"G Senjou no Anata to Watashi" drama: Episode one recap

 

 Air Dates: October 15th until December 17, 2019 on TBS, Thursdays at 10:00 pm

Average Rating: 7.7%, subs were done by Aoihachi

Also goes by the title of You and I on the G-String

Main Cast: Have just viewed the first episode so there will be much tweaking as the shows go on. Not sure what city this takes place in but it's set in Ishikawa prefecture, perhaps the city of Kanazawa? At the beginning of the first show it was mid April 2018 and by it's end it was already June.

Haru as Yaeko Kogure.... 27 year old woman who quit her OL job in the first episode and also then she was dumped by her boyfriend. Shortly after that Yaeko heard Mao playing the violin at an event to draw new students, she was hooked on becoming a master right from that moment. At the moment Yaeko is still unemployed living with her parents.

Taishi Nakagawa as Rihito Kase.... College student who is nineteen and lives at home with his married brother, his wife and the parents. Rihito too heard Mao playing the violin at the event and joined her class but he does have a past with her.

Yuki Matsushita as Yukie Kitagawa.... The third student in the class who also attended the event held in a mall. Yukie is much older than the other pair as she's in her forties, she has a husband and an eleven year old daughter but isn't too happy with her marriage.

Yuki Sakurai as Mao Kuzumi.... Works as a violin instructor at a musical school and is teaching the three newbies above. She's 27 in age and was recently dumped by her boyfriend, of all people it was Rihito's brother and Rihito does have a crush on Mao.

Nobuyuki Suzuki as Yuto Kase.... Rihito's brother who is about 27 in age and works in an office. He had been Mao's boyfriend but got another woman pregnant and had to marry her.

Karen Takizawa as Fumi Kase.... Yuto's pregnant wife and actually quite a nice woman.

 There's a few other minor characters, will add them in if their roles become larger.

 After finishing the "Yuru Camp" drama wanted another show even though I'm viewing a pair currently airing. Am only going to recap one of them so that left a bit of spare time, seeing how I can't do as many posts lately decided to fill the time with another drama. But wanted one that's come out in the last 2-3 years that I had no clue about and a show not featuring any of my bigger faves. Right off the bat lucked out and found this show which I somehow never knew about. The main storyline revolves around a trio of new violin players and what were the odds about that?! That's because about five months ago I completed the Korean drama "Do You Like Brahms?" which was also about a musical school and some violin players, hopefully this will be as good.

 Said I was looking for a show with no big faves but I have liked Haru quite a bit over the years. There aren't many busier actresses than she is and though I did recap her fine 2016 series "ON" haven't viewed enough of her dramas, that needs to be changed. She's only had two regular posts as she shies away from the spotlight but is one superb actress and I really like the way she looks. Have said it in the past which is that Haru and Yuki Kashiwagi could be twin sisters! When you view the screenshots look out for that and they were born just one month apart back in 1991.

 As mentioned in the beginning the time is April 2018 but time flew in this first episode as it was already early June by the end of the show. The location for this first scene was the L'AZA Walk Mall, looked it up but couldn't find any in Japan so perhaps it's fictional? In the top screenshot playing the violin is Mao who was there trying to drum up some new players for her upcoming class. Bit of a sparse crowd but there were three who watched her entire performance, two we'll meet shortly. But the main heroine Yaeko was deeply moved by Mao's playing as she says above and gave her a bouquet of roses for her effort. Mao was confused why and was about to ask that but noticed a bruise on Yaeko's hand so remained mum for the moment. This had to be the worst day in Yaeko's short life which we'll learn about in a flashback scene.

 Yaeko doesn't fool around as she dives into a project head first and bought a 30,000 Yen violin even before the first class. She is a bit worried about her finances as she's recently lost her job or should I say quit, she checked her bank account which had about $16,000 so that should last for a while. She doesn't have too many expenses it seems as she lives with her parents who we'll seldom see. Few days after that performance by Mao at the mall it's time for the first class, to Yaeko's immense relief she wasn't the only student in class. Also there was the woman you see above, her name is Yukie and is quite a nice woman. She's married but isn't happy with her life at the moment nor her husband, when she was watching Mao's performance her husband had to order her to leave rather harshly. It did come out later that Yukie discovered her husband was having an affair, to make some amends she forced him to pay for the violin classes. Though fifteen or so years older than Yaeko the pair hit it off so well and act in a way like sisters.

 Rounding out the trio is a college student named Rihito, at nineteen in age he's by far the youngest person of the three. But also the most determined to master the violin as he's caught on quicker than the others and watching a pair of violin dramas has got me slightly interested in learning it. Rihito is a bit different than most nineteen year old students as he's not into social media and other things along those lines, in class he's one serious student and perhaps too intense. That's because he doesn't pull his words and has let Yaeko know on occasion how bad her playing is but then again she's a bit like Rihito as she doesn't mince her words towards him. Don't think it was the main reason but he does have a history with the instructor Mao, not from dating but we'll soon find out why.

 Classes are just held Monday nights so it's up to the trio to practice on their own. But being new at the violin it's not that easy to do that alone so Yaeko suggested the three should practice together, Rihito was against that though eventually agreed to work with his mates, an excellent suggestion he had was to do it at a karaoke bar. The room at one is certainly large enough plus who would complain about the noise? Nobody would but to Rihito's fury Yaeko and Yukie ended up spending much of their time ordering food and then singing a few tunes, they should be the most serious of the three but that's not the case or at least for now. But soon the trio began working together and Rihito has picked up so much in a short amount of time, he's so much ahead of the other two and has to give them many pointers. After a while they needed a break which is when Yukie asked Rihito what's his relationship with Mao?

 Deep down Rihito has quite a crush on Mao but won't admit that as there is an eight year age difference. But what he did admit was that Mao at one time was engaged to his brother Yuto but he broke it off a few months back. The circumstances were anything but pleasant as Yuto had been secretly seeing someone else and had got her pregnant! So he ended marrying the woman who is named Fumi, we saw her briefly and she is actually a very decent woman. But hearing that story sent Yaeko off the deep end and she tore into Rihito's brother calling him the scum of the earth and many other mean things. He and Yukie sat there in amazement at Yaeko's outburst, where did that come from? That's when Yaeko told her new friends of her recent struggles, she knew exactly what Mao went through as she too had been dumped just prior to her marriage, screenshots from the scene are above.

 Yaeko is usually a very mild mannered woman but does have a hot streak. When her boyfriend Satoshi cancelled the wedding it was at a restaurant and he admitted to seeing another woman. Upon hearing that Yaeko wound up and decked him in front of the diners which was a funny scene but not fun at all for her. That took place at lunch, she then returned to her job at the Takara Standard office but not for long. That's because Yaeko had turned in her resignation because of her upcoming marriage and that afternoon was her final one as an OL at the company. So what a day it was as she first had her wedding cancelled then a few hours later was out of a job. But that day was also when Yaeko visited the mall and heard Mao's violin playing, the bruise she noticed on Yaeko's hand was from punching her ex-boyfriend. So her confession to her mates has cleared the air to an extent but more troubles will be coming up for the trio, should say for the pair of Yaeko and Rihito as Yukie too is such a mild mannered woman or at least for now.

 About seven months ago set a goal to have only three segments for a drama recap. Doing that keeps the posts a bit fresh, easier to read and takes less time to write it up and so far have hit the goal with every drama. So this is the third and final segment for this interesting first show though wish we saw more of the trio learning the violin. Rihito doesn't mince his words and can throw barbs towards anyone but have noticed he can't take them that well when they're said to him. Him and Yaeko have this hate/love relationship going and to Rihito she stepped over the line once too often with her semi mean comments. Perhaps Yaeko has but it's usually responding to what Rihito has said and also noticed that even though Yaeko is 27 in age she's still a bit naive with other people. Above was after the pair's latest confrontation, in class Rihito had asked Mao if he could switch from the class to having individual learning with her. Mao replied that her one on one classes were all booked so reluctantly Rihito has no choice but what's the real reason he wanted individual classes with her?

 After that class he and Yaeko had some words and Rihito stormed off in a huff, that's left Yaeko a bit disappointed in herself. Two days later she made an unexpected visit to his house to clear the air, there she met his brother's pregnant wife Fumi and for some reason Yaeko was expecting her to be some sort of tramp which was far from the kind of woman she is. Rihito was a bit stunned at Yaeko's appearance and dragged her away to a nearby park, doesn't that happen in all dramas? Yaeko's apology didn't go so well and actually for a while seemed Rihito hated more than ever, especially when she tried to compare herself to Mao. True they were both dumped when they were close to their wedding day but that's where the comparisons stop according to Rihito. Think right around this time is when Yaeko realized what a crush he had on their instructor and knowing that helped her smooth things out with the Rihito who is eight years younger.

 Won't go into all of the details but you can see some of the conversation in the screenshots. But the two have come to an understanding and Rihito won't be dropping out of their violin class. Yaeko bid him a farewell and as she was leaving arriving on the scene was his brother Yuto. He had thought Rihito had started a regular band which is why he's met two new women but when Yuto saw Yaeko's violin case her put two and two together. That's of Rihito joining Mao's violin class and was it just to get closer to her? Of course Yuto was Mao's previous boyfriend and he asked his brother why would she want to go out with a college student eight years younger?

 That and other barbs sent Rihito into a frenzy and though we didn't see the direct hit he decked Yuto, looks like we now know for certain why he wanted to enroll in Mao's class. In the final scene the trio of newbie violinists were back at the L'AZA Walking mall and Yaeko happened to win a gift card for free beer at a tavern, she does like her spirits. But the reason for the get together was that Yaeko wants them to enter a school musical recital, it's only been abut five weeks since they began playing the violin. Yukie was all in for it but not Rihito who was adamant about not playing so soon. His main reason was that Yaeko hasn't been taking her practicing seriously enough which she realized was true. So Yaeko vowed to change her ways, she and Yukie pleaded so much that eventually Rihito caved in and the trio in the next show will be in that recital. But how will Rihito's right hand affect his playing? That's because he injured it when he punched his brother and he now has a bandage on it but can still play.

 Three segments but one more paragraph than usual. That's often the case for first episode recaps as there's so many characters and storylines to introduce. This first show was 52 minutes in length while the second was close to 48 which is a few minutes longer than most prime time shows. Solid beginning but think this won't be as interesting as the 'Do You Like Brahms?" drama which I gave a rating of 

8.8/10, episode two recap is the next post.