WATASHI WA DOUKA SHITEIRU (jdrama)
The best scene so far!!!doki doki
A short drama with only 8 episodes starring Ryusei Yokohama (Takatsuki Tsubaki) and Miname Hamabe(Hanaoka Nao) who are both childhood sweethearts.
Nao and her mother(Okada Yuriko) used to lived in Kougetsuan and the latter work there as a confectioner. Takatsuki Itsuki is the son of the master and the only inheritor of the Kougetsuan shop that sells traditional Japanese sweets.
When Tsubaki met the young Nao he prefers calling her "Sakura" instead of her real name. They both enjoyed making sweets together and having stayed in Kougetsuan, Nao learned not only the art of making sweets and delicacies but she found a new home.
But not all things go as planned. An unfortunate incident happened,Nao saw the unconscious body of Itsuki lying on the cold floor and Tsubaki holding a bloody knife and when authorities arrived in the scene Tsubaki pointed Yuriko as the culprit. Since then Nao developed a phobia or even feared anything that is red in color. Her mother was accused because of the fingerprints found on the knife and unfortunately passed away losing any chance to clear her name. Nao vanished from Kougetsuan and was sent to the orphanage.
Years have passed and Nao having inherited her mom's incredible talent, Now works in a confectionary shop and one of her customers who later became one of her good friends invited her to make the sweets for her wedding. It so happened that there was a competition in which Kougetsuan is also part of. At first,Nao was hesitant to join the competition.
Suddenly a stranger appeared and handed her a letter from her mother claiming her innocence.
The stranger is no other than Kaoru Takigawa who helped Nao hid her identity and even asked for Yuko Miyabe's help to pose as Nao's mother.
Tsubaki and Shiori Hase visiting Yuko Miyabe
Nao who was recently fired from her job and after reading her mother's confession motivated her to join the competition.
Tsubaki now the heir of Kougetsuan met Nao who had no idea that she was her childhood friend.
For this competition, Kougetsuan won but Nao won praises for her work as well. Tsubaki was seemingly impressed and probably was drawn to her. What is even more shocking is that he offered Nao to marry him after the competition.
Nao determined to prove her mother's innocence willingly agreed to his offer
On the other hand, Tsubaki wanted Nao's help to stop an arranged marriage and to gain more knowledge in confectionary making.
Tsubaki was set to marry Shiori Hase who was the daughter of a well known family. There marriage was part of a business deal.
Nao finally set foot in Kougetsuan after 15 long years.
Kougetsuan the very place who stole her mother and her dreams.
As promised, Nao helped Tsubaki to stop the wedding and she packed her belongings and willingly agreed to move in his home.
But Kyoko(Tsubaki's mother) gave Nao a cold shoulder and wanted her out of the house. She would sing verses in the middle of the night and uses underhand tactics for personal gain.
During her stay in Kougetsuan, Tsubaki and Nao learned to rely on each other and help each other in running the shop.
Tsubaki telling Jojima to keep his distance from Nao
The lovely pair both help Jojima who once made Shimaya warabi mochi with his father.
Jojima met Tsubaki a few years ago during a fair and mistakenly thought he ruined their sweets a few years ago. But it was Kyoko who was behind all of this. Nao's kindness moved him and he finally learned to let go of his hatred towards Tsubaki. The warabi mochi is now one of the best selling Japanese sweets in their shop.
Nao and Tsubaki may have grown to hate each other because of what happened in the past but their love was able to conquer all of that. They could no longer hide their feelings and they did fall in love. Tsubaki told her about Sakura and he wanted to believe Nao that he was not his childhood friend. They both spend the night together.
What could have been a fake relationship turns out to be real. Tsubaki wished to marry Nao for real.
However, one big revelation is gonna ruin their newfound happiness. As Nao was investigating the incident, she found letters and a paternity test result. This was a huge surprise that even Tsubaki is not even aware about.
Yuriko and Itsuki were lovers in the past. They were together even before he was arranged to marry Kyoko. They were both married in paper but never acted as a couple.
Itsuki soon found out that Yuriko was carrying his child which is Nao.
In the previous episodes it was emphasized that Tsubaki all his life wanted to win his grandfather's trust and approval.
On the other other note,Nao made a firefly confectionary and the grand master had the chance to taste it.He was so delighted because he have tried a similar one before.He realized that Itsuki his son also made the same sweet that only a true Kougestuan heir can make.
Before the real culprit was found Nao kept this as a secret and even hid her pregnancy.
On the night of the Twilight Tea Ceremony, the grand master drafted a will and the only heir to Kougestuan is Itsuki's natural descendant. Kyoko found out about this and was so furious refusing to help the old man who was ill.
Kyoko and Nao had a confrontation and Tsubaki overheard the conversation between the two. He felt betrayed that he trusted her and was even unware of her pregnancy.
Suddenly a fire happened and he was trapped inside but Shiori came to the rescue and earned Tsubaki’s favor.
After the incident, Tsubaki and Nao never had the chance to mend their relationship and went separate ways,
Years after, Nao opened her own confectionary shop with the help of Takigawa.
Shiori refused to marry a new man and decided to runaway from home and worked in Kougestuan. She was so infatuated with Tsubaki even lying to her parents that she is carrying his child when in fact Tsubaki never really liked her.
Later Tsubaki found out about Nao's pregnancy but it was too late, they lost their baby because of the fire accident.
His grandfather is sick and Tsubaki is diagnosed with an eye problem.
The very reason why Nao wanted to inherit Kougetsuan as soon as possible was for Tsubaki to rest and do the eye surgery.
Tsubaki have served Kougetsuan for so long that he never had any chance to pursue what he wanted.
The Grand Master wanted to choose between Nao and Tusbaki to be the next heir of Kougetsuan. To make things fair,he prepared a competition but with a twist. He asked both of them to prepare their own sweets and whoever wins will be the next heir.
He called Kyoko and asked her to choose which of the sweets is the best. Unaware of what Tsubaki made she picked the one made by Nao.
The tables have turned now and She was so enraged of the result.
Meanwhile, there was another one big surprise that shooked everyone. Kyoko after marrying Itsuki found out that he was still in love with Yuriko. To win him back she had an affair with a a married man who happens to be Takigawa's father. She bore him a child and was raised as Itsuki's son. Yes,Tsubaki and Takigawa are half-brothers.
Takigawa found out about his father’s affair decided to visit Kyoko on the night of the incident but Itsuki stopped him and accidentally stabbed him. He flee away from the scene and Kyoko intentionally replaced the weapon with Yuriko's own knife and had the perfect alibi with the help of Tsubaki. The little Tsubaki saw that Yuriko was the last person he saw with his father.
Takigawa finally surrendered but it was very sad because Nao could no longer have the chance to have a complete family.Same goes with Tsubaki,The only redemption his mom did was when she donated her eyes for Tsubaki's surgery.
It must be hard to be trapped in a loveless marriage but ruining someone's family is never an option.
Shiori and Jojima ended up together
Finally Nao became the heir of Kougetsuan. She is no doubt the daughter of a master having showed exemplary skills in confectionary making. She overcome her fears made her own delicious sweets.
Tsubaki returned and they shared a very sweet kiss. The curse in Kougetsuan is now broken.
I want to see their future family and their cute little babies together. For them to live a happy life that they both deserved.
Overall this drama is well written with a lot of shocking revelations. Yokohama Ryusei looks good in every angle and Miname Hamabe is also very pretty .They both are very good actors.
The first J-drama I saw with this kind of theme was Kyoto Love Story that aired a few years ago. This one deals with revenge and betrayal. The mouth watering delicacies are such a masterpiece .The savory sweets were made from the heart and rich in Japanese culture. The scenery is breathtaking.
theartofmadeline
blakekathryn
