Episode 1 Synopsis - "I'm pitiful?"
click to show/hide spoilers39-year-old Ogata Satoko, is a highly capable psychiatrist who is single. She's forthright, a caring older sister and reliable in her job and in private. Her interests are staying in luxurious Japanese inns, and watching videos of stand-up comedy.
Satoko hasn't had a boyfriend in the past five years. Nevertheless, she derives satisfaction from work, and isn't worried about her finances. Among her good friends that she hangs out with are 35-year-old Morimura Nao, her junior, and 39-year-old Oikawa Sadao, her peer since high school days. Satoko is happily enjoying single life.
At an alumni reunion as everyone is on the verge of 40, Takeuchi Mizue, her good friend since high school who is now a full-time housewife, learns that Satoko eventually intends to have children of her own and rushes her into action. "If you want children, you should marry now!" and "It's women's happiness", but both are lost on Satoko who isn't convinced. However, Satoko is stunned when Mizue comments that their classmates view her as a pitiful woman who has given up on getting married and having children.
One day, Satoko attempts to cheer up Nao, who is upset that she has been passed over as the chief editor of a new magazine for women around 30, and goes to her favourite hot-spring inn. But there, she coincidentally encounters a breakup between a handsome but somewhat environmentally conscious odd man and his girlfriend over his perceived stinginess, and surmises that he is a man who cannot get married.
At a birthday celebration for Mizue a few days later, Nao announces her plans to marry Shinjo Takafumi, a famous lifestyle producer. She confides that she began to seriously consider marriage after her career setback. "It's my last chance at marriage. I'm already 35. I don't want to have any regrets later on that I didn't marry." The celebratory mood turns tense when Satoko asks Nao if she'll be happy.
After the wedding ceremony, Satoko spends the night at her favourite hot-spring inn and ends up missing her train back to Tokyo. She starts to sob as she sits at the train platform, and is seen by that man.
The next day, Satoko is introduced to the hospital's new clinical psychologist, Okamura Keitaro. As they get acquainted, Keitaro describes a surprising scene he had witnessed at a train platform and ... ...