Title: 結婚しない Kekkon Shinai
English Title:
- Not Married
- Unmarried
- Wonderful Single Life
Language: Japanese
Year: 2012
Episode: 11
Cast:
- 天海祐希 Amami Yuki
- 菅野美穂 Kanno Miho
- 玉木宏 Tamaki Hiroshi
- 小市慢太郎 Koichi Mantaro
- 伊藤歩 Ito Ayumi
- 三吉彩花 Miyoshi Ayaka
- Sharo
- 東出昌大 Higashide Masahiro
- 永江祐貴 Nagae Yūki
- 入江甚儀 Irie Jingi
- 福田彩乃 Fukuda Ayano
- 中村ゆり Nakamura Yuri
- 青柳翔 Aoyagi Sho
- 春海四方 Harumi Shiho
- 市毛良枝 Ichige Yoshie
- 市川実和子 Ichikawa Miwako
SYNOPSIS
コブクロ Kobukuro - 紙飛行機 Kami Hikōki (Paper Plane)Kirishima Haruko is 44 years old and is one of the few people who have actively chosen to remain single for her whole life. She loves her work as a landscape and garden designer but she is forced to evaluate her life choices when her company transfers her to a subsidiary flower shop company and assigns her to be the shop manager.
Tanaka Chiharu is 34 years old and she works part-time as a coordinator in a travel agency. She has always thought of getting married someday but she doesn't have anyone to get married to and she has no idea when she will marry, if ever. She coincidentally meets her ex-boyfriend who has gotten married recently, and after meeting all her friends who have settled into married life, she is somewhat sad and worried at being left behind.
REVIEW
Kekkon Shinai is about marriage, and what it means to women at different ages and at various stages of their lives. The drama has a wide range of female characters that the viewers can relate to: Kirishima Haruko is resolute about remaining single for the rest of her life, Tanaka Chiharu is still hopeful about getting married to someone in the future, Suzumura Mariko is actively looking for a husband and earnestly working toward getting married someday, and Sakura Mai is young enough to be quite indifferent about marriage at the moment.
I appreciate that the drama asks the difficult questions and tackles even the unpleasant realities of today's world, particularly from the perspective of the modern woman.
Tanaka Chiharu: Don't say that getting married is what's normal!
Kirishima Haruko: That's right. I'm not useless just because I'm not married!
Tanaka Chiharu: What's so wrong about not getting married?!
Kirishima Haruko: What's so wrong about it?!
What does it mean for a woman to get married, and for a woman to not get married? Given that getting married is seen as the normal thing to do, people who have gotten married is often viewed in a positive light. I suppose getting married to someone and building a family is a good thing, but does that necessarily mean that being unmarried and not having a family or children is a bad thing?
If a woman is not married, is it generally because she can't get married or is it because she has willingly chosen not to get married? If a woman claims that her unmarried status is a personal choice, why is it often viewed that she's only pretending that she's okay and in reality, she's actually sad about being alone?
Is marriage really important? Is it really necessary to be married in order to be happy? Is it really necessary to be married before anyone can have children? People can still be happy even though they are single. People can be in serious relationships that may not often lead to marriage. Nowadays, it seems common for people to even have children out of wedlock.
Kekkon Shinai did not have any clear-cut answers to the questions, and I never really expected it to have the answers. It did point out that it's important for everyone to evaluate their lives and assess their plans for the future, and to make certain that they are making choices and decisions for themselves.
In a sense, it's like saying you can get married if you want to and you feel it's the right path for you but if you're so inclined, you can also remain blissfully single or be in a serious relationship that doesn't necessarily lead to marriage.
The drama was also particularly interesting because of its use of the language of flowers to convey ideas and emotions. I always thought it's fascinating that different flowers mean different things, and I always wondered how these meanings came about. I mean, who came up with the language of flowers, and how come most people generally ascribe to these interpretations?
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結婚しない Kekkon Shinai
