Note, people spend years developing and honing their skills at doing their job but Haruko does it like it's nothing, which is unrealistic especially considering she has more skills than can be put on her job applications, I found that to be amusing .
All the hakens showed great potential, much more so than the full-time employees, but they seem to always be the target of bullying and ridicule by FT employees. Nevertheless, its the hakens who usually come out on top which angers the FT employees even more - which is hilarious.
Overall this drama was interesting to watch. I really like how this film brought out the important issue of how temp workers are mistreated and viewed by FT employees. Also how corporations all over Japan, if not the world looks down on them as not human beings but as tools to be used until they're no longer useful. In addition, it goes to show how corporations nowadays are pinching pennies to maximize profits, paying big bucks and bonuses to performing executives and managers while demoralizing their employees, especially temp workers with massive work and little pay.
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Mori as a first-time haken demonstrate extreme difference with Oomae's experiences and behaviors. A haken can only gain that maximum experience when he/she decide to only follow the maximum 3 month contract. And the behaviors may resulted from emotional denial of relationships on office setting. Clinging to personal feeling are not very advantageous for a haken since he/she can only have a limited contract.
I like Satonaka's kind, perceptive and emphatic nature and his friendship with Shoujin. They are full timers anyway. They'll continue even if they're apart in other branch. But that's an illusion of stability. Everything can happen like company lay-off in Oomae's past life.
Oomae's never ending licenses and certificates she has are not realistic, but I'm OK with that. It's a comedy anyway. But it's also a sign for the importance of having a certified skills.
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Apex haken vs office lambs
I'm going to start at the end. ;)The one thing that strikes me is how timeless this show is. Other than the abundance of clam shell phones and slightly outdated PC's, you will be hard pressed to carbon date this drama. It is mind-boggling to think the Japanese workplace probably hasn’t changed much in close to 20 years!
With that out of the way, let's go back to the nuts and bolts. This show is a 100% Shinohara Ryoko starrer. She is literally all dancing and all typing. She portraits an eccentric S class haken. She is utterly professional, abrasive and unyielding in her ways. You can say that she is a pioneer of work-life balance before the topic is even whispered around a Japanese water cooler.
She is highly valued by employers in the know. Any full-time employees who try to belittle her will be licking their wounds in no time. While you can say her portrayal is one-note, you do sense her inner conflicts some times when she knew her actions are hurting people she is growing fond of. Think of it as a kind of tough love. Her numerous qualifications are a little over the top, but you roll with it as a kind of series-long gag.
As I mentioned before, the office setting is timeless. Being a temp is a tough gig. Our FL does not take it for granted, but she also knows her worth and will not take any crap from her co-workers. Least of all, misogynistic power trippers.
As expected, her presence stirred up a lot of tension between the full-time employees and temps. Even between the hakens there are cliques. Some of the plots are centred around cliché powerplay and group dynamics.
We are drip fed the FL's backstory as the story progresses. Bit by bit, we work out why she is so driven. To be fair, the FL hardly changed during the entire run. Nevertheless, her new co-workers are chipping away at her steely resolve. It is just not enough to alter the status quo before her contract expires.
In that sense, it is the growth of her co-workers that is the core of this show. From the meek supervisor who found his mojo, the yes-man career climber who found his backbone and the green haken who found her calling. There are many subplots that are relatable and endearing. There is even a hint of opposite attracts romance.
I was sure they will leave the ending ambiguous, yet they pulled a rabbit out of the hat to give us a possible path to a sequel. Surprisingly, one was made in 2020, but I have yet to track it down (side note, there is also a k-drama remake). Does this mean the romance of this prickly pair might blossom? ;)
One final thought. The projects tackled by her team feels plausible and realistic. This is a stark contrast to the nebulous business deals c-dramas love to use as fillers.
In the end, it is a solid j-drama. I enjoyed it. When you consider I binged it in two days, it can't be that bad. I doubt I'd rewatch it, but you can do worse if you are between S tier productions.
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This review may contain spoilers
The Predecessor to Doctor X
The Pride of the Temp is a predecessor to Doctor X since it came out in 2007 (and Dr. X in 2012) - a kind of prototype story, where a woman, a lone wolf works outside of the existing hierarchical system that focuses on power, corruption, status, money, and image- as a temp or freelancer. She joins the system via an agency while remaining an outsider, where her agent declares the terms of her contract- a list of “I will not do…” aka Itashimasen. I noticed many similarities between Pride of the Temp and Doctor X. Daimon Michiko and Omae both retreat into foreign Spanish/portuguese speaking lands (Spain, Cuba, Brazil etc) where they have an unknown, mysterious past. They both also dance in their after hours- Michiko in the club with her manager Akira San, and Omae as a flamenco dancer in a restaurant. They are both blunt, assertive, and only do what is necessary for their jobs, and leave strictly at 5pm, with exact timing for lunch breaks and no overtime. They both eat alone and don’t entertain personal friendships or romances in the workplace. And both share the same drive of compassion for helping others, through their superhuman qualities and skills that can save entire companies and hospitals. It’s as if the divine is acting through this archetype, and the existing patriarchal systems of old men at the top can’t stand this woman. So they try to diminish and sabotage her despite how much she is doing for the company. They both know “powers that be” at the top who propel their opportunities forward. They both share a kind of loneliness as they operate outside of the system, but they have an inner circle that they can rely on and turn to. There is one difference however which makes me favor Daimon Michiko more. Omae is shown to harbor a kind of loneliness as if she secretly wants friends and romance despite her hardened exterior. When Shoji and Satonaka fall in love with Omae, on the outside she rejects them, but it seems that she is hiding feelings on the inside for “Mr Curly haired” Shoji or Satonaka while trying to act tough. They also make Omae unnecessarily robotic like an AI bot as if she is inhuman, which is unnecessary. Daimon Michiko on the other hand is a more evolved version of Omae- she is a lone wolf that is truly comfortable with herself and her aloneness, and is not secretly crying on the inside out of loneliness. It’s like Michiko has fully met her inner demons and conquered them so nothing can stop her, and her only vulnerability is protecting those she loves and is close to. Michiko is also a lot of more charismatic, childlike, and gorgeous compared to Omae, and is very self assured. She has a loud and brash style of speaking, whereas Omae is quieter and more secretive. Michiko has a childlike innocence in her- her only interests are “surgery and food.” And of course Mahjong and public baths and dancing in the club. She dresses like a supermodel and struts through the hospital in heels. Omae doesn’t have those qualities and doesn’t need to, but the most striking difference I see is that they left the romance angle out of Doctor X, and meanwhile that hinders Omae. And yes even Michiko does like Hachisuka towards the end of a season and vows to save his life, but that romance doesn’t go anywhere and the writers are not that interested in giving up her storyline to that romance so they end it in a comedy of errors. The story of Doctor X is a lot more polished, and is like an upgraded version of The Pride of the Temp. It’s like they took a good story and elevated it to the next level. So Pride of the Temp is a less evolved version of Doctor X, but still worth the watch.Satonaka was incredibly handsome and good looking in the first season, but 13 years later in the second season, while Shoji still looks about the same, Satonaka has aged quite a bit and his hair- what happened to his hairstyle in the second season? In the first season he has this cute punk like hairstyle which turns into a grandpa hairstyle in the second season. Please someone fix Satonaka’s hair! I liked his character in the first season, but in the second season with his looks fading and terrible hairstyle, he seemed to just come across as a people pleaser. But in the end he finally found his voice and strength and does his own thing. As for Shoji, he still has a selfish and narcissistic streak in him, though he starts to genuinely appreciate Omae. They are both more like fans of her than romantic interests.
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Covers First and Second Seasons
These comments cover both the original from 2007 and the 2020 sequel 13 years later. Netflix has both under same title as two seasons given most of the original cast returned to reprise their roles.This is a comedy and very focused on a serious issue in Japan - the use (and abuse) of temp workers. After WWII Japanese major companies needed devotion and promised salary men life time employment in return for total commitment. Once the the country hit the rocks in the 90's lifetime employment became unsustainable - the solution was suppression in lifetime salary men numbers and an increase in temp workers with the radical opposite of lifetime employment promise - three month contracts and no benefits. Temp work makes building a life difficult.
So this series centers around a super temp who is so capable and efficient companies pay her extra and soon become dependent on her fantastical wide ranging abilities and skill certifications.
Did I mention it's a comedy? If you can appreciate the pain the society goes through trying to reconcile the irreconcilable, and don't mind heavy doses of Japanese culture then it can be quite funny.
The production is well done. The ratings of 7.5 and 7.6 reflect the cultural hurdles and not the overall quality. If you can appreciate the cultural aspects you have an opportunity to enjoy a series deserving a higher rating.
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This review may contain spoilers
THE SUPER HAKEN
..to describe her in one word - TSUNDERE...
..I really don't like any drama which is related to work, or company since I, myself is an employee too - but when I found this and the comments, I try to watch and the first episode is kinda weird for me, can't imagine if this is really happened - since they already note that this is a fiction haha. . .but still, I give it a try and the second episode got me the interest to hooked on this and finish all episodes as fast as I can..
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..here I see different workers with different personality, somehow what I like this kind of theme is that I can see all the progress of each characters in one episode which I observed from other film focusing only one character per episode..
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..that haken with multiple skill and license..
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..but somehow, I learn a lot of this, especially the beliefs of Oomase on having in the company - the way she do her works, the way she socialize with people..
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..and I found her funny too, like my description of her on the top, the second episode starts me to watch it more..
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..the serious one, like the company's enemy number 1, has a soft heart too..
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..and as I browsed this one, good thing it has a second season..
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..and the casting are all new to me but did a great act..
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..I hope I will remember and apply what I learned from this Super Haken..
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..(can't tell if this is a serious topic in the society too, about the temporary and permanent employee, I need to do some research on this)..
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A one note song
I started this for the excellent Ms Shinohara, and both she and and her character did not disappoint. There was, however, far too little growth in the supporting characters. They started as 1-dimensional caricatures, and more or less remained that way until the end. The ditzy temp was particularly hard to put up with - brain damaged rocks would experience more personal and intellectual growth than did this character. The ML also remained annoying, but at least in his case it was clear that his was supposed to be a comedic role as well as the "romantic" male lead.In this regard, the show reminded me of Nagi No Oitoma, another workplace drama that suffered from trying to force a romance. This Drama too would, or at least could, have been better if there had been no romance at all
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Ну да ладно, привыклось-обжилось. Если серьезно, то тема в основе, так сказать, очень серьезна, особенно для Японии и других азиатских стран "экономического чуда" с их традицией пожизненного найма и корпорация=семья. И когда все рухнуло, появились работники по контракту, которым патят меньше, требуют даже больше, но которые радеют только о себе, а не о той структуре где работают. И вот такое противостояние этаких социальных слоев внутри коллектива - постоянники и контрактники - зачастую выливается в нечто уродливое во взаимоотношениях. Конечно, эта дорама все ж не драма, больше в комедийный уклон, но основная проблема вполне серьезна для сегодняшнего общества. Показана и еще одна грань такого временства - появился новый человек без "корней", без "якоря". Он все же профессионал ( японцы на работе все профессионалы ... в кино другого не покажут ... ), однако индивидуалист и эгоист. Ломка менталитета налицо.
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