Narita Rikon

Narita Rikon, translated as Narita Divorce, was broadcasted on Fuji Television, in Winter 1997. Written by Noriko Yoshida, this light-hearted comedy drama consists of 10 episodes. It stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi(of SMAP), Asaka Seto, Eri Fukatsu and Hiroshi Abe.

Synopsis
Ichiro [Tsuyoshi Kusanagi] and Yuko [Asaka Seto] got married after only several dates. It was too rushed because they had not yet known each other well enough. Ichiro was sick on the day of the marriage. He got better the day later. But Yuko was sick instead during their honeymoon in Rome, Italy. Ichiro, who was always responsible for all the washing when he was with his mother, washed Yuko's clothes including her pants. Yuko was angry. During the trip, Ichiro could not speak either Italian or English. He had to rely on Yuko for almost everything. Yuko was angry and annoyed. They had the quarrel and divorced at Narita airport when they got back from Rome... Still, they had to stay under the same roof for some time, since they couldn't bring themselves to tell their parents (who were very excited about their marriage) about the divorce...

Review
Narita Rikon is such an excellent drama! Every episode has its own great story and great scenes!

The story is actually a simple one, but somehow the drama can develop to a great one! I love how Ichiro and Yuko tried to make up and being all nice to each other in one episode, but at the end of the episode... there MUST be something that will break them off again!! This happens 3 times (in episodes 3, 4, and 5).

I read reviews that this dorama has too many quarelling and bickering scenes... NOT for me!!! I think there are NO unnecessary quarelling scenes, every quarelling scene has good reasons and Ichiro and Yuko bicker in very funny ways!! So I enjoyed their bickering scenes! Makes me laugh! And, it's not like all they do is bicker... they have their calm moments too, and they talk just like friends would talk to each other. I also love the fact that they actually care for each other and still love each other, but are too proud to admit it!

I think the most touching scene is at the end of episode 4, when the obstetrician tells Yuko that she's pregnant. Ichiro is doing lots and lots of thinking, until later he decides to reconcile with Yuko for their baby's sake. So, he buys a pair of little shoes (which Yuko saw during window shopping) and goes home. But then he finds Yuko is laughing out loud on the phone telling her friend, that she's not pregnant! The obstetrician made a mistake! The way Yuko laughs and smiles widely while saying this to Ichiro really hurts his feelings, and to Yuko's surprise, Ichiro breaks and yells at her that she is toying with his feelings, and he immediately takes the divorce application form to the divorce lawyer's office. He says, "It would've been better if we just get divorced immediately!". Yuko feels so guilty, especially after she finds the little shoes Ichiro bought, so she goes after him... but it's too late, the form is already accepted.

Narita Rikon is a very, very funny and comical drama!! You'd laugh your brains out watching this drama! It's really funny, that Ichiro means to keep the divorce with Yuko a secret and only tell one of his office mate, but by this time another office mate is listening to their conversation. Ichiro is forced to tell another officemate of his about it, and accidentally 5 people in different spots have listened to their conversation too... haha! The next day, his office mates secretly whisper to Ichiro, that they know about the divorce already and they promise they will keep it a secret and will not tell anyone... Ichiro's expression upon hearing this is so funny!!

Narita Rikon's director tends to exaggerate stuff, but this really increases the comic element and you'll definitely laugh upon seeing it. Like when, Ichiro and Yuko first met on the street on Christmas, suddenly snow falls and all the lights are up beautifully. Or when, Ichiro propose to Yuko, suddenly fireworks are all over the sky. And when one of his office mates tells Ichiro that she loves him, suddenly the off-fountain on the background burst out... symbolizing Ichiro's shock. Ichiro's expressions are just so funny upon hearing this. I can't really describe it good enough, it is something u have to see for yourself, to have a good laugh.

Apparently, Narita Rikon's scriptwriter, Noriko Yoshida, loves to write stories about marriage. Her other works are Omiai Kekkon (Arranged Marriage) starring Takako Matsu and Yusuke Santamaria, and Dekichatta Kekkon (Shotgun Marriage) starring Yutaka Takenouchi and Ryoko Hirosue. Both are also my favorites and definitely as funny as this one!!

Acting Performances

Tsuyoshi Kusanagi as Ichiro
Hillarious!! Ichiro in a really comical role! Love his funny, stupid and ridiculous expressions!!! He definitely gives such a great performance in portraying Ichiro's kind-of-blur character. I always like most of Tsuyoshi's dramas. Among SMAP members, I think only he and Takuya Kimura have constantly very good, high-quality and successful dramas and movies. Tsuyoshi has won Best Actor in Television's Drama Academy Awards in early 2003 (Kimura was runner-up).

Asaka Seto as Yuko
I really love her as an actress ever since watching Narita Rikon!!!! It's so fun to see her in a comedic role! Yuko is a spoiled girl and kind of selfish. She can be sweet and gentle sometimes, but when she's angry, she looks so fierce! I didn't quite like her when I watched her for the first time in PS: Genki desu, Shunpei, although her character there was cheerful. My opinion on her definitely changed after I watched her in this hillarious dorama! And after this, I watched her in Saimin (Hypnosis) the drama series, and was stunned by her performance there, because she acted as an icy girl there!

Asaka has excellent chemistry with Tsuyoshi! I really love seeing them together! Sometimes Tsuyoshi looks shorter than Asaka, that's also the case with Koichi Dohmoto being shorter than her in "PS Genki", and I really disliked this couple!! Although Tsuyoshi sometimes looks shorter than Asaka (I guess it's only the high heels factor, they originally have the same height), they still look great together!!!

Overall, this is one of my favorite doramas! However, some people might find it boring because of its simplicity. But this is definitely a great divorce story! I've seen another drama with divorce as the theme, it's a TVB (Hong Kong) production entitled 'Til When Do Us Part. But that cannot be compared with Narita Rikon!!! It has 20 episodes, and it mostly has boring moments although it is also a comedy. I rate Narita Rikon 4.5 for the great story, excellent performances of the casts and the comedy elements of the show! Definitely for those who are looking for a light entertaining drama!!