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

 For almost every drama recap have always needed a paragraph or two to introduce the episode. They would be of some new things you should be aware of, a special guest star or whatever else I feel like talking about. Don't think those intros will be needed for this series as with the episodes just being 23 minutes in length no sense having them and this may be the final one but knowing me....

 That top screenshot above was from near the end of the first episode, Miko's mother has agreed to let her daughter stay at the 365 Share House with Jun as her guardian! That responsibility was to fall on the shoulders of Miko's uncle Masahiko but his company has suddenly transferred him overseas for a few months on a project. That's Masahiko in the third screenshot, it may be the last we see of him and his leaving that day bummed Jun out as he wanted to have a farewell party. Masahiko still owns the house and collects the rent, it's unofficial but seems as though Jun will be overseeing most things about the house. That party didn't pan out but there's always Miko to think about and the next evening her welcoming party will take place. Will mention often that Jun can be a bit too strict but he does love organizing parties and such, when he first moved into the Share House he was a bit of a loner but has been changing his ways.... to an extent.

 With an episode being just 23 minutes time flies in these, it's quickly the next day and of course the occasion is Miko's welcoming party! Being only eighteen in age Miko can't drink and probably hasn't yet but the others did partake in the spirits. In the bottom screenshot above are the other three house residents, from the left is the oldest Asako who owns a nail salon, the man is Kentaro who is a bartender and as said at the party a bit of a playboy and on the right is the curry restaurant waitress Akane. A good time was had by all but though Jun has become more open and cares about his mates he's still a bit too strict. Perhaps more so now that he's Miko's guardian, at the party he announced three rules that Miko has to abide by! Two were a bit minor but one was a tad outlandish, Miko has a curfew of 5:30 pm! That did bring some objections from all the residents, especially Miko and though a high school senior she needs to be home by 5:30 pm???? 

 Little later that curfew will be a key part to this episode but after the party ended Jun wanted some advice from Miko. Jun is a designer, mainly for book and magazine covers but as Akane said well above he also designed the logo on the mug she was using. Jun is a freelancer and his current assignment was creating a cover for a teen girl's book. However Jun had no clue what kind of pictures and covers teen girls would be attracted to, he asked Miko for her opinion on the one he had designed and wanted an honest answer! Miko's response was the book cover was so Lame, no girl her age would look at it twice and would Jun be furious with her? Not at all as Jun is a very blunt person, he wanted an honest opinion and received it from Miko but now he's even more in the dark on what kind of book cover to design. The next day Jun even told his editor that he may drop the project as he's clueless on what appeals to teen girls these days, Jun is 29 in age but will work on the cover for one more day.

 In the middle screenshot above Miko was with her best two friends Maho and Richan after school. She was telling them all about this 'curfew' and how she can't stay out late these days but the friends said forget that rule, let's go to a Karaoke club! The time at that moment was 4:00 pm, if Miko went to a club she would never be back at the 365 Share House by 5:30 pm. And she wasn't for when Jun returned home at 6:00 pm Miko wasn't there nor had she called! Kentaro said perhaps Miko had run away because of Jun's overbearing ways and he truly was upset at himself for being so strict. Jun was ready to scour the neighborhood looking for Miko when arriving home was Akane, by now it was past 7:00 pm. Miko and her friends had passed by her curry restaurant and Akane had heard them discussing going to a Karaoke joint, hearing that changed Jun in a heartbeat and now he's furious Miko is out having fun! However she wasn't for Jun's search didn't last too long as he located Miko quickly, that's her in the last screenshot above in tears saying she's lost her Smartphone.

 Miko hadn't gone to a Karaoke club with her friends but instead had a mission to help Jun with his book cover which she didn't want to tell him about. First the priority was finding Miko's phone and in that second screenshot told Jun she knew she had the phone when she visited some sort of glittery design shop. The hunt continued from there and Jun was a bit irate with Miko's actions though she never did anything wrong, least Jun did hold back from yelling at her. Miko's Smartphone was eventually found and we viewers never did see where she had lost it(!), Jun just happened to find it wherever. That's when Miko began to confess about her mission that late afternoon, instead of going to a Karaoke place with her friends she tried to find 'cute things' for Jun's book cover. That's why Miko had visited that shop and she had also taken photos around the neighborhood of things that would appeal to a teenage girl. It shocked Jun that someone would help him out so much, Miko's reward was a hot can of Red Bean juice!

 Anything with Red Beans is Jun's favorite but he didn't have enough money for his own can, why that was will be explained shortly. Now everything has settled down, Jun is no longer irate with Miko so the pair headed back to the 365 Share House and Jun set himself up for a long evening. For he stayed up just before the Sun rose to work on that book cover, his main inspirations were the photos Miko had taken. And this time around Miko was impressed with Jun's book cover, she said teen girls would be attracted to it and the next day he did turn it into his editor. Earlier had briefly talked about Jun not having any cash to buy himself a Red Bean juice. It was because he had bought a phone strap for Miko so she wouldn't lose it again and also to give thanks for helping out on his project. It was the first time he had ever said Thank You to her and now Miko is starting to view Jun in a different light. That brings us to the end of the show however with ten seconds to go an event that will take place in the next episode began to occur. That was of a new resident moving into the 365 Share House and all of the details are in the post below this one.