Have you ever eaten anything that tasted sweet and then the more you bite into it, it became bitter and tangy? I just described my emotions for Love and Fortune. Love and marriage is a happy ending for most women. But some are just unlucky–meeting the wrong guy at the right time, and meeting the right guy at the wrong time. The maternal clock is always ticking for us women. Women have one shot at finding happiness and many of us never find it. Oh the pain of having a period in life (no kidding sometimes it hurts that we need to take medicine)!
If this show sounds all doom and gloom, far from it, it’s a sweet little horrifying show that would make any normal woman cringe but laugh because she is so shocked at the situation that her eyes would be glued to the screen. The show is about a 30 year-old woman who is conflicted with societal expectations (e.g. getting married, having children, being successful) and who happens to fall in love with a 15 year-old boy. Now, I know what you are thinking–she is pedophile. She is gross, but let’s look at her situation with a magnifying glass–the details.
Wako Taira, the protagonist, is aware of her age. Like any normal woman, she wants to get married, but her relationship with her boyfriend of three years is in limbo. The romance is not there. He looks down on her, constantly nagging her to quit her part-time job at the cinema and find a real job. She does all the housework. He comes home late drunk wanting to have sex–but never returning the favor when she wants it. So what happens to a neglected woman? She finds love and hope elsewhere, and that’s where Yumeaki Iko (the high-school boy) comes in. Can you say no to a rare opportunity, especially when the person has the same interests and hobby? She found her other half, who is literally half her age! If men can fall in love with younger women, why can’t women fall in love with younger men? Take that equal gender rights, patriarchal society (I’m just echoing the film’s message)!
Don’t be fooled though, this show is more than what I just described. The characters are complex creatures who are innocently in-love but are rejected by society’s standard and for practical, biological reasons. The same dilemma can be said to the opposite sex. How can a high-school girl have a relationship with a man twice her age? It’s an interesting show worth watching if you are looking for something horrifyingly comical, but at the same time uncomfortably real because love can turn people into fools and no one is immune from it.
