First Drama of the Season! "Otonari ni Ginga~A Galaxy Next Door"

Just began my first drama of the new season,the cute and fun "Otonari ni Ginga" (A Galaxy Next Door)"!  This is the story of a young man named Ichiro Kuga (Hayato Sano), a succesful mangaka who is raising two young siblings by himself after his parents passed, in the old sharehouse the family ran.

He does his best, but is struggling to keep up with his manga deadlines while taking care of the younger children's’ needs, so it is a seeming godsend when a mysterious young woman (Rikako Yagi) shows up at his doorstep and announces she is to be his new assistant!

Her name is Shiori Goshiki, and, after a call to his editor (Chikara Honda) , Kuga finds that they have indeed sent him an assistant to help him out, but what an odd assistant she is! Almost robotic and quiet, he has no idea what she is thinking! But with deadlines on hand, he reluctantly agrees to take her on.

The Publishers have sent Goshiki to him hopes of getting him caught up with his work, and what a help she is!!! Almost perfect in her assisting tasks, she immediately jumps in, adding in backgrounds, structures, power points and whatever else Kuga needs with ease! 

Additionally, she is liked and accepted by the children as well, and they are eager to include her in their humble circle! With Goshiki here, seems like things may be finally looking up for the struggling mangaka family!

A worker THIS passionate and capable seems sent from HEAVEN, and Kuga will find that that may NOT be far off the mark when he touches what seems to be a ink pen sticking out of her back...and his consciousness is temporarily transported to another space!!!

CLEARLY there is MORE to this girl than she is letting on!!!!

An EXTREMELY cute,imaginative and wacky drama with VERY likeable characters, and, at a mere 15 minutes per episode (four times a week), is something light you can sit back, relax and enjoy at any time! 

Special mention must be made for Rikako Yagi, the actress who wowed everyone with her portrayal of the young Hikari Mitsushima in the past year’s “First Love”- she is SO adorable as the sweetly innocent Goshiki that you just can’t WAIT to see what she’ll do NEXT!

True, Rikako Yagi doesn't look much like the manga character she’s based on (a red haired caucasian looking woman with crystal blue eyes), but she does fine as the veritable “fish out of water” Goshiki- seeming both naive and a worldly expert at the same time! Glad they didn’t decide to plop a blonde wig on her and use contacts, as they sometimes do. 

manga:

This looks to be a great starring vehicle for Rikako whom I've liked since the aforementioned First Love and and pleased to see she's making her way up! I remember gushing about her charm and exotic looks to my friend Saburo, who said that to him, Rikako looked like stoic model and sometimes actress Ai Tominaga! LOLOL

MDL cites this as a 32 episode show, reminds me of “Kana Kana” which followed the same  template…is this a new formula structure of drama? Dunno, but at least for dramas like this it seems to be working well! Gotta see more!!