Gekikaradou

Find something behind the spiciness - but it wasn't spicy....

The storyline was not what I expected from a supposedly comedy drama, the actual comedy is only in Episode 7 for me. Labelling this as "Slice of Life" or "Motivational Drama" is more suitable than comedy, since the Chief and his Gekikaradou philosophy was meant to motivate workers who were struggling at work to look from another perspective to tackle their own problem. You can enjoy the growth of Sarukawa from a newly transferred guy to a inseparable part of his current department. But other workers except Ryosuke did not really grow. Like Sarukawa who had to dig deeper from extremely spicy food that he's not good at, viewers were asked to look deeper in the story and find the work life tips. The problem is, it really lacks "spice" and the story is flat most of the times.

In term of the acting, there is not much too say. Everyone did a good job but no one really stood out. I usually did not really like a happy-go-lucky character like Ryosuke, but his appearance brightens this drama and I think it helped me to continue this drama. The sound effects are standard, but I really loved the OST - especially when I realized this is a motivational series for office workers.

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I love spicy food but didn't enjoy it much

I know this is supposed to be an inspiring series for office workers to try their best and work hard at their job, but what's so wrong with wanting a work-life balance? To be honest, no one really wants to work. We work mostly for the money and the benefits it brings to us, right?

The character Ryusuke might appear as a lazy young person according to the propaganda all the companies have told us, but I think that's a wise thing to live like him. As long as I fulfill my tasks at work properly, I'm free to relax and live my life how I want to and nobody has the right to ask me such questions as 'what do you go to work for?'. Obviously it's because of money! Anyone who tells you that it's not is a hypocrite, and they are trying to gaslight and manipulate you to make you work harder than you should. If it's outside working hours, that's my business and please mind your own business and stop teaching me how to be more passionate about work. You don't live to work, but it's the opposite. I've been there and it's exhausted both my physical body and soul. I want to be more like Ryusuke and enjoy my life more. I'm trying to create a work-life balance for myself but it's not so easy. Seriously, I think it's one of the hardest things to do. Not many people can do that.

Another big thing I couldn't stand in this series is how it's propagated that carbohydrates are unhealthy to our body and bad for diets. That's kind of an eating disorder that might mislead a lot of people, especially young ladies, who want to stay skinny and think that's healthy.

As a person who loves spicy food, the only thing I like in this series is the spicy food and the philosophy behind why people are eating them. It sounds interesting and it makes sense, although I'm not sure if it's true in my case. Maybe it's true at some point, and it does feel refreshing after eating spicy food. However, I have to admit the food in the show doesn't look so spicy to me. Tabasco is not spicy at all and the food looks kind of pale. It still looks delicious though, and the way the characters eat even makes the food look tastier, but it just doesn't look spicy. I heard from a friend who's been living in Japan for a while that Japanese people can't really handle spicy food, and hot sauce in Japan tastes like ketchup. I hope I will visit Japan someday to try some spicy food there and clarify that. :)

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