Kyou wa Kaisha Yasumimasu (2014)

I finished this drama this morning. I watched it raw and my Japanese is still rough, so I might have missed some things. On the whole I have to say it was an interesting story, with an interesting heroine. Even though this is a romance, the focus seems to be more on the main character's development.

I don't really like stories where you can't figure out why the guy likes the girl, so when I read the synopsis of this drama I was worried this would just be weird wish fulfillment and there would be no reason for the guys to like her. I was pleasantly surprised in that respect. First of all, even really dressed down, the actress is very pretty. I think it's realistic that people might notice that. Secondly, even if she's not very friendly, we as the viewers get to see inside her thoughts which are frankly hilarious. I like it when she is insightful and sarcastic (only inside her head) and the things she imagines make me laugh every time. I think the two guys are attracted to her in part because she has an introverted, guarded personality, and they like the moments where she lets her guard down.

I just wish the leading men were better developed, especially the younger man. I think there is substance behind the character, but you're left to just guess at it instead of seeing it.

Naka Riisa is worth mentioning here because this character, while still comic relief at times, was a more mature character than I've seen her play in a while. She handled it well.

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This show was recommended to me by a Japanese friend. Reading the synopsis and her summary of it, it seemed like an entertaining and funny love story. And that was what it was.

One of the aspects that stood out in this show was the acting. Ayase Haruka was fantastic and played her role extremely well. She played a modest and anxious woman who didn't know anything of love. She played the character so that she didn't seem anti-social or obnoxious. From her hurried walk and cute smile to the way she fixed her glasses constantly, the role just fit. The other actors were also very good in this respect, but indeed if I were to especially mention another actor, it would be Tamaki Hiroshi. That man can do anything and have me rooting for him - fantastic role, though it was minor.
The other aspect would be the humour. It's been a while since I've genuinely thought a Japanese drama to be funny, but this one had some especially hilarious scenes and it really brought up the mood when things were getting too serious.

The let-down was more or less the story. At times, it was boring, at other times it was over-the-top. Excessive crying, sudden changes with no warning, plenty of monologues. Also, some of the characters were left very (unfortunately) undeveloped. Asao-san (Tamaki Hiroshi) was a prime example - meant to be the third entry into the so-called 'love triangle' - but really wasn't. He didn't pose any threat whatsoever to the relationship and all in all, was actually a more or less useless character. Another example would be Ooshiro-san (Ryuusuke). He was an interesting character but wasn't focused on at all, which was a pity.

I have watched other romance-comedies with an older female lead and a younger male lead (Last Cinderella, Kimi wa Petto) and this really didn't do the theme justice. Having the sole problem in the relationship being age difference (and the ramifications of that), it wasn't really enough. The age problem was handled fairly well, but I've seen it done better.

Overall it wasn't too bad of a watch, but there were definitely some disappointing parts and I personally would not recommend it to someone else.

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