I usually watched “Strawberry Night” (Fuji TV / 2012) episodes in pairs since they had a tendency to extend cases beyond an episode. Because it was so late in the game I thought that the episode in question (9) would be a shorter case, but this ended up being another two-part tale! It was also better than average, and helped me gain insight into two things: I wanted to know what was going on with Himekawa Reiko and Kikuta (puppy dog prince Nishijima Hidetoshi), because anyone with eyes could tell that there was SOMETHING there. When I watched this in April 2012, I hadn’t watched the prequel, so I also wanted to know more about Himekawa’s relationship with her parents and how she had been coping with her assault since… and boy did this episode deliver.
It’s safe to say that at the start, Himekawa had been having the worst week ever. First she has dinner with her family, and it went as well as one might expect it to (read: not very good). Her mom is prodding her to get married, and Himekawa wraps up her dinner quickly and returns to her room, frustrated.
“I died that summer, 13 years ago… and I was born. But even then, the reason why this indescribable feeling rears its head sometimes is because of the weight of my family and the intolerable heat of that summer.”
. . .
Even though Himekawa is pleased to have a new, juicy case to work on, she’s been markedly ignoring calls from home all day, and even Kikuta notices the barbed comments she makes about family. It’s only later we realize that it wasn’t her mom calling, but her dad. Her mom had a heart attack earlier in the day, and he didn’t leave a message because he thought she was busy. Here you have her mother, who is always so worried and wanting to involve herself in Himekawa’s life. On the other side of the coin, her father is very passive in how he worries about her, and always walks on eggshells. It’s a balance that frustrates Himekawa, and she lashes out and leaves the hospital in a tizzy.
. . .
On her way to the hotel, she runs into Kikuta (waiting to make sure she gets back safely, I’m dying already) who immediately knows that something isn’t right.
“Did you find out something? Is it about Takaoka Kenichi? Some other body parts were found? Or is it Mishima Kosuke? Did … Nakagawa Michiko reverse the alibi? Yeah. It’s something much bigger isn’t it? Something you can’t say over the phone. Otherwise, why would you be here. At a time like this… why are you here?”
“Welcome home.”
. . .
(More) Reasons to Watch: His actions, the swell of the music, the fact that she allowed herself to be vulnerable for a hot minute, and that “welcome home” (お帰りなさい)… it was the only/perfect thing that needed to be said. /THROWS UP BECAUSE FEELINGS
Honorable Mention: “It’s Okay, It’s Love” (Episode 13, Dr. Jo and Jae-yeol), “Strawberry Night” (Episode 8, Kusaka and Ioka).