Hirugao Episode 1

Hirugao

New drama starring Aya Ueto and Michiko Kichise. I still couldn’t quite shake off Aya’s image as the housewife from Hanzawa Naoki but luckily, her character is distinct from the previous although they both play similar roles – housewife.

The title literally translates to Calystegia – Weekly Afternoon 3 O’clock Lovers. Hirugao is a type of morning glory (google translate gives bindweed). So we know morning glory has a habit of blooming in the early morning and closing up in the afternoon. How does this relate to the characters/title? Is it because when they bloom, it’s when the characters still remain as their husbands’ wives, but when afternoon comes, they succumb into their dark world of affairs?

Hirugao opens with Sawa Sasamoto leaning over the balcony of her apartment watching a house engulfed in fire. Then she notices that a nearby new bungalow has new residents – a family with kids. Morning comes and we see her husband getting ready to work, pays more attention to their furry pets (hamsters) than his own wife. He even asks Sawa to prepare tons of food for her mother-in-law who is coming in the evening as he rushes to work, leaving her behind.

Sawa then narrates a bit showing her discontent about her current lifestyle. Her husband addresses her as ‘mama’ even though they have no kids, this makes her feel hurt even more. So Sawa works at the supermarket in her neighbourhood when she meets her new neighbour.

At first, the snobby neighbour, Rikako doesn’t even bother to engage in any form of conversation with Sawa and leaves, ignoring her. After work, Sawa tries a new lipstick on display and imagines how she’d look like. Some kids are playing chase and knock a few off the display and when Sawa picks them up, a sudden urge comes. She takes the last lipstick and walks out of the store.

This is the starting point between Sawa and Rikako’s so-called ‘agreement’. Rikako is involved in an extra-marital affair with a younger man and Sawa happens to witness it. However, Rikako forces her to keep that secret because she knows Sawa has stolen the lipstick.

During the whole incident (a student tampers with Rikako’s sports car), Sawa gets to know the student’s teacher who apologizes for his student’s action at the police station.

Watch the next episode Hirugao

Hirugao Episode 6