage in child bearing, this sets Chiharu imagining how she would be now if she had married Keisuke at that time.

After finishing the on-site inspection of their client's project, Haruko is on the way back to the office with her superior Higuchi Toru who tells her that her design might be chosen for a project they are bidding for. Haruko is understandably elated by this but decides against getting ahead of herself and says that she is hopeful although not entirely confident that she will be successful. When they reach the train station, Higuchi hesitantly brings up the topic of going straight home for the day to Haruko who seems to know why exactly he has to do that. Higuchi is apologetic about telling this to Haruko but she assures him that she's fine and walks off as per her usual self while Higuchi looks on from the back.

Sakura Mai, a fellow part-time worker at Maison Floral, arrives at the shop after class and happens to see Mizuki leaving the shop. She asks Junpei if Mizuki is his girlfriend but he says that she is just his junior. Mai tells Junpei about the sociology class she had earlier about marriage trends and asks him if he has any intention of getting married. Junpei replies with an nonchalant smile that he already has enough problems of his own and doesn't have the time and capacity to even think about it.

Later that evening, Chiharu returns home to overhear that her younger sister Chinatsu is complaining to her fiance Youichirou and her parents that Chiharu should get married quickly and move out of the house since Youichirou will be moving in with her after their marriage. Youichirou also chips in to say that Chiharu is weird for not getting married at this age while Chiharu's father also wonders aloud why she can't seem to get married. Chiharu's mother Noriko happens to see that Chiharu has overheard the whole conversation and tries to change the topic. Chiharu then conceals her uneasiness by joining everyone at the dining table while pretending to be her usual self.

After dinner, Chiharu goes back to her room to brood over the day's happenings when Noriko brings tea to her and tries to explain that Chinatsu didn't mean any harm with her remarks. Noriko then broaches the topic of asking Chiharu to be a bit more proactive and less demanding i.e. go for a matchmaking session rather than seek a boyfriend first before getting married. Chiharu gets slightly frustrated by Noriko's remarks and suddenly leaves the house to go somewhere.

Meanwhile, Haruko heads to the convenience store to buy some food and drinks before going to a nearby park. However, she is flabbergasted to see that someone i.e. Chiharu has taken over her spot in the park and waits for Chiharu to leave while looking at the latter munch on snacks and drink beer. Just then, Chiharu uses a piece of waste paper as a paper aeroplane and flings it towards the fountain at the centre of the park. Haruko freaks out at seeing this and heads straight into the fountain to look for the paper aeroplane because it will cause a blockage in the fountain. Chiharu misunderstands that Haruko is helping her to look for her bracelet which has also gone into the fountain but realises that Haruko is looking for something else. When the both of them finally find what they want, the fountain suddenly turns on by itself due to a time-controlled switch and causes them to be drenched. To make things worse, a police man on his patrol rounds finds them in the fountain and makes them go back to the police station with him so as to explain why they are doing there.

Chiharu and Haruko try hard to explain themselves in the police station but still end up spending the whole night there. Once out of the station, Chiharu laments that this is the first time in her 34-year-life that she was ever brought back to a police station which leads Haruko to comment that it's the same for her 44-year-life. Chiharu tries to bridge the distance between her and Haruko but the latter is lukewarm to the idea and tells Chiharu that they should stop at being mere acquaintances and not talk or ask too much about each other. Chiharu is slightly taken aback by Haruko's attitude and tries to pretend that she's not hurt by this sudden rebuke. When they say goodbye to each other, Haruko decides that she can't leave Chiharu alone just yet when she hears Chiharu sneezing as a result of her wet clothes.

Haruko brings Chiharu back to her apartment and even lends the latter a fresh set of clothes so that she can get to work. Chiharu offers to wash the clothes and return them to Haruko who declines it because she doesn't want anything to do with Chiharu. When Haruko asks Chiharu why she went to the park last night, Chiharu expresses her liking for the park and that she was a bit down after the sudden shock brought about her ex-boyfriend's marriage news. Chiharu laments that she can't seem to get married and to her surprise, Haruko tells her that she doesn't have to force herself to do that if she doesn't feel like it. This strikes Chiharu like a rod of lightning because nobody around her has ever said this and in fact, they keep pushing her to get married.

Chiharu realises that she is running late for work and rushes out of Haruko's apartment in a big hurry while trying to hold on Haruko's clothes which are clearly too big for her. Concerned that Chiharu might not make it in time, Haruko sends Chiharu to work on her motorbike.

Haruko arrives at work to find Higuchi looking for her about her design being selected for a new project. However, Higuchi stops short of asking Haruko to get started with the planning and instead asks her to go to Maison Floral which is under their company's management and assess it because it is struggling financially. Higuchi also tells Haruko to meet him in the office during the weekend because he has some work-related stuff to tell her. Haruko agrees to it despite being bewildered at this sudden turn of events.

Chiharu goes to meet her friends for lunch where they keep talking about how tough marriage life is. Ironically, they also keep pushing Chiharu to get married and have children soon because she is already 35. This makes Chiharu extremely uncomfortable and she tries to show that she's still enjoying being single despite thinking about marriage all the time. After lunch, Tsugumi, another friend who's also single, shares Chiharu's view that even though they may want to meet with their married friends, it's very difficult to find a suitable time since the singles can meet up at nights on weekdays while those married with kids are only likely to make it on weekends. She assures Chiharu that she won't be the last one on the shelf among their university friends because she just broke up with her boyfriend and there's no likelihood of her getting to the altar before Chiharu does.

At the same time, Haruko goes to Maison Floral and finds out from Junpei and Mai that there will be a manager reporting to work only from next week. She is impressed by Junpei's ability to identify colours just by looking.

Chiharu returns to the office to find her university friend Yuji waiting for her. Apparently, he heard from Chiharu's ex-boyfriend Keisuke that she is working in a tour agency and came to ask her for help in planning a company tour. Yuji then suggests that they meet up for drinks later after work to discuss about the tour. This sudden suggestion surprises Chiharu for a brief moment but she agrees to it readily. During dinner, Yuji and Chiharu talk about how they seem to be viewed as weirdos for not getting married at the age of 35 and lament how the social expectations surrounding them feel burdensome. Yuji suddenly brings up the pact they made years ago that if they are still single by the age of 35, the two of them would get married. Chiharu is visibly shaken when Yuji brings this up and tries to conceal her uneasiness.

The next day, Chiharu tells her colleague Mariko about what transpired and gets the latter excited over the prospect that Yuji might be hinting to Chiharu that he has the intention of honouring their pact. However, Chiharu tries to brush it off as a joke they made then and doesn't think that Yuji really wants to marry her. Mariko refuses to think of it this way and sees Yuji's re-appearance at this time as the perfect timing because he would be the right person for Chiharu.

Chiharu accompanies Yuji to check out the locations in the itinerary for his company's tour where they have a good time together. While chatting along the waterfront, they come across a family with three young kids and start to wonder if the parents are younger than them. As Yuji has to return to work, he cannot treat Chiharu to dinner that night but suggests celebrating her birthday with her tomorrow to thank her and make up for the skipped dinner date. Chiharu is happy to hear this and starts to imagine what might happen tomorrow night.

That evening, Chiharu shows up unannounced at Haruko's apartment block to return the latter's clothes to her even though Haruko had insisted that she didn't need to do so. Just when Haruko thinks that she can send Chiharu away, Chiharu offers to prepare dinner and manages to enter Haruko's apartment again despite her reluctance.

Haruko realises soon that Chiharu seems to be on cloud nine today and asks what had happened. Chiharu tells Haruko about the promise she made with Yuji when they were in their 20s i.e. get married to each other if both of them are still single at 35 and that there is a likelihood that they might just go ahead with the promise. However, Haruko doesn't think that this is likely and advises Chiharu not to read too much into this or expect that the promise will be fulfilled. Chiharu doesn't feel the same way but Haruko tells Chiharu frankly that she shouldn't be relying on promises made in the past just because she feels lonely now. This strikes a raw nerve in Chiharu and she replies that there's nothing wrong with believing in this promise and no matter what, she still wants to get married. Chiharu then leaves Haruko's apartment instead of staying for dinner which makes the latter lament that it's difficult to tell the truth in a tactful way.

Haruko returns to her family home where her mother is surprised to see her back for a visit. Haruko explains that she just had the urge to see her family so didn't bother informing her mother beforehand. After paying respects to her late father, Haruko goes to see her grandmother who doesn't seem to remember who she is. When her mother comments that Haruko's grandmother always seems to be in a good mood when she comes home, Haruko apologises for not coming home often and promises to do so more frequently in future. Upon hearing that, Haruko's mother asks if she's not getting married because of her mother and grandmother i.e. they are an obstacle preventing her from getting married with peace of mind. However, Haruko stresses that she chose not to get married and has never regretted her decision rather than not being able to marry because of them. Haruko then tells her mother that she has to go soon because she is meeting her boss i.e. Higuchi for a discussion in the office.

On the same night, Yuji asks Chiharu out for dinner to make up for being unable to treat her to a meal earlier on. Chiharu makes an effort to dress up in anticipation that something might develop between Yuji and her. Just when Chiharu's hopes get lifted when Yuji mentions their 35-years-old-marriage promise, he sends her heart crashing down again when he said that he didn't think too much about it when making that promise. As Yuji aspires to have a  big family with many kids, it would have been impossible to marry Chiharu who is the same age as him and expect her to give birth to so many kids if they do get married at 35. When Yuji comments that he has to find a younger woman to achieve this, Chiharu tries to keep her emotions under wraps and even encourages Yuji to make an effort in order for his dream to come true.

Haruko meets Higuchi in the office when he asks about her visit to Maison Florist  a few days ago. When she mentions that there is no manager at the florist, Higuchi drops a bombshell on Haruko by saying that she has been transferred to Maison Florist as their new manager. Haruko asks about the reason which Higuchi explains as a change in the company's policy which will focus on clients with families. She realises that her transfer and being taken off the prime project she has been working on were due to her marital status and asks Higuchi if that is really the case. Higuchi can only ask Haruko to bear with it for the time being and he will try his best to bring her back to the head office. Having said that, Haruko states that she will respect the company's decision and proceeds to leave when Higuchi suddenly apologises to her for what happened. Haruko says that her decision to stay single has got nothing to do with him so he has no reason to apologise to her.

After the dinner, Yuji offers to send Chiharu home but she rejects his gesture and insists that she can go home on her own. As soon as Yuji is out of sight, the smiling expression on Chiharu's face crumbles. Suddenly, Chiharu gets a call from Tsugumi who asks to meet her urgently. Tsugumi delivers a second blow on the same night to Chiharu by declaring that she's getting married as she found out about her pregnancy after the breakup and her boyfriend proposed to her upon knowing the news. As Tsugumi had told Chiharu categorically that she won't leave Chiharu behind as the last single in their group of friends, she feels especially bad about this sudden turn of events. Chiharu can only force herself to congratulate her friend and keep the helpless feeling of being left behind deep within her.

On her way home, Chiharu is in a daze over the double-whammy (misunderstanding Yuji's intention and hearing about Tsugumi's impending marriage) when she gets knocked down by another pedestrian and falls onto the pavement outside a jewellery shop. Junpei who is doing the floral display at the shop, comes out to ask Chiharu if she needs help. Chiharu tries to explain that she's fine and the fall was due to her being careless and out of sorts. She starts to lament to Junpei who's actually a stranger to her,  that she can't walk steadily without falling as she looks at the people walking past her. Junpei comments that he also feels the same way at times i.e. he can't seem to do things that people take for granted and can do well in. When Chiharu proceeds to leave, Junpei stops her and gives her a stalk of gerbera (African daisy) to encourage her since the meaning of gerbera is "one step" in the language of flowers.

Haruko heads to the park with the fountain with cans of beer when she finds Chiharu already there with her beer and vegetable chips. Haruko goes up to Chiharu who's happy to see her but the smile on the latter's face soon fades as she relates that Haruko was right about her promise with Yuji after all. Haruko is at a loss for words temporarily but starts to chide Chiharu for munching on too much vegetable chips. Chiharu jokes that she doesn't mind dying early due to eating vegetable chips but turns serious again as she laments that she will die alone in future since she cannot get married. Since she's already 35, chances of her getting married will get slimmer as time goes by. Besides, she has no career or achievement that she can be proud of unlike Haruko. Tears start to well up in Chiharu's eyes as she says that the thought of dying alone makes her feel so lonely. In response to that, Haruko tells Chiharu that all along, she thought that her career was the only thing she could count on but being transferred to the florist seems to tell her otherwise.

Suddenly, Haruko takes off her shoes and heads into the fountain with Chiharu looking on in fear as she worries that someone might see her doing that. Haruko shouts in the middle of the fountain that there is nothing wrong with not getting married and invites Chiharu to come in as well to let out her frustrations. Chiharu follows suit to let out her frustrations about wanting to get married but not being able to. Just then, the water jets in the fountain get turned on precisely at 8pm which makes the both of them drenched again. When they get caught by the same policeman again for entering the fountain in a drunken state, Haruko and Chiharu refuse to admit that they were drunk and keep arguing with the policeman.

While hanging their wet clothes to dry at Haruko's apartment, she finally reveals to Chiharu why she was drinking on the same day she met Chiharu. It turns out that the day was someone's wedding anniversary and that was why Haruko was upset enough to drown her sorrows. Haruko also thanks Chiharu for liking that park because it was the first she designed. Chiharu tells Haruko that she should have told her these things long ago but the latter never got the chance to do so. When Chiharu asks Haruko to let her stay in her apartment since Chiharu feels uneasy at being picked on by her family for not getting married, Haruko tries to decline but to no avail...

This drama starts off on a good note with a relatively fast pace and has given the viewers a clear understanding of where our three leads stand with regard to their attitude towards marriage. There isn't any character who I like or dislike and I find myself identifying or understanding the reasons why the leads aren't getting married. 

On one end, Chiharu is the type who wants to get married but can't seem to do so, Haruko is the exact opposite who made a conscious decision not to marry while Junpei doesn't think he can get married so he has sort of given up. There is no right and wrong answer with regard to the reasons why people aren't married but I must say that Chiharu doesn't seem to know exactly why she must marry. Is it because of family pressure, social norms or the feeling or fear of loneliness? As the story develops, I'm sure she will grow to understand why she wants to get married but for now, I must admit that her reasons aren't that strong yet since they relate more to the people around her and their expectations rather than them being borne out of her needs and wants. 

Haruko's decision should be related to her boss Higuchi though and I'm guessing that something happened between them which caused the current state. I can emphathise with Junpei because without a permanent job, he's going to face lots of difficulties especially since society normally expects a man to take charge of financial matters if he has a family. However, I don't think he's working in a florist because he likes it so it will take a few more episodes to find out why he's working part-time instead of getting another better-paying and more stable job.

Although this drama is shown in autumn, the general feel I get from this drama is that this should belong to the spring season. The colour scheme of the scenes tend to be pastel and very easy on the eyes which is usually characteristic of spring dramas. Like what Chiharu says, she was born in the autumn but her mother gave her a spring name so this drama seems to be in the same situation. Everything feels really fluffy and relaxed at the moment but there should be more angst along the way as Chiharu continues on her quest for the elusive marriage. Kobukuro's theme song also brings a lot of the spring flavour to this autumn drama.

What I also like from this episode was the natural acting from Kanno Miho and Amami Yuki. It really felt like they were friends instead of acting especially for Amami who's more well-known for her tough-woman roles. It's nice to see a softer side of her as she plays mentor and adviser to Kanno's character who will no doubt end up meeting lots of obstacles. Tamaki Hiroshi's image is also quite nice to look at so his fans should really check out this drama, at least for the sake of ogling at him. Nonetheless, he had limited screentime in the first episode but things should improve as we go along.