JAPANESE DRAMA DATABASE: Ai no Uta

Ai no Uta (Music of Love)

[Excerpt from Daily Yomiuri, Televiews, 10/20/05, Wm. Penn] The dream of starting life all over again is a powerful one, especially if your first 20 years have included no love or emotional support. Yoko Matsuda, played by the always competent Miho Kanno, gives in to the temptation to lie and push the reset button in Ai no Uta (Wednesdays, 10 p.m., NTV network).

In a well-crafted first 10 minutes, we are shown how Yoko has been raised by an irresponsible mother who could just as well have left her at the hospital at birth, a turn of events that might have turned out better for everyone. Instead, Yoko grows up in a loveless home, ranking way below her mother's boyfriends and various forms of amusement.

Yoko eventually sets off on a string of unsuccessful relationships herself, the last leaving her homeless and on a train to Tokyo, where she jumps into a river but fails to die. Drenched, she drags herself into the closest location, a small bar where several police officers hang out, including the ever-smiling Kenji Kataoka (Koji Tamaki).

Yoko wakes up in a hospital and notices the name card above her bed has a question mark where her name should be. She sees it as her chance to start all over by claiming amnesia and seizes the opportunity. Meanwhile, Kataoka offers to take her into his home until she remembers who she is. This is an exceptionally kind offer since he already has his three motherless young children to raise with only the help of the family dog, who has just got to be this season's most adorable canine star. Move over Qoo-chan and Masao-kun, competition has arrived.

Evidently, NTV is not certain how well this story line will fly with the public and has not yet announced exactly how many episodes they will air, but with a good cast and the dog, it may just be one of the most unexpectedly viewable surprises of the new autumn season. Worth a glance.

Starring: Kanno Miho, Tamaki Koji, Wakui Emi, Narimiya Hiroki
TV NETWORK: NTV
Theme Song:
DURATION: October through December 2005