It has been announced that actress Takako Matsu will star as the heroine in TV Asahi's July drama series "Shiawase na Kekkon" (Thursdays at 9pm). This will be Matsu's first time appearing in a TV Asahi drama series. She will play the wife of lead actor Sadao Abe , and this will be the third time the two have played husband and wife, following the films "The Dream Sellers" (2012) and "Farewell to Kamora Village" (2015).
The drama is an original work by Oishi Shizuka Oishi , who also wrote the popular NHK Taiga drama " Dear Radiance (Hikaru Kimi e) " last year. Popular lawyer Harada Kotaro (Abe), who has always remained single, is attracted to and marries Suzuki Nerla, a mysterious high school art teacher, but Nerla has a huge secret... The story is a "marriage suspense" that questions the love between a husband and wife.
Matsu plays Nella, a woman who brings about a major change in Kotaro's view of marriage. Influenced by her mother, who was a fan of Miyazawa Kenji, she was named "Nella" after Campanella, a character in "Night on the Galactic Railroad." After her mother dies, she lives in the same apartment building as her father, brother, and uncle. She studied restoration at a graduate school, and after graduating, she went to Italy to study. After returning to Japan, she continued to work on painting restorations, but after a certain incident, she becomes a part-time art teacher at a private high school. She captivates Kotaro with her mysterious charm and they suddenly get married, but she harbors a big secret that she has not revealed to Kotaro...
Abe and Matsu have worked together on stage, in movies and in dramas many times, in addition to the roles they played as a married couple. Matsu commented, "I'm very excited as this is my first time appearing in Shizuka Oishi's drama. And it's my first time in a TV Asahi drama series, so I feel at ease knowing that I can rely on Abe, who I often work with. In the past, in the works I've worked with Abe on, there haven't been many happy endings, but this time the title has 'happiness' in it... so I hope we can find happiness."
"My character doesn't talk much, but Abe's character is one whose job is to talk. When we worked together before on (the 2020 special drama) 'Switch,' we played characters who talked all the time to the point that we both got tired of each other (laughs), so this time it seems like it's going to be completely different," she said.
Abe said, "I think I have co-starred with Matsu more times than any other woman, so I'm looking forward to working with her again this time. Matsu and Nerla are completely different! When I read the script, I thought Nerla is a mysterious character and it would be really difficult to play, but I'm sure Matsu could do it." He expressed his expectations, saying, "I'm really looking forward to seeing how Matsu will create the character of Nerla, and to seeing Matsu play a really difficult and mysterious role."
