Second Virgin
セカンドバージン
Storyline
The whole story, ending included.
A publishing executive in her forties begins an affair with a married man seventeen years younger, and cannot bring herself to end it.
Rui Nakamura is in her forties, a celebrated producer and managing director of Shinkaisha, the publishing house she built with its president, Hajime Mukai. Divorced twenty years ago, she has not loved anyone since and lives for her work; her grown son, Ryo, tattooed and jobless, lives off her. At a wine society she meets Kou Suzuki, an ambitious young official at the Financial Services Agency, seventeen years her junior, who wants to change Japan's financial markets, and she signs him up to write a book. Kou is married to Marie, the sheltered daughter of a wealthy noodle-maker, who by chance moves in next door to Rui and befriends her without knowing who she is.
On a business trip to Singapore, Kou follows Rui to her hotel and they become lovers; on the flight home she resolves to end it, and cannot. When Kou asks for a divorce, Marie harms herself, then announces a pregnancy that turns out to be a mistake. Rui cuts off contact, and when a novelist the company depends on withdraws all her books out of jealousy, Rui is demoted. Kou leaves home and lives with Rui in hotels while he pushes a risky takeover. Marie finds them out, sends hate mail to Rui's office, takes her cat and gives the affair to a weekly magazine, and finally informs on her husband. Kou is arrested for breaking securities law; Marie refuses him a divorce and tells Rui that a mistress can never be a wife. Released, he moves in with Rui, but men he lost money for are threatening him, and after he is given a suspended sentence, one morning he is gone.
Two years later, on business in Singapore, Rui sees Kou attacked by gangsters in front of her. She stays by his hospital bed until he dies. Marie, now running a pet-food business from her parents' home in Nagasaki, will not collect his body, and Rui brings his ashes back. A year later Mukai retires to open a restaurant with his male partner and makes Rui president, just as a major distributor's collapse puts the company in danger. She saves it by humbling herself before everyone she must, the novelist, the writer who loves her and even Marie, whom she asks to write a book. Ryo, now in a steady job, tells his mother to find herself a man.
Starring
Kyoka Suzukias Rui Nakamura
A formidable publishing executive in her forties, alone since her divorce, who falls in love with a married man seventeen years younger.
Rui Nakamura’s story
Rui has not loved anyone in twenty years when she signs Kou, a young official, to write a book. In Singapore he comes to her hotel room; on the flight home she resolves to end it and cannot. His wife, Marie, is her new neighbour. Rui cuts contact when Marie announces a pregnancy, is demoted when a novelist withdraws her books, and still takes Kou back, living with him in hotels while Marie sends hate mail, takes her cat and sells the affair to a magazine. When he is arrested she cannot even visit him. After his release he vanishes. Two years later, in Singapore, she sees him attacked and stays by his bed until he dies, then brings his ashes home. Made president, she saves the company by humbling herself before everyone she must, Marie included.
Hiroki Hasegawaas Kou Suzuki
An ambitious young financial official turned securities entrepreneur, married to Marie, whose risky deals lead to his arrest.
Kou Suzuki’s story
Kou tells a wine society he wants to change Japan's financial markets, and Rui publishes the book that makes him famous. He follows her to her hotel in Singapore. When he decides to leave Marie she breaks his phone and calls in her parents; Rui cuts him off, and he pursues her until she relents. He leaves home and lives with Rui in hotels while he pushes a takeover to the edge of the law. Arrested, he suspects Rui of informing on him, though it was Marie. Released, he moves in with Rui, but men he lost money for press him to join them, and the morning after his suspended sentence he is gone. Two years later, hiding in Singapore, he is attacked by gangsters in front of Rui and dies in hospital with her beside him.
Kyoko Fukadaas Marie Suzuki
Kou's sheltered, possessive wife, who befriends Rui as a neighbour and, once she learns the truth, sets out to destroy her.
Marie Suzuki’s story
Marie, the pampered daughter of a noodle-maker, threatens to die at every setback. As Rui's new neighbour she keeps her key and minds her pet. When Kou asks for a divorce she smashes his phone and calls in her parents, harms herself, then announces a pregnancy that proves a mistake. After seeing him enter Rui's flat, she sends defaced photographs to Rui's office, takes her cat, gives the affair to a magazine and finally informs on her husband. A mistress can never be a wife, she tells Rui, and she will not divorce. While he is in custody she goes home to Nagasaki and starts a pet-food business. When Kou dies she will not collect his body, then claims his ashes for a funeral. At Rui's request she writes a book pouring out her grievances, and moves on.
Go Ayanoas Ryo Nakamura
Rui's tattooed, jobless son, resentful of his parents' divorce and hungry for his mother's love.
YOUas Aiko
Ryo's much older girlfriend, a former singer who runs a bar and becomes Rui's confidante.
Yasunori Dantaas Hajime Mukai
The president of Shinkaisha and Rui's loyal partner, who stands by her through the scandal.
Why it matters
Second Virgin put a woman in her forties at the centre of a love story, in NHK's ten o'clock drama slot, and let her desire drive it. The issues it raises are sexual longing after decades alone, a career built without a husband, and the old arithmetic of age that makes the older woman the scandal and the younger man the prize. It is unsparing about what the affair costs, not least to Marie, whose cruelty grows out of a small world and a marriage she thought she owned, and it gives her a way forward of her own. The series opened with the lowest first-episode rating the slot had recorded and ended with its highest, and it made Hiroki Hasegawa, then barely known on television, widely known. What it leaves is Rui at the end, grieving and in charge, measured by her work rather than by who chose her.