"Living no Matsunaga-san".... Episode five of ten recap

 

 Air Dates: January 9th until March 12, 2024. Tuesdays at 11:00 pm on Fuji-TV

There's ten episodes which average ~23 minutes a show, subs were done by Blitz Subs

Main Cast: If there's anyone who has read many of the dramas I've recapped you know this is an odd one for me. Usually the genre(s) are for police/mystery/suspense/horror shows but every now and again need something a bit mellow or at least not as intense. Which is what this series will be like, viewed the first two episodes which were decent so thought why not recap this drama? Plus I did want to watch a show that featured Hikaru and she has the main female role in this. In real life she will be turning 23 later on this year but in this show plays an 18 year old high school senior named Miko. There will be no love theme in this show as the main male character Jun is 29 in age, I kind of liken his relationship with Miko as being her much older brother. Wrote the character details after the first two shows but know for the third episode there will be a new character added in. To date every scene has featured either Miko or Jun so not all that much is known yet about the others major characters but sure that will change and will edit this section, right below is the 365 Share House.

Hikaru Takahashi as Miko Sonoda.... 18 year old HS senior who lives in Tokyo. However in the first episode her parents were planning on moving to Wakayama as her grandmother was sick and they needed to run her Hot Springs resort. Of course Miko wanted to remain in Tokyo for her final year but she needed a guardian to watch over her. Which at first was her uncle Masahiko and Miko moved into his 365 Share House so all seemed acceptable to her parents. However Masahiko's company was sending him overseas for a few months, would Miko have to move to Wakayama? NO for the second oldest person at the 365 Share House Jun said he would be Miko's guardian which sounded odd at first to the mother who did eventually agree and what kind of adventures will Miko have at the house?

 Kento Nakajima as Jun Matsunaga.... The title of the drama is named after him and can't tell you exactly why. Jun is a 29 year old freelance designer, mainly for book and magazine covers. Now that Miko's uncle has left for a while Jun seems to be the head of the Share House, he can be overly strict and at first did try to give Miko house rules as he's her unofficial guardian. But think deep down Jun is a bit soft hearted and he does care about everyone living at the house. Below is the uncle Masahiko, won't add him into this section as we may not see him again. Jun also has the annoying habit of adding in an extra I to Miko's name meaning he calls her Miiko. Jun's parents died when he was young and has been at the Share House for three years.

Koji Mukai as Kentaro Suzuki.... The other male at the 365 Share House, Kentaro is known to be a bit of a playboy and works as a bartender.

Tomoka Kurokawa as Asako Onuki... This is an actress I like a lot and have seen her in a few other dramas. Asako is the oldest of the 365 Share House residents and owns a nail salon shop in Shibuya.

 Sakurako Okubo as Akane Hattori.... 23 year old who works PT at a curry restaurant, Akane is a bit daffy but seems to be so likable.

Taiyu Fujiwara as Ryo Hojo.... We saw him briefly in the first episode as he was going to move into the house. However Ryo thought it was a regular apartment not a room so he ended up not moving in. But he did at the beginning of the third show as there was an empty room due to Masahiko moving out, Ryo never quite explained why he changed his mind. He's a shy man in his young twenties, works a PT job and is a medical student.

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Previous recaps

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

 To me this was the best show to date, it's also the first two part story and the following post has the conclusion. The date is February 4th, in the top screenshot Asako and Kentaro informed Miko that on the 22nd it will be Jun's 30th birthday. Doesn't matter what the occasion is at the 365 Share House as the residents will celebrate everything! A tradition is that about 20,000 yen will be spent on a gift along with buying some party favors, with Miko still being in high school she was told 10,000 yen will be her limit. We did learn early on that Miko gets an allowance of 35,000 yen from her parents which is about $237, bet most of us wish we had that high of an allowance while in school! You can see Miko figuring out her expenses above, it will be tough but she should be able to handle 10,000 yen for Jun's birthday. Who has been getting very curious about how close Miko and the newbie Ryo have become, they'll be getting a bit closer later on though the 'romance' is one sided.... for now.

 However another problem quickly arose two days later, it's now February 6th and in eight days it will be Valentines!!!! Of course in Japan a female will buy/cook chocolate for the men they like or to say Thank You. What can Miko do for that day, she barely has enough for Jun's birthday and she really wanted to give Jun thanks for all his help.... plus she still does have a crush on him! Miko revealed her predicament to Ryo and the dire money problems she has in not being able to buy Jun anything for Valentine's. It just so happens that the manager at the coffee shop Ryo works PT at hurt his leg and will be out of work for a few weeks. So there's the chance Miko was looking for to make some extra cash and jumped at the temp job offer. Of course she had to keep it a secret from Jun and lied saying she was studying for some pre-college exams, she may be at the library most nights until 8:00 pm with her friends. So Jun was impressed with her wanting to study and even began preparing Miko's meals for her, to his dismay every time she came home Miko said she had eaten! 

 It was Ryo who kept suggesting the pair go out for dinner after work, he would be buying so how could Miko say no?! During this time is when Ryo's crush on Miko kept growing, getting ahead a bit but he semi confessed in the bottom two screenshots above. Miko had once asked Ryo why he decided to move into the 365 Share House as at first he turned down the room. Which happened in the first episode, once Ryo saw Miko he was smitten and above said he moved in because of a cute girl living there! However Miko thought it had to be Akane who is just slightly older than Ryo, of course Miko was way off base with that thought but wasn't corrected by the shyish Ryo. You can also see above the pair spending so much together has made Jun a bit curious(jealous?), could the two possibly be dating? 

 A nightmare was awaiting Miko the next day at the coffee shop for who should enter but Jun.... with a woman! We've seen her before and she's Jun's editor Miki though Miko wasn't aware of that. Luckily Ryo was there to save the day and took their order, Miko thought her working was still a secret. No it wasn't as Jun did spot Miko in the kitchen, was her supposedly studying for pre-college exams just a ruse so she could spend more time with Ryo? We viewers know that's far from the truth but there was no way Miko could confess to working to pay for Jun's Valentine's and birthday presents, sure he would have said don't bother with spending money on him. So although a lot does happen in these shows an episode is only 23 minutes in length, by now there's only five minutes to go.  Oooops, almost forgot to mention one ten second mini scene. Akane had admitted to Asako that she had a boyfriend and they've been dating for two years, think that will be an important story later on in the series.

 Later that day when Jun arrived home he saw a creep looking into the house windows, the man tore away before Jun could do anything. It was after 8:00 pm, Miko wasn't home but odds were high she was still at work with Ryo. No because he soon arrived back at the Share House, Ryo had the day off and was at the library studying. So where was Miko(?), Jun was frantic with worry and that happens in each show, he sped from the house in the search for Miko and nothing had better have happened to her! Talk about arriving in the nick of time, on her way home Miko had been accosted by a man named Tanaka who visited the coffee shop every day. It was him who was spying on the house, Tanaka wanted to know why Miko was living with so many men???? She didn't answer so the creep quickly grabbed Miko's arm and began to drag her away.

 That was the moment Jun arrived to save the day, he didn't get into a fight with Tanaka but ordered him to leave and never show his face around the coffee shop again! Not a real intense scene but Miko was quite shaken up, to the point where she did reveal her secret to Jun. Which was of her working and not studying, Jun did know that but Miko didn't say why she needed the cash. As the episode ended that was Jun's question right above, he's so certain that Miko and Ryo are dating! Of course that's not the truth(yet?) and the next episode should have the Valentine's and birthday celebrations. Haven't viewed that show yet but am about to and that recap is the next post.