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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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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The drama had a lot of comedic moments and humor. Mamorou was a hit for me and made me want to have such an emotionally in tuned pet. The relationships in this drama were very cute- between the lead couple, Asou-san and Hanae-san, Hanae and her family and friends and even the work relations. I liked the relationship between the leads Tanokura and Hanae in the beginning. This drama did a good job of showing how complicated work can become when you date a co worker. It also shows a bit of how single women are viewed after the age of 30 in Japan. I had no issues with the age gap of the couple. In fact i don't think that it's huge at all. The cast was well picked and the acting was well done for the most part. And Tanokura isn't hard on the eyes either.
Now the stuff I didn't like.
I was unable to buy that any adult female in the age of information and technology could be as ignorant of men, sex, intimacy and love as this lead female Hanae-san is presented to be. Tanokura seemed a bit mature for his age, at times much more mature than Hanae. Even though they were cute, at times the chemistry just wasn't there, it seemed forced and sometimes even like they weren't trying hard enough. The kissing left a lot to be desired but that is the norm in Jdramas. There was more chemistry between Asou-san and Hanae than Hanae and Tanokura. Which was probably the point to push the love triangle but this angle while there was potential was poorly executed.
By the end Hanae had started to annoy me. I was glad that she made the decision that she did in episode 9. That was one of the few believable things done in this drama but the progress made in episode 9 was undone in the last episode. The time frame in which this drama takes place, 3 months give or take, is not enough for all the proposals that are made by the end of the drama. The story by the end feels rushed and incomplete. Too much happens in the last episode that is not properly addressed or explained. This drama could have used several more episodes to give all the relationships proper resolutions and plug some of the holes left in this drama.
So to sum up I think this drama was cute, the concept was fresh with a lot of potential however due to poor writing and execution and lack of chemistry it wasn't able to be as good as it could have been.
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Tanokura Yuuto (Fukushi Sota) looked a bit like Mizushima Hiro from certain angles which I must say I very much enjoyed.
The writing left a lot to be desired for Tamaki Hiroshi'c character Asao Yuu. Nothing was really explained or explored with him which was disappointing. His character seemed like he would be likable if the writers allowed us to get to know him.
If you've seen Last Cinderella already I'd suggest skipping this one, but if you haven't then I'd suggest seeing it to compare the two because Last Cinderella has more well rounded characters then Kyou wa Kaisha Yasumimasu does.
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Lacks excitement, Very Boring and Very Slow.
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This review may contain spoilers
Much Ado about Nothing: FL is Annoying and Story and Characters Lack Depth and Dimension
I normally like Haruka Ayase and is one of my favorite actresses, but… she was extremely annoying in this one and I honestly couldn’t stand her face at some point. This is a thin storyline stretch beyond its limit. It feels like this series is trying to act more profound than it really is, or maybe I wanted it to be deeper than it was.It seems that most of the characters have a one dimensional fixation on romance, dating, and marriage. They all place romantic relationships on a pedestal and idolize it so much when it’s not that much to begin with. It begins and ends with chemistry, sparks, emotions, feelings… but none of it lasts. That’s why there are so many ups and downs like a rollercoaster. Drama.
She’s lived with her parents for 30 years, has a drunken one night stand with a college student 9 years younger than her who looks like a F-boy, and all of a sudden he is “serious about her,” and they’re dating? Losing her virginity like that on her birthday sounds terribly depressing and traumatizing. I don’t understand how they’re dating or how it’s a serious relationship when she can’t even remember her drunken first night. The college kid just broke up with a previous girlfriend and immediately falls into this one night stand with Hanae, and it’s serious all of a sudden? And he calls all the shots- he decides when they’re dating, when they break up, when they reunite, when they live together, when they call off living together, etc. She literally goes along with whatever he says as if he’s the boss. And she’s so dull in the relationship- she just says “Yes, you’re right. Yes true” with her annoying fake smiles. She tries so hard to please while the kid is more natural as himself. She’s trying to perform and impress as the “good girl” who’s always agreeable so she doesn’t get dumped. The problem is she doesn’t even know who she is and is trying to earn her way through this relationship as if it’s a project of getting good grades, so she hides her true self. Not just to him but to everyone she meets. Red flags all over the place. Then when the couple has a fight over the fact that a girl his own age likes him, and they take a break for a while, the first option back on the table is to.. live together? That sounds like those unstable romantic relationships that break up and get back together over and over. Meh… it doesn’t make sense and it feels like the poor heroine is trying too hard to be “normal” and be like everyone else to prove that she’s someone with “value” because she’s dating someone, and having a boyfriend and a romantic relationship is apparently the only important thing in life. It’s all so primitive and boring. She happens to be naturally different from most people, and instead of forcing herself to be like everyone else, she needs to just chill, be herself, and let life happen naturally. There seems to be nothing natural about all this forced setup I’m afraid, where she’s constantly saying “it’s time I do this and this.” I’m over it.
All this romance script, it bored me. Oh, and the lead pair have zero chemistry. Asao and Hanae have better chemistry than her and Tanokura.
There were moments that were emotional and relatable like the birthday and the emotions she goes through after her first night with the college dude… but I just don’t understand many things such as:
-They act totally close and then totally cold the next moment.. it’s exhausting to watch.
-The CEO guy only has romance with Aoishi San on his mind 24/7. Does he do or think of anything else?
-Does Hitomi do anything else except aggressively pursue men/CEO 24/7? She’s so one dimensional. Does she have nothing else in her mind or personality?
-Does the young baby faced guy in the office do or think of nothing else except romance with Hitomi 24/7?
-Does the young college girl Hirono do or think of nothing else except Tanokura San 24/7?
This is what I mean by the characters are all very one dimensional and obsessed with romance. It makes the series quite boring and draining to watch. How much do we need to exhaust this romance topic over and over?
In episode 8, when after Oshiro sees her and the college guy together, she freaks out and is constantly having a nervous breakdown at work and acting so suspicious in the office like she’s down some crime, and it’s not cute. In fact it’s really annoying. She acts like her romance is the center of the universe and it’s not. She doesn’t even care about herself anymore, just the romance, and protecting it, and somehow making it a secret while deciding to live together? How is that even possible? Why all the secrecy? It’s all so annoying and melodramatic and unnecessary and stupid.
Then she and Oshiro go get drinks so she can bribe him to stay quiet about her relationship with the college kid. Then she starts to get more romance advice about marriage and imagining that hitting the bullseye in the darts game means she will get married. She’s already done this nonsense before with the claw machine trying to get a stuffed toy. She starts obsessing over her age and the kid’s age if they get married and he comes out of graduate school. Seriously let the kid go and stop obsessing over this dumb relationship. As if it’s so strong and a soulmate connection. It’s not. It’s short lived, fast moving, but also constipated with red flags all over the place and somehow with the added intense pressure to get married. It’s just all a disaster. Hanae constantly obsessing over their age difference and marriage is incredibly annoying. Having a girlfriend who’s so uptight and obsessed with marriage all of a sudden puts too much pressure on the kid. She’s chaining him to her own biological clock, while he goes on planning graduate school, then going to the US to get a MBA and then start a company- his vision for his life doesn’t include her, and he lives for himself and his own goals, while having a little romance on the side. They should break up ASAP. As I write more about it, I’m getting more annoyed at her for clinging to this kid, and annoyed at the story obsessing over marriage as an idol as if it’s the highest goal in life, despite the intense misery and imprisonment that inevitably comes which these J dramas also explore so well.
Then as if this Hanae character couldn’t get any worse, she delivers one of the worst lines I’ve ever heard from a heroine in a J drama- to her boyfriend’s mother when she meets her for the first time, “With regards to Tanokura (her bf), I’ll financially support him for as long as I live! And so Tanokura can devote himself to his studies!” Then her boyfriend corrects her and says oh this conversation isn’t about marriage, it’s about graduate school, and his mother sighs in relief. So Hanae offered herself on platter saying she would support him until she dies and she still gets rejected as the boyfriend says he’s not even thinking about marriage. OMG. It’s this kind of insecure doormat behavior that gets a woman into a situation where she’s taken advantage of in every conceivable way - turning herself into a wife/bangmaid, and then financially supporting the man too? Is she his adopted mother? This is the low point of the series, but I’m only on episode 8 so let’s see if it gets any lower. Then at the final moment, her voiceover says “I’m hanging out with my boyfriend and even if we can’t get married, I’m the happiest person in all of Japan… I’m the happiest person in all of Asia! Our first kiss outside- I’m the happiest person in all the world!” Why lie to yourself? I’m docking another star for that line and her desperate, insecure behavior that lowers the value of a woman. Then randomly Tanokura who promised his graduate school professor and college that he would quit his job, decides to keep the job and marry Hanae instead! Or at least that’s the plan for episode 8- I can almost guarantee that it will flip to the opposite in episode 9.
Episode 9: another irritating dialog from Hanae: “An exclusive outdoor onran in a private room is something I’ve only seen in TV and magazines the place that I launched to visit alone, but never expected to come with my boyfriend has brought extreme happiness. I won. I’m a winner in life. Outdoor onsen. Outdoor onsen!… Tanokura is my God in every respect!” SMH who writes these dialogs? “I won? I’m a winner in life?” These lines are so cringe. Then after puffing herself up so much, her boyfriend gets in the onsen bath too and she shrinks into a people pleasing doormat once again. Then after the onsen she turns back into her gloomy insecure self acting all weird trying to “repay his kindness” to the point where even Tanokura has to ask her why she’s acting strange. Her parents also wonder why she looks so gloomy after her onsen trip, and she’s obsessing over “repaying him” like a transaction, while all her efforts just turn up as inauthentic, performative, and contrived. Her inner monologue is highly irritating to listen to.
After his graduate school assistant tells her that she’s disappointed that he won’t pursue graduate school and does a guilt trip on her, Hanae starts sensibly by telling Tanokura to go to graduate school and not give up on his dream. but she derails into saying “I don’t have feelings for you anymore. Actually I’m dating Asao instead!” And does another fakery of “I’m the nice sacrificial martyr woman who’s faking this lie to push him away so that he will pursue his dreams! I’m such a saint!” She breaks up with him. Omg she is so annoying. Then she goes back to being her gloomy self and spreading misery all around her. And then makes her parents miserable by delivering the news. She broke up with him by lying and hurting him instead of repaying his kindness, she did it to herself and then acts like the world is so dark and gloomy. And then starts sobbing to her mother. Ugh. She seems desperate for attention in the form of sympathy. Then she tries to make up this elaborate manipulation telling Asao to act as if he’s her boyfriend so that it would push Tanokura away more and she can continue to feel sorry for herself like a martyr. She has no integrity and is so annoying. But Asao who has more integrity than her tells Tanokura the truth - that they are not dating. Asao offers him words of wisdom: “Since you’re crazy about her, you’re pushing yourself too much. You already reached your limit long ago. The more you think about her the more you try to live up to our expectations. And as she tries to keep up with you, she desperately pushes herself too hard. It’s a typical example of a bad relationship. She realized that it would ruin your life. If things remained this way the best thing she could do for you was to break up with you haven’t you realized it yet?” Then Asao invites Hanae to his restaurant early before its opening after talking to Tanokura and assured that the relationship is over, and proposed marriage to her. Actually that was a boss move. Making sure she was available and obstacles out of the way, and then went in for the kill. I never thought I’d say this, but Asao is probably one of the better characters in this show- his dialog shows some level of intelligence and tact, and he actually says wise things, unlike the nonsense that comes out of Hanae and the rest of them. Even after she says “I don’t feel that way towards you Asao San,” he says “Since you still don’t have that much experience in love, you may not understand but there’s no future in a distracting relationship that’s about staring passionately into each other’s eyes. Those who stare into each other’s eyes get in the way of each other’s plans and won’t be able to move on anywhere. You two were like that. We will never be like that. We can talk to each other without holding back. You’re the first person that I can talk to in a very relaxed way. A relationship that feels comfortable like a friendship what’s wrong with that? That’s also a kind of love..” He’s right. Since she has the maturity of an elementary schooler when it comes to love, she expects fireworks and then breaks up two seconds later, and thinks infatuation or flattery is love. Her way of thinking “I won at life!” While sitting in an onsen with her boyfriend is the height of immaturity. Having someone like Asao who is far more mature is actually better for her to live with a little common sense. Yet for some reason Hanae is quite rude and nasty to him, and reveals a very different side of herself to him, not the fake, highly censored, people pleasing performance she puts on with Tanokura, which is not her true authentic self at all. Just a highly curated image for him to like. If this pessimistic snappy persona is her real personality and Asao likes it, they are certainly fine for each other.
Finally she rejects Asao San, and I actually feel sorry for him, but it’s the usual trope of the 2nd male lead never getting the girl despite his sincere love and efforts. Then she decides to be alone and get life insurance, which is basically a lead into her next series 10 years later “I want to die alone.” Actually it’s much better that way. But Alas, they do the whole “He’s on his way to the airport to America BS, and if you haul yourself over there, you can see him and everything will change- apparently all the issues they had with the age difference will just melt away because of that one moment of rushing to the airport- as every romantic comedy trope does- hurry before they leave for a different country and you might be able to change the entire trajectory of his life!” Saying “Ganbatte!” As she rushes to the airport trying to do what exactly? Then they say “We haven’t gotten over each other, we still have feelings for each other!” Because feelings is what makes a relationship! And if the feelings change for a moment, then break up. Then when feelings change again, get back together and suggest living together. Then cancel living together and break up. Then propose marriage, and then cancel it and lie that you’re actually dating someone else and break up. And then do a fast forward and say look the romance is back because we need a “happy ending!” Oh, here we go again. The same tired old story. Do they really think this is how love works? It’s like propaganda for bad red flag romance, which I’m so tired of. Docking another star.
Much ado about nothing. So much melodrama about nothing. Yawn.
Apparently if you “Try hard enough” like the baby faced nosebleed in the office, you’ll get to marry the love of your dreams and then complain about her after you get married. Sounds like a blast. Anyway, I did like the song “Fall” by Noriyuki Makihara. It was very catchy and woke me up periodically from being zombified by the mind numbing story which got worse with each episode.
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So, the story talks about the romance between a thirty year old office worker who had never dated before and a twenty year old college student. The plot would ahve been nice, if they explored the relationship and its consenquences for them and the people around them. But, that never happened. Actually, the only enjoyable part was how the leading lady always overthough things and she actually calculated the relationship based on logic rather than feelings.
In addition, the overall performances were good, and that helped the drama. So, five out of ten.
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I recognize the girl were BALSA from seirei no moribito after watching it for a while. Rate this 8/10.
I really enjoyed the story. Would recommended.
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Funnier than I expected
Kyou wa Kaisha Yasumimasu, also known as I'm Taking The Day Off is well named and a good show.Aoishi Hanae is a woman about to turn 30 and has never been in a romantic relationship before. She is out drinking with some of her work colleagues when a 21 year old intern, Tanokura Yuto, at her company finds out that it is her 30th birthday shortly after the others have left. He decides to make it special for her and asks her to hang out with him that night. Despite her awkwardness, she decides to spend time with him.
Hanae has always lived in fear which kept her from experiencing romantic relationships but her awkwardness. worries and inexperience keep weighing on her along with the doubts of being in a relationship with a man 9 years younger than her. I found it to be portrayed extremely well and the situations are quite realistic. The whole story is from her perspective so that we get to experience her firsts along with her. Since Tanokura has been in relationships, he is better equipped at handling Hanae's insecurities and quelling her fears. In this way, he comes across as the more mature person in the relationship. He is also very sorted and an upright individual and slowly but surely the trust develops with plenty of ups and downs.
The second male lead, Asao Yuu, also adds an interesting dynamic to their relationship. Asao is fascinated by Hanae's imperfections and a unique friendship develops between the pair. On many occasions, I did find myself thinking he might be better suited for her. It is very easy for a man to be portrayed as pushy and overbearing but luckily this drama understands consent and though they play on cliches, they never overstep boundaries which was important. We also see this when Kagami is trying to express his interest in Ookawa Hitomi
This series has plenty of funny and light-hearted moments. A lot of it coming from Hanae's colleagues, her dad, and also her niece. I also appreciated the positive work environment Hanae is lucky to be a part of, especially for having a very considerate boss who lets her "take the day off" (hence the name of the show) several times at the last minute. This title is also appropriate because Hanae is known to never use her paid vacation days.
My only negative points about this show is that it does not explore beyond the early relationship. I would have liked to know how the couple dealt with obstacles that arose in the future due to the age gap as this was also something that used to worry Hanae. Also, she never overcame the discomfort of communicating what bothered her which would have been nice to see.
Overall I really enjoyed the show for it's simplicity and it was done well. There was room for improvement.
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Only drawback lack of characterization of some supporting role. They should either explain well or drop there briefing. In my view, it is better having 5 well explained supporting roles than 10 unexplained supporting roles.
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This review may contain spoilers
There's one reason why I finished this drama, and two reasons why I thought about quitting.Hanae is the reason I finished.
If you've read any of my other reviews, then this won't be a surprise, but I like mousy, awkward, shy, weird, inexperienced, insecure, insert similar descriptions here, female leads. They don't have to be all of these things, but any one or more of them will likely pique my interest. Hanae has most of these traits. She's also played by an actress (Ayase Haruka) whose acting I particularly enjoy, and I think she plays the character very well.
Another thing I like, when it is done well, is characters with really over-active imaginations that we get to peek into. (I'm a very much in-my-head sort of person, so I find this relatable as hell, lol.) Hanae is a good example of this sort of character. She did occasionally veer into the melodramatic, but I found her mini-freakouts entertaining and endearing.
I don't think it's unrealistic for someone in their 30's to be so inexperienced, which is a popular complaint about this drama on its MDL page. Nor do I think it is embarrassing to be so inexperienced, although I can relate to characters who feel ashamed or embarrassed about it. I enjoyed the drama's focus on everything around dating and relationships being new and kind of scary to Hanae as well as watching her stumble her way through all of it.
The romance itself starts out enjoyable. The age gap isn't my favorite, and Yuuto is more mature for his age than is believable, but he's a very likable character (that's probably thanks to the actor playing him), so I didn't mind that he behaved in ways that weren't totally realistic for a university student. I don't really remember what made him pursue Hanae, but he's very forthright and firm about his interest, and they are genuinely cute together.
By the end of the drama, however, the romance had become a paint-by-numbers. All of the most interesting things about the two of them as a couple are the warm/fuzzy feelings you get because this good-looking young man likes her, Hanae's freak-outs and navigating her inexperience, and a pretty strong conflict of life goals that is never truly resolved. (I'll talk about that later.) As an actual couple...they're pretty meh.
Surprisingly, this isn't one of the reasons I thought about quitting this drama. Reason number one is the love triangle.
The writers reallllly play with the possibility of Hanae choosing Yuu in the second half of the drama. There's a whole episode or so where she starts to think about how much easier it is for her to communicate with him, how comfortable she is with him to the point of being able to get angry to his face. She even starts to feel attraction toward him. The drama really hones in on how compatible they are for each other to the point that I genuinely wondered if the drama was going to pull a switcheroo and have the two of them end up together instead. It definitely would have made sense for the story. (And I honestly would have liked it, lol.)
Unfortunately, Yuu is never a real character. He seems to be interested in Hanae early on but chooses to give her advice on her relationship with Yuuto. He starts acting like he's going to genuinely compete for her affections and even bucks up to our young male lead before ultimately backing away for no discernible reason. There's a short period where Yuu and Hanae spend a little bonding time together, which is cute if predictable, then there's the whole section where Hanae starts to waver over what to do about her love life (due, in part, because Yuu full-on proposes to her in a very swooooony way).
But he's an unformed character in a gimpy love-triangle in a drama that thought they would throw in a whole plot arch where they show you just how compatible they would be before yanking the possibility away.
Which leads me to the main reason I thought about quitting this drama.
Hanae clearly wants to get married. And not in some distant date in the future but sometime a lot sooner. This is a fair desire, and one I'm prone to wish for the leads if applicable. But when the female lead being with the male lead means the female lead having to put that desire off for several years, that's a reason for the relationship to end. A situation like Hanae and Yuu's might seem doable in the short term, but in the long term, Hanae's likely going to be dealing with a lot of hurt and disappointment, because she won't be getting what she longs for.
Ultimately, the drama quits on its female lead. It takes her through the learning curves of navigating a dating relationship, but doesn't give her the tools at the end to say 'I know what I want, and I'm not going to settle.' I find that unsatisfying.
In my view, here are so many noona romances out there, including some that have done the themes of this drama better. I would definitely recommend watching those. But if you do like mousy female leads and don't mind noona romances that ignore the stickier aspects of a noona romance, then this drama might be for you.
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