"Living no Matsunaga-san".... Episode twelve(the true finale!) 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

 Little bit late but we've finally made it to the true end of this series and will thank Blitz once again for doing the subs. As mentioned did think the tenth episode was the finale, so didn't many others but there were two more shows. That tenth episode did finish on a note where you thought it was the ending of the series, actually thought that show had a better ending than this one. In that other post did give my final thoughts on the series which will remain the same, at the time gave this a grade of 8.5/10 which will also remain the same. They big key to me was seeing Hikaru in a show and did she look overly kawaii though is 22 in age. The ending did leave us with a possibility of a second season but think if it ever happened it wouldn't be for 2-3 years.

 Up next is an exciting project for me, it's recapping a very old show from 1974/75 titled "Akai Meiro". It's a 26 episode murder/mystery and am I enjoying this show immensely!!!! It's one very long story so don't want to have huge gaps between the recaps which will make it easier to follow. So have been working hard trying to get ahead of myself and in the last two weeks have already written up ten recaps! That must be a record for me and at first wasn't going to begin posting them until April 10th or a few days later. But think this Sunday which is the 7th is when the first pair of recaps will be published, then will have a pair every three days after that. If you are a drama fan or like old time Japan shows/movies this is one you would enjoy and you'll see why if you read the recaps. Let's get to this final show and what a breeze it will be writing this up after doing the recaps for "Akai Meiro".

 The previous recap ended off with Jun moving out of the 365 Share House after living there for over three years. The main reason is because Jun had fallen for Miko and had finally told her he liked her at the end of the tenth episode. Miko's mother had rushed up to Tokyo from Wakayama to confront Jun as when her husband was in Tokyo for a business trip had noticed the pair seemed very close, too close for a thirty year old man and a high school senior. Jun did admit to Miko's mother he liked her but knew nothing could happen between the two because of the age difference. So to prove his intentions were pure Jun moved out of the Share House, he told Miko at the end of the last show he would never return to see anyone and that really broke her heart. Jun was Miko's guardian and gave that responsibility to Kentaro but things at the house just aren't the same without Jun.

 Above are some screenshots of Ryo who semi confessed he adored Miko many episodes ago. He was turned down then and also in this show when he confessed once again, Miko does like Ryo but admitted her heart will always yearn for Jun! We didn't know at the time but a plot had been devised shortly after by the 365 Share House residents including Akane who had moved out when she got married in the ninth show. The next day Ryo had met up with Jun as he was leaving his job, he's now back working as an ad designer for Amari Art Lab. Ryo told him Miko will be leaving late tomorrow night for Wakayama, won't he do anything to prevent that from happening? Jun might and what he did will be discussed shortly, in the bottom two screenshots above are two the other house residents Kenatro and Asako. In the tenth show they did have a secret kiss while visiting an aquarium with Jun and Miko, Asako felt zilch from the kiss but not Kentaro who has been in love with her for many years.

 Since that kiss things had been a bit awkward between Kentaro and Asako, he really likes her so what can Kentaro do to make Asako have the same feelings towards him? Kentaro manages a bar, one that Asako has never visited so he invited her to the place that evening. Which was closed as Kentaro reserved the entire bar for just the two of them and once again Kentaro did confess his feelings to Asako. Who did admit their kiss did mean something to her, Asako did blurt out she liked Kentaro and are the two about to become a couple? Would think so but we never heard any more about it after this scene, Kentaro always had long hair but cut it to impress upon Asako that he would do anything to be with her. Jun has returned to the world of advertising, he's developed a proposal for a 2025 campaign for the Japanese Tourism department and his presentation is in two above screenshots.

 If it will be accepted that won't be known for a while, after the presentation Jun received a text from Ryo saying Miko would be moving to Wakayama earlier than expected. As a matter of fact in just forty minutes so if Jun wants to see Miko one more time he better hurry back to the Share House. Which Jun did but when he arrived there was no Miko nor anyone else. But a few seconds later Miko did return, she had also gotten a text from Ryo where it told her she had forgotten something at the house. So this was the plan mentioned earlier that was devised by the residents to get Jun and Miko alone and this was really the final major scene though there were two shorter ones after. Jun admitted to Miko he rushed to the house to see her one final time and to apologize for the way he had left, he truly cares about Miko as you can see in the next batch of screenshots. While all of this was going on listening in behind a closed door were the other four residents along with Miko's mother. It is true Miko was going to Wakayama though not to live but just for a short visit to see her family(!), that Jun didn't know and wonder if he ever found that fact out?

 Jun did give a longish speech about his feelings for Miko, while he has always cared for her over time those 'guardian feelings' turned into romantic ones. So much that he can't live without Miko and in a shock to all, including Miko, Jun said... he wants to marry her!!!! But smartly added in not just yet as there is that large age difference and always will be though in ten years it won't matter as much. Jun told Miko both need to get their lives in order, for her it would be attending college to become a Wedding Planner and for Jun to become settled again in the world of advertising. Miko does have a lot of common sense and agreed 100% with what Jun said, she's willing to wait and that is what sets up the possibility of a second season. Those listening at the door rushed in to congratulate the couple though it won't be official for perhaps five years. Surprisingly Miko's mother didn't say one word, she does respect Jun and did have a huge smile on her face.

There's just two minutes to go in this series, it's now one year later. Miko has graduated from high school and would presume she'll be attending college. She met Jun on the roof of his office building and he told her to look at the huge billboard on a nearby building. It was the proposal that Jun had submitted for that tourism campaign and it was accepted(!), he's now once again a rising star in the advertising world. As the show and series ended it appeared Jun would finally kiss Miko but held back, he said it's not quite the time for that yet as the pair strolled away hand in hand. Which ends this recap and series, one that I enjoyed and it's nice to have a change of pace now and again. Wouldn't mind seeing a second season and would definitely view it if that should happen.