That Oyabaka Seishun Hakusho Driveway

Was recently re-watching the 2021 drama "Konto Ga Hajimaru" and for the first time noticed that the walkway the characters walk to and from places to is the SAME driveway the ending credits for the comedy drama "Oyabaka Seishun Hakusho" (above) was shot! Same Yield sign, same orange light pole, etc!

Below: Taiga Nakano and Kyoko Yoshine in Konto ga Hajimaru

I'm also wrapping up a second watch of the Yuriko Yoshitaka news drama "Shiranakute Ii Koto" , and HAD to Laugh when I saw two characters walking by the SAME driveway as well!

Munenori Nagano and Nao Okabe in Shiranakute Ii Koto

(Guess it was still winer when this was shot 'cause those trees sure are bare!)

The surroundings are also used in lots of drams (especially the building roundtop which I've documented here), makes me wonder just how many times I've seen this driveway and didn't even notice it!

Tropes and Cliches Abound in “Aoshima-kun wa Ijiwaru”

From the get go I knew the new drama  “Aoshima-kun wa Ijiwaru” wasm’t going to fit in my wheelhouse and that it was aimed at viewers WAY younger than my demographic, but with Anne Nakamura in it as the female lead, I at LEAST had to check it out!

“Aoshima-kun wa Ijiwaru”  featuring the overused-to-death trope of the “Two People Who Hate Each Other But Pretend to be a Couple Then Actually Fall In Love” scenario, when able office supervisor Yukino Katsuragi (Nakamura) needs someone to stand in for a boyfriend for a wedding, and office heartthrob Mizuki Aoshima (Shota Watanabe) needs a fake girlfriend to get all the girls asking him for dates off his back (aw, poor guy)...

Though They each dislike each other, they come to terms  to solve each other’s problems, and after seeing the good sides of the other, sure enough they become attracted to each other. Yep, it’s the same old story and told in a fairly basic an unimaginative set-up, one which I confess I found aggravating to sit through as they did cliche after cliche….

AS I mentioned, I only really checked this out for Anne Nakamura, and My GOSH is she pretty in this one! I’ve been in love with her ever since her small but stunning role in the 2015 Satomi Ishihara drama “From 5 to 9”, and though she’s since appeared in many dramas, very rarely is she the female lead, so this was a nice turn!

Also nice to see Ryoko Kobayashi here as Yukino’s friend Takako Suzuki, 

 as well as appearances for actress Akiko Yada as the drama’s Bar Mama,

and Tae Kimura as Kumi Sakamoto, a Celebrity Guru!

With dramas like “Coffee and Vanilla”, “Usokon”, “Ousama ni Sasagu Kusuriyubi”, heck, even Anne Nakamura’s own “Love Rerun”  from a few years back, this trope of the tsundere lead actor being an asolute jerk to the lead actress and then her falling madly in love with him) is an EXTREMELY POPULAR genre right now among the younger viewers… Guess I’m officially in the “Old Codger” boat, ‘cause most of the characters and conflicts are just aggravating for me to sit through! 

Take the scene where they first introduce Aoshimi. Yukino is standing in the hallway reading an event poster, when Aoshima steps up and tells her to move.  Yukino apologizes and moves to the side- but at the same time, AOSHIMA moves to the side so she’s still in his way. She apologizes again and moves back- to which he ALSO moves back and snarkily says “Are You KIDDING ME?” before brushing past her.

"Can you please move aside?"

"??? Ohhh...sorry!"

She moves aside...and Aoshima moves aside, too!

"Are you KIDDING ME?"

It’s supposed to show the viewer, ‘Oh, they got off on the wrong foot, that’s why they don’t like each other”, but all I could think was, “Hey JERK If you tell someone to MOVE, then why the HELL are YOU moving too? If you ask someone to MOVE, then WAIT so she can move and THEN walk by!

His attitude about the whole thing is bad enough, but in an earlier shot, you can see that the corridor is ABSOLUTELY wide enough that he could have squeezed by ANYWAY!  Surely the stuff he was carrying wasn't THAT cumbersome!

In fact, in one scene, Yukino is in the hall talking with Takako, and two employees easily walk right by them, showing that there's PLENTY of space if you aren't a rude cad! D’OH.

MAN, no WONDER the drama is called “Aoshima-kun is Mean”, LOL!

BY THE WAY, You know ONE THING this drama has made me realize?  My New Most LOATHED cliche is now the “Spoiled Airhead Employee who Slacks Off” Character. MAN, am I beginning to DETEST having to sit through this cliche in every damn Office Drama!
Below: Lazy Employee Rika (Manatsu Akimoto) whines about having to do her work while co-worker Shinji (Junki Tozuka) looks on."Yukino is too Bossy!" she pouts.

Yukino has to tread carefully here since another trope is her getting written up for power harassment, but firmly tells her she must do her job properly....

Later Rika is scolded for screwing up her assignment, no surprise since she doesn't pay attention to her job or even care about doing it right. Who could have seen it coming!

But as these cliches go, she has an easy out: Blaming YUKINO for not properly supervising her and checking her work! 

BOTH of them have to work late to fix the problem. And then for the final part of this overused trope, Rika declares that she has to leave work on time as she has a date, handing over ALL the work for Yukino to finish up!

Don't worry Yukino, this is all just part of the usual Office Related Drama Cliches!

GADS, I just HATE having to sit through this in EVERY Office Drama!

J-Drama Deja-Vu: That “Affluent” Apartment

 

Whenever a drama needs a shortcut to show that a particular character is succesful, they rely on  what I call the “Affluent” apartment, an apartment set made to suggest wealth and/or success!
I first took notice of the place in the wildly fun drama “Oyabaka Seishun Hakusho” where  novice youtuber Negoro (Junki Tozuka) has gone viral and hit it big. Suddenly loaded with dough, what better way to indicate his newfound status than a ritzy apartment?

This was a very impressionable set, with a faux brick facade on one side, a gorgeous penthouse view on the other, an artistic styled staircase to the bedroom…and an antique African-styled mirror against the wall!

With these unique features, you had a very easily identifiable abode, one I instantly recognized next time I saw it in  "Toshi no Sakon", where Wakana Aoi moved in with the highly succesful Terunosuke Takezai:

 then the romcom "Usokon" with Neru Nagahama and Fuma Kikuchi:

This one was a surprise-I did not realize til I re-watched the Ikuta Toma drama "Ore no Hanashi wa Negai" recently that the affluent Kana Kurashina lived in the same apartment as well!! Watching it, I jumped up, saying "Hey!! it's the affluent apartment!!!" LOL

 ...and when that fancy apartment made an appearance in the latest episode of the new "Hanasaki Mai ga Damattenai" series  (as the home of the svelte Rinko Kikuchi), I just HAD to “speak out” about it finally!!!

I'm sure I've seen this place in many more dramas but just didn't recognize it, and I'm sure there's more to come as well!!! I'll certainly be on the lookout for it!