Yuki Uchida: "Haburashi/Onna Tomodachi" drama episode one recap and screenshots

 Start Date: January 5 and will air until February 23rd for eight episodes on NHK-BS

Main Cast:

Yuki Uchida as Suzune Makabe

Chizuru Ikewaki as Mizue Furusawa

Toshinori Omi as Mamoru Yanai

Nobuaki Kaneko as Takashi Nada

Yuki Tezuka as Kota Furusawa

Miwako Ichikawa as Mihoko Yonezawa

Yoshinori Okada as Tadashi Umemori

 Was planning on watching this anyway bit was a pleasant surprise when Heiwa subs picked this up to sub, good thing they did as I don't think I would have been able to review it if it wasn't subbed. Another pleasant surprise is that it's a 29 minute show, my drama would really increase if more of them were that length. Should be a shorter recap than usual because of that plus though it was an okay first episode not all that much really happened, we met some of the key characters but not too much more than that.
 Yuki plays Suzune who is a 40 year old drama writer whose latest series "Refrain After School" is getting some very impressive ratings. Suzune is a single woman living by herself though she is having an affair with a producer at her station named Mamoru. That "Refrain After School" is a show which resembles closely Suzune's own high school days, we start to learn a bit about her past in the beginning but more when an unexpected visitor arrives one night.

 That visitor is an old high school friend who she hasn't seen for twenty years or perhaps longer. Suzune didn't recognize her at first when she answered her door but the woman revealed she was her old friend from school named Mizue. Seems Mizue and her five year old son have fallen upon some hard times as she's divorced and has been out of work for a while. Mizune and her son have no place to stay so she asks if she can spend the night at Suzune's apartment.
 Suzune is a bit perplexed at how she got her address and why of all people Mizune looked her up. Seems as though she got the address from Suzune's mother as she knew she was living in Tokyo and that she had become a very successful drama writer. Suzune agrees to let her stay one night but had also remembered an incident from their school days when Mizune had been accused of stealing, Suzune then makes sure all her cash and credit cards are hidden away. They were all there the next morning when Mizune and her son left but there was a hairpiece of hers that was missing.
 Seemingly it was only for that one night that Mizune was going to stay which was such a relief to Suzune, now for the next night she has a date with her producer/lover Mamoru.
 However the that night when Suzune arrives home Mizune and her son are waiting at her apartment once again, would it be possible to use her bathroom and have a bite to eat? Suzune is kind of trapped so once again she reluctantly agrees and invites Mizune back to her apartment. And once again Mizune asks her if she could stay over however this time she asks if she could stay for two nights. Suzune doesn't show it but looks like she's more than a bit peeved at the request however she does allow them to stay for two more nights.
 While in the shower getting ready for her date Mamoru appears at Suzune's apartment and is more than a bit taken back when Mizune answers the door. She tells him the Suzune was taking a shower and if we would wait, something looked a bit fishy to him so he just departed. Meanwhile the episode ends right about there, Suzune is still getting ready for her date with Mamoru but hasn't learned yet that it's been cancelled.

 Bit of a slow first episode but guess they needed to do that to have us learn about the key characters and to set other things up. Really no clue what's going to happen and I like dramas like that, it's supposed to be a bit of a dark mystery and there's no doubt that Mizune has some things up her sleeve, why and what they are we'll soon be learning.
 Being a shorter show makes for a shorter recap then but it also allows me to be able to fit all of the screenshots on to this post, may help you catch a few things left out. The title means 'Toothbrush/ Lady Friends", should be back next Friday hopefully to look at the second episode. Yuki is by far the oldest person I post about somewhat frequently here but at 40 she still blows away any other female half her age as she still looks ultra stunning to me. Also after the pics you can check out the trailer.