"Living no Matsunaga-san".... Episode one 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.

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.

 As mentioned in the longish intro here's a different kind of drama for me and at times do need to take a break from action/intense shows. Have viewed the first two episodes and am writing both up today. Then will view the third show and recap that so you will see three posts for the drama today. An episode is just 23 minutes in length so these shouldn't be long recaps which is why there will be three today and think that will be the case for the next three episodes. That's enough blabbering and let's get to what took place, Hikaru in this drama is just so overly kawaii and hard to believe she's not that far away from turning 23 in age.

 In that first screenshot are Miko's two best friends Maho and Richan, don't think either will be that important to the drama. Miko was telling her mates that she may not be able to finish her final year at this unnamed high school, she then related the story of why she may need to leave Tokyo. The previous day her parents, who are in a few screenshots above, told Miko they may have to move to Wakayama which lies a bit SW of Osaka. Her father's mother had hurt her back and the family needs to run her Hot Springs resort, Miko's father has already quit his job and is ready to depart! Not Miko though and she pleaded with her parents to remain in Tokyo but how would that be possible without a guardian? It wouldn't be but the following day Miko had a bright idea after leaving school, what about her uncle Masahiko?

 He's Miko's mother's brother and six months ago had purchased a large house, would there be room there for Miko? Yes there would be but unknown to Miko the uncle Masahiko had gotten divorced and has turned his large residence into a rooming house called 365 Share House. On her way there Miko drew the attention of the man above in glasses, he really is the main character and his name is Jun. Miko was frightened of him as Jun had been screaming at someone on his phone, in a panic Miko tore away but Jun was on her tail!!!! Unknown to Miko at the time Jun was just trying to return the phone she had dropped. His destination too was the 365 Share House and there the uncle Masahiko said Jun wasn't a Psycho but a resident there, that first encounter didn't go well as Miko had squirted hair spray into Jun's face! That young man in the middle screenshot above is named Ryo, he had one very short scene. Ryo was there looking for an apartment but when he learned it was just a room refused it, he's the character who will be added in for the third episode. Quickly Miko begged her uncle to let her have the room, it's her only chance to stay in Tokyo and Masahiko did agree but soon things won't be looking so rosy for Miko.

 Jun is a 29 year old designer, mainly for book and magazine covers though has done other things such as mugs and knick-knacks. If he ever needed a different line of work perhaps being a Drill Sergeant is what he should aim for! Jun can be just a bit too serious and overbearing at times, Miko found that out on the day of her moving in. Jun was waiting for Miko to arrive as he had already brought her boxes and such to her room, he wants everything unpacked NOW and ended up doing most of the work. So seemingly within a few minutes the pair did unpack just about all of Miko's belongings, put it all in the wardrobe, dressers, etc. and that would have taken any of us a week to do! Jun had every single detail all planned out and as mentioned has the stern attitude of a Drill Sergeant. As you can see in two screenshots near the top Jun has this way of not calling Miko by her regular name, he had an annoying way of adding an extra I to make it sound like Miiko and his reasoning didn't make much sense.

 There are three others who live at the 365 Share House, all may be slightly important to the story but don't think any will get a lot of screen time. There's the other male Kentaro who works as a bartender and is known to be a bit of a playboy. Asako at 31 in age is the oldest and she owns her own nail salon in Shibuya, she also appears to be the nicest. The third is another woman named Akane who works PT at a curry restaurant, to date we really don't know much about any of them. That's the trio in the middle screenshot above and while Jun can be overbearing at times he is a very helpful man. He did continue to help out Miku with her move in as he told her all of the things she will need and did buy most of them for her plus did give her many other useful tidbits. However all of Jun's help may go for naught as later that day an unexpected tragedy arose, the end of Miku's short stay at the house? For her uncle Masahiko had a bombshell for all, the company he works for will be sending him overseas to work! While that won't affect the older residents it certainly will to Miku as now that her guardian will no longer be living at the house what's to become of her?

 Miku's mother was at the Share House ready to take her daughter away to Wakayama! Jun had arrived home after finishing the shopping for Miko he expected her to be there already but she was nowhere to be found. No doubt because of the text messages her mother had sent about the fateful move and Miko being a teenager may have thought ignoring such news would make it go away. Of course it wouldn't and Jun did hunt the neighborhood for Miko which was successful and did drag her back to the 365 Share House. Where of course Miko pleaded to remain in Tokyo for her final year of high school but with her uncle moving out there was just no possibility. After Miko's short plea Jun impressed all with his mini speech about how Miko should grow up and begin to put her family's interests in front of her own, that really impressed Miku's mother to no end.

 So when Jun brought up the outrageous idea of him being Miko's guardian(!) the mother agreed to that. Though her daughter will be living in such a unique situation Jun does seem to have his act together, the other three residents also seem to be decent people so it was settled, Miko will be a resident of the 365 Share House! Jun is very strict as he keeps the house in tip top shape but he truly does care about everyone there, he just has an odd way of showing it. We're down to the final minute of this first episode and Jun does have one weakness if you want to call it that which is that he truly loves Red Beans, especially sandwiches but anything else associated with Red Beans such as drinks and ice cream. So to thank Jun Miko did buy him a sandwich right at the end, he was in seventh heaven and as Miko mused to herself it was the first time she had seen Jun smile! So that wraps up the first show and these episodes are only 23 minutes in length which is a nice breather for me, the next post has the recap for the second episode.