"Takane no Hana-san" drama: Episode two recap

 

 Air Dates: April 10th until May 29, 2021 on TV-Tokyo, Thursdays at midnight

Based on a manga by Koji Murota, subs were done by Ariel_Nugie

Main Cast: Most of the action takes place at the Mitsubachi Confectionary company in Tokyo. Wrote this up after viewing two shows, sure some of the info will need to be updated after a few more episodes. Small cast as there's only four major characters.

Rika Izumi as Hana Takamane.... 32 year old planning department manager at the company. Though a bit older Hana has never been in a relationship and deep down has the maturity of a young teen when it comes to males. For some odd reason she has a secret crush on her young worker Yowaki who is kind of inept and unknown to Hana he also has a crush on her.

Yuki Ogoe as Tsuyoshi Yowaki.... About seven years Hana's junior but could pass for a seventeen year old. He is gung-ho about his work but Yowaki comes up with the oddest promo ideas which leads to Hana constantly putting him down.

Kenta Izuka as Genki Sarada.... Has the nickname of Charada. He's Yowaki's best friend at the company and thinks most woman in the world would die to date him which is far from the truth. Compared to Yowaki he is an excellent worker.

Kanon as Ichigo.... At ~21 in age is the youngest in the planning office, she's like Sarada as Ichigo thinks men would die to go out with her. She is insanely jealous of Hana's looks and really wants to bring her boss down which she's attempted a few times and all have ended in failures. 

Wrote these two recaps up ago a few days ago, held on to them for just a bit so there wouldn't be a long gap between the first pairs of recaps. Usually am not a fan of these kinds of dramas as there's always way too much filler and fluffiness in the prime time ones. But these episodes are only 22 minutes long so there's no time for any filler and the pace has been a solid one through two shows. It does help that Rika has the lead role, she looks so classy and ultra perfect in this drama.

 It doesn't appear there will be any cliffhangers though the first show ended on a mini one. Hana needed to give a presentation for a new product, her info was destroyed by the evil Ichigo but Hana regrouped quickly and her proposal was accepted over all of the other managers at Mitsubachi Confectionary. Over the weekend Hana's secret crush Yowaki had taken a trip to Hokkaido, he got some local sweets for everyone in the Planning Department. You can see what Hana wants to do with her sweet in the top screenshot and still can't understand why she's so smitten with Yowaki. However when Hana heard he went to Hokkaido with a woman Hana couldn't control herself and blurted out 'You Have A Girlfriend?!' That was the first time Hana had ever made a slip like that as her crush has to remain a secret, however it was no girlfriend for Yowaki who had gone with his mother.

 But overhearing Hana's question was Ichigo who put two and two together. She's a conniving young woman who appears she'll be a thorn in Hana's side for the entire series. What better way to get back at her boss by having her think she's dating Yowaki?! Ichigo made sure Hana heard her asking Yowaki out on a date and Hana's jealousy level rose to a zenith, could the two in a relationship possibly be true? Ichigo's plan was to bring Yowaki to a bar and get him a bit tipsy, then perhaps do a few discreet things with him while he was in an inebriated state. But Ichigo had told him she just wanted to discuss a problem she had and Yowaki for some reason was the only person she could talk it over with, he agreed to the 'date' and unknown to the pair in tow was Hana.

 Yowaki may be a bit of a simpleton but he is also quite stubborn and sticks to his morals. During the 'date' Ichigo said Hana had been harassing her since that coffee spillage incident in the last recap, to Yowaki she's blowing things out of proportion and should concentrate on her work more. To top it off Yowaki isn't a drinker and though in a bar just consumed juice, you can see Ichigo's reaction to being slightly rejected. A kitty corner away was Hana who was listening in, was she really harassing Ichigo at work? Hana didn't hear everything and still thought the pair may be dating, how could she find out definitely if that was true or not?

 Hana's solution was to ask Yowaki's pal at work Sarada what was really going on. For a long time he's thought Hana has secretly had a crush on him but couldn't come out and say it in front of the office, to Sarada this was her way of asking him out! So he convinced Hana to partake in a few drinks with him if she wants the answers about Yowaki's (non)girlfriend, of course overhearing the conversation was Yowaki who tailed the pair to the bar. But before he arrived the two were having a drink and Hana just couldn't stand being around Sarada who truly loves talking about himself but for the most part was able to convince her that Yowaki probably wasn't dating Ichigo. Luckily for Hana arriving on the scene soon was Yowaki who thought to himself he had to break the pair up, he quickly was able to pry Sarada away and the pair left to go to another bar, think Hana was hoping Yowaki would stay though.

 That project Hana worked on in the previous episode was accepted by management, her planning team helped her finalize everything and just above was a mini office party to celebrate. It was a Saturday so Sarada suggested they have a team luncheon, quickly Hana and Yowaki agreed but everyone else had prior plans. So it was just the three of them heading out to a restaurant, least to Hana it was a start. However on the way Sarada received a call, looks like there are some women who fall for his 'charm' as he was asked out on a date. That left just Hana and Yowaki, she was overcome with fear at being alone with her secret crush but then again that's always been her dream. It was kind of a pleasant lunch though Hana didn't get to know him well enough, could this be the first of many for the pair?

 Yowaki is about 25 in age but still lives at home with his mother and sister. EDIT: Actually in episode six we learned he has his own small place. When he discussed the lunch his sister was rolling with laughter, why would such an elegant woman ever want to date him? But if she only knew the truth and on Hana's side her mother too wanted to know if her daughter had finally fallen in love. They don't live together but Hana's mother seems to realize that inside that 32 year old body is a mind of a fourteen year old girl who is clueless about men. As the second episode came to it's end Ichigo rang up Yowaki to try to get him to go out with her again. She still wants to make her boss Hana so jealous but to Ichigo's shock Yowaki refused her offer, is he that smitten with Hana? But also it's now a challenge for Ichigo to nab Yowaki for her own, men usually swoon all over her yet she can't even make him want to go out on a regular date with her?

 As I mentioned in the beginning and possibly in the first recap glad these episodes are only 22 minutes in length. Though not a fan of these rom-com shows some have been quite good in the past and being a shorter show means there's no time for filler which constitutes half of a prime time show. It's only been two episodes but am enjoying this and of course seeing so much of Rika is just so enjoyable, she's done a solid job and would like to see her have a few more lead roles. The plan is to have a pair of recaps every two weeks but think the next pair should be a bit sooner, episode three aired two nights ago.