Karin Ono Charms in "Hatsukoi, Zarari"

Karin Ono with Shunsuke Kazama in "Hatsukoi Zarari"

EXTREMELY sweet drama about a young woman with slight learning disability/autism venturing out into getting a “real” job where she hopes to find stability, confidence, and love.

Karin Ono plays Arisa Ueto, a mild mentally handicapped girl who has been struggling with jobs as she has a hard time grasping and understanding basic duties.

But she is a hard-working and determined girl, and she always tries to put her best effort in what she is instructed, and when she reads of a shipping company looking for new hires,  she crosses her fingers for a chance at a ‘real” job,  though her Mother Fuyumi (Mayumi Wakamura) doubts she can do it...

Lo and behold, Arisa is lucky to get hired at the place, but from the GET GO, she is beset with the same learning issues that plagued her before at all her other jobs. With apathy and sometimes contempt from her fellow workers, Arisa is left to figure things out on her own.

Trying to understand the instructions given her.

Intimidated to ask for help.

What to do?!

But she has a guardian angel of sorts there- the supervisor Ryuji Okamura (Shunsuke Kazama), who is patient and gentle with her, carefully teaching her what to do and explaining why things are the way they are.

Arisa really takes things to heart, and as you watch her intently studying her notes that night, you can see how determined she is to do better!

Sadly, determination isn't always enough, and one day when she is left to deal with a heavy load by herself, she struggles with the boxes while moving them on a hand truck and lets them topple, smashing the merchandise inside.

Too heavy for her. Can anyone help?

Being ignored and too scared to ask for assistance.

Trying to move it on her own and...DISASTER!

"Well, mistakes will happen!" Okamura reassures her. But he has to go apologize to the client, leaving a shameful and guilty Arisa behind.

She waits for hours for Okamura to return so she can apologize to him, and when he eventually returns, it is well into the evening!

Okamura offers to walk her home, and she  is reminded of how kind he is. Arisa has a weakness for anyone who is nice to her, and with his genuine compassion, she falls hard for him. And as for Okamura, he sees how sincere she is and, though a bit slow on the take, is clearly doing her best.

Arisa accidentally blurts out that she likes him, and though he is stunned at first to hear it, Okamura reciprocates the emotion, giving her a hug and a peck on the cheek! Could this be the start of something?

That night, both Okamura and Arisa ponder their actions.  Arisa’s head is swimming with the possibility of love for the first time. But she is afraid that once he finds out that she is not just a “dizzy” girl with spacey moments, but someone with real mental disability, he will look upon her offensively, push her away, and crush her hopes.

I first knew of Karin Ono as part of the “Holy Trifecta” consisting of Karin, Mei Nagano and Mio Imada, after being introduced to them in the excellent "Oyabaka Seishun Hakusho" and even then you could see the kind of roles the actresses would be best suited for in the future:

while Mei always picked the "everyday girl" sensible roles 

and Mio Imada would get (mostly) the sultry roles (her role in Waru notwithstanding!), 

Karin always went for the more eccentric and colorful characters, like here as the addled Misaki, or even as the hyper-sexualized Hinako in later drama “Koi Nante”!

She continues the trend of ORIGINAL takes with her wonderful portrayal of Arisa Ueto, which is, in my opinion, her BEST yet! 

Seriously, you just LOVE the character as soon as you meet her, and somehow I had tears in my eyes throughout the whole first episode! Very sweet and very touching, and can't WAIT to see more!

“The Demon King of Changing Jobs” Tenshoku no Maou Sama

After a grueling and morally sapping experience at her advertising job under a power harassing superior, Chiharu Hitsujitani (Fuka Koshiba) had been trying to get a new job, with little success.

=She is losing hope, and the long looks she takes over big falls makes one think she's thinking of ending it all!

Her Aunt Yoko (Yuriko Ishida) manages a job-placing agency, and offers to help Chiharu by placing her with one of her agents to try and get her employed once again. Without much else to lose Chiharu ventures into the offices to check it out!

She is greeted warmly and Aunt Yoko is sympathetic to her problems. She tells Chiharu she will be placed with an special agent named Arashi Kurusu (Ryo Narita), whose unorthodox means and special insight has helped him become the “Ace” of the company with his record of success!

She is excited to meet her new career manager, but when Chiharu is introduced to the man, she is shocked to recognize him as a man she had seen just the other evening in a VERY bizarre circumstance!

The night before, Chiharu had been walking and met a man who told her that "He has someone he needs to kill"!! Worried by the remark,  she follows him out of concern, and gasps when he brandishes a knife and runs up to stab a man walking with a cane.

Chiharu cries out "Watch out!" but this dapper man has the situation well in hand, quickly subduing his assailant, talking to him, and getting him to calm down.

THIS is the person that Aunt Yoko wants to handle her employment? Though he managed to de-escalate the situation and send the man on his way, she does have to wonder what could POSSIBLY have happened to make the man so FURIOUS as to pull a KNIFE on him! 

Looking him over, Chiharu has doubts about this man and his methods!

Indeed, this man is a hard person to crack. He is cold, standoffish, and blunt to the point of offense! And in just a short time, he's realized something: the problem is not with the jobs Chiharu has been applying for, but her lack of personal self-worth. He proves this by making her re-visit her old job and breaking her down.  Arashi wants Chiharu to realize her true self and wants her to imagine the person she really wants to be, and that can only work by starting from the ground up!

Until she can figure that out for herself, she cannot truly be happy at any job she is placed in. So for the time being, kind Aunt Yoko has a place for her at the agency- as one of the career agents who will help others find work!

She will be working alongside the usual bunch of oddballs that all these job-themed dramas have (including Goki Maeda, Sayaka Yamaguchi, Oideyasu Oda and Taiyu Fujiwara)...

but her biggest obstacle will be her on-hands training…for the man set to teach her the ropes is the super-strict and coldly blunt Kurusu himself!!!

Will have to watch a few more episodes of this show to see if I warm up to it more- as it is, it doesn't really grab me, and I’m really just watching this show until Fuka’s last drama “Nai Yo Kiite Kuru” gets finished being subbed. But perhaps this one will become a fave, who knows?

PS: Have to smile when I see how wonderfully Yuriko Ishida has made the transition from saucy chanteuse type roles  to the ”cool and fun Aunty” characters she’s now portraying!

OOOHHH, and gotta give a shoutout to how freakin’ PRETTY actress Ayaka Imoto has gotten! Haven’t seen her since the highly wacky (and totally fun) “Joshi Kosei no Mudazukai”, but her role as a friend whom (along with partner Shota Inoue) runs a Lunch Truck where the characters meet and talk, had me STUNNED by her BEAUTY!

Man, we GOTTA see MORE of her!

Okay, back to J-drama watching.....