Koi ni Ochitara: Boku no Seiko no Himitsu (Falling in Love: The Secret of My Success)

[Excerpt from Televiews, Daily Yomiuri, By Wm. Penn, April 21, 2005]:Thursday night's biggest hit may be Koi ni Ochitara: Boku no Seiko no Himitsu (Falling in Love: The Secret of My Success, 10 p.m., on the Fuji network). 'Another strong cast backs up SMAP's Tsuyoshi Kusanagi in another one of his Cinderfella roles. Kusanagi plays 28-year-old Shimao Suzuki, a good, honest, nonmaterialistic man dropped into the IT world. Suzuki took over his family's small screw manufacturing business after his father's death six years ago.

The business is no big moneymaker but it does keep the family minimally comfortable and the small staff paid. (Small manufacturing is in favor this TV quarter. NHK's morning serial Fight is doing quite well with the topic, too.) Suzuki wins a trip to Hawaii and takes his hardworking mother on the vacation of her life. While in Honolulu, they run into Kaori (Nao Matsushita) and her IT boss Takayanagi (Shinichi Tsutsumi, whose haircut bears just the slightest resemblance to Horiemon's hairstyle.) Takayanagi is the smugly content president of "Frontier."

When Suzuki finds and returns Kaori's datebook, Takayanagi is impressed, offers him a name card and tells him to look him up if he should ever need anything. Suzuki says, "Thanks but I doubt you'll ever see me again." Their attitudes toward money and life are poles apart. But while Suzuki is in Hawaii, a dishonest employee bankrupts the screw factory. Vans are hauling off the equipment as they return and his mother dies of a heart attack before she can even get back in the door. Left with nothing, Suzuki takes the crumpled name card and heads for Roppongi Hills, where no one believes he knows Takayanagi, and his name is put on Frontier's computer list of questionable characters.

Not deterred, Suzuki signs on as a security guard at the building. This was one area where the script got a bit iffy. Why would he be hired to keep the place secure if he was on the security risk list? But, anyhow, he has to have some reason to hang around so he can later save the IT magnate's computer system, doesn't he? Ten minutes before launching a big interactive plan, the computer system collapses with a virus and panic reigns until Suzuki sits down and types in the code needed to solve the problem just seconds before the system's scheduled debut. Nanami (Emi Wakui), Takayanagi's old girlfriend and current coworker, then discovers Suzuki was a major computer whiz six years ago.

Not actually believable but still rather watchable, this one gets three stars for potential. But can it follow through?

FUJI TV SYNOPSIS:
Since his father passed away six years ago, Shimao Suzuki has taken over the family business, working diligently at their factory with his mother Aiko and a couple of employees. Though not wealthy, Shimao, Aiko, and Shimao's sister Mariko are satisfied with their life.

One day, Shimao draws a raffle at a local shopping mall and wins a trip for two to Hawaii. He takes his mother, and there he meets a beautiful girl, Kaori Shirakawa, and a young and brilliant entrepreneurial president of Frontier, an up-and-coming IT firm, Toru Takayanagi. Shimao immediately falls in love with Kaori, who has a friendly and warm personality.

Shimao and Aiko come home to find the factory in chaos. The accountant has embezzled the company's money, causing them to go bankrupt. Aiko develops a heart disease and is hospitalized. She needs a heart transplant, but the Suzukis can't afford the medical costs. Before Shimao can come up with a way to clear their debts, Aiko passes away. Shimao and Mariko can do nothing but cry. That's when Shimao remembers what Toru told him in Hawaii. "When you're in trouble, come to me." The following day, Shimao finds himself standing in front of the towering building where Frontier is based. What will be waiting for Shimao inside?

Starring: Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, Wakui Emi, Matsushita Nao, Tsutsumi Shinichi and more.
THEME SONG: "Koi ni Ochitara" by Crystal Kay
NETWORK: FUJI TV
DURATION: April through March 2005
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