Onsha no Midare Tadashimasu: Affair-Ender Rei!

When a cheating individual begins having an affair it is  between them and their relations, however, if that case of infidelity creeps into the workplace and begins affecting work output and employee harmony, then it is time to put a stop to it, and that’s when the professionals are called!

Hirona Yamazaki stars as Rei Saesuga, a woman who enters the affected workplace under the guise of a mousey and bookish clerical staffer, investigates the situation and, once identifying the problem, acts!

It is here that the introverted lass transforms into a veritable femme fatale set to ingratiate herself into the infecting affair and, along with her partners Arata Kazuma (Hiroki Iijima) and Gan-chan (Kai Ogasawara), use their wit and wiles to extract the problematic cheaters  and get them to change their ways and repent!

Hirona Yamazaki is an interesting actress, one whom you look at and can’t quite decide if she’s a stunning beauty or not. Despite the fact that the first drama of note that I saw her in, the wildly zany and over-the-top Nanji No Na, she played a definite mankiller siren (set on torturing her sister Kie Kitano),

…it actually wasn’t until her small part on Grace No Rireki, as the unassuming daughter of a car mechanic, that I looked at her and thought, “Hey, ya know what…I'D take a spin with her!”

Onsha no Midare Tadashimasu has taken both elements of Hirona’s styles both the mousey and the vampishly sexy, and, while it certainly ain’t a reveal like Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality, it’s still cool to see her ‘transform” in each episode! Definitely one I’ll be watching with great interest!

Rinko-san wa Shite Mitai

Just caught the first episode of the light-hearted “Rinko-san wa Shite Mitai”(Rinko Wants To Try…!) starring pretty Kaho Takada as the titular Rinko Amaki, a confident and charismatic wedding planner who has the adoration of all her fellow underlings for her skills and worldly knowledge.

There’s just one thing she is missing from making her one of the most accomplished ladies out there…poor Rinko is still at 27 years old, a hopeless virgin!

Not that she doesn’t have her share of prospects around her. Most guys  would be interested in such a fine woman, including dashing photographer Yoichi Hiyama (Kenta Izuki), but her secret insecurity makes her run from his friendly advances!

There is another man at the company who would be of interest, but his seemingly arrogant and stand-offish attitude puts her off. His name is a Gen Kamisaka (Shota Totsuka) and he’s just about Rinko’s equal at the company (she is always comparing promotions, accolades, etc. against him)…

One night she goes with her best friend Sonoko (Yun) to a goukon which she gets zero results from and the only person she's paired with is married! Along the way Sonoko tells her it's her picky attitude that has resulted in her being single for so long!

After the botched goukon, Rinko escapes to a small bar tucked away where she is shocked to find Kamisaka there.her instincts tell her to flee, but she sums up her courage and cooly strides in and sits by him.

The two make casual conversation helped in part by the friendly bartender/owner Kuji (Hiroki Iijima), Kamisaka’s childhood friend and blabbermouth who happens to mention that as a kid, Ren was unpopular and shy. Rinko then finds that, like her, he is a VIRGIN!!!

With THAT knowledge in mind, Rinko makes a concentrated attempt to ask Kamisaka out …to a LOVE HOTEL! How will the fate of these two clueless lovers turn out?
LOL, so far a fun and enjoyable show, and we even have Miwako Kakei scheduled to appear at some point as Ren’s unrequited school crush! Can't wait for that!

A Common Girl in A Nobleman's Court: "Onzoshi Boys"

 Holy Boys Over Flowers, Batman, we’ve got yet another teenage romcom centered around four Unattainable Demigod Lads with the wacky comedy drama "Onzoshi Boys" from 2019!

This time Riku Nikaido (Hayato Isomura), Taiga Sainji (Hiroki Iijima), Teru Minai (Yu Inaba), and Tastsunori Date (Ryosuke Yamamoto) are the four superstar heirs to huge family fortunes. Besides their family wealth, these boys exceed in everything else, sports, arts and leisure, and are virtually untouchable for the millions of average girls who swoon over them~ And so it is that when they announce lottery where girls can enter and be chosen to participate in a reality show-like program and hopefully MARRY one of them, the reaction is not unlike Charlie and The Chocolate Factory's Golden Tickets with every girl falling over herself to get her entry in!

One of these young hopefuls is a cute and cheerful girl named Mugi Aihara (Yuna Taira). The daughter of a modest bakery business couple (with Atsuko Sakurai as Mom, yes boys we are getting older when we see Atsuko playing parental figures) she is down to earth and unassuming, all of which makes you want to root for her when she becomes one of the few chosen to participate in the primary tournament!!!

From the get go Mugi shows that she is a lot more unpolished when she is the only one who shows up at the gala event in a top and culottes, while all other ladies show off their best party dresses.

Still, it’s this humble side of her that eventually catches the eye of the four young lads. Whereas all the other girls pout and preen for the cameras, Mugi is seen happily pigging out on all the delicious finger foods laid out!! They chuckle at her antics and I gotta admit I was right there with them!

Finally it comes time for the girls who will participate in the reality show, and through sheer random chance, Mugi ends up being the last contestant chosen! Her unabashed excitement is evident, though there are some in the group who aren’t too happy at the news!

Along with other hopefuls like Yu Shibayama ( Natsuki Okamoto) and Fumino Ono (Rena Takeda), Mugi gets ready to take on the Noble Pince Challenge!

How will our wide-eyed young heroine make out?

Ahhh,  I know I’m not really the target audience for this obvious “Hana Yori Dango” knockoff Shoujo Manga style drama, but I’ve been waiting to see actress Yuna Taira in a starring role even since she won me over as the VERY sassy niece of Hiroshi Abe in the ‘Kekkon Dekinai Otoko” series:

She was so charismatic and cool as the only one in the family who could boss around Shinsuke, and she is simple WONDERFUL in the role of Mugi Aihara!!!

This scene says everything you need to know about Mugi’s personality. The Host tells her they will be judged on secret things. “What secret things?” she asks, to which the host says, “If I told you, they wouldn't be secret, would they?”

Mugi realizes she just asked a dumb question,, but when another contestant calls her out and teases her for it, “Ha-ha, you got scolded! Don’t worry about it!”, instead of getting mad or offended, Mugi can only laugh at herself, LOLOL 

It’s reasons like this that you want to see good things for her. Such a sweet character!!!

PS: Someone uploaded Onzoshi Boys a couple of weeks ago on Nyaa and on a whim decided to check it out. Since they uploaded it only recently, I was surprised when I found out this drama was from mid 2019, thought it was brand new!

Nonetheless, been rather enjoying this one!

EDIT: Okay, watched a few more episodes and sad to say, after episode 2 Mugi stops being the main character and instead shares equally with the two other girls. Still OK but not as fun as when Mugi was the main focus. My opinion, anyway.