Yuika Motokariya: "Love or Not" drama from 2017, episode three recap

 

 Air Dates: March 20 until May 22, 2017 on dTV/FOD at 2:10 am,  then from July 20 to September 28, 2017 on Fuji. Total of ten episodes and subs were done by neutrinoxs.

 Main Cast: Just these characters but we see the boss of Kosuka and Wataru on occasion, will edit the bios as the recaps go on.

Yuika Motokariya as Mako Hirosawa.... Interior designer who is 29 in age and it appears she's never had a boyfriend. That's because Mako's heart still pines for a boy she met when she was nine and he saved her from some bullies who were trying to steal her rabbit doll. She finally met the man in the first show and he didn't live up to her expectations at all.

Kenjiro Yamashita as Kosuke Usami.... Also 29 in age and the boy that helped out Mako all those years ago. He's currently a Salaryman with the Sanba Shoji company and is not that efficient of a worker. When Mako finally met Kosuke after twenty years she was extremely disappointed, in the first show he moved into the apartment below hers. 

Keita Machida as Wataru Sano.... Kosuke's junior at the company but he knows much more than his senpai and is often bailing him out at work. Wataru's father is extremely wealthy and the women flock to him but early on Wataru fell hard for Mako.

Reina Asami as Shiho Hojo.... Mako's friend since high school and she works as a free lance photographer. Like her friend Shiho is quite timid around men but does have a boyfriend who is a doctor though that may not be a lasting relationship.

Erena Mizusawa as Misuzu Mori.... Met Mako in high school, she's two years younger, and currently works as a web writer. She is just so darn attractive and also very outgoing, the next man has been trying to woo her but she's set her sights on Wataru.

Masayasu Yagi as Sota Yabuki.... Owner of the Itsomuno bar/cafe where Kosuke and Wataru often eat lunch or dinner. Sota has been dumped too many times to count by women, after meeting Misuzu in the first show he's fallen head over heels for her but the feeling isn't mutual.

 Was only going to begin with two recaps but have been zipping through this series as I've already watched five shows. But before I forgot what happened thought it's be wise to write this up too and if there was more time would have liked to have done the other two shows. Will admit this is not a must watch drama but have found myself really enjoying it, only being 24 minutes in length helps as the story has moved right along and there's been zero filler. Yuika was the reason for viewing this drama but did discover someone else who is Erena. She's now 29 in age and is so darn good looking, don't know if it'll be possible but will try to do a few posts for her. 

 That previous episode ended off with Mako creating an impressive presentation for Kosuke's company, in turn he cleaned her apartment(a pig sty) where it's now sparkling but the two still aren't enamored with each other. Well, Mako isn't but Kosuke has secretly fallen in love with her again but needs to keep it a hidden as their friends think he can't stand one thing about her. However Kosuke's best friend at the Sanba Shoji company Wataru likes everything about Mako from head to toe. But he was a bit leery about asking her out until Kosuke assured Wataru he has no present day feelings for her and to go for it. Wataru is a handsome guy who is also an ace worker at the company and has often had to bail out the semi lazy Kosuke on many occasions. But though Wataru is handsome, smart and comes from a wealthy family he's a bit inept around women he likes which actually has been very few to date.

 Most women would make the first move on Wataru so he's kind of lost on how to ask Mako out on a date. He prepared a 'love letter' for her which consisted of slides, graphs and stats on why he'd make the perfect mate for Mako, not your usual confession of love! Kosuke too thought it'd be something that would turn Mako off but he took the 'presentation' from his friend and we'll hear more about it later. Meanwhile Mako is getting even more pressure from her father to find a mate as she'll be turning thirty soon. We meet her father at the end of the show and in the next episode we learned he's a farmer but don't know from where. But in her last conversation with him Mako said she had found a potential suitor, one that is handsome, dashing and wealthy. She backed herself into a corner as she promised to send her father some photos with her new boyfriend but her best friend Shiho may be able to save the day.

 In this show we found out that Shiho has been dating a doctor, after what I've seen in this and the next show doubt it'll be a long term relationship. But Shiho has been invited to a party that will be full of doctors, why doesn't Mako come too as that may be a perfect time to meet someone successful or at least get a picture or two to send back to her father. The idea was somewhat sound but the party was a total failure for Mako and her mates. Many of the doctors were much older and Mako couldn't understand one word of what they were talking about(all med terms) and high class people aren't her cup of tea. All Mako wanted to do was to slither away and grab a drink somewhere which she eventually did. Misuzu also tagged along with her friends, she had a much better time at the party but did leave alone which I don't think bothered her.

 But also leaving alone was Shiho as her doctor boyfriend Saeki claimed he had a medical appointment to keep and of course didn't she understand? Shiho did but that kind of treatment has been going on for a while and this Saeki guy is kind of a creep, can't wait until she dumps him. Him having an appointment was just one fat lie as on her way home Misuzu noticed him meeting up with a young gal, she kept her mouth shut on that in this show but will reveal her findings to Shiho soon. No romance in the air either for Misuzu who has had her eyes set on Wataru since that mini party in the first show. She doesn't know it but Wataru only has eyes for Mako which she'll be learning about soon. Misuzu confessed to Sota above her feelings for Wataru which now has broken his heart as he's been secretly enamored with her since that party. So the six main characters all seem to have a crush on someone else in that group, will any pair eventually hook up?

 Yes is the answer to that question as Wataru finally got his courage up and asked Mako out on a date, she replied yes and was looking forward to it. Kosuke had given her that 'love letter' which Wataru created, most gals would have torn it up but Mako found it kind of endearing as she's kind of a nerdish woman but what an attractive one! That date/dinner turned out well and for the first time Wataru has been able to be himself around a woman, when others heard about his wealthy family they become gold diggers but Mako could care less about his riches. So that went well and the pair continue dating into at least the fifth show, but what of Kosuke who secretly still has a crush on Mako?

 Not well for him as he was pacing his apartment in worry waiting for Mako to return from her date. Thinking he may not have heard her return Kosuke went up to her apartment where he tried to eavesdrop to see if anyone was home. Mako wasn't but someone else noticed Kosuke's strange behavior, it was an older man who was much smaller but stronger as he thought Kosuke was a peeping Tom and tried to throw him out of the building. This old man was powerful as in a matter of minutes had subdued Kosuke and as you can see above had him at the building's entrance. But arriving on the scene was Mako with her new love Wataru in tow, she yelled 'What are you doing father?'.

 That statement sent both Kosuke and Wataru for a loop though both knew Mako's father was pressuring her into finding a decent husband. The father had come all the way to Tokyo for he felt Mako was lying to him when she said that she had found a man. Mako was lying at the time but Wataru took control in this bedlam and told the father that he's the man dating Mako and has plans to marry her in the near future! That announcement stunned both Mako and Kosuke, on that note this episode came to it's conclusion. Also coming to a conclusion is this trio of recaps for today, am enjoying this drama more so with each passing show and will have the next trio of recaps in less than a week.