"Sono Goen Otodokeshimasu: Mercari de Atta Honto no Hanashi' drama: Episode four recap

 

 Air Dates: November 3rd to December 6, 2020  Tuesday nights at 1:00 am on MBS

Also goes by the name of 'The Fate, I Will Deliver: True Story of Mercari'

Subs were done by aoihachi at DA.

Main Cast: Just these two but many guest stars in each episode.

Marie Iitoyo as Riku Kuroe.... Owns a small delivery truck called 'Elephant Express' and she delivers packages for the Mercari site. They're an online flea market but Riku doesn't believe she's just delivering items but instead dreams or has she also often says fate. Her parents died in a fire a decade earlier and doesn't seem she liked them all that much.

Muka Tuskaji as Shiro Mita.... He owns a small grocery where Riku has her work base. When her parents died Shiro became her foster parent but not much else is known about him.

Guest Stars:

Rie Tomosaka as Namie Homano.... Married housewife for four children, it being a small apartment complex it's easy to hear them if you're her neighbor.

Kazuyuki Ando as Ryuji Matsumoto .... Namie's neighbor who is an elderly, retired man who often has complained about the noise from her apartment. Namie and her friends think he's just a cranky old man but he's actually the complete opposite. 

Mitsuko Oka as Michiyo Matsumoto.... Ryuji's wife who has been bedridden for a few years and doesn't have much time to life.

Wasn't too much of a shock that this series ended up being subbed, seems that's often the case with these late night dramas. It's just a six episode drama so will do three sets of two recaps, a show is only 23+ minutes so these will be much shorter than usual which in a way I'm so thankful for. Though such a minor series the guest stars have all been people we've seen before in so many other shows. Such as Rie above who I've seen in so many other dramas and have always liked her. She's 41 in age but for some reason thought she was much older though she does look 41 in the screenshots.

 Still didn't see enough of Marie but will begin off with her. In each episode she's taken a mini break from her deliveries to have a piece of her favorite candy. In them is an insert which you can see above, in all four shows Riku has gotten one that says 'You Win'. Riku is amazed she keeps winning but what she's won or could win is unknown through these four shows but think we'll find out in the final episode. Also then is when we may learn about why Riku seems to have hatred for her parents who died a decade earlier, it was the anniversary of their death but she wouldn't attend a ceremony.

 That's Rie above who plays Namie in this story, she's a middle aged woman with four young children and we all know how loud they can be. So doesn't her neighbor Ryuji who constantly complains about the noise, not just of the children but of how loud Namie is too. But he seems like a nice enough guy to Namie and perhaps he's that way because he lives by himself. It's not just Namie he tells to keep it down to but all of the other children and mothers in the complex. With four children Namie and her husband Taiji need to watch expenses, instead of throwing out a new lipstick sample she decided to sell it on Mercari though couldn't have been for too much money but maybe she does it often. 

 So of course Riku was he one to pick up the delivery and looked at the address a bit oddly. That's because a short while later she bumped into Namie when she was delivering the package, it was addressed to her neighbor and how didn't Namie notice that? Within a minute who should arrive to pick up his mail but the elderly gentleman Ryuji, Namie watched him and said the package was from her, he gave her the brushoff and left quickly. That aroused the curiosity of Namie whose friend brought up that Ryuji may be a crossdresser as he lives alone. That was far from the truth as Namie was about to learn, a few weeks later she received a note from Ryuji asking if she could attend a funeral and to her surprise it was for his wife!

 Why you may ask would a grumpy old man want a noisy neighbor to attend the funeral of his wife, a woman Namie didn't even know existed? As it turns out she had inserted a note into the package of lipstick she sold, Namie had no clue who it was going to but had still wrote she hoped the small package would bring that person much joy. Which it did and at the funeral Ryuji told Namie all about his life with his wife Michiyo. But I did find it strange they were the only two at the funeral, wonder if it was well after or perhaps it was just the wake.

 Michiyo had been bedridden for close to three years, according to her doctors it was miracle she held on for as long as she has but she doesn't have much time left. Ryuji is retired and spent his days taking care of his wife who he truly loved and wanted her final days to be perfect. That was the main reason for him yelling at Namie and the other mothers to hush their children as it kept Michiyo awake and she couldn't find any peace. Usually they wouldn't have bothered him Ryuji said but he was just thinking of his wife. Michiyo had loved red lipstick for her entire life as it looked so nice on her, Ryuji wouldn't admit it to her over the years but also thought it added that special something to her appearance.

 So as a 'final gift' Ryuji bought the lipstick off Mercari as he'd be too embarrassed to walk into a store to purchase a tube. Michiyo was overcome with joy as she put it on her for the first time in years, a few days after is when she passed away but she did a very happy woman. That was a bit of a tearjerker for a story and it really got to Namie who so wished she had known the woman. Her and Ryuji quickly became close friends and now that he's alone Ryuji didn't mind the loud noise of children as he's often with Namie's kids and is kind of grandfather to them. 

 That top screenshot above is an old photo of Riku with her deceased parents, have a feeling we'll know why she doesn't seem to like them all that much in the final episode. Two more to go in this series which as mentioned is kind of fluffy and far from intense but I've enjoyed every show and it's good to watch a drama like this now and again. Will be back in two weeks for the final pair of recaps.