Manhattan Love Story

Points to Watch
This is a story of the complex relationship between a coffee shop owner played by Masahiro Matsuoka and a regular customer. Turning the genre's norm of one love story forming the core of the story, this drama uses a variety of characters to depict a variety of different forms of love. Instead of wondering if A will get together with B, this story shows a chain of unrequited love from A to B to C to D to E as the two main characters drift apart over the 11 episodes.

The script is by Kankuro Kudo and is his first attempt at a love story. He joins forces again with producer Isoyama - a combination that brought us "Ikebukuro West Gate Park" and "Kisarazu Cat's Eye" so popular with young audiences. Is this the birth of a new hit series?

Storyline
Next door to Chuo TV's offices is "Manhattan," a coffee shop for aficionados. The owner's (Masahiro Matsuoka) passion for coffee is almost a sickness and all he wants is for his customers to enjoy their coffee. He is a man of few words. If he has to say something, he gets his waiter Shinobu Gamo (Takashi Tsukamoto) to speak on his behalf. Owner's real name is unknown. He would prefer to be addressed as the shops' "Master" rather than its owner - not that anyone is aware of this. He gives his all to coffee. Despite his wishes, his regular customers don't really come to taste the coffee. They are there because of love. They use his shop as a place for dates, marriage proposals and break-ups. He doesn't show it, but it saddens him that his customers are so preoccupied with affairs of the heart and not the coffee.

One day, Nobuko Akabane (Kyoko Koizumi) visits his shop. Nobuko, who got caught up in a messy extra-marital affair which resulted in her having to leave her job at a top company, now drives a taxi. She looks anxious, as if she is waiting for someone and leaves the shop without touching her coffee. This happens again the next day. Nobuko had a customer - dance instructor Hideki Bessho (Mitsuhiro Oikawa) - who left his mobile phone in the taxi. Nobuko has made two appointments to meet with Bessho to return the phone, but on both occasions Bessho has failed to show up. One day, she appeared at the coffee shop all dressed up and tipped a cup of coffee over Bessho's head. The master watches developments in Nobuko's love life with great interest. He wants her to enjoy good coffee so decides to help her with her love life. But no sooner has he decided to do this that other love-related troubles begin to emerge. Be it screenwriter Maki Chikura (Aiko Morishita), voice actor Satoshi Doigaki (Suzuki Mastuo), new announcer Shiori Emoto (Wakana Sakai), actor Eiichiro Funakoshi (played by himself) or the waiter Gamo. And even the Master finds himself embroiled in affairs of the heart...

Synopsis: TBS