giving semblance to those passing thoughts

Lunch no Joou (Lunch Queen) 7.5

Lunch no Joou. Japanese Drama (2002)












(Tomato, Yujiro, Minoru, Natsumi, Junzaburo, Koshiro, Kennichiro.)

stars:
Yuko Takeuchi as Natsumi Mugita, lead
Yosuke Eguchi as Yujiro Nabeshima, serious second brother
Satoshi Tsumabuki as Junzaburo Nabeshima, earnest third brother
Tomohisa Yamashita as Koshiro Nabeshima, carefree youngest brother
Shinichi Tsutsumi as Kennichiro Nabeshima, errant oldest brother
Takayuki Yamada as Minoru Ushijima, youngest brother's friend, restaurant apprentice
Go Wakabayashi as Kenzo Nabeshima, wise old dad
Misaki Itoh as Tomato Shiomi, delivers groceries and evil looks at Natsumi
Go Morita as bad ex-boyfriend

SYNOPSIS:
Natsumi (Yuko Takeuchi) works as a waitress in a cafe. Abandoned by her father as a young child and possessing many other unhappy memories of the past, Natsumi lives for lunch time, that precious hour of the day where she is free and in charge. Through times of extreme depression and poverty, lunch was the one thing that never changed and never let her down. Her favorite meal? An egg omelette filled with fried rice and covered in demiglace sauce.
One day, she is pulled from a glorious lunch by a patron of the cafe (Shinichi Tsutsumi) where she works. Incensed at being disturbed in the middle of her meal, she yells and raves and refuses his strange and desperate request that she pose as his fiancee and accompany him to reconcile with his dying father. That is, until Kennichiro tells her that his father and three younger brothers run Cafe Macaroni, an Italian restaurant that is famed for its handmade demiglace sauce. How can she refuse such an opportunity?

Kennichiro, citing a misunderstanding within the family as the reason for his longtime separation, asks Natsumi to scope out the restaurant before he goes in. The egg omelettes at Cafe Macaroni are indeed amazing, and her obvious enjoyment of the dish draws the attention of both Yujiro and Junzaburo, Kennichiro's second and third brothers (seeing her smile, Junzaburo is a lost cause for the rest of the drama) . However, Kennichiro's entrance doesn't bring the fond family reunion that Natsumi expects; instead, Yujiro rushes toward him in a fit of violent rage, shocking Natsumi into speechlessness. Both Natsumi and Kennichiro are surprised to find that Mr. Nabeshima in good health, and Natsumi becomes increasingly shocked when she discovers that Kennichiro had a falling out with his family by refusing to help with the family restaurant and running away with a large sum of the earnings. She is left even more aghast when Kennichiro repeats his crime and leaves Natsumi to fend for herself. Through a combination of Natsumi's tenacity and the Nabeshimas' pity for her situation, she is allowed to stay and help out at the restaurant while waiting for her wayward "fiance" to return.

Gradually, the Nabeshimas come to respect and love Natsumi, and with the three younger brothers, this love gradually becomes less and less platonic, making the living situation kind of complicated. External jealousies enter in the form of Tomato Shiomi (Misaki Itoh), who has long harbored feelings for the friendly and good-looking Junzaburo. Additionally, Natsumi has something of an unpleasant past, which Minoru (Takayuki Yamada), a classmate of Koshiro's (Tomohisa Yamashita) and an apprentice at the restaurant, promises to keep a secret for her but eventually comes into play as well.

DRAMA REDUCTION: Will Kennichiro ever return? Can Natsumi find the security and happiness at Cafe Macaroni that she has long sought? How long can she keep the nature/lack of her relationship with Kennichiro a secret? Which of the Nabeshimas will eventually win the hand of the lovely Natsumi? And most importantly, how many people will be transformed by the power of a good lunch?

OPINION: Lunch no Joou traverses the distance between comedy and drama, presenting as comedy Natsumi's relationship with the Nabeshima brothers and as drama (albeit sometimes mock-seriously) the theme of good food as a sustenation of hope in darkness, not only for Natsumi but for a varied group of customers at Cafe Macaroni as well. For the most part, the talented cast shift easily between the serious and lighthearted moments, keeping the drama fresh and interesting in its treatment of friendship and family dynamics.

VERDICT: 7.5/10.0. Lunch is good, but is it that good?

PERSONAL OPINION ON ENDING: Despite being in some ways frustratingly open-ended, the last episode makes some strong emotional moves.

posted by alice @ 8:55 PM