Screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto penned one of the ripest melodramas of the 2000s, “Crying Out Love in the Center of the World,” before deciding that writing for the small screen was more rewarding. After over a decade spent creating the kinds of dramas that give Japanese TV a good name (yes, they exist), he’s returned to cinema with his first original movie script.

It’s a fact sufficiently noteworthy for Sakamoto’s name to appear ahead of director Nobuhiro Doi’s in the publicity for “I Fell in Love Like a Flower Bouquet.” The latter is no dilettante, with an extensive TV resume as well as film credits including “Be With You” (2004) and “Flying Colors” (2015).

Yet this intimate, low-stakes romantic drama could almost be mistaken for a low-budget indie flick — assuming that viewers manage to overlook the impeccable production values and presence of two A-list stars, Kasumi Arimura and Masaki Suda.