Japan, it has often been noted, has traditionally been a paradise for men. Boys could once look forward to a life of being waited on by self-sacrificing women -- first mothers, then wives and, at the enfeebled end, daughters-in-law, while enjoying the varied erotic pleasures of the mizushobai (water trade, i.e. sex industry). This is changing now, as later marriages and growing numbers of single women indicate, but old attitudes persist, as Yasuo Tsuruhashi's "Ai no Rukeichi (Love Never to End)" makes clear.
Based on a best-selling novel by Junichi Watanabe, this first feature by TV drama veteran Tsuruhashi would seem to be a jun'ai ("pure love") drama of the type favored by middle-age women. The two principals, both well past 30, become embroiled in an illicit affair that is all about two passionate souls uniting, not selfish interests coinciding. Watanabe's novel, however, was serialized in the Nikkei newspaper -- that salaryman bible -- from November 2004 to January 2006. His target audience, in other words, was mostly middle-age guys, many of whom have not addressed their wives as anything but oi (hey you) in years. What gives?
Novel serializations in the Japanese press are common enough, but Watanabe is unusual in both his success -- he has written more than 50 novels, including many best sellers and award winners, and his ability to stir up controversy.