It has been announced that actor Sadao Abe will star in the drama series "Shiawase na Kekkon" (TV Asahi, Thursdays 9pm) which will start in July, and that Takashi Okabe and Yasunori Danta will appear. This will bring together a "dream cast of the theatre world" who are active in many stage productions.
The drama is an original work by Shizuka Oishi , a screenwriter who also made headlines for last year's NHK Taiga drama " To Dear Radiance (Hikaru Kimi e) ." Single lawyer Harada Kotaro (Abe) is attracted to and marries a mysterious high school art teacher Suzuki Nerla ( Takako Matsu), but Nerla is hiding a huge secret... This will be a "marriage suspense" that questions the love between husband and wife.
Okabe plays Suzuki Kou, the uncle who became a mother figure for the siblings Nella and Leo (played by Rihito Itagaki) when they were still young after their mother passed away. He is a golf teaching pro who gives private lessons to important people in the political and business worlds. His role is to cook delicious home-cooked meals for the Suzuki family when they all gather for a meal once a week.
Danta plays Suzuki Kan, the older brother of Kou and father of Nella and Leo. He was the founding president of Japan's largest canned food manufacturer, but was forced out of the company due to his dictatorial nature. He is still secretly searching for an opportunity to start his own business. He hates lawyers.
The five family members, Leo on the first floor, Kotaro and Nella on the second floor, Ko on the third floor, and Hiroshi on the fourth floor, live in the same apartment building and gather at the dinner table once a week. The light-hearted conversations that the five have while enjoying Ko's home cooking are also a highlight of this film.
Regarding his appearance in this production, Okabe said, "I am happy to be working with Abe, who I admire. Actually, I also appeared in the special drama 'Switch' (2020) starring Abe and Matsu, and met them then, but I'm sure neither of them remember me (laughs). I am really happy to be working with him in a role where we have a strong relationship this time."
Danta said, "There are many stories about a man and a woman breaking up and getting back together, but this drama adds a bit of suspense. If the script is good, it can work even if the actors are not that good, and even if the script is not that great, it can work if the actors are good, but this time the script is good and there are many good actors, so it's an amazing production. What is the mystery that Nella is holding, and how will the story progress? Even I, who is starring in the show, am curious to know what will happen next, so I think everyone will enjoy it."
Screenwriter Oishi commented, "Danda is the actor I have worked with the most to date. He is so amazing that I can't explain what is so great about him. He is a Japanese treasure. I have wanted to work with Okabe again since we worked together on 'The Men of the Wada Family' (2021). He was very nervous on the first day of rehearsal, but I think he is someone who can do anything and more. The cast members playing the family are all great actors, so I hope they will make my script about 10 times more interesting."
