Official Website
www.tbs.co.jp/renai-neet
Broadcast
Thursdays, 10.00 – 10.54 p.m. from 20 January 2012
Station
TBS
Story
Kinoshita Rin, who works in the sales promotion department at a publishing house, is a beauty as well as a career woman who handles all the work by herself. However, her stilted interactions with the people around her causes her to be shunned by her boss who regards her as a subordinate who is “difficult to deal with”, and also her subordinates who find her to be an “unsupportive superior”. One day, Rin attends the “divorce ceremony” of a good friend, Watanabe Miho, together with fellow friend Aizawa Nanako to wish Miho a fresh start. Before long, Nanako, who believes in “love supreme”, sets her eyes on a group of three men at the venue. They are friends of Miho’s ex-husband: Matsumoto Naoya, a popular dentist; Ota Kota, a flavourist who works at a leading food company, and the handsome Makino Shunpei, a part-timer. After a round of introductions by Miho, the six of them start drinking together. The conversation grows lively as they get to know each other. Then Rin nonchalantly says she lives only for work and has not had romance in her life. In fact she has not had sex in 8 years. Everyone present is dumbfounded and the three men draw away at those words. However, Matsumoto, Ota and Makino are actually people with the “renai neat” lifestyle too … … Matsumoto does not want to get married, Ota has a fear of love, and Makino does not trust women.
Characters
Nakama Yukie as Kinoshita Rin
A woman around 40 who works in the sales promotion department of a publishing house. She is a beauty, but she has shut out her femininity in order to get rid of the pain of long-dead relationships. As a result, she is shunned by her boss who regards her as a subordinate who is “difficult to deal with”, and also her subordinates who find her to be an “unsupportive superior”. Her parents died 9 years ago, and her own life has taken a backseat to her younger siblings who are of high school going age. Things like that keep coinciding and she ends up spending her days cut off from love.
Ryo as Aizawa Nanako
A woman around 40 who works in a PR firm. Because she had the time of her youth right in the era of the bubble economy, she aspires for the best in every respect. It is her motto to enjoy life and enjoy being a woman, and she makes full use of the 24 hours in a day in both work and her private life. Other than gorgeous looks and a rich experience in love, she has many male fans because she is like a caring older sister. She is also a rare friend to Rin because she makes her say what she really thinks. Where age is concerned, she should consider putting an end to her history of love affairs, but … …
Ichikawa Mikako as Watanabe Miho
Kinoshita Rin’s classmate and good friend. An affair by her husband of 5 years prompted her decision to divorce because if she is to start over again, she has up to 35! She gets her friends Rin and Aizawa Nanako to wish the two of them a fresh start at a “divorce ceremony”, and meets three of her ex-husband’s three friends who are there to attend the ceremony. She thinks that marriage is a woman’s happiness, and would wish to marry the next day if there is a right man. However, she feels some anxiety about having to start a romance again with someone new now that she is over 30.
Sasaki Kuranosuke as Matsumoto Naoya
A dentist and bachelor. As might be expected of a popular doctor in private practice who has even been introduced by the media, the waiting room is filled with female patients wanting to meet him. He also has a reputation as a dentist who is difficult to get appointments with. Matsumoto has completely no intention of getting married and is a “renai neat” who makes a serious effort to avoid romance. He loves trying out sweets at various places, and has a particular liking for puddings. Together with Ota and Shunpei, he forms a “sweets club”. This is the only gathering where he show his true self … …
Nagayama Kento as Makino Shunpei
He looks to be a passive, fashion conscious herbivorous type, but inside, he is quite a tactician and a carnivorous type who will hold on to his targeted spoils. He is what is called a roll cabbage (herbivore on the outside, but a carnivore at heart). He has a quick mind, understands what the other person is seeking in an instant, and is able to play his cards well. To him, love is no more than a method to fill the empty hours. In other words, he is a “renai neat” who cannot have a genuine love. He also has no passion for life, but does not feel that emptiness, and lives the life of a part-timer day by day.
Tanaka Yuji as Ota Kota
A flavourist who works at a famous food company. He is scared of love, wears his heart on his sleeve and is easily jilted. Because of his repeated experiences of heartbreak, he is a “renai neat” who has given up on love right from the beginning since women will only choose men based on physical appearance. Nevertheless, he does not despair and secretly harbours a desire to be the anti-prince, thinking that some day, a wonderful woman who sees the good in him will appear … … He combines work with his hobby of sweet research.
Muroi Shigeru as Amemiya Hiromi
The president of Kinoshita Rin’s company. A divorcee. She started her own company and even though it was small, the business was on track and she worked hard. She is a dependable woman who has been through a lot in life. She is like a sort of surrogate parent to Rin, who had to look after her younger siblings after her parents died not long after she joined the company. But lately, the source of Rin’s worry … …
Click here for pictures from the press conference.
© jdramas.wordpress.com.
Jdrama Weblog 