Japanese Drama - Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu

I wrote about this drama recently and as promised i finally found the time to write more about it. "Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu" is a 10 episodes Fuji TV romance drama and has also been called the Japanese version of my favorite US Show "Sex & The City" although i feel its content is milder in terms of the relationships topics discussed by the main characters but i have enjoyed watching the drama ;) You can watch it online at (http://www.dramacrazy.net/japanese-drama/watashi-ga-renai-dekinai-riyuu/). The drama talks about 3 friends searching for love and supporting each other along the way and i admire the close bond shared by them in the drama as they do have their disagreements living together but they are still friends at the end of the day and will always be there if one of them is in trouble. "Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu" also brought a smile to the faces of Fuji TV executives, as the drama reached a new season-high with its final episode shown in Japan on 19 December 2011. The series finale snagged an average rating of 18.4% (+3.1%), raising the overall average up by 0.29%. As such, it finally took a spot in the top five of the 2011 fall season.

Karina plays the main character Fujii Emi and her roommates are played by Yoshitaka Yuriko and AKB48’s Oshima Yuko and they show great chemistry together in the drama and it almost feels as if they are truly close friends.

Fuji Emi is a 27 year old woman who works for a lighting company as a lighting technician where she is surrounded by men due to the nature of the profession. She has a straight-forward and generous personality, but is unconcerned about general feminine interests such as fashion. She is often treated like another man by her boss and colleagues, and feels that being in love is tiresome. However, she cannot forget about her ex-boyfriend cum long time buddy and workmate Hasegawa Yu and hopes to someday fall truly in love. However Emi finds it annoying to look for new love through going for love dates organized by her friends and dressing up and behaving ladylike. Emi cannot understand why Yu decides to break off their relationship 2 years ago after being together for only 2 weeks. She thinks that being treated as a “guy’s girl” is comfortable, but she wants to feel real love inside. 

She finally decides to gather her courage and confess to Yu that she still has feelings for him and wishes to give their relationship another chance but is shocked when he shared with her on her birthday that he is in a new relationship with their co-worker Maeda Hikari and planning to get married soon.

Emi decides to try out a new relationship with a policeman she met at work to forget Yu but finds that she still cares for Yu and Yu is also disturbed by her dating someone else.....

Ogura Saki (Yoshitaka) is prideful and determined, but fails in landing a desirable job and fulfilling her dream of being a writer. As a result, she starts to work at a bar as a hostess, keeping the fact a secret from her parents and friends. Although she gives lectures to Emi and Mako about love, she has never loved anyone seriously and does not believe in true love. Her friends finally discovered her secrets but accepts her for who she is.

Saki met an older guy Shiraishi Takumi (boss of Emi) by chance when they took a cab together and she took his pen by mistake when she was rushing for a job interview. Takumi was attracted to her bubbly and positive personality and Saki also finds herself attracted to the kind and steady Takumi and feels that he could be the one for her but was disappointed when Takumi revealed that he is a married man. The couple tried to control their feelings for each other but met again during Emi's company barbeque.

Takumi was having marital problems with his wife Shiraishi Misuzu who is a high flyer and workaholic and they seldom have the time to communicate with each other. He is younger than Misuzu and had wanted to start a family when they married but Misuzu had wanted to concentrate on her career and does not wish to have kids. He is upset when Misuzu suddenly decides to buy a house and have kids without discussing with him or considering his feelings. He still cares for Misuzu but feels inferior and guilty that he is unable to fulfill her wish of conceiving a child. He seeks solace with Saki and finds it relaxing being with her but she struggles with the burden of breaking a marriage.

Saki wishes to live with Takumi once he settles his relationship with Misuzu but Takumi is undecided. Saki decided to meet up with Misuzu but was saddened by Misuzu's frank admission that she still loves Takumi and hopes he will give their marriage another chance...

Finally, we have Hanzawa Mako (Oshima) who is the youngest of all, having attended the same high school following Emi and Saki. She is earnest and responsible, but on the other hand, rather clumsy and afraid of taking chances on a romantic relationship. She has a habit of annoying men because of her serious and heavy personality; her efforts in love were also fruitless. She is constantly searching for the right guy but ended up falling for a colleague who appears like a nice guy but turns out to be possessive and paranoid. His love for her turns nasty when she decides to cool down the relationship and he spreads rumors about her being a two-timer in the company and she was forced to resign.

She finally found a new direction in life when she chanced upon a small restaurant after losing her job. She decided to start a new career as a cook in the restaurant and ends up falling in love with the chef.

These girls started living together by chance but ended up navigating as a group through their worries about love, career, and marriage, by comforting and fighting with one another.

Since this will be the first time for Karina to take the lead role on ‘Getsu9′, she commented, “I felt surprised and nervous at the same time, however, I felt a bigger happiness!  There were many points where I sympathized with the story, and I would like to follow those feelings by applying my character’s worries and thoughts to myself. I will think hardly about love during this series, and hopefully, it will make me grow more!!”

Aside from those three girls, Tanaka Kei (27), Kurashina Kana (23), Nakao Akiyoshi (23), Kagami Seira (24), Nakamura Ryu (34), Katsumura Masanobu (48), Hagiwara Masato (40), and Inamori Izumi (39) will also make their appearances in the drama.

Fuji TV describes the drama as the most unique, true-to-life love story in the history of Monday 9pm (‘Getsu9′) dramas during its press conference. It depicts the lives of different young women, who have a negative attitude towards love. They went for a sociological and very realistic approach while exploring the various reasons that make women to adopt such an attitude.

Karina, plays a very frank young woman named Fujii Emi, who neither really cares about her works at an illumination company nor anything else in her life, loved watching ‘Getsu9′ dramas during her student days, but now she actually gets to star in one. She commented, “I can feel the pressure from all sides, but I’d like to calmly overcome the pressure together with all the other actors.”

In response, Yoshitaka, who plays a hostess and Emi’s junior from senior high school called ‘Ogura Saki‘, used some of her peculiar expressions to describe the personality of Karina. She said, “I always thought that she has a nice frank image, but what most people don’t know, she actually has a very feminine side. That side of her makes you think, ‘Waah, she’s so lovely!’ There is that kindness that you wouldn’t know as a first-time customer. First-time customers are not allowed!”

Oshima smiled in agreement and added, “She’s a really kind and handsome man. Recently she found out how to handle me properly with a carrot and a stick.”

Even Inamori couldn’t refrain from praising Karina and said, “She truly is a gentle and caring woman.”

(Source: http://www.fujitv.co.jp/wataren/index.html)
(Source: http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Watashi_ga_Renai_Dekinai_Riyuu)
(Source: http://www.tokyohive.com/2011/12/drama-prime-time-report-%E2%80%93-december-19th21th/)
(Source: http://www.tokyohive.com/2011/10/press-conference-for-watashi-ga-renai-dekinai-riyuu/)
(Source: http://www.tokyohive.com/2011/08/karina-yoshitaka-yuriko-akb48s-oshima-yuko-team-up-for-new-getsu9-drama/)
(Source: http://avan87.blogspot.com/)