Koori no Sekai

Foreword
Investigations on a mysterious woman, Tohko, start when Sonoe, a
teacher, was found dead. Eiki is sent by the insurance agency and
Takeshi finds links between this case and the deaths of Tohko's 3
fiances. How are they going to clear her name?

Story/Introduction on characters

1. Hirokawa Eiki – Takenouchi Yutaka
Eiki is an investigator at Rose Life Insurance. He checks on Tohko’s
case and finds many loopholes. She doesn’t get the insurance amount
that her fiances have put in. What actually went wrong – why do the
three place the money for her? He seeks to clear her name. During the
process, he finds himself falling for her. Both seek to get married
but he still wants to lure out the killer.

He puts up the same proposal as the other 3 men. True enough, the
killer comes after him. He is shot in the chest and nearly dies. This
is the first time I get to see a man being saved by a woman in a drama
as we know how male chauvinists some Japanese dramas arrange the plots
to be. He is finally able to uncover the truth and all are glad when
both finally get together. Yutaka is unusually dashing in this show,
looking cool in a suit and tie with a long windbreaker. His acting is
still as formidable as always.

2. Egi Tohko – Matsuhima Nanako
She is an Earth Sciences teacher at Eiwa Girls School. At first
glance, Eiki finds her lifeless and her lessons boring. Her students
do not enjoy her lessons. What is there for her to look forward to
after the death of 3 fiances? She has lost interest in everything and
life is a torture to her. Her friends keep on introducing her to
different men and she keeps falling in love. (It could be too quickly,
though as she becomes like what Masako said: a forgetful person who
doesn’t love deeply.)

She tries to dissuade all her fiances on the insurance issue but all
do not listen to her. She has decided not to fall in love again to
harm any other person, until she meets Eiki. Their meeting starts with
hostility as he fires her with unpleasant questions.

He gives her the inspiration to live again. She is equally dismayed
when Eiki makes the same decision as the other men. Eiki is aware that
the killer is after Tohko and he is determined to find the root of the
problem. They take the wedding photos together calmly after his
persuasion.

When Eiki is attacked and falls into the cold water, she frantically
dives into the cold water to save him. She does CPR repeatedly to save
him and luckily he opens his eyes to show that his fate is different
from the other men. Nanako has proven that she is no longer a vase and
is good in acting. This role is memorable to everyone as she has put
in her best.

3. Shono Tsukiko – Uchida Yuki
She is Eiki's girlfriend and police officer. She is an ambitious woman
who is eager to get a promotion and often neglects Eiki. She can be
stubborn and inflexible at times. She is sore when he has a change of
heart and puts all her concentration on her career. Although she is
biased against Tohko at first, she also spots the flaws and seeks out
the real killer.

4. Hisamatsu Koichi – Oikawa Mitshuhiro
He is a restaurant owner and is Tohko's third fiance. Seeing that she
has no appetite after the funeral of her second fiance, he spices up
delicious food for her. This makes her feel better and she slowly
develops feelings for him. Unfortunately, he is killed brutally at sea
and even his face is disfigured.

5. Ujou Takeshi – Nakamura Toru
He is Tsukiko’s superior who checks on the case. There is no proof
that Tohko killed the 3 men but she remains as a prime suspect to him.
He tries looking for evidence which is against her and hardly returns
home. His marriage is on the rocks as he is too focused on his work.

He doesn’t know how to express his feelings and care for his wife,
Masako. Although they live apart, he makes sure that he visits her
regularly at the flower shop where she works as a florist. Still, he
tries to salvage his marriage but unknown to him, she has a purpose
for telling him not to follow the case. It is very painful for him to
find out the truth but he forgives her and is willing to wait for her
till she is released for her crime.

6. Sakota Shogo – Kaneko Ken
He is Egi Toko's college friend who believes in her innocence as he
has known her for a long time.

7. Ujou Masako – Nakajima Tomoko
She is Ujou Takeshi's wife. She was ditched by Egi Tohko's first
fiance. Disillusioned, she left Tokyo to marry Ujou. She is ready to
start a new life and buries the past. But his distant behaviour
towards her leaves her feeling empty although he loves her very much.
She is shocked to know that Toyohiko is marrying Tohko so she plans
her revenge. She doesn’t think that she loses out to Tohko. She
challenges him to buy insurance for Tohko to prove that he truly loves
her.

To her dismay, he readily does it. So driven by hatred, she kills him
before the maturity date so that Tohko will not get a single cent and
she will become a criminal in the eyes of the law. She has planned to
forget the whole thing but she nearly has a nervous breakdown when
Takeshi shifts them back to Tokyo again. This rekindles her sad
memories whenever she sees Tohko. She does the same to the other two
men and kill them in cold blood. No one believes that she can kill as
she looks very petite and bony.

8. Hiyama Toyohiko – Tanihara Shosuke
He is a photo journalist and Tohko's first fiance. His attention on
taking photos for Masako turns to taking photos of Tohko. That starts
the list of killings. He is killed by her arrow as she is a good
archer. She intends to use the same way to kill Eiki but luckily her
scheme is uncovered.

9. Shibata Yoshinori – Yamaji Kazuhiro
He is a psychiatrist and Tohko's second fiance. Tohko is badly
affected after Toyohiko’s death and comes to seek treatment from him.
Through the process, he falls for her and they plan to get married.
But he gets killed too.

10. Hirase Kazuhiko – Tayama Ryosei
He is the head of Investigation Department, Rose Life Insurance. He is
Eiki’s direct superior who gets him to check on the case. Although he
worried about his safety, he believes that he will do a good job.

11. Ikenega Sonoe – Kimura Tae
She is an English teacher at Eiwa Girls School. Her ex-boyfriend is
Yoshinori and she is badly affected when he ditches her for Tohko. She
often finds fault with her at work. She is suddenly dead and all think
of it to be a misadventure but Eiki realises that she is killed. Tohko
becomes a suspect as both of them are not having good ties. Masako
actually kills her to sentence her as she discovers her identity.

Favourite character
Eiki, as he is able to tell right from wrong. Knowing that Tohko faces
a lot of pressure to be called the black widow, he is determined to
get the truth.

Most hated character
Takeshi, as he can be biased at work at times. How can he not know
that his wife is facing a major problem in struggling through drastic
changes in her life? If he had shown more concern for her, this might
not have happened.

Song
It is Diamond Dust by Himuro Kyosuke. It is an excellent song.

Interesting facts
The highest rating is 24.4%. During the 23rd Television Drama Academy
Awards, it earned a Best Actress nod for Matsushima Nanako. It also
got Best Screenwriter and Best Opening awards. I feel sorry that
Yutaka did not manage to win as he was also at his best here in this
drama.

Conclusion
Can you believe that an insurance investigator works faster than the
cops? It took me some time to get used to this arrangement. The drama
shows the two cops to be biased and neglecting some details. However,
justice is done later when they see that something is just not right
as the culprit is all out to harm Tohko. Although she isn’t hurt
physically, the person torments her psychologically.

Another loophole is that Tohko falls in love too easily. That is
unacceptable in Masako’s eyes. No wonder she never stops killing. Eiki
is just lucky to escape from the brutal fate.

Yutaka and Nanako make a wonderful couple. They are matching in looks
and compatible in acting. To me, Yutaka is also a fine choice in
acting as her screen partner besides her husband, Sorimachi Takashi.
Nanako shows the pain in her eyes and not her speech. That makes her
look very vulnerable and that is why all the men fall for her
helplessly. The only exception will be Takeshi, who is already married
and is completely faithful to his wife. If he also betrays her, his
plight will be as sorry as the other men's.

The killer’s identity is unexpected. It keeps all in suspense in the
end.

Some find it absurd that Masako dwells so much on the past. But if we
think of it a step further, it is understandable as she has an
inferior complex all along. She isn’t attractive and doesn’t hold a
prestigious job. Her only favourite past-time is archery which is
finally something that she is very good at but she hides this fact
from all the rest. Unfortunately, she doesn’t put her skills to good
use. When she sets out to kill, she will call the men using the
artificial mouthpiece to pretend to be a man.

Why choose Rose Life Insurance? It isn’t explained so all will be kept
in the dark forever. It is fated indeed for Eiki to take up the case.
If the checker is his superior, he might not be able to solve it with
an open mind. If you are looking for suspense cum romance, this drama
is the right one for you. It is fast-paced and packed with enough
excitement to glue you to the set.

Sukting’s ratings :

On acting : **** (Scale of 5)

On story : ***1/2 (Scale of 5)

On songs : ***1/2 (Scale of 5)