Yuki Yoda: "Ryosangata Riko: Puramo Joshi no Jinsei Kumitate Ki" drama, episode five recap

 

 Air Dates: June 30th until September 2, 2022... Thursday nights at 12:30 am on TV-Tokyo

Episodes are 24 minutes in length, subs are being done by Masssterchief

Main Cast: Most of the action takes place at the very busy Fun Fun Create company which specializes in planning and holding events. Wrote this up after viewing the first episode so a bit of tweaking will be done as we go on. There's three divisions at the company, #'s one and two are so busy they need more than 24 hours in a day! But our 'heroine' Riko works in the third division with four others and they are far from busy as their main tasks are mailing out flyers and such. In the first show a rumor had even started that the third division could be disbanded, will that eventually happen?

Yuki Yoda as Riko Komukai.... Had acquired the nickname of 'Mass Production Girl' as she just liked mainstream and safe things/activities. But one night in the first episode after work she passed by the Yasan Hobby Shop which she had never noticed before. Deep down Riko does like models and such, she had never made any though until entering this shop and then the rest is history....

Karen Fujii as Kyoko Nakano.... Female employee in the third division, she seems to be talented so how did she end up there? Kyoko gets along with Riko so well but has noticed her friend can be way too boring and needs a jolt to her life. 

Oshiro Maeda as Yuki Asai.... Started at the company with Riko but while she's still stuck at the bottom Asai has moved up to the first division. Seems as though he's doing well but in reality think he's not doing that that good of a job... he's a bit stuck up too.

Ayumu Mochizuki as Ryota Oishi.... Ace of the first division unit. He's one of Riko's biggest backers and am wondering if it's because he's got such a crush on her?

Ayumu Mochizuki as Shinji Takaji.... We met him in the second episode when he was transferred from the first to the third division. He knows almost everything about the company but his problem is Shinji doesn't like to do any 'real work'. That changed in the third show and of course it was because Shinji build his first model!

Magy as Teru Inuzuka.... Leader of the third division, very laid back man which isn't a positive at the Fun Fun Create company.

Yoshiaki Yoza as Atsushi Saruwatari.... Another third division employee who at one time was in the first division but asked for a transfer, why?

Yoshiyuki Morishita as Hitoshi Kijimura.... Oldest third division employee who like the others is so worried they'll be laid off. In the fourth show there was an offer to retire early and Kijimura did begin to fill out the forms until he had a change of heart.

Yoji Tanaka as Ichi Yajima.... Owner of the Yasan Hobby Shop where Riko visited in the first show and where she became addicted to models. Yajima seems to know all there is about models and took such a liking to Riko who tends to like the older versions.

Erika Ishikawa as Chiemi Ikuta.... Part time employee at Yajima's shop.

 

Link to the show's site: TV-Tokyo site

Previous recaps:

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

 

 This marks the halfway point to this series, will admit it's kind of slow moving but I'm enjoying it and especially those scenes when older models are built. Haven't viewed the next episode as it doesn't air until tonight and was hoping it'd be part two of this story which won't be the case. Up until now an episode's first eight minutes were at the office, then off to the hobby shop for ten minutes making models and then five minutes back at the office. But about 85% of this episode were about making models and while it's not an exciting activity I really enjoy those scenes and to me this was the top episode to date.... could there also be romance in the air for our 'heroine' Riko?

 Riko works at the Fun Fun Create company and think she's been there about two years but is stuck in Department Three which is looked down upon by others at the company. Fun Fun Create sets up events for clients, does a lot of promoting for their products and such, seems they're fairly successful. Each year they hold a Family Day where the families of all their clients are invited for a fun filled day, that event will be happening very soon. Riko was roped in to be the leader of her department's project which were children's activities and it's actually a very important one. Department Two will be in charge of food and the elite Department One will be in charge of everything else such as prizes, tours, alcohol(!) and whatever else. The ace of that department is Oishi who we've seen on occasion but don't know much about him, he's in the second and third screenshots. He's always been supportive of Riko but to me it seemed like he's had a crush on her, that we'll see could be true in this show.

 Two episodes ago the new transfer to Department Three Shinji had taken a trip with Riko to the Yassan Hobby Shop. He's a smart guy yet just couldn't get things done efficiently, some of it was laziness and a part was not knowing how to put the pieces of a project together. But of course a trip to the hobby shop is life changing and now Shinji is a top notch employee, more than that is he's become such a fanatic about model building! Some of that though has to do with Chiemi who is a young woman that works at the shop, Shinji has such a crush on her! Below Shinji's office desk the manager Inuzaka found a huge pile of models still in their boxes and did they bring back memories! Seems like his assistant Kijimura Inuzuka too was such a model fanatic growing up and what he loved more than any others were cars. Especially the older Mini 4WD models which came with motors and they were extremely popular. So after a discussion the department has decided for their Family Day project they would have models and seems like they're more pumped up about that than the children will be. To the amazement of the Department One Oishi thought it was a fabulous idea and he too is excited about it.

 This may be the longest recap of this series which is okay because the longer the recap the better! Even the president of Fun Fun Create stopped in to see what the department was up to. When he saw the children's project was to be for Mini 4WD models he too was excited and could he have been a large model fanatic in his day? For the first time no models were built at the Yassan Hobby Shop but of course that's where the team went to get the models and equipment needed. Riko went there and so didn't Shinji who has developed such a crush on the PT worker Chiemi, so intense it's starting to bother the owner Yajima! That's Yajima in the second screenshot above and the man truly knows everything there is about models, with him is Chiemi. Back in 1982 is when the first Mini 4WD model came out and to say it's been popular would be an understatement. There's been 400 versions over the years and the total amount sold has been over 180 million, it could be the most popular model ever in Japan.

 So everything else at Fun Fun Create's third department has been put on hold to build models! Can't go into details of making them but you can see the process in plenty of the screenshots. The manager Inuzaka may have been the most eager of the unit to build these models, he remembered clearly how popular they were forty years ago as he too loved the Mini 4WD model. The cars are very small but seeing as how they have a motor and race around a track you need to assemble them perfectly and Inuzaka, Shinji and Riko had no problem in doing that. Also paying a visit to the unit was Oishi in the second to last screenshot, to Riko's shock he too was an immense fan of the Mini 4WD. So much that Oishi stuck around to give everyone a hand and those cars really can zoom around the track. According to Oishi there's one more step that needs to be done, the two men knew but not Riko. Which is to modify the cars so they can go faster and stay on the track easier in order to win a race. But she was satisfied with her creation just finishing the race which Oishi could understand fully. But as she was leaving for the day he rushed outside to tell Riko to come back, the two of them can modify the car together!

 Since the beginning have always had the feeling Oishi has had a crush on Riko but was a bit too timid to approach her even though he was the Ace of the company. Oishi is really gung-ho about modifying this Mini 4WD model, he knows so much he could give the hobby shop owner Yajima a run for his money! The reason for modifying is to make the small car go faster and be able to stay on the track which isn't always easy to do. So you almost need to start from scratch to improve a model car, for instance you can see above they put a new high powered engine in the car. Plus the wheels needed to be altered so it could stay on the track which is difficult around high curves. Few other details had to be done and by the end it was almost a different model. Above Riko is holding the finished product which was a Victory Magnum, she added on the Big Stone for no good reason. Also coming back to the office were Shinji and Inuzuka, their cars too were modified and how about a race?! 

 All ran well but there may be no car that could top Oishi's with some minor help from Riko. The quartet sat around after and just shot the breeze, first time Riko had ever done that with her coworkers. And she found out how alike she and Oishi is, so much both were blushing a tad. That didn't go unnoticed by Shinji who said they look like two peas in a pod! Another comment was made along those lines at Family Day when a little girl asked Riko and Oishi if they were a couple? They both denied it but will this episode be the onset of a romance as both do like each other a lot but are too timid to say so. We didn't see much of the event but it was a smash as the Mini 4WD models were the hit of 'Family Day' that was held on the roof of Fun Fun Create. So ends this recap and as mentioned this was the best show to date. But thought the ending was a bit rushed which was why I was hoping the story would continue on to the sixth episode but sadly that didn't happen. That recap is the next post but haven't viewed it yet as I've gotten a bit ahead and the episode doesn't air until tonight.