Date ~ Koi to wa Donna Mono Kashira

Official Website
www.fujitv.co.jp/date

Broadcast
Mondays, 9.00 – 9.54 p.m. from 19 January 2015

Station
Fuji TV

Story
Yabushita Yoriko works for the Cabinet Office’s Economic Research Institute after researching the application of macroeconomic mathematical models at Tokyo University’s Graduate School of Mathematical Scientific Research. She is an ultra-rationalist who does things at her own pace and lacks flexibility. She likes an efficient and systematic lifestyle. The train she boards, seat she sits in, path she walks, clothes she wears and menu she eats are determined by the day of the week. Because of these quirks, it is difficult for Yoriko to interact with people and she does not get on well with those around her. However, her life has been going as planned since her student days. She graduated from Tokyo University’s graduate school, became a national civil servant and even has tens of millions in savings. Yoriko’s next task is marriage and childbirth, but her appointed time limit will soon be here. As she approaches 30, she is encouraged by her father, Toshio, to go on arranged dates. Although Yoriko has not dated before, she promises to do so after considering that her late mother, Sayoko, got married and gave birth when she was 29, and that she will be able to contribute to addressing the country’s falling birth rate if she has a child. Believing that marriage is no more than a contract with an ideal partner, Yoriko thinks that she should first find a partner and if that person likes her, the deal is done. However, her arranged dates all end in failure … … Taniguchi Takumi is a self-professed “high class idler” who will never personally acknowledge it, but is socially called a NEET. He lives with his mother, Rumi, who runs art classes at home. He would wake up in the early afternoon, read the newspapers as he has his meal and then start on a novel while sitting on the sofa with an affected pose. Without employment, Takumi relies on his parent for everything. However, he takes pride in his own lifestyle of indulging in the world of literature and the arts all that he wants instead of having to work. He is cheerful, mild and intellectually smart. While Takumi gives himself the airs of a high-class idler, he feels that with his lack of economic clout, he is not qualified to seriously date a female let alone marry. His concerned childhood friend, Shimada Sotaro, brings materials from a dating agency. Takumi protests vehemently that he has high ideals, and yet he feels insecure. Because of Rumi’s tendency to fall sick in addition to her old age, he has to face the reality that if she passes away, he will not be able to continue with his current lifestyle. That is when Takumi thinks of marriage to a woman whom he can sponge on in place of his mother! On the other hand, Yoriko, has given up on marriage, but decides to register at a dating agency when she learns that her father feels responsible. She reports that she has decided to go on a date with a man whom she has fallen with at first sight. This person is Takumi who pretends to be working for a publishing company … …

Characters
Anne as Yabushita Yoriko
A 29-year-old expert in forecasting macroeconomic trends, she studied the application of macroeconomic mathematical models at Tokyo University’s Graduate School of Mathematical Scientific Research. She was also engrossed in solving the Millennium Problems. She now works for the Cabinet Office’s Economic Research Institute and is passionate about being able to serve the country and society. She is an ultra-rationalist and completely lacks flexibility. A woman unsuitable for romance. She likes an efficient and systematic lifestyle. The train she boards, seat she sits in, path she walks, clothes she wears and menu she eats are determined by the day of the week. Her life has been going as planned. What is left for her is marriage and childbirth. Because the females around her got married around 30, she believes it would naturally be the same for herself too, and starts taking action toward marriage, but … …

Hasegawa Hiroki as Taniguchi Takumi
A NEET who is a self-professed “high class idler”. He loves literature, arts, music and pleasure but has no ability to earn a living. A man unsuitable for romance. He has been sponging off his mother, Rumi, whom he lives with. However, she has been falling sick often in addition to her old age. He has to face the reality that if his mother passes away, he will not be able to continue with his current lifestyle. That is when he thinks of marriage to a woman whom he can sponge on in place of his mother!

Nakajima Yuto as Washio Yutaka
He hates dishonesty and is a rare, strait-laced young man with no faults. An expert at kendo, he makes the acquaintance of Yabushita Yoriko’s father, Toshio, at a kendo training hall. They hit it off and Toshio takes him for Yoriko’s marriage partner. He agrees to a matchmaking date, but is dumped by her. Because he feels an obligation to Toshio, he worries about Yoriko who keeps going on dates with Taniguchi Takumi and steps between the two of them, but … ..

Kuninaka Ryoko as Shimada Kaori
A cheerful, free-spirited person who is considerate of others. She used to be a delinquent. She is a student of Taniguchi Rumi. Unfortunately, she is still a struggling artist. She would occasionally go in and out of the Taniguchis’ home because she draws at Rumi’s classes and teaches the children. She now helps out in carpentry and clerical work at Shimada Corporation, the building contractor’s office which her elder brother, Sotaro, runs. Takumi was actually her first love, but … ..

Matsushige Yutaka as Yabushita Toshio
Yabushita Yoriko’s father. A good-hearted man who wishes for his daughter’s happiness every day. He works for the Itabashi Ward Office. Because the family has been civil servants for generations, he is proud that his daughter is a civil servant employed by the national government. Yoriko’s patriotism comes from him. He wants to be a strict father, but his arguments are feeble because he is timid and does not have a way with words. He cannot forget his late wife, Sayoko, and there are times when he even cries … … Although he has a hard time dealing with Yoriko’s peculiarities, he hopes that she will have a happy marriage, just as he had promised Sayoko, but … …

Fubuki Jun as Taniguchi Rumi
Taniguchi Takumi’s mother. A cheerful, naive woman who constantly surrounds her son with warmth. She teaches children drawing at art classes in her home. Although she is a benevolent person who acknowledges that there are diverse ways of life, she divorced her husband quite a while ago. Every now and then, she would drink Chinese herbal remedies because of ill health. She has been agonising about her son’s life. But because this was her own doing, she has partly given up and yet gives him money against her better judgement. She half-jokingly listens to his talk of marriage … …

Scriptwriter
Kosawa Ryota (Legal High Series, Suzuki Sensei)

Click here for photos from the press conference.

Related Post:

• Date CM

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