Oh! Minha Chefe! O Amor é um Livro Bônus (2021)

One of the best Jdrama for 2021 (at least so far)

I know that it is too early to make that kind of statement, as it is only March, but I think that this is one of the best romantic jdramas for this year.

PLOT

Just to acknowledge the elephant in the room, this is a typical shoujo drama. However, this series doesn’t focus only on the relationship between the lead couple, rather it focuses on the relationship between the female lead and the male lead’s sister. Are you confused? Let me help you with that.

Here we follow the story of Suzuki Nami (Kamishiraishi Mone), that decides to find a job in Tokyo, after her male childhood friend moves to Tokyo, due to work, to be with him. She believes that her childhood friend would be the person who she will get married to; that is why she follows him to Tokyo.

On her interview day for the equipment department in a company, Nami gets to meet Horai Junnosuke (Tamamori Yuta), under a weird interaction that took place on a bench. This meeting changed their lives and in the next few months, they would become close with each other. A small detail that neither of them knows at first, is that Horai Reiko (Nanao), is Junnosuke’s older sister and the “devil” chief editor that Nami is assistant to.

CHARACTERS

Suzuki Nami is a rural girl that all of her life wished to have an average life. That means getting married, have a family, and looking out for them. Even though she interviews at a company for the equipment department, she manages to get the job of MIYAVI’s fashion magazine chief editor assistant. Her personality is bright and she gets to make people like her due to her honesty and kindness. On the other hand, we have Junnosuke who is a handsome, kind, calm, and prince-like photographer. And rich. He is super-rich. Did I mention that he is rich? Even though he wants to continue to be a photographer he has to inherit the successful company from his father. Poor him! He doesn’t want to abandon his dream but he understands that the jobs that he has as a photographer are due to his father’s influence and network. Junnosuke doesn’t like that, he wants to prove his worth without the help of his father.

Junnosuke is in a tough spot as his mother arranges a meeting for him to meet a potential wife because soon he will inherit the company. To make his mother cancel this meeting he tells her that he has a girlfriend (but he doesn’t), and asks Nami’s help. He believes that if his older sister believes that he and Nami are in a relationship, his parents will believe them. However, one thing that they didn’t know is that the devilish chief editor that Nami is assistant to and Junnosuke’s sister is the same person.
The fourth main lead is Nakazawa Ryota (Mamiya Shotaro). He is a serious and cold-hearted (at first glance) person, who is an aspiring editor and wishes to be a chief editor in the future. In reality, he is a tsundere that in the end he would do the right thing and would help the people around him. At first, it seems that he is bothered by Nami’s incapability to fulfill her tasks, but he tends to help her with what she needs and helps her learn more about the fashion world.

ACTING

Let me start with the female leads in the series. This was my second time watching a drama that those two have a role in. As for Kamishiraishi Mone, I have to admit that her role in this drama was the same thing as in Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Doko Made mo. She was loud, bright, clumsy, and honest. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed her acting and I believe that she was able to present Nami in the best way; I just think that she has done that before. I am afraid that she be stigmatized and I would only see her in those types of works. On the other hand, we have Nanao whom I loved here. Previously I have watched her in Last Cinderella where she played the hurt and depressed older sister, but here I understood the great acting skills she possesses. She was great at portraying the cold-hearted and hardworking person who helps others become better.

Moving on with the boys firstly is Tamamori Yuta. Well, Yuta here was … very handsome. I am afraid that in this series his acting skills were not used at all. His role was to be a handsome adult who despises his father’s network. He has only a few scenes focusing on his inability to cut off his father’s name from his work. Usually, he is viewed as too good to be a true bachelor that any woman wants to be with him. It is a pity that he had to act as the handsome boyfriend because Yuta has proofed before that can act and show many different expressions and feelings. As for Mamiya Shotaro, I liked him. He was able to implement the sadistic senior role particularly. I was fascinated by his flow and not the top performance. I hope that he would be cast in more series as the main lead.

WHAT BOTHERED ME

Those who know me, know that I studied HRM and the first thing that bothered me in this series was how an inexperienced person (Nami) got an assistant job. NOW HOLD UP! Do you know how difficult is to get a job for that position? It usually requires work experience, working under pressure, problem-solving, and multitasking. As we get to meet Nami we do understand that she doesn’t have those types of skills but she was offered this position. I know that I shouldn’t focus on the details and just accept that she managed to get that job, but I can’t do that.

The second thing that bothered me was the lack of interaction between Nami and Junnosuke. (THIS IS A HUGE SPOILER!) By the 9th episode Junnosuke proposes to Nami and we have to believe that they are a couple that managed to get there. There was no familiarity between them. Even though I liked their interactions and acting, I have to admit that I couldn’t think of them as two lovers. I thought of them more like good friends that have platonic feelings for each other. For example, I thought of Nami and Ryota as two people that could fall in love.

The third thing that bothered me was how at the start of the series we saw Nami worrying about spending a huge amount of money on clothes as she and her family couldn’t afford them; but as the series was going on, we could see the change in her wardrobe. I do realize that as she works in a fashion magazine, she needed to change her clothes, I don’t think that it was realistic the many outfits that she was showed wearing in the series.

Whatever!!!!!!! WATCH THAT SHIT! IT’S GOOD!

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naive but compelling

This is one of those typical motivational japanese. A new hire is a total noob in her job but as story progresses, she gets better and finds her strenghts. It does seem at least tiny bit inspired by movies like 'Devil Wears Prada'.

This drama presents a more sugarcoated version of reality. It might cheer you up after a hard day at work, but at the same time you can't help but notice how idealistic it is. Good workplace dramas are hard to pull off. Here I could surely notice the scriptwriters attempts to make it work. Ultimately the somewhat unrealistic portrayal of how it is to work at fashion magazine hindered all efforts to make this one a standout. I might sound cynical and jaded, however I still enjoyed this drama for what it's worth. I guess while watching you just gotta switch off that part of brain that would notice stuff like that?

One thing I liked at the start were the cliffhanger endings, but at one point they became tiring. Some plots in my opinion were dragged for a bit too long while others were underdeveloped. Romance did play a major part in terms of storyline, but the drama itself mostly focused on workplace stuff. As adorable the main couple was, I felt ultimately parts of their story felt bit cliche. However fluffy the love line was, it was bit weighted down by uneven pacing and 'misunderstandings'.

Cast did a good job acting out their characters, no one really stood out negatively. Everyone matched their characters and brought them to life successfully. While sometimes the motovations behind certain actions/decisions were unclear, you can't really blame the actors for script's flaws. Nanao sure embodied her role perfectly.

The theme song, Luvbias, is a major highlight. It suits the drama very much and compliments the story.

It's a cute, well-produced drama. Despite the bit delusional approach, I enjoyed watching it and I sure will remember it fondly.

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