"Cinecon e Ikou!" drama: Episode four of thirteen(?) recap

 

 Air Dates: July 4th until September 26 on BS Matsutake Tokyo TV, Mondays at 10:30 pm

Also known as 'Let's go the Cinema Complex', subs are being done by GEO0975 at DA

Main Cast: Is there a location a drama hasn't been set in?! This one takes place at a Cinema Complex in the fictional city of Mirai. Looks to be a small complex but there are twelve theaters with the largest holding 510 movie fans. The cinema is part of the Tochiku Corporation which own many theaters in Japan. However the fans haven't flocking to this cinema which has some less than stellar employees, will some new blood shake up things? Will update the bios as we go along and an episode is 25 minutes in length.

Kii(e) Kitano as Kaori Nakatsuka... The 'new blood' at this cinema which is located in a remote region. Kaori has been transferred from the home office in Tokyo and though she knows so much about the business end of theaters she doesn't know what it takes to operate one. She's a very strict young woman who was sent to bring in more customers and straighten out this bunch of daffy employees.

Dai Watanabe as Kenta Mizusawa.... The manger of the cinema complex and he may be the only employee I wouldn't call daffy. Mizusawa has been the manager for some years and is a huge film buff but he's not running a tight enough ship at the complex and was shocked when Kaori was sent to help him.

Tateto Serizawa as Kanji Shibui.... The assistant manager and also the oldest by far at the cinema. His main duty is to run the projections for the films and have things changed over the years. Shibui is quite scared of woman and can't even look Kaori in the eyes.

Nana Akuzawa as Tomomi Marukawa.... Runs the ticket and info booth, like every other part time employee she's a bit lazy and really has no interest in movies.

Shingo Nakayama as Kohei Matsumaru.... Male employee who is the usher but helps out doing many other assorted jobs.... when he has time from not talking to the other employees!

Risako Miki as Shiina Takemura.... Head of the concession stand but like everyone else doesn't have to work hard due to the lack of customers.

Sara Saito as Akane Umemoto.... Cleaner at the cinema who is a horrible worker, she spends most of her day on the phone!

Previous recaps

Episode one .... Episode two

Mini preview of this fourth episode: Video

 

 Was going to begin the countdown on my 'All Time Top Twenty Faves' list around August 6th but may begin earlier which I'll discuss more in a post two above this. Brought that up for Kii will be on that list and she also made the first one done back in 2018 finishing in 19th position. Perhaps that's not too high but making the top twenty is an achievement and it's a shame she wasn't busier after 2015 as she easily could have made the top ten.

 First three episodes were all enjoyable and we have learned a bit about how a cinema is run. But will admit this was just a so-so episode as not all that much happened and hope I can stretch things out a bit for a regular length recap. We did see more of the supporting cast which is good, not so much of Kaori which definitely isn't good! In the top three screenshots are the older man Shibui who is responsible for the movies running, with him is the part timer Matsumura who is the usher, ticket taker and general all around handy man. While watching the first scene it dawned on me the last three shows have opened with this pair who are so different but get along fairly well. Shibui knows so much about movies, especially older ones stretching back to the 1930's. 

 He was explaining to his junior why certain movie theme songs are played in stores and they're a message to the employees. Such as "Singing in the Rain" means a storm could be coming up and to get the display of umbrellas filled, there's many more songs along those lines. Last show the pair opened with a discussion about Popcorn and why it's served in theaters. So we didn't see much of the new co-manager Kaori who has been on the warpath to get this cineplex in tip-top shape. She's been hounding some of the employees to do a better job and to be more observant. It is true so many are a bit lazy and you can see in the second to last screenshot above why some of them work there. However that trio of women have been working harder and it's not really their fault certain tasks aren't getting done, the huge problem is that there's a staffing shortage at the Cinema Inn which is located in Mirai.

 That staffing problem began last episode but still hasn't been solved nor will it be in this episode. That's Tomomi in many of the above screenshots and though knowledgeable is a bit lazy when it comes to work, she takes care of selling tickets and watching the lobby. She brought in her two mates Akane and Kanna to complain to the main manager Mizusawa about the way Kaori has been treating them and making them do extra duties. Doesn't she realize they'd rather be taking breaks then doing those extra tasks?!?! However Kanna in the top screenshot really had no complaints, she runs the concession stand and is the most efficient worker at the cineplex. There's not much Mizusawa can do about the staff shortage, he's put up flyers saying the theater is hiring but there's been no applicants.

 So he and Kaori have been filling in for the empty shifts which hasn't worked out well. She's a bit inept at the concession stand and meanwhile Mizusawa taking tickets is even worse as you can see above! But finally someone did apply to work at the cineplex which is that young man above.. His name is Yamakashi who is a nineteen year old who will soon start at Keio University and needs the extra money to survive as he lives by himself. Wouldn't call Yamakashi an ugly man but he certainly isn't what I would call all that handsome either, just kind of plain looking. But the trio of female workers fell for him instantly, first off was Tomomi above who kept bringing him refreshments. At the time Yamakashi was still waiting to be interviewed and before that took place he had his choice of three women! Akane knew something had to be up for Tomomi was so secret about what kind of man Yamakashi was like, she too went into the interview room and swooned at his feet!

 Even Kanna in the second screenshot above fell for Yamakashi and she's usually the most level headed of all the employees. So eventually the young man did get hired to the delight of the three women, they've even volunteered to work extra shifts if it means being around Yamakashi that much more! You can see them above prepping for his first day and does the soon to be college student know what he's gotten himself into? Shibui was assigned to do the first training with Yamakashi and he had noticed how the women quickly fell for him, Shibui was curious which young woman does Yamakashi want to date? To Shibui's amazement he said 'None of them' and confessed to Shibui the main reason he applied for the job was because he's had such a crush on Kaori!!!!

 That stunned Shibui to no end and for some reason he's still petrified of the new co-manager. So don't know if Shibui did it on purpose or not but soon after that training session began Yamakashi dashed back into the main office and told Mizusawa he's quitting after an hour! What Shibui had done was to sing movie theme songs in the training and wanted Yamakashi to do the same, did he know this young man would quit if that happened? Have a feeling the answer is Yes and did it happen because Yamakashi had said he had a crush on Kaori? So that ends this recap and while not as interesting as the first three episodes it turned out okay and my opinion often rises after writing these up. GEO9875 has been doing the subbing and they've been solid, he also did Kii's last drama. So will be back in two weeks with the next pair of recaps and at thirteen shows this is a longish series.