Mondai Bukken: Problem Property!

Rio Uchida and Takaya Kamikawa in Mondai Bukken

A young woman realtor in sales suddenly put in charge of problem housing, a young man obsessed with psychic phenomena, and a mysterious man with decidedly dog-like capabilities. Put them all together and you've got  “Mondai Bukken-“Problem Property”! Our story:

Emiko Wakamiya (Rio Uchida) is a young woman working for Oshima Real Estate who gets transferred to a small subdivision of the business called the Sales Exception Office, located not in the building but in a luxurious mansion in town!

There Emiko meets the young head of the department Masahiro Oshima (Ryubi Miyase) and his trusty dog Inuta.  A sudden transfer, she has no idea what this department does...or what they have in store for her!

She soon learns through the intermediary Katayama (Chikara Honda) that Emiko’s new job will be checking out troubled properties that the company owns, and thanks for Oshima’s geeky obsession with the macabre, the problems ALL seem to be of a ghostly and supernatural kind!

The first job she is given is to check up on a property which has had FIVE suicides within it and is considered “CURSED! "Cursed????! EEEK!" thinks Emiko!

As a real "scaredy cat” which she attributes to some kind of childhood trauma, Emiko totally balks at this new job prospect, but she is reminded that she was a mediocre worker in the company before, and if she expects to keep her job, she must apply herself here and get results!

Nervous and unsure of herself, Emiko finally sums up her courage and makes her way down to the cursed apartment. She doesn’t have a clue how to start this case, but she is met at the apartment by a strange, dashing man who seems to have a grip on the situation and a gift for sniffing out the facts!

? ? ? ? ? ? 

The name’s name is Kotaro Inugashima (Takaya Kamikawa), and he informs Emiko that he has been sent by the company to assist her, and has been briefed on the situation of the cursed property...and immediately takes control of the investigation!

Besides the very dog-like name, this “Inugashima” has many attributes that remind Emiko of a dog as well- heightened sense of both hearing and smell and able to run at high speeds, all of which help with the investigation but keep Emiko flustered throughout!

Together they work through the clues: the witnesses, the possible suspects who might set up such a scene ,etc, etc, and they even have the help of former police detective Jiro Arimura  (Kento Hamano) to help them on the case! 

By the episode's end, the crackerjack team has uncovered the truth about the supernatural goings-on at the supposedly cursed apartment, and the case is considered closed!  The tenants are free to resume their residence there, relieved of any ghostly apparitions or doomsday curses!

Back at the office the next day, Emiko gushes that she really couldn’t have done it without the help of Inugashima-and is SHOCKED to find that no one has heard of this person and that no one at the company has sent any agent to help her! 

EHHHH??? This leaves Emiko to wonder just WHO that Inugashima IS…and is it just her imagination, or does Oshima’s dog look strangely reminiscent of Inugashima himself….? 

It can’t be! Or...CAN it? 

LOLOL!

As you all know I love Rio Uchida and her role as the addled Emiko Wakamiya charms throughout and it's a kind of fun set-up, so we’ll see where this one goes!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com