"Living no Matsunaga-san".... Episode seven 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. His parents died when Jun was young and has lived at the Share House for three years. Before that Jun had worked at an ad agency, why he left is a mystery.

Koji Mukai as Kentaro Suzuki.... The other male(for a while) 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 .... Episode four

Episode five .... Episode six

 First two batches of recaps each had three posts, for the final two sets both will have two. Am still waiting for the final four episodes of "Black Familia" to be subbed for I wanted that to be the next series to be recapped. No word yet on when that will be done, hopefully soon as this drama will be finished in three days. So if things don't work out with that it may be a while before it's viewed as there's another drama titled "Akai Meiro" that I would view next and that's a 26 episode series! It's a very old show but one that looks so compelling, in this drama's final recap will let you know more details about it and if it will be up next. On to this recap and for the first time the main story or stories lasted for three episodes, from February 4th until the 22nd when Jun's 30th birthday took place. In between was Valentine's Day and the events for that occasion were in the last recap. That sixth show ended on a semi cliffhanger and let's see what the outcome was.

 Actually this cliffhanger was a bit too short and only had a slight impact on what took place in this show. In the previous episode Miko's mother had to rush back to Wakayama and had to miss a meeting with Miko's temp teacher Konatsu about her post graduation plans. So taking the place of the mother was of course Miko's guardian Jun, while waiting in the hall for Konatsu is when Miko gave Jun the Valentine's chocolate she had baked for him. We viewers knew a bit about their past but not Miko, in the meeting Jun and Konatsu were startled to see each other for.... three years before they had dated! That was news to Miko and as you can see in the first screenshot Konatsu is a nickname that had been given to her by the other 365 Share House residents. During that mini meeting Miko just sat there with her lips sealed, Jun still gets along so well with his ex so what chance would Miko ever have with him?

 None really and there is a twelve year age difference so Miko is just going through that teenage girl phase of liking a much older man. Back at the Share House Miko became a bit of a recluse, she wasn't hanging around in the living room where everyone always gathered and what was up with her? Jun had wondered if she was worried about what her future plans would be but of course Miko had something else that was bothering much more. Jun even invited Miko to the movies that weekend but in a surprise turned the offer down, she still had one week to go at her temp job. Which was working at the same coffee shop Ryo did, he's only 2-3 years older than Miko and more than anyone else at the house knew the intense crush Miko had on Jun and that conversation is above. In another shock to Miko the next day her teacher Konatsu asked if it was alright to attend Jun's 30th birthday party, Asako had invited her. Miko had no clue on what to say but when Konatsu said she didn't have feelings for Jun these days Miko brightened right up and said of course she was welcome at the party! Konatsu also asked if the older man Miko liked was Jun but she denied that and said it was someone else, wonder if Konatsu thought is was another house resident?

 The last few shows we've been learning much more about Jun's past, such as that he had once dated Konatsu. That relationship did end but on a good note and the pair do get along well. Another major thing we learned in this episode was that Jun had once worked FT for an ad agency and had such a bright future. But close to four years ago had quit that position and no one knows why, for some reason Jun hates the world of advertising and who can blame him?! Now Jun works as a free lance designer and mainly creating book/magazine covers, his editor told Jun there wasn't much current work for him but an agency wanted him to do a project. So Jun did meet a manager at the Amari Art Lab who had heard of him and wanted to hire Jun for a project, what the outcome will be is unknown. It's now February 21st, the day before Jun's 30th birthday and guess what.... Miko had forgotten to buy her 'crush' a present and what can she do?!

 That scene is in the above screenshots and it took place at the coffee shop, Ryo was there and suggested she bake him a special birthday cake. That sounded like a terrific plan to Miko, with Ryo's help Miko did bake a cake and that's it right above. However the next evening for Jun's 'surprise party' also bringing a cake was Konatsu, it was from a noted bakery and everyone at the house was drooling over it! That definitely broke Miko's heart and she kept silent about baking a cake, she told Ryo to also remain quiet and will just give it to Jun in case of an emergency. While everyone was having a fun time at the party Miko wasn't and actually became quite down. Everyone at the Share House had known each other from years ago and were having such a fun time reliving old memories, Miko felt like such an outcast. She soon said the snack supply was running low so would dash out to the store, Jun offered to escort Miko but she said no as she really just wanted to be alone. 

 In that top screenshot above for the first time Ryo did speak his mind about something. He asked Jun didn't he realize what Miko was going through and that he didn't deserve to chase after her, that's all that we heard from that very minor spat which was quickly cleared up. So the bartender Kentaro was sent to make sure everything was okay with Miko and he did have some more info for us and Miko about Jun's past. When he moved into the 365 Share House it was some months after quitting that ad agency, Jun was nearly broke and quite depressed. But Miko's uncle Masahiko, who owns the house, often had some words of wisdom for Jun who soon changed his ways and has turned into such a reliable friend to all at the house. Kentaro did add in that Jun cares more about Miko than anyone else at the house, of course a big reason is because Jun is her guardian and I've always thought he acts more like her very older bigger brother.

 So the pair did return to the Share House and waiting there in the dark was Jun with Miko's special birthday cake! Ryo had told everyone about what Miko had done instead of buying a present and how she must have felt when Konatsu gave Jun a cake. So while Miko was out Konatsu left and Ryo grabbed the cake from Miko's room, what started out as a very depressing party for Miko ended up being her most fun time ever at the house! At this point there were only about twenty seconds to go in the show, Konatsu was walking home and called Jun at his party. She apologized for things but said she still clings to Jun in a way, don't know where this may end up but sure we'll find out in the eighth episode and the recap for that is the next post.