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| The Topsy-Turvy World Of Nagi Oshima in "Nagi No Oitama" |
Nagi Oshima (Haru Kuroki) is a highly efficient and capable OL, but her one flaw is over-reading the atmosphere of a situation, stressing out and worrying about what to do or say in any social situation!
She overthinks things so much and is so afraid of saying the wrong thing or being disliked that she ends up being taken advantage of by her co-workers, usually talked into doing their work so they can leave early. She knows she is being used to a degree but doesn’t want to lose their friendship so she always gives in.
She has one silver lining in her life, and that is the fact that she is secretly going out with Shinji Gamon (Takahashi Issei), a hotshot marketing agent whom all the office girls swoon for. Though he seems to come over mostly for sex, she is proud to have him as her boyfriend and he hints that marriage is just around the corner!
He compliments her on her beautiful, straight hair, (even as he's guiding her head down to his crotch to "pleasure" him) but what he doesn’t realize is that Nagi’s hair is actually frizzy, and she spends an hour each day straightening it before work!
This is her dedication to “fitting in”!
After yet another day of getting talked into doing her co-workers paperwork, things come to a head when she happens to see the phone forgotten by her colleague. The co-workers are all texting each other about how they tricked her into doing their work and how they secretly make fun of her. They only pretend to be her friend so she will cover for them and do their work.
Nagi is extremely hurt by the texts flashing before her eyes, but calms down when she gets a text from Shinji telling her he’ll be working late but will be over later. He doesn’t realize she is still working too, and she goes over to greet him.
Unfortunately, just when she is in earshot, she hears him talking to his buddies about his “girlfriend” and he confides that he doesn’t really love her like that and only dates her for the sex. He states that because of her frugal nature he could NEVER marry her though he's told her he would.
This hits Nagi so hard that she begins hyperventilating right there in the hallway. And as she succumbs to a panic attack, she is left with the sight of Shinji looking over at her, without a seeming regret in the world...And her world fades to black.
When we next check in on Nagi, what a CHANGE we have seen in her! She has thrown away her OL city life. She’s moved out of her apartment, quit her job at the company, donated all her fancy OL outfits and belongings and, with her frizzy hair flying, takes off on a bicycle and retreats to a small backwoods town to re-evaulate herself and hopefully be reborn as a new person.
Though things are scary at first, with odd individuals out and about, including an old woman walking the streets digging for lost coins and picking up trash (Yoshiko Mita)...
...and a tough looking tattooed neighbor prone to blasting his rock music with his raucous friends (Tomoya Nakamura)...
...but when she stands up for herself for the first time in her life (going back to tell a clerk that she overcharged her for her vegetables), a new feeling blooms inside her that she is really starting a new life, and from that point on, decides to be brave and say whatever is on her mind!
Awwww MAN, you all know how much I loved Haru Kuroki’s fine drama Mi Wo Tsukushi Ryoricho, and, in much the same way that drama took the time to convey the atmosphere, Nagi No Oitama seems like a successor, with lots of long shots just showing Nagi looking at plants, excitedly shopping for groceries and fixing up broken appliances.
And Nagi's character is just like Mio in Ryorichi...very sweet, gentle and thoughtful. (I had such a time liking her selfish character in Kemono ni Narenai Watashitachi!) Makes you feel so good watching her rediscover herself and you cheer when she makes new acquaintances and applaud every time she stands up for herself! Lovin’ this show so far- just made for the Haru Kuroki lover in me!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com
Newer characters to the story are just as ineresting, especially New Tenant Nikaido (Ryusei Yokohama) who, along with Kuroshima, become Shota's partners in trying to decipher the clues and solve the mystery.
As time goes on, each suspect/tenant's character becomes more fleshed out and people are revealed as both allies and enemies, but probably the most surprising development of all is how Detective Mizuki (Sarutoki Minagawa), who started off as the bumbling butt of jokes, may just be the SOLE law enforcement agent who actually cares about the case!
