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

 

 Air Dates: April 10th until June 27, 2021 on TV-Tokyo, Thursdays at midnight

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

Main Cast: Most of the action takes place at the Mitsubachi Confectionary company in Tokyo.  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. 

 Previous recaps

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three

Episode four .... Episode five

 Once again have to say I'm so glad this series was finished and can't believe I almost didn't notice that. Originally this was supposed to be an eight episode drama that would end on May 30th. But after the fifth show it was extended to twelve episodes and don't know why, was it really popular or was there no other show ready? Hopefully it was because the drama was semi popular but it airing at midnight means we don't know what the ratings were. Eight episodes would not have been enough for a proper ending as it would have really been rushed. At the end of the fourth show Hana was picked to be the team leader of a new project named 'Cool Japan Okashi' which I thought would be an important storyline for the next 3-4 shows.

 That project was mentioned here and there in today's two recaps but not as much as I was expecting. Hana had chosen her secret heartthrob Yowaki to be her partner on the project, she has wondered if her personal feelings for him factored too much into her decision which gets talked about more in the next show. He doesn't seem that he would be an ace worker but the above man Charada in the reddish hair is a whiz at computers and technology. Charada would have been perfect for Hana's small team but he does think he's a 'Romeo' plus Charada mistakenly thinks Hana has a crush on him. She doesn't as her her heart is only for Yowaki and for now the only person who really knows that secret is Ichigo who you can also see above, she's made sure the pair of Hana and Yowaki have remained single.

 But over time Ichigo has slowly fallen for Yowaki and how can such a wimpy guy have two attractive females fall in love with him? Charada has noticed Ichigo's feelings and in the last episode vowed to set them up. He did try to this episode but no avail, first off he was able to get Ichigo and Yowaki alone on the roof of their Mitsubachi Confectionary building so she could confess her feelings. Which flopped horribly as Ichigo is so used to men fawning over her, she's never admitted to a man if she truly likes him and couldn't in this case as she just threw Yowaki some nasty barbs. Arriving on the scene a bit late to eat lunch on the roof was Hana, she's thought there was a budding romance with the two and after the scene which Hana couldn't hear she's almost certain the pair may be dating.

 An episode lasts for a little less than 23 minutes, there were a pair of one minute scenes while the other two lasted for over twenty. Back to the rooftop and Yowaki insisted to Hana that nothing was going on between him and Ichigo but she really wonders. The 'instigator' Charada jumped in again and told Yowaki to tell Hana what he really thought of her, she wants to hear that he loves her but in front of Charada? If anyone can flub flub a potential romance it's Yowaki who told Hana that's she's indispensable to the company, kind of like Takoyaki without the Octopus! Needless to day that threw Hana for a loop and she stormed away, you can see above what Yowaki was wondering and yes he did say something weird. Don't know if it was Charada's suggestion but that night Yowaki invited the three to his small apartment for a Takopa party, in other words a Takoyaki party.

 Of course the two gals said yes and Hana stayed up all night preparing the dish which are round balls made with Octopus and a few other ingredients. Hana's daydreams about Yowaki are coming so much more frequently, seems she spends half her day thinking of him and did so making the food. It's the day of the party and it's the first one ever held by Yowaki, he just invited the main characters though there was an office party in episode three. Hana is 32 in age but what a terrible cook she is though the Takoyaki came out somewhat well, Charada thought the balls were way too big but Yowaki said they were so yummy which sent Hana into another one of her romantic daydreams.

 Don't think Yowaki ever had a drink until that office party in the third show but he can certainly pound them back now, as a matter of fact all the four can! Didn't see any of the guests bring any beer in but by the end of the party it seemed that had consumed 3-4 cases! As mentioned Charada is a bit of an 'instigator' though tries to come off being totally innocent for the situations he's created. Such as suggesting after all of the food was consumed to play the Ousama(King's) game where the two contestants have to obey the instructions. Charada had vowed to Ichigo he would get her together with Yowaki, think he rigged the game as he was the King when they drew straws. Charada's order was for.... Ichigo and Yowaki to kiss!!!! Needless to say Hana was silently in such a state of panic and will her crush Yowaki obey Charada's instructions?

 Never came to that as Ichigo couldn't go through with the command and said Charada had messed up on how the game was supposed to be played. Didn't appear Yowaki wanted to kiss her but wonder if deep down Ichigo really wanted him to? Think the answer is yes for the final scene was of the four sleeping in Yowaki's living room, all were passed out from the drinking. But Hana had woke up, she couldn't get her mind off of Yowaki and was wondering if Ichigo may be a better fit for him? She then noticed Ichigo roll over on the floor and was only inches away from Yowaki's face. It really appeared to us she was going to give her new crush(?) a kiss but Hana noticed what was going to happen and sneezed which threw Ichigo's plans awry.

 As the episode ended Yowaki had semi woke up to use the toilet and passed by Hana who was still pretending to sleep. On his return Yowaki never made it back to his spot on the floor but instead lay next to Hana and used her lap for a pillow which sent her seemingly into seventh heaven. That brings us to the end of this show, everyone's innocence is kind of funny but with us being at the halfway point wish these adults would speed up their prospective romances a bit quicker.