Rich Man, Poor Woman with Oguri Shun and Ishihara Satomi to Air SP in Spring 2013

Finally! Perhaps the higher ups at Fuji TV wanted to save this for a belated Christmas day announcement but I’ve been waiting for months now since Rich Man, Poor Woman wrapped up for confirmation that it would get an SP. With its solid ratings and great peppy vibe, not to mention a happy but open ending, this J-dorama fairly screamed out the need for a special. Now we don’t need to re-watch RMPW to get our Hyuga Toru and Natsui Makoto fix, the cast of Oguri Shun, Ishihara Satomi, ARATA, and Aibu Saki are reuniting to film a two hour special episode of RMPW airing in Spring of 2013. That’s less than 6 months away so I’m pleased with the timing. It’s not too far out we’ll all have forgotten this delicious dorama by then, though I wouldn’t have minded if the SP aired even earlier since I do miss the OTP dearly. The story will be filling in the gaps between Makoto working in Brazil and Asahina getting out of prison and returning to Next Innovation. Makoto gets a week off and returns to Japan from Brazil and moves in with Hyuga (omo omo omo, yes yes yes!), but their values and habits start to clash immediately. Hyuga’s weird quirks of living in a huge space with minimal furniture is difficult for Makoto to get used to and they clash and bicker constantly, but through the experience will grow closer together. The subplot will focus on how Asahina earns his way to redemption and returns to NI after he gets out of prison. I must say this synopsis sounds fantastic to me. We’re definitely getting the best parts of any Hyuga-Makoto interaction, which is when they butt heads because of their different approaches to life but through it learn to complement each other. Plus I’m actually interested in seeing some of Asahina’s story as well since the thwarted bromance was always fascinating to me even if the dorama went overboard with it during the middle section. This is such fantastic news and I’ll be sure to keep tabs on any spoilers and filming news for everyone.