The characters of "Tokyo Love Cinema" find love waiting for them in all corners of the world, as they travel to Cannes, Venice, Istanbul, and back to Tokyo buying films.
Masaki Takasugi worked at a department store before starting COCOMO, a small film distribution company. Now the owner of his own company, Masaki travels around the world in search of outstanding films that are yet to be discovered. Not so long ago, one film that Masaki purchased and distributed became a mega hit, but that was where his luck ran out. Now, his company is suffering from financial difficulties, and will probably go under in less than a year. For Masaki, nothing is more important than work. So when it comes to the question of marriage, his answer is, "it can wait."
Yoshinari Chiba, who attended the same college as Masaki, is an employee at COCOMO. He is an unlucky guy that can't lie with a straight face-which is a disadvantage when it comes to being a movie buyer. Because of this, he usually winds up buying love stories that don't do well at the box office. Unlike Masaki, Yoshinari would like to get married, and tends to mention the word "marriage" early in a relationship--which is usually why he always gets dumped.
Eiji Hyuga is a good-looking guy that loves animation and horror movies. His one set back is that he is completely insensitive to girls' feelings.
The only female at COCOMO is Mako Sonoda, who works part-time. Mako's family runs a small movie theater. She is the girl of Yoshinari's dreams, but unfortunately for Yoshinari, the feeling is not mutual. Shinobu Shinohara is a new recruit, yet the most reliable of the four that work at COCOMO. All who work at COCOMO have dreams of making it big with the films they purchase, but just don't seem to have what it takes to be able to find the "big hit in the making."
Haruko Uzuki is an extremely aggressive promoter in one of Japan's major film distribution companies, Phenomenon. She was once famous for turning every film she bought into a blockbuster, but that hasn't happened for a while now. So this prompts the president of Phenomenon to move her from the Hollywood division to the low budget mini-theater division. On her 35th birthday, Haruko decides rather than to cling to the slightest hope of marriage, she'll buy a one-room apartment and work till she drops.
Kaoru Edogawa, the President of Phenomenon, is well-known throughout the movie industry. Kaoru's off-beat, yet strong personality has helped him to be very influential at film festivals around the world. The reason why he has moved Haruko to the mini-theater division, is because he foresees mini-theaters as a profitable business in the future.
Taking advantage of her good looks, Mizuki Sakamoto, who works under Haruko, attempts to put a stop to COCOMO. Another woman that works at Phenomenon is Teruko Sakai. Teruko is devoted to her job, and is good at laying out marketing strategies--rumor has it that she had a romantic relationship with a movie star when she was young.
Haruko's secretary is Sayaka Mine. Along with this team, Haruko starts searching for mini-theater films to purchase. It just happens to be the same genre that COCOMO focuses its attention on. To Phenomenon's dismay however, COCOMO's unique business sense makes it a tough competitor. Using the advantage of working in a major company, Haruko tries to push COCOMO out of business. But Masaki's passion for films helps him to fight back.
Through the movie-buying battle between COCOMO and Phenomenon, a subtle relationship which can be called neither friendship nor romance, is formed between Masaki and Haruko. Once Masaki's ex-girlfriend, Kinuyo Nikaido, who is a subtitle translator, reappears on the scene, this romantic comedy takes a new twist.
Synopsis: Fuji TV
