Saikou no Rikon – Episode 11 Synopsis (final)

Episode 11: It’s painful to be honest. I thought marriage is a torture, but I was wrong. Marriage is a food chain. I can only wait silently to be eaten. Ah it’s trying. Four times trying

Mitsuo gets hooked on the popular Akihabara idol group denpagumi.inc after being made to attend their live gig for a social gathering. He ends up buying all sorts of limited edition paraphernalia. On the way back, he stops at Kingyo Cafe and learns from Tomoyo that their father Shuichi who has been living near Lake Kawaguchi, will come to fetch Aiko tomorrow. Tomoyo tells him to inform their father about his divorce then. Meanwhile, Mitsuo continues his attempt to dissuade his grandmother from moving to Lake Kawaguchi by pointing out that there is no pro wrestling over there. However, Aiko replies that she has many unwatched DVDs while Tomoyo chides him for not knowing when to give up.

Mitsuo unwittingly knocks his bag onto the floor and denpagumi.inc paraphernalia fall out. A puzzled Tomoyo picks one CD up. Claiming to be keeping these for someone, Mitsuo agitatedly clamours to have it back. Tsuguo, whose attention has been captured by what Mitsuo is wearing beneath his jacket, tugs it open. All jaws drop at the sight. Mitsuo pulls his jacket off to reveal a t-shirt with the members of denpagumi.inc and declares that this place makes him come alive.

Mitsuo returns home to discover that the cats Matilda and Hassaku have disappeared, and is shocked. They appear to have escaped from the house through the living room window that he had left open. He scrambles to look for them around the neighbourhood but they cannot be found, and he even drops by at Kingyo Cafe. However, Tomoyo and Tsuguo oddly try to prevent him from going in. When Mitsuo bursts out the Matilda and Hassaku are missing, Yuka suddenly pops up from behind the counter and dashes out of the cafe. It seems that she had come to say goodbye to Aiko. Yuka and Mitsuo desperately search for the two cats.

At the same moment, Akari and Ryo are filling up a new marriage registration form. Ryo says they should get Mitsuo and Yuka to be their witnesses while Akari asks why he did not submit the paper the last time. Ryo finally admits to her that he went to the ward office, but received a phone call from a friend to search for a missing pet dog. Because of that, he went along to look for the dog. It was unintentional and he assures her that it will be fine this time round. They will go to the ward office together. Then Akari and Ryo hear pounding at their door. It is Mitsuo and Yuka who have come over to explain what happened and ask for their help to search for the cats together. An apologetic Ryo says that they are in the middle of something and is about to close the door but Akari agrees to go. The four of them look all over the neighbourhood but Matilda and Hassaku cannot be found.

Mitsuo, who brings Yuka home with him, worries about how she seems deeply depressed about not being able to find Matilda and Hassaku anymore because she had heard how a cat would disappear from its owner before it dies. He urges her not to think the worst. The cats will be fine and will come back when they are hungry. But Yuka bursts into tears. He tries to pacify her, offering to make or buy something that she wants. As Mitsuo puts the kettle on the stove, he recalls the day he picked up the two kittens which had been abandoned in a box at the small shrine outside their apartment building. At the same time, Yuka coincidentally received two newborn hamsters from a friend who had 18 of them. To his horror, she was keen on the idea of putting the cats and hamsters together, imagining that they would get along like Tom & Jerry. In the end, they went to secretly return the hamsters to her friend.

Yuka declares that she is leaving even though it is late and the last train has departed. She has an appointment tomorrow. Concerned about her odd behaviour, Mitsuo holds her back and drags her into the living room again, demanding to know what the appointment is about. That is when he learns that she is going for an audition in the morning to appear in the DVD with a seductive married woman in hot spring theme. His eyes widen in disbelief, but he pretends not to know and asks if there will be a towel. Yuka hangs her head. It occurs to him that she was referring to this when she told him about becoming an actress. “You cannot be that sort of actress! Very dangerous things are waiting there. You must not go into that hot spring!” He agitatedly tells her no over and over again. When Yuka says she is aware that there will be no towel, Mitsuo exclaims loudly in shock and tries to explain to her what it means. However, she shows no reaction so he rushes out to the video rental shop and scrambles back with a copy of said DVD in order to let her see for herself what she is getting into.

Yuka finally says that she knows what she will have to do. At that, Mitsuo stares at her, not comprehending how she can go ahead with it if she knows. It is not uncommon for people to begin a career in this after divorce she tells him. He points out that even if that is the case, she is different. This triggers a rant from her. What is different about her? What does he know? What authority does he have? He should not think that they share the same mindset. He is just another person to her so what she does is none of his concern. He has no business or right to interfere. The two of them met by chance on the day of the Great East Japan Earthquake, and what happened at her house was because she was tense with fear (Mitsuo suggested that they hold hands in order to calm her down at the same time that this thought came to her mind). Then they ended up getting married. That is all. If they had not met at that time, they would have remained strangers now; merely people who passed each other at some company’s reception desk. He would not know if she lived or died nor would it concern him.

Mitsuo admits that there were times when he thought that way too, but now he feels differently. In his opinion, a person will typically attempt to look for reasons when they like someone, but that is not the case. There are no reasons or factors. It just happens like it is the most natural thing. But when it becomes a matter of fact, the person will take it for granted and no longer know why he liked that someone in the first place. He concedes that he had taken her company for granted because he found it comfortable and was used to having her around. It is difficult to be together but easy to break up. All this was waiting to happen, but he forgot that he liked her. He tells her that she is an important person to him, and wonders if it is already too late. Before this, Yuka did not know what she meant to him and says she does not think it is too late. She agrees to his request not to appear in the DVD. Hearing that, Mitsuo heaves a big sigh of relief.

But they soon get into their typical verbal spat after she discovers his stash of denpagumi.inc paraphernalia and he defensively declares that Japanese idol culture has gained global recognition. She finds it irritating that he has to talk big while he counters that the bad point about women is their tendency to criticise everything and not attempt to acknowledge men’s interests. He does not understand why she is angry, so she tells him that he said things she does not like. Instead of dropping the matter, he provokes her further by asking if this is the logic of a person who says she cannot understand the meaning of a movie because she kept leaving her seat in the middle of it. In response, she threatens to go and appear in the DVD again. They start picking at each other’s faults.

The next day, Shuichi comes to Kingyo Cafe. Mitsuo is contacted and goes to meet his father with Yuka. Yuka has come along to say goodbye to Aiko before she returns to Fujinomiya. It becomes clear that Mitsuo is very much like his father in personality and behaviour! Told about their divorce, an agitated Shuichi goes in search of Aiko, but realises from her calm demeanour that he and his wife are the only ones still in the dark. When he learns that Mitsuo has not gone to pay his respects to his in-laws after doing such a thing to their daughter, Shuichi says to them that marriage forms a connection between two families. Although Mitsuo and Yuka might have come to the mutual decision to divorce after discussing, this is unacceptable in the prefectures of Yamanashi and Shizuoka. He declares that they go to Yuka’s family home right away and hold a meeting of the two families.

While his father goes to get the car and Yuka makes a phone call to her family, a disturbed Mitsuo asks Aiko what he should do. He and Yuka do not get on well. They always end up quarreling even though they do not intend to. Aiko advises Mitsuo that since he had told Yuka to be happy, he should take her in that direction regardless of whether he is the one at the end.

On the other hand, Ryo and Akari, who have asked Mitsuo and Yuka to sign their marriage registration form as witnesses, head to the ward office to submit the paper. Akari suddenly wonders aloud if it will be all right to gamble on something that has a 1% chance. She tells Ryo with a smile that she believes in him and they walk hand in hand into the ward office.

At Yuka’s family home in Fujinomiya, the meeting of the two families does not quite go as expected. The fathers apologise to each other for their children’s shortcomings. But the all-knowing mothers ask Yuka what she started to dislike about Mitsuo. Without missing a beat, they prompt her with questions. Was it because he did not want to eat meals together or hold hands, or did she feel disgusted if he kissed her on the lips? Yuka implies that they do not kiss now. To the growing horror of the fathers, Mitsuo’s mother Kiyoe remarks that a divorce cannot be helped in that case. Keiko nods in agreement and expresses envy that her daughter could get a divorce. Kiyoe tells Yuka not to dwell on it, she can immediately have a new life. Takehiko thumps the table in disapproval but Keiko welcomes Yuka home and suggests that the Hamasakis stay for dinner.

Later that night at a feast with the Hoshinos and their relatives, Kiyoe lets a surprised Yuka see the divorce registration form that she and her husband have filled up and says the question is whether they should or should not submit it. Meanwhile, Takehiko advises Mitsuo that a man and a woman are not a couple and a couple is also not a family. Once a form is submitted at the ward office, a man and woman become a couple but even so cannot be family. A family is one which drinks tea sometime some day … … but he passes out before he can finish what he is saying. Keiko gets Mitsuo to sing them a song by Sawada Kenji on karaoke. He looks over at Yuka. As their gazes meet, he trails off. They stare at each other for a charged moment before he resumes singing again. Yuka smiles at him.

Mitsuo has to catch the last train back to Tokyo because of work the next day so Yuka walks him out to the front door. They come across Mitsuo’s father picking a quarrel with his wife because she touched his phone after handling prawns; their exchange sounding remarkably similar to Mitsuo and Yuka’s. Next, they overhear Yuka’s mother telling her husband to get out because he stole her pudding although her name was written on it. She declares that she wants a divorce after he informs her that no man will read every name written on a pudding. Outside the house, Mitsuo and Yuka laugh at their pettiness.

Mitsuo sets off alone for the train station. But a short while later he hears Yuka run up from behind him. She holds out a paper bag. However, when he reaches out to take it, she tells him to go to the train station and starts walking. It appears that she has decided to send him off since this will probably be the last time they will see each other. At the train station, Yuka indicates that she wants Mitsuo to get her a ticket so that she can enter the platform. As they wait together, she finds her set of house keys in the pocket of her jacket and tries to return it. He seems reluctant to take the keys from her and keeps dropping it on the floor. Then, he turns to stare at her. She looks back at him quizzically but he says nothing. The train finally pulls up and Mitsuo gets on board. Remembering the paper bag in her hand, Yuka quickly holds it out to him. Even after he takes the handle, she continues to grip onto her side of it. Just as the alarm goes off to signal that the doors are closing, he tugs on the paper bag and reaches out to pull her into the carriage with him.

When the train leaves the station, Mitsuo suddenly exclaims aloud and takes the opportunity to kiss Yuka on the lips while she is off guard. She has a dazed look on her face from the turn of events. Mitsuo, on the other hand, smiles to himself and starts laughing. Before long, Yuka is laughing too and remarks that they are a hopeless couple. Mitsuo agrees but that is okay with him. Meanwhile, Keiko, who had received a phone call from Yuka, excitedly wakes her husband up to inform him that their daughter is in Shin-Yokohama with Mitsuo. The two of them are walking home to Meguro because there is not enough money left after paying for two bullet train tickets. Takehiko wonders why they are back together when they do not get along and will only end up quarreling again. Kiyoe says with a smile that it is probably because Yuka and Mitsuo cannot leave each other even if they want to.

In the same way that they had done during the Great East Japan Earthquake two years ago, Mitsuo and Yuka chat animatedly the whole time as they walk from Shin-Yokohama to Meguro. When they reach Nakameguro, dawn has broken. Yuka’s joy at coming back home is evident as she rushes to one of the bridges over the canal, raises her arms and laughs happily. Walking up to her, Mitsuo smiles, removes her glove and takes her hand in his. They walk the short stretch home hand in hand.

Back at the apartment, there are still no signs of Matilda and Hassaku. But when Yuka takes a seat at the dining table, she seems to feel something. Her eyes widen in surprise and she indicates that they should look beneath the table. The two cats have quietly hidden underneath. Mitsuo and Yuka so overwhelmed by their return that they tear up and embrace each other tightly.

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Ryo: I was recently told by my students that I’ve lost what made me distinctive. When I told my wife, she said that’s a good thing, and I guess it’s okay. My child is due this autumn. I’m already too excited that I’ve been grinning. But it seems that it’ll be a girl. That’s very worrying because there’re a lot of bad guys around. I’m now thinking hard to find ways to protect her from these fellows.

Akari: Lately, I’ve been on the phone with my mum everyday. All I hear from her is that I should eat beans in the initial stage. I’m still anxious but well I’m the same and yet I’ve been experiencing some changes. I’ve sort of been finding myself all this time, but I guess that no longer matters. Rather than that, I wish to just live for someone. I’ll think of my husband and child and continue to eat natto. After all, it’s easier to like a person than to like oneself. If I can like a person, I’ll be able to like myself too.

Yuka: We’ve decided to submit the marriage registration form. But you see, because I’ve told the people around me that we’ve divorced, I can’t say that we’ve gotten back again. In truth, I still haven’t submitted it. Right now I’m attending cooking classes, but I’ve kept it a secret from my husband. It’s quite fun but one thing I’ve learnt is that I may become good at cooking in class but it doesn’t cultivate the desire to make food. Yesterday, I made curry. My husband ate it and said it was delicious. But when I tried to eat it, it tasted like a beetle!

Mitsuo: I’ve recently been on a self-improvement plan. I’m training to make myself sloppy. For example, I’d place the side of the DVD with the text downwards on the table. My wife is a master at being unrefined because she’d grab a DVD with the hand that ate potato chips as if it were normal. I admire her. It’s already the work of a god. My wife’s sloppiness has doubled and my tolerance has also doubled. It’s four times trying. I thought marriage was a torture but I was wrong. Marriage is a food chain. If my wife is the tiger, I’m the deer. If she’s the anteater, I’m the ant. If she’s a bee, I’m honey. I’ll eventually be grass. I can only wait silently to be eaten. Ah, it’s trying. Four times trying … … Lately, I feel that I’ve changed. I respond even if people call me “Hamazaki”. When I think about it, it makes no difference to me.

Related Posts:

• Saikou no Rikon – Episode 10 Synopsis
• Saikou no Rikon – Episode 9 Synopsis
• Saikou no Rikon – Episode 8 Synopsis
• Saikou no Rikon – Episode 7 Synopsis
• Saikou no Rikon – Episode 6 Synopsis
• Saikou no Rikon – Episode 5 Synopsis
• Saikou no Rikon – Episode 4 Synopsis
• Saikou no Rikon – Episode 3 Synopsis
• Saikou no Rikon – Episode 2 Synopsis
• Saikou no Rikon – Episode 1 Synopsis

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