Jdrama Photo Recap Disclaimer: Since this is both a recap and a review of the show, there will be spoilers here. I’m watching this without English subtitles and while I understand a lot of Japanese, I’m not fluent. There are occasionally parts where I don’t understand what’s going on. And lastly, the photo captions are just snarky jokes and not meant to convey actual dialogue. So if you’re cool with all this, read on and enjoy!
I never thought I’d say this, but I actually miss the romance drama. The corporate intrigue and all the stuff with the now-shady Not So Friendly Boss just isn’t working for me. Despite that, however, this episode did give us a little bit more of the Gossipy Trio and it was also an important step forward for Mita. Let’s talk about it! After a less than enthusiastic staff meeting, Riko goes to talk to Not So Friendly Boss. She tells him her ideas to make things better, and he’s like “sure whatever” and then throws her paper in the trash afterwards. Rude. Mita asks Aki if she’ll go with him to check out what happened with Riko’s magazine interview. (Remember the one where it horribly misquoted her?) The magazine staff guy just brushes them off but the author Aki met in episode 4 spots her and happily says hello.
“You can’t say no to a guy wearing a cool hat like this”
Meanwhile, Not So Friendly Boss is having a meal with the Gossipy Trio. He’s obviously up to no good.
/listens intently for gossip/
While having dinner in her apartment, Aki tells Obata about what she learned from her meeting earlier. Not So Friendly Boss was the one behind the magazine incident! But when she and Mita tried to tell Riko about it, Riko just said to forget about it. Aki’s upset that she can’t help.
“I’m so upset.”
“I’m more upset your huge apartment doesn’t have a kitchen table”
The next day at work, the Gossipy Trio confronts Riko about what they’ve been told. To be honest, I’m not quite sure on the details of what it was, but the main detail is that the Gossipy Trio is not very happy with Riko. And on top of everything else, they think she’s getting scouted by another company (the one Tashiro works for) even though she turned his offer down. Not So Friendly Boss just sits in the background looking smug.
/resists urge to laugh maniacally/
Mita wants to make things right and needs help and advice. First he goes to talk to Tashiro. And then afterwards, Mita eats with Shiho. Mita is worried about Riko but Shiho tries to make him feel better.
“My advice is to order another drink. Or five.”
Riko talks to Corporate Dude. He’s pretty harsh. Riko runs into Mita at the office late at night. Finally, Mita manages to tell Riko that he’s worried about her because he likes her. And then Riko makes this face in response:
“Huh wha…?”
Since that’s a sort of concerning face, Mita tries to brush it off by saying he wants to stay beside her like all their other coworkers. Still, this is a BIG moment for Mita. Glad he was finally able to say it. And then he leaves. As Riko’s trying to process that new revelation, she discovers three resignation letters left behind by the Gossipy Trio. The next day, Mita and Aki go looking for the Gossipy Trio (who are surprisingly not together for once). They ask the trio to meet with them later for an important discussion. No one seems excited about that idea though. But later, as Mita and Aki wait at the meeting place, one by one, the trio thinks about their early memories of working at the bookstore with Riko and how much she helped them. This is a nice sequence actually because the Gossipy Trio doesn’t get to do much plotwise since they’re just supporting characters, so this shines a light on them more. Meanwhile, Riko and Not So Friendly Boss talk again. And he’s very threatening and a jerk. Rude. As for Mita and Aki, the cafe closes before anyone shows up. How very disappointing! Riko is alone in the bookstore and she goes to straighten the books on the shelves one last time. She breaks down and cries, and Aki who is in the store too for some reason, listens nearby.
“I can’t believe no one ever notices when I eavesdrop on them”
Then she speaks to Riko in the office. Or rather, she gets up and yells at Riko in the office. And then she leaves. Okay? It was a nice try though Aki. Upset, Riko goes to the usual restaurant. It’s closed but the owner lets her come in anyway. They talk about her father. So after that, Riko goes to talk to her father while he’s recovering in physical therapy. (I’m guessing from his exercises that it was a stroke he had in last week’s episode) He talks about how he can’t give up since he’s still living. And he gives her the confidence she needs and also a cute peace sign with his weak hand.
“I hear all the young people make this pose for good luck. I’m hip. I’m cool.”
With that in mind, Riko goes to the important corporate meeting (like the one she had to miss in the last episode). I’m not familiar with the terms she uses when she speaks, but whatever it was startled the room.
“Firstly, I’d like to begin by suggesting we get more comfortable chairs for this room”
But as the guys start complaining, Riko continues with conviction. “I’m a bookstore worker,” she tells them. She ends her big speech by asking Corporate Guy (he’s the company president, by the way) for one more chance. But the episode ends before he can give his answer. What a lame cliffhanger. Overall, I had a hard time keeping focused during this episode and I’m not entirely sure why (although the headache I had certainly didn’t help any). I don’t usually have a lot of difficulty understanding the main points in the dialogue but I had a hard time understanding the motivations of Not So Friendly Boss and Corporate Guy. (Feel free to clarify in the comments if you know!) Either way, it just wasn’t that exciting to watch Riko go through another episode of struggles involving her new position as manager. I’m hoping Mita’s confession to Riko will add some more conflict and interest into future episodes. We’ll see how it goes next week. Final Questions and Thoughts
- Inamori Izumi continues to do an excellent job with Riko’s character. The scenes of her breaking down and crying in the bookstore shelves were some of her best so far. And the scene where Aki gives a passionate speech to Riko is probably one of Mayuyu’s best in the series so far too.
- The preview for the next episode looks like it is more of a return to the romance aspect of the series, which is definitely a welcome change of pace. You know something’s wrong when I’m like “yay! love triangle!”
- I like Riko’s father and he should definitely have more scenes.
- I’m just gonna continue talking each week about how much I love the soundtrack.
- Poll question: Is Not So Friendly Boss better or worse than Ex-Boyfriend Shibata?
So what did you think? Like it or hate it? Ready to turn in your resignation letter? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments! This week’s bonus picture is just a screencap of that lovely yelling scene between Riko and Aki:
“I’m yelling so you can hear me over the dramatic music, to be honest.”
“I’m sorry, I had ear plugs in. You said something?”
Notorious Rambler 
I feel like the drama somewhat deals with the issue of sexism in business in Japan. They keep mentioning the fact that she is the first woman bookstore manager.
I agree. They definitely are trying to tackle that issue, which is good because sexism is a problem that needs attention, but I wish they were doing it in a different way that made it a little more interesting to watch. Oh well, I’m hoping the next episode will have Riko getting the respect she deserves!
Thanks for reading and leaving a comment! ^_^
It’s me again!! Thanks ne ~
I have a feeling that this show need more …. “salt” I mean it’s gone a bit plain lately =7=” expect something big will happen in late episodes! [but dont too much angst QwQ Im feeling heavy]
What do you think ?
Hi! Thanks for coming back! ^_^
I totally agree. I think it’s important to show how women are sometimes treated in the workplace, but they’re doing it in a rather uninteresting way. We definitely need a lot of salt! I’m hoping for something more exciting too but without the angst. They’ve already had two characters in the hospital. I think that’s enough lol
p.s. just as a heads up, I’m having some internet problems so my recap for episode 7 is gonna be delayed for a few days. But hopefully it’ll be up by Friday. 🙂
Regarding the motivations of the CEO (corporate guy) and the ex-store-manager (not-so-friendly boss): The CEO just wants to shut down the outlet, as it has been the worst-performing branch of Pegasus Books, with plummeting sales at the branch costing the company a lot of money. The ex-manager is basically willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how dirty, to keep his new position as area manager after almost getting fired due company restructuring and the mishap during the Children’s Day event. Key to his motivations is the fact that he’s got his financial security riding on the line (alimony fees from his divorce as mentioned earlier in the series and two children’s worth of college fees to pay off are milking him dry).
Personally, the true-to-life corporate politics (not just the woman-in-office issue, but also the harsh realities of business administration and economics, as well as the question of a salaryman’ responsibilities versus his morality) were what set this show apart for me and kept me coming back again and again. Perhaps it’s because I’m still new to J-dramas, having been an anime person for most of my life, but this show has been pleasantly surprising for the most part. I came in expecting standard romantic comedy and simple slice-of-life, but went away impressed by the show’s complexity, depth and production values. I do look forward to how they’ll wrap this up in the final couple of episodes, or if it will be left open for a possible sequel.
Thanks for explaining their motivations in more detail! I knew that their store was having money troubles but I didn’t understand the smear campaign against Riko. This makes more sense. I have to admit, words like “alimony” are not in my Japanese vocabulary so I missed that explanation.
I’m glad you’re enjoying the corporate politics aspect of the series. I too was expecting a romantic comedy and was happy to find out that that wasn’t the complete focus of the story. Unfortunately for me though, I’m not all that interested in the corporate stuff and I sort of miss the fun upbeat atmosphere of the first episode. But there are only three episodes left so I’m optimistic that the way they wrap things up will be interesting ^_^ (Sadly, I don’t think there’ll be a sequel since the ratings have been very low)
Thanks for reading and leaving a comment! It’s great to hear other people’s thoughts on the show.
“I never thought I’d say this, but I actually miss the romance drama.”
ugh me too, was totally thinking this very often during this episode.
I don’t really understand why they won’t just let go of the employees of the stores they’re shutting down – why are they using all these dirty methods/motivational speeches about building strength of character to make people resign rather than just telling them they need to go? T_____T Maybe it’s a cultural thing I’m not aware of but. >_<
I like the way they used Aki's dinner with Obata to explain what Aki and Mita did earlier. I'm impressed with the different ways they use to push the story forward in this drama!
Why does she keep going back to Nojima. Just. Why. Why do I keep questioning a drama series should maybe be the better question. 😛 But on the topic of questioning a drama series I don't like how the Gossipy Trio are made to idolise Nishioka one episode, then completely distrust her the next. But hey, supporting characters. Yayyyy lackk of communication as a source of conflict.
The Shiho and Mita scenes are cute, I love these two.
Also did you lose it when Mita suddenly appeared in the backroom of the store in the middle of the night? My first thought was that he was sleeping there. And then Aki's there the next night LOL. But that was a great scene between the two of them.
UGH I'M ALMOST READY TO HAND IN MY RESIGNATION LETTER at least for tonight. I really like Riko and Aki a lot, so at the moment it looks like I'm going to keep watching for them.
I feel like this episode is really where the show bottoms out (or maybe I was just extra bitter about this episode because I was sorta sick while recapping it), but thankfully everything else is uphill after this!
Idk why they don’t just let the employees go either. Unless there’s issues with like severance pay or something? That might be a reasonable explanation. But I think the more probable one is drama for the sake of drama. D: This is one of those times when I would have liked to read the source material and compare.
Too true! The dinner flashback was a nice touch!
Why so fickle, Gossipy Trio? /renames this show COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS
There wasn’t nearly enough Shiho in this series!
LMAO MITA. Maybe the storage room is where he keeps all of his superhero capes?? He could have been sleeping there! Maybe he got tired of all the long commutes ;P
ahh yeah severance pay is something i didn’t consider, that’s definitely a reasonable explanation. but yeah, /sigh/. jdramas. 😛
That sounds like it’d be a great sitcom. Every episode a group of people can wreak havoc with their inability to communicate properly/think things through.
LOL “im here all the time anyway, might as well store them here”
Communication problems are the root of all problems! It would be a sitcom that would NEVER END. TOO MUCH MATERIAL 😛
ahahahahaha yes!