"Koi wo Nannen Yasundemasu ka" drama: Episode two recap

 Air Dates: October 19th to December 21, 2001     Fridays at 10:00 pm on TBS 

Director: Makoto Kiyohiro     Screenwriter: Noriko Yoshida    Average Rating: 16.6%

 Main Cast:

Naoko Iijima as Mayumi Aida

Kyoko Koizumi as Yuko Konishi

Hitomi Kuroki as Sakiko Horikawa

Hideaki Ito as Hiroshi Sawamura
Toru Nakamura as Ryohei Konishi

Akiko Yada as Risa Horikawa

Koji Shiizu as Kazuo Horikawa

Yumi Morio as Reiko Sakaguchi
Kazufumi Miyazawa as Kenichi Shima

Erika Mabuchi as Kaori

Kimiko Yo as Shizue Takamura

Yuichiro Yamaguchi as Ichiro Aida

 Unlike modern day dramas there's no promo videos on YT but did see most of the episodes there though of course unsubbed. Episode one was a winner though it may be a bit slow or too like regular life to appeal to everyone but to me that's what makes dramas such as this one so enjoyable.

 Thought that format of keeping the three major character's lives separate worked well for the first recap so think I'll continue on doing it that way. No need to rehash any of the first episode's events as that post is just above this one so it would help you immensely if you read that first. Seems the major character for this drama will be Yuko who has the had the most screen time of anyone, in real life Kyoko is the most popular of the three leads and she's been a star for over three decades now.
 In an unexpected meetup Yuko happened to run into her old flame Shima who owns a wood shop her husband wants to buy a table from for the couple's new house. Her heart fluttered seeing her old lover and though it's just a table Yuko and her husband are purchasing she had to have two phone calls and a short meeting with Shima. That get together was a bit uncomfortable for both to say the least but the wall between them rapidly melted away.
 Yuko is such a smart woman and had such a bright future for a major trading company along with her friend Reiko who is in the above screenshot. More than seeing just Yuko again Shima was so shocked that Yuko had thrown her career away just to become an ordinary housewife. He had imagined Yuko being one of the directors of her old company or perhaps starting her own firm. For her to get married was the last thing Shima ever thought would happen and seems he's a bit disappointed in her choice.

 Though she doesn't show it to me Yuko also has been feeling a bit disappointed with her life. Yuko and her two friends seem to have hit that point in their lives when they start to wonder what does their life all mean and did they make the right decisions. It's too late for Yuko to turn back as she has two children who are seven and eight but think if she had to do her past events over again she may have chosen to stay with her work.
 Yuko had met up again with her old friend and work mate Reiko in the last episode. The pair have become e-mail buddies and Yuko seems a bit jealous of Reiko's life as she's now an important manager at the trading firm both worked at. That above screenshot is one you don't see too often which is a married couple having separate beds though shortly after her husband Ryohei did invite Yuko to join him, wonder where they found the room?
 Didn't talk much about the husband in the first episode but will now as something that was vague in the before has come out as being true. Ryohei does have an important position at his financial institute and has to work long hours. He does work many hours though not as many as he keeps telling Yuko. What was unclear in the first episode was if Ryohei was having an affair and it was confirmed in this show that he was but not just with anyone.

 That woman above is Risa who is none other than Sakiko's 22 year old daughter!!!! Sakiko is one of Yuko's best two friends and don't think Ryohei has a clue who Risa's mother is. In the first episode Ryohei had left his wife after a wedding reception with the lie he was going back to work, he actually was going to meet up with Risa. She too skipped out on an event as her mother Sakiko had set up an arranged date with a young man from her husband's bank.
 That man is Hiroshi who will be a key player in this drama. Though Risa stood him and her mother up Hiroshi wasn't too upset as he had such an enjoyable dinner with Sakiko. It's quite obvious he's taken such a liking to Sakiko though she's 42 and he's twenty five, he's such a gentleman but wouldn't shock me if the pair do have a minor fling before the series ends.
 The above screenshots are of Ryohei and Risa meeting up on a Sunday. Ryohei was supposed to go out on a family outing but came up with the excuse that he needed to be at work, as you can see in the two pics it wasn't work but Risa he was going to meet. It may be minor but then again it could be something major as after Ryohei left the house his work called and Yuko talked with a worker from there. Seems Ryohei does need to go into work, she called him with the info but he said there had to be a mix up as he already knew he had to go in on his day off.

 Those lies the two are telling others is eventually going to catch up with them and think sooner than later. Sooner as Mayumi had been out to dinner with her husband Ichiro. Their home life has become quite humdrum and he's a bit depressed at failing to land a role in a stage play, his acting career has hit the wall. Mayumi had an idea to liven up their lives which was to spend a night at a hotel, as she says above they haven't done an act for a while which most married couples should be doing.
 Reluctantly Ichiro agrees to go to the hotel, he doesn't like the thought of spending money as he's a very frugal stay at home husband. In the lobby of the hotel who should Mayumi see getting into an elevator but.... Risa!!!! Mayumi quickly ducked out of the way but she saw Risa was about to kiss a man when the elevator doors were closing, she was unable to see who the man was. Risa had gone out on a mini date with Hiroshi to pacify her mother, that date flopped as Risa ended up in a pool of tears but think it was an act on her part to make Hiroshi not want to be with her, don't think it worked.
 Back to Mayumi who is the most fun and energetic woman of the three friends, may help that she doesn't have any children. She always has a happy face but to me deep down she's a very sad person, though her life isn't terrible things aren't going so well either. Ichiro can't find an acting gig and think it's time to quit his dream of being an actor and find a regular job. Mayumi hasn't told him to do that but the couple live in a very tiny apartment even though the salon she owns seems to be doing well.

 Before the mini date with Risa Hiroshi had met up with Sakiko who wanted to apologize for her daughter missing their first arranged date. Once again the pair have such an enjoyable time together, though their age difference is seventeen years seems the two were made for each other. Hiroshi is such a gentleman but also a lonely man, he reveals to Sakiko he goes into the bank at 8:30 am and often doesn't get home until 10:00 pm or later.
 A schedule like that would definitely turn off many females and Hiroshi admits to Sakiko he realizes that. To me just can't understand why someone at a bank, even though it's a major one, needs to work 12+ hours a day. Perhaps a steady girlfriend or wife would change those hours, wouldn't surprise me if he started working less to see more of Sakiko.
 The trio only had one longish scene together as Mayumi had received coupons for the three to spend the day free at an exclusive beauty spa. Hard to describe their conversations but just listening to the three talking about their lives and the problems they're having is so interesting and the highlight of the show for me. Only one scene together but as pairs they met up a few other times. What a complicated web is about to be wove regarding people's love lives. Sakiko is married yet her husband has been working in Fukuoka for three years, is she eventually going to fall for Hisoshi?
 And is Hiroshi going to get anywhere with Risa? Don't think either are made for each other but may go out on a few more dates to keep Sakiko happy, she's such a quiet and nice person. Meanwhile Yuko's husband is having an affair with Sakiko's daughter Risa, but Yuko has recently met up with her old flame Shima so that could be another twist added into the large web of love.

 That brings us to the conclusion of this recap, shorter than most it seemed but all of the major details were discussed. So far I'm truly loving this drama, as mentioned in the first recap no flashiness or action but just solid storylines with a trio of likable lead actresses. Probably won't do the next pair of recaps until this time next week as there's four dramas I'm currently viewing.
 Up next will be for recaps will be for episode four of 'Lupinranger' followed by ones for 'Video Girl Ai'  and 'Wakako Zake', all of them have been solid watches but especially the last one. Many more screenshots here to help you follow the story better as some minor details may not have been described too fully.