The cutest rom-com of the season, if not of the year. I was smiling like a fool for all 9 episodes. And can't wait for the SP tomorrow... 2 whole hours! To bad there is no translation of the manga, I would love it read it.
Recommended for: people who liked Hajikoi and Nigehaji.
Not recommended to: people who consider any J-romance as misogynist, whether it be a woman ending with a younger man, an older man, a working woman deciding her own future, etc, etc.
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Very Satisfying
The final episode is really beyond my expectations. No wonder it is trending worldwide in twitter on its final episode. For me, it is just so good and very satisfying. This drama is very relatable in every way. I think the lesson in this drama is that there is really no perfect person, every one of us make mistakes and we always has our limits. That limits are just between good and bad. Every person has these one or two things that they can't be really good and we can't just push them to do something that they are so bad or not good at it. And if they can do it, they always have their limits and there are times they will need help from others. The very memorable was at the ending because you can tell that Nagisa-san really cares for Mei that he is really looking at the future. As for Mei, she is not really good at expressing her feelings to Nagisa-san but she knows that she really likes Nagisa-san. I think it is a good thing that they can both honestly expressed their feeling to one another..
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I'm really impressed with Nao Omori because I never thought he can be very versatile actor. I mostly watched his movies and dramas, and mostly of his characters were so heavy or hardcore but with this one. I mean WOW!!! He really changed his A game. He is very cute in this drama and also very funny. I can't stop smiling while watching it :) I'm just really shocked with Nao Omori in this drama because he showed another top notch acting. Tabe Mikako also showed her A game here. Tabe and Nao both showed a great chemistry in their acting that's why the drama is so very interesting and so good.
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For me 9 episodes in not enough and I think there can be more but Thank goodness there will be a Special Episode but still I want more :( I'm so excited for the Special Episode :)
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Bittersweet with a serving of cringe
I cried a little when I finished the first episode. I liked Aihara (FL). She was such a cutie in Kimi ni Todoke and Kore wa Keihi de Ochimasen. Overall I liked the side characters, even her colleagues although Japanese dramas tend to exaggerate the positivity of a well-managed team at a salaryman's workplace. But it's fiction so we accept it.And then came the end of episode 8.
*cringes**eyerolls**internal screaming*
I told myself to get over it because I only have 1 more episode. Can't be that bad. I can do this.
I understand why people gave it a 10 but I do think the FL is taking advantage of the ML. The tone was set to be fatherly, at least to me. He had more chemistry with his ex-MR colleague than FL. As someone who is lazy and doesn't do chores well, I am Aihara and I do think that men who are good at cooking, ironing, and sewing are a sexy bunch of MFs but I do think her decision is selfish, childish, and desperate.
I am also against friends that think they're wise. Not everything your friend says is the truth and can apply to your decisions in life.
There are so many things to discover but *sighs* whatever. As a writer, this annoys me the most. When you knew you saw a gem but the cutter stopped short or miscalculated.
Finished episode 9 while checking my Insta and skimming. Ah, but the cute trainee?
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"Live life without a single regret!"
My Housekeeper Nagisa-san was a drama I could go along with for most of the episodes, and then I hit a wall. I’m not sure what the writers envisioned but they didn’t do a very good job of laying out the reasons for characters’ actions.Mei is her pharmaceutical company’s “Outstanding Employee,” which everyone is reminded of often. She is completely dedicated to her job, has little patience with people, and is extremely competitive. She is also secretly a huge slob and subsists on instant or fast food. Her mother wanted her daughters to work even after they married so that they wouldn’t be miserable like her. Mei’s sister, Yui, became pregnant in college and married upsetting her mother greatly. Yui works at a housekeeping service and hires Nagisa to clean Mei’s house and prepare her meals for a 4-day trial period. Mei hates the idea and calls him an “ugly old man.” An event occurs that causes Mei and her mother to accept Nagisa’s help. Mei finds that Nagisa gives good advice and it’s nice to have someone caring for her. A cute business rival who lives across the hall makes her life more complicated.
I liked that Mei was a team leader and her boss was a woman. Often women are all but invisible in business dramas. Of course, there had to be one female worker who had an emotional breakdown because she couldn’t handle the work, a stock trope in business and medical Jdramas. Apparently, Japanese women are very fragile and cannot handle the pressures of work, or so dramas would have us believe. Working long overtime and socializing afterwards was showcased. For Mei, it was embarrassing to have a housekeeper. Why? Men often have wives who take care of the house and all their needs. It wouldn’t be embarrassing for single men to have a housekeeper or mother to take care of them. One character was aghast that Mei would be alone with a MAN in her apartment. Well, clutch my pearls!
Having just turned 28, Mei was being pressured on all sides to marry. Her parents didn’t care who she married as long as he had a pulse. At the same time, her mother and sister hadn’t spoken for years because Yui had married in college. Damned if you, damned if you don’t. Two characters declared themselves and their intent to marry on first dates before the first course arrived! I spend more time and thought committing to what to order for dessert than these characters did deciding on a mate during a first date.
I enjoyed the developing friendship between Mei and Nagisa. People who have magical housekeeping powers always appeal to me. I did, however, have some concerns about the final romantic choice Mei made. Just a heads up, Netflix has 10 episodes listed. The last episode is mostly a recap and is listed separately on MDL as a special. I have spoilery thoughts listed below…
11 May 2025
SPOILERY THOUGHTS
The relationship between Mei and Nagisa was perplexing to me. The age gap was significant. I always wonder what people talk about from very different generations, but 20 years is doable. Despite her work successes, Mei seemed very young in attitude. She had no idea what decisions were involved with marriage. When she went on dates, she always wore a huge bow in her hair and practically pinafores like a child in the 1800’s.
If she and Nagisa had both come out as asexual it would have made more sense. They showed no sexual desire toward each other or anyone else. There was zero chemistry between the two, no longing looks, no tender touches or kisses. They had an odd mother-daughter dynamic. Even in the end, it seemed more like a business arrangement than romantic marriage. She needed to be taken care of and he needed to take care of someone. Everyone has their kink and if they were happy, that’s all the matters. The problem was, the drama tried to make it seem like it was something more than transactional and it failed on that part for me.
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Where is the romance?
I’m confused. I was curious enough after reading the synopsis to give it a go. After finishing the show, I’m none the wiser.In trying to clear up my confusion, I took a step back and examined the fundamentals. Firstly, for a romantic drama to succeed, we must want to ship the OTP. In all honesty, I can’t. Their brief declaration of love feels hollow. They delivered the lines as directed. Nothing more.
Secondly, the OTP must have chemistry. There is none. I have no problem with age gap love and there are certainly good examples. However, the ML repeatedly stated that he wants to be a mum. Someone who will look after his clients with care and dedication. This he certainly did with single-minded professionalism. So, the FL loves a man who is old enough to be her father and acts like a surrogate mum. This is messed up. I don't feel their attraction at all. Yes, there is dependency and dedication (plus a bit of wishful thinking by the older ML) but my heart steadfast refused to flutter.
I’m not saying that this can’t happen. Heck, so many sageuk dramas are based on a high-born person falling in love with a servant (or contemporary bosses with secretaries for that matter). However, you'd expect some chemistry if not outright sexual tension. In this case, it is more like someone mistaking caring, concern and duty as love. The fact that the FL has mommy issue doesn't help. Even the FL's proposal of a trial marriage smacks of desperation. Excuse the French, this is arse backwards.
This is confirmed after they started the trial marriage near the end of the series, they are running through roles and responsibilities, and the ML raised the question of children. The FL was shocked. It is as if she never thought about s-e-x. Will they live in a platonic relationship forever? This is how romantic their relationship is from their own perspective. How can we see it any other way?
In fact, so much of their interactions are formal and stilted. This is not helped by the fact that as soon as the ML appear on the scene, the FL is chased by 2 very eligible bachelors. Her rejection of both is expected but baffling.
OBTW, you can forget about skinship. There is none. He did try to lift her up once in an embrace but ends up hurting his back. That's more sad than funny.
The show is not bad per se. It is well acted and all the standard bits are there. It is obvious where the story is heading so I kept looking for the usual rom-com tropes and triggers. They are few and far between. It is as if the production deliberately went for a "what-if" scenario just to mess with us. It is an oddity even by Japanese standard. Peace.
P.S. The original series is 9 episodes long. There is a “special” episode. This is included in the Netflix version as ep.10. It is basically a 1.5 hrs recap of the entire series with a contrived exposition on their version of love. Gawd help them if they need to go this far to justify their brand of logic. I’m still none the wiser.
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Meh ?
i really liked the story until she decided to marry her housekeeper who’s 20 years older than her, he could be her dad !!?It was so disappointing.
I was really rooting for her neighbor we could see that he really liked her for who she is, they were a perfect match .
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Half a drama
So many weird feelings about this drama. Initially my heart skipped a beat when I heard the FL wake up to Deep Purple blaring out her phone speakers. Yes, the Japanese love DP Mk.II as much as I do. But that's as far as my love affair went before it became as flat as the nine episodes that followed. I came back several times after finishing it to ponder where Nagisa-san went wrong. The flaw was in the storyline and the writing... but where?An uncompromising workaholic is suddenly surrounded by eligible bachelors the moment someone strong-arms her into contemplating marriage. She says yes to everyone and everything and then tries to blow them off. In order to achieve that she digs herself a hole of lies that are lame and annoying with no redeeming comedic value. Her choices occupy a spectrum between romantic and transactional but even the most romantic option is at best a mildly enamored 5/10 on the passion scale. Her love life gave me more anxiety than entertainment value. It was like watching a stock market ticker. It doesn't have a happy ending. It doesn't have a sad ending. The bell goes DING! and you can breathe out as you've broken even for the day. That kind of ending.
And here's what I finally figured out: What I watched was half a drama. This drama ends where a typical J-drama contract marriage story begins. The nature of the relationship that the leads enter at the end needs, well, a whole other drama to fill in and complete the story. The half-assed recap "special" only left more questions.
Should you watch it? With a drama that features so many well-acted nice people and green flags I really want to like it and recommend it for the characters. Unfortunately, even as the characters develop, the whole principal arc goes sideways and disappears into a parallel universe. I'd really like to say that you should watch it but... well... meh, do as you please. I dunno.
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Japanese stereotypes..
The story starts with a young women who has a good job and ends with her marriage with a 20 years older man. So heartwarming the story details may be, in the end the story turns out to be quite stereotypical and misogynistic,because the female protagonist has to marry an older man. The Japanese writers are manipulating the viewers with a heartwarming story to accept misogyny and it works quite well, so that the TV series was even trending on the internet, fully accepted by the female viewers. The criticism, that should have been there, was completely missing. And that´s how the society goes about 3 steps back from the emancipation, that metoo brings, into the misogynistic and for the 21th century outdated picture of a women as married wife with a man who is way too old for her. Japan has a long way to women's emancipation.Was this review helpful to you?
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Disappointing
I liked the premise of a career-minded woman who struggled with the personal side of her life, and had to admit that she needed help. But at the beginning of the show, I was not expecting that she would end up marrying her middle-aged housekeeper! I was surprised, and not in a good way.I'm not completely against the idea of a story where a younger woman marries an older man. It happens in RL, and as long as the two are happy, it's their business. But in a TV romance, I want to see that there is chemistry between the two love interests, that they have things in common, that they will make a good match with each contributing something to the other. All that was missing in this story.
Nagisa is a nice guy and a great cook and housekeeper, sure, but he is portrayed as a fussy old bachelor, complete with a checked shirt and a bad back. His avowed goal in life is "to be a mother". Yes, he makes Mei's life easier by doing all the cooking and cleaning, and showing up at all hours whenever she calls him. But is that really an equal relationship? What is he getting out of this arrangement (other than arm-candy)?
Mei also exploits him. At one point, he comes into her bedroom area to talk to her, and looking around at the disaster of clothes strewn all over, he exclaims, "I just cleaned this up!" to which she replies with - so what? you are so good at cleaning, you can quickly clean it all up again. I mean, what? She totally disrespects him in that scene.
Similarly, when she is over at her neighbour Tadokoro's house and discovers how messy it is, she summons Nagisa to come immediately - at night! - and he spends the night cleaning Tadokoro's place, while they literally sit and watch him do it. When Nagisa asks her to change the water in the bucket, to help him, she can't even manage that -- I think it's supposed to be a cute moment, but ugh! She and Tadokoro come across as very entitled in that scene.
The romantic chemistry between Mei and Nagisa is completely non-existent. The few "moments" they had in early episodes -- like him catching her in his arms when she tripped and started to fall -- felt like they were supposed to be humorous, rather than serious. Honestly, until episode 8, I was still thinking that she would end up with Tadokoro, and that Nagisa would be their fulltime housekeeper once they were married. Since Nagisa's goal is to "be a mother" he could look after them as though they were his adopted children, and their kids could be like his grandkids, and they could still do their MR jobs. I was shocked when it became clear that her love interest was actually going to be Nagisa! It felt very cringey and wrong - a bit Oedipal, like Mei was marrying a parent. There was way more chemistry in the moment when Tadokoro almost kisses Mei than in any interaction she has with Nagisa.
I think a story like this could be pulled off if the older man is vibrant, has some sex appeal, can be seen as a "youthful" older man. Also, they should have more in common than just him cleaning her house. I couldn't get behind Mei marrying someone close to twice her age, who is a fussy middle-aged mothering type. It gave me the ick.
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Marie Kondo Would Be Proud!
My Housekeeper popped up on my Netflix feed and I had a feeling straight up I would like it - and I did. So much so, I finished show overnight.So, what’s to like. Firstly, the characters. Each character is given room to breath. There is no over the top character, which is a welcome relief regarding this type of jdorama. The blend of senior actors and the younger actors works.
Secondly, the workplace. It seemed normal, supportive and deals with the current issues - psycho social health. We see how leading up to this, the pressure on workers, the lack of time and a key stress indicator - super messy apartments - it felt like home, actually!
Thirdly, I felt the story addressed a very real issue in Japan: that marriage is still valued and that age gaps are no barrier to this. I did have thoughts of papa katsu running through my mind but show is not that. We have two lovely people who somehow, bit by bit, fall into each other’s orbit.
Fourthly, it deals with family separation in an even handed way. It even shows how it is possible to mend fences, to bridge that gap.
Lastly, I liked how the focus was on that it was okay to have a job that suited you. There was no need for everyone to aspire to be a professional corporate, a lawyer, a doctor and so on. In fact, hiring a housekeeper is a smart move because it gives you your life back and room to breath, to be human.
Take show for what it is - it’s a nice show. Enjoy 😉
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