"Living no Matsunaga-san".... Episode eleven of twelve recap

 

 Air Dates: January 9th until March 26, 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. Which was revealed in the eighth episode, Jun's superior had stolen the design for a new ad campaign.

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. Of all the residents we know the least of Kentaro's background.

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. Asako is now 31 in age, when she was 27 she had gotten married but a year later divorced the man though we don't know the reasons.

 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. In the ninth episode to the surprise of all Akane married an Indian man named Sonjay so she moved out and the pair opened their own restaurant.

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. Ryo eventually did and its because he had fallen for Miko! 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 .... Episode seven .... Episode eight

Episode nine .... Episode ten

 As I mentioned in two posts already there was a mistake at the drama's site as there are a dozen episodes and not ten so have the final pair today. But the way the tenth show ended it truly could have been the finale for this series, Jun had confessed to Miko that he liked her though because of their age difference for now couldn't date which she understood. This recap continues on from that and after a slowish beginning the ending was quite good, am writing this up before the final episode airs so have no clue how things will turn out, let's get to what took place. The next post has the recap for episode twelve, in that will also discuss what's up next for a drama and have already written up four posts. **** Now make that eleven recaps and have I been zooming through that classic series!

 That top screenshot is from the previous episode when Jun finally confessed to Miko that he does like her, not as a friend but finally as a woman! But being a senior in high school means she's still underage and Jun did say if they ever did date it would have to be well in the future which Miko understood and seemingly won't mind waiting. That scene had taken place at a park called Field of Light Illumination, after that confession Miko had tripped and Jun held her from falling. Seemed very innocent but it does get brought up near the end. The one problem now is that Jun and Miko aren't sure how to communicate with each other, both became a bit distant from the other and aren't sure how to interact. Few screenshots above feature Akane in them, she had moved out at the end of the ninth episode for she got married to an Indian man named Sonjay. The pair opened their own curry restaurant a month later and all seems to be going well with them though we never did see Sonjay in this show.

 Akane did make an appearance twice at the 365 Share House, the first was because she wanted her friends to taste test some of her new recipes. One was a mega hot curry which Jun tried and it set his mouth on fire!!!! When he asked for some water Miko handed him a bottle and when he touched her hand Jun was at a loss on what to do, back off or grab the bottle which he eventually did. He wanted to keep his distance from Miko plus not have the other residents at the house know he confessed to Miko. Which she revealed to everyone after he left, Asako told Miko she knows what she's going through as she's having the same problem to an extent with Kentaro. Who she does like but only as a friend, he thinks the two should be dating after that last episode. Jun is working on a huge project and so aren't many other ad designers, it's for the Japanese Tourism department and it's a semi contest to see whose plan will be accepted. Miko still has no clue on what her future career should be though when she organized the wedding for Akane that went so smoothly and perhaps she should look at what it takes to be a wedding planner.

 Jun thought that was a good plan for Miko's future, doing that kind of work would mean attending a business school and it just so happens Miko's high school has an affiliated college with that program. So the pair did clear the air to an extent on why they haven't been communicating with each other as much, Jun said not to worry for just because friends don't always talk to the other person doesn't mean their feelings have changed, At school Miko did tell her temp teacher Konatsu about Jun confessing to her. Surprisingly Konatsu wasn't jealous as she was once Jun's girlfriend and still has feelings for him though he has rebuffed them. The following day Miko received a call from her father who had traveled up from Wakayama for a meeting. It was the second time he had called, once again Miko said she was busy and couldn't see him, she was a bit curt and the father was suspicious. He called Miko's mother in Wakayama shortly after that and she dashed up to Tokyo, could there be something going on between Miko and her much older guardian Jun?

 The answer to that is Yes and No, of course both have confessed to each other but nothing is happening such as dating. That's what Jun told Miko's mother who had to meet up with him ASAP, she told Jun about that hugging incident mentioned earlier at the Field of Light Illumination park, are they that much in love? Miko's father had witnessed that scene and Jun told the mother it was all a misunderstanding which was true, Miko just happened to trip and Jun grabbed her from falling. However now that Miko's mother knows the pair have feelings for each other it's made her quite uncomfortable so something has to change, she had trusted Jun so much which is why she let him be Miko's guardian. Now that the two care so much for each other it's time to end it right now before it goes any further, the mother wants Miko to return with her to Wakayama!!!!

 Have a strong feeling Jun knew Miko's mother may take that sort of action and had planned ahead. There was a short five second scene earlier in the show where we did see Jun looking at the Tokyo apartment listings, was he successful? YES for a few days later he scheduled a dinner with his 365 Share House mates and even invited Akane. At it Jun dropped a huge bombshell, he'll be moving out of the house that weekend which was only two days away! Needless to say that stunned all there so this occasion was actually Jun's going away party. He told everyone that work was going so well he needed more space and his new apartment had an office which would help him immensely, no idea yet how that tourism project is going but Jun has been working very hard on it.

 Now that Jun won't be there he's chosen Kentaro to be Miko's guardian, it wasn't mentioned but sure he had to get the approval  of Miko's mother first. So the party wasn't a happy affair as Jun is the unofficial leader of the house, of course the person most down in the dumps was Miko and you can see that above, In the final minute of the show she visited Jun while he was packing in his room, even if he's moving out she's positive Jun will come by often to visit his friends. Not so replied Jun who said no one will ever see him again as he has no plans of ever coming back to the Share House, that left Miko in tears and is how this episode ended. Bit of a slow start but the second half was so much better, can't wait to see how things will turn out and the recap for that is the next post.