"Nanji no Na" drama, episode two of eight recap

 

 Air Dates: April 6th until May 25, 2022 on TV-Tokyo, Wednesday nights at 12:30 am

Subs were done by GEO9875 at DA, also has the title of Your Name.

Main Cast: Writing this up after viewing two episodes and know there will be many edits to the character's bios, what a confusing drama it was at first.

Hirona Yamazaki as Toko Aso.... Her real name is Riyako Mikami and is using the identity of another character in this show which will be explained in the recaps. She works as the president of the ETS agency which is a front as it's not a dispatching company but one that destroys people's lives! Riyako is such a stuck up person and we'll be learning what her background was before the name change as I'm very curious about it.

Kii Kitano as Hisae Aso.... The real sister of Toko though her last name isn't Aso but Mikami too. Hisae is a bit of a shut-in and has been that way for three years since breaking up with her boyfriend. At the time Hisae was working at a pharmaceutical company and seems to know every kind of medicine created. She takes care of the household for 'Toko' but her sister has a love/hate relationship with her and constantly berates her.

Mijika Nagai as The Mysterious Woman.... But she does have a name and she's the real Toko Aso! Years before she had fallen heavily into debt and 'thanks' to Kawashima's company they were all paid off. But the price was that Riyako would be allowed to assume her identity for five years and these days the real Toko is a drug addict and very down on her luck.

Hidekazu Mashima as Koji Kawashima....Owns the ETS agency which says it's a dispatching company but that's a front. Their main objective is to bring down an individual such as someone who owes money, is gong through a divorce and such, will explain it better as time goes on.

Waku Kyoten as Kyohei Ito... Only saw him in the first show and he's a whiz at computers who just won a prestigious web designer award. He seems to love Toko but those feelings will never be returned.

Naoto Kataoka as Ryosuke Iki.... Is a manager at the esteemed Crown Hotel who has had his eye on Toko for a while, we didn't meet him until the end of the second episode.

 At times say I'm confused about some things in a drama which on occasion is true but not that often. It's more of a case of me being a bit impatient for details and those things will eventually come out during the course of a series. Did say was a bit confused about some things in that first episode but looking at what was written don't think anything was missed and was accurate.

 Kind of a big cliffhanger to end off the first show and that scene opened this episode which explained so many things. Toko had rushed out her house looking for her sister Hisae who split after Toko had once again abused Hisae, this time by pouring wine on her head! Toko didn't see her anywhere outside but there was another woman there who in the top two screenshots, not trying to be nasty but she'll never win a beauty pageant! This woman happens to be none other than the.... real Toko Aso!!!! This woman is down on her luck and these days is a drug addict, she came around in the hopes she could score some cash. So the Toko I have been and will be referring to is actually Riyako Mikami and the story of how she began using Toko's name was revealed in a flashback. This name or should I say identity switch took place three years ago and at the time Riyako, now Toko, was a newish employee at the ETS agency which as a front says they're a dispatching company.

 Riyako thought she was going to be promoted to a secretary for the owner Kawashima but instead he wanted Riyako to become the president which needless to say shocked her! In the first recap discussed what ETS does which is to disgrace people and make their personal lives a living hell. Kawashima could see that Riyako would be a perfect fit and he was correct as three years later business is booming! Don't know what the real one is yet but Kawashima seems to be a fake name, he wants Riyako also to use a different name. The reason is if the company ever gets probed by the police or the person disgraced seeks revenge. During this meeting in walked a woman who you can see above who was the real Toko Aso. She had been heavily in debt but Kawashima paid off all those bills but of course there was a catch. For the next five years she has to allow Riyako to assume her identity and become Toko, also to be able to use her family register and anything else from the past which would help Riyako hide her true identity. With really no other options the real Toko agreed to the deal and was given a hefty amount of cash too though being an addict means that was gone in no time.

 There was an agreement that the real Toko was to never visit Riyako but too late to do anything about that. Riyako ended up giving her a bit of cash with a strict warning of never to see her face to face again and also to give her the address of her new slum apartment just in case 'something should come up'. So the real Toko got what she came for and as we saw later on the smoked that cash away quickly as she was lying in an alley too whacked out to move. That Iba case continued on from the first episode, he's a middle aged man whose wife is in the midst of divorcing him. The ETS company helps people like her which is to bring disgrace to the person they have a vendetta and Iba doesn't know what's hitting him! First there were some fake photos taken of him with another woman, then he was offered a scam employment offer that was too good to believe. So Iba ended up quitting his original job, right after that his new employer demoted him and said he was being transferred halfway across Japan! If Iba didn't like it he could always quit and as you can see from Toko's database above that's what the poor man did but think we'll be hearing more about Iba in future shows. 

 So while all that was going on what's been the story with Toko's(Riyako) sister Hisae? After their latest skirmish she retreated to a small apartment which she's been renting out for a while and Toko has no idea about the place. However there was some bad news for Hisae as a new lease needs to be signed, the rent will be close to $1,200 a month and where will the unemployed Hisae get that kind of cash? So wondered where has she been getting that kind of money for it up until now as even if Hisae skimmed off the household finances Toko would notice. Hisae eventually made her return to the household in an apologetic state with this lease consuming her thoughts. When Toko told her the story of the real Toko appearing at the house Hisae was more irate than her sister as she knew once you give an addict some cash they'll never leave you alone. But Hisae did learn that Toko got this woman's address, the following day while Toko was at the ETS company Hisae found the address and was planning on confronting this woman. For what though, to threaten the real Toko or to perhaps get that small sum of cash back?

 Hisae rarely leaves the house so when she does you know it has to be important. On the way to the real Toko's shabby place an elderly woman fell to the ground in front of Hisae who rushed over to help her. The woman's name was Mamako and Hisae escorted her back to her house where she slowly snapped out of her 'funk' Say funk because Hisae noticed all of the medications this woman was taking and told her that's the reason for her passing out and feeling so badly lately. Hisae may no longer work for a pharmaceutical company but she's kept up on things and does she know her stuff! So Hisae really helped this woman out who persuaded her to stay for some tea, Mamako also had some other medications that she hoped Hisae could advise her on. When this woman got  them out of a drawer she also took out three bank books which Hisae quickly noticed and you know what went through her mind! So the two had an enjoyable time drinking tea and talking about many other things but the whole time Hisae's eyes were still on those bank books, was there enough in those accounts to pay the monthly rent at her secret apartment?

 By the time the episode ended Hisae still hadn't made her move to get those books and would think the next episode will begin off with what took place. In the final two minutes Toko was at the ritzy Crown Hotel where she does most of her dealings with clients. She had been observing Iba and was so pleased watching this man's life become ruins and wonder how much his wife had to pay ETS to disgrace Iba's life? As Toko was heading out a man intercepted her who is right above. His name is Iki who has had his eyes on Toko for a while as she's a frequent visit to the hotel's coffee shop. Iki is a manger there and for some reason Toko's eyes lit up when he introduced himself, he was called away then but will he soon become a part of Toko's life? That ends this first pair of recaps and not sure what to think of this drama yet as it still needs to kick into a higher gear but it's got the possibility of being a fine series. Should be back in about five days for the next pair of recaps.