"Nanji no Na" drama, episode seven of eight recap

 

 Air Dates: April 6th until May 25, 2022 on TV-Tokyo, Wednesday nights at 12:30 am

Subs were done by GEO9875 at DA, also has the title of Your Name.

Main Cast: Wrote this up after viewing two episodes and have been making many edits to the character's bios, what a confusing drama it was at first.

Hirona Yamazaki as Toko Aso.... Her real name is Riyako Mikami and is using the identity of another character in this show which will be explained in the recaps. She works as the president of the ETS agency which is a front as it's not a dispatching company but one that destroys people's lives! Riyako is such a stuck up person and we'll be learning what her background was before the name change as I'm very curious about it.... was never truly answered!

Kii Kitano as Hisae Aso.... The 'sister' of Toko though her last name isn't Aso but Mikami too. Hisae is a bit of a shut-in and has been that way for three years since breaking up with her boyfriend. At the time Hisae was working at a pharmaceutical company and seems to know every kind of medicine created. She takes care of the household for 'Toko' but her sister has a love/hate relationship with her and constantly berates her. Actually as we learned in the fourth show the two aren't sisters(!) but friends since high school.

Mijika Nagai as The Mysterious Woman.... But she does have a name and she's the real Toko Aso! Years before she had fallen heavily into debt and 'thanks' to Kawashima's company they were all paid off. But the price was that Riyako would be allowed to assume her identity for five years and these days the real Toko is a drug addict and very down on her luck. In the fourth show she died of an overdose but it was no accident!

Hidekazu Mashima as Koji Kawashima....Owns the ETS agency which says it's a dispatching company but that's a front. Their main objective is to bring down an individual such as someone who owes money, is gong through a divorce and such, will explain it better as time goes on.

Waku Kyoten as Kyohei Ito... Only saw him in the first show and he's a whiz at computers who just won a prestigious web designer award. He seems to love Toko but those feelings will never be returned.

Naoto Kataoka as Ryosuke Iki.... Is a manager at the esteemed Crown Hotel who has had his eye on Toko for a while, we didn't meet him until the end of the second episode. But by episode four him and Toko have struck up a close relationship.

ETS.... In the third episode we did learn more about this company though much of it was lies Toko was telling Iki. It stands for Extra Talent Staff and Toko told him the agency hires actors to help others in their lives. For instance if someone needed an escort, a grandmother wanted a grandson for a party, etc. In other words to bring some joy to a person's life but in reality ETS brings havoc to a person's life such as a vengeful wife wanting to disgrace her husband and other things along that line, we've seen one life destroyed already by Toko.

Previous recaps

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three .... Episode four

Episode five .... Episode six

 One more episode to go after this and won't view it until this recap is done. What I've noticed is how less and less we've see of the main characters as this series goes on, there used to be two major ones and three minor characters, in this show we only saw the two main ones of Hisae and Toko. Hopefully you've read some of the prior recaps as I won't be discussing all that much of what's taken place. But the character of Hisae has really had a 180 degree change as she's gone from being such a weak and easily led person to a domineering one who has also killed two people! In that last show Hisae began to give her 'sister' Toko small amounts of Tramadol Hydrochloride in her drinks, after a few days of that Toko had become bedridden. Too much of that drug can be lethal but Hisae just gave Toko the right dosages in order to control her and at times you can use that drug to brainwash people.

 So continuing on from the sixth show Toko is still laid up in bed, you can see how terrible she looks right above. Toko's boyfriend Iki and her boss Kawashima have been trying so hard to get in touch with Toko to no avail as Hisae always had some lame excuse why her 'sister' was never at home. So with Toko being bedridden Hisae still has to take care of her needs just as she was doing before such as cooking, cleaning, etc. Never have figured out exactly what Hisae's plans are for Toko, don't think she wanted to kill her but what is her planned outcome? In the meantime Hisae has been impersonating Toko as she has an ID in that name and has been living it up going to salons and buying a whole new wardrobe. If you viewed the other recaps you can see above how much Hisae's appearance has changed for the better, definitely can't say that about the way Toko is looking now.... which is like death!!!!

 That top screenshot is so on the money as their roles have truly been reversed! But it's hard to feel all that sorry for Toko as she was one ruthless woman up until a few weeks ago. She used to abuse and demean Hisae so badly, still want to know how these two ever ended up living together. Plus Toko's job at the ETS agency involved bringing disgrace to innocent lives, granted she doesn't deserve the treatment she's getting but Toko has certainly been no Angel. So as mentioned this Tramadol can help someone to brainwash another which has been Hisae's goal but things aren't working out according to plan. While Toko is totally dependent on Hisae for everything she doesn't obey her 'sister' 100% of the time and to Hisae should she soon increase the dosage? But that's for another day and as also mentioned Hisae has somewhat assumed the identity of Toko when she leaves their grand residence.

**** After I wrote this up viewed the final show. There we learned a bit about the time line and at this point Hisae had been giving the Tramadol drug to Toko for five weeks.

 Hisae's appearance has really changed and she looks so darn good but with Toko incapacitated is her life any better? On the street Hisae was admiring her new dress in a shop window when a pair of women passing by snickered at her which of course embarrassed Hisae to no end. Then at a dress shop the sales lady also laughed silently to herself at Hisae's new purchase which didn't go unnoticed, Hisae just can't understand why is she still a laughingstock? Back at the house Hisae pondered her situation and to her not one thing has changed since Toko has become bedridden! Hisae still has to care for her 'sister' and even more so now because of the drug she's been giving her, so as I pondered before what was the end goal of Hisae's in making Toko incapacitated? 

 This may have been the top episode to date even though less seemed to happen, most of the 'action' took place at the women's house and we're down to the final two or so minutes. Hisae is quite down on her current situation but for now will keep doing the same thing and is praying that the drug will work a bit more effectively on Toko. That next morning Hisae once again went to the beauty salon, her return shocked Hisae to no end and us viewers too! As you can see in the second screenshot above the entire house had somehow been cleaned out in a matter of hours!!!! Needless to say this sent Hisae into such a rage, how could this have happened so quickly and who could have been behind this? So every little thing had been moved out of the house save for the contents of Hisae's room but as you can see above everything she owned had been trashed and destroyed!

 Toko did leave that message on the bathroom mirror and Hisae is beside herself wondering where did she go wrong? She had been keeping the Tramadol in a glass jar in the kitchen, Hisae discovered that the jar had been left behind. When she sniffed the contents Hisae found out the liquid wasn't the drug and was just plain water, how long had this been going on?! So Toko had just been acting as though she was drugged and when did this ruse begin plus who had been helping her out? In the final seconds Toko arrived at a hotel room with a man, couldn't make out his face but would presume it was Iki. That ends this recap and what a solid episode it was, haven't viewed the final show yet but will now and that final episode is the next post.

"Nanji no Na" drama, episode eight(final) of eight recap

 

 Air Dates: April 6th until May 25, 2022 on TV-Tokyo, Wednesday nights at 12:30 am

Subs were done by GEO9875 at DA, also has the title of Your Name.

Main Cast: Wrote this up after viewing two episodes and have been making many edits to the character's bios, what a confusing drama it was at first.

Hirona Yamazaki as Toko Aso.... Her real name is Riyako Mikami and is using the identity of another character in this show which will be explained in the recaps. She works as the president of the ETS agency which is a front as it's not a dispatching company but one that destroys people's lives! Riyako is such a stuck up person and we'll be learning what her background was before the name change as I'm very curious about it.... never did learn about it!

Kii Kitano as Hisae Aso.... The 'sister' of Toko though her last name isn't Aso but Mikami too. Hisae is a bit of a shut-in and has been that way for three years since breaking up with her boyfriend. At the time Hisae was working at a pharmaceutical company and seems to know every kind of medicine created. She takes care of the household for 'Toko' but her sister has a love/hate relationship with her and constantly berates her. Actually as we learned in the fourth show the two aren't sisters(!) but friends since high school.

Mijika Nagai as The Mysterious Woman.... But she does have a name and she's the real Toko Aso! Years before she had fallen heavily into debt and 'thanks' to Kawashima's company they were all paid off. But the price was that Riyako would be allowed to assume her identity for five years and these days the real Toko is a drug addict and very down on her luck. In the fourth show she died of an overdose but it was no accident!

Hidekazu Mashima as Koji Kawashima....Owns the ETS agency which says it's a dispatching company but that's a front. Their main objective is to bring down an individual such as someone who owes money, is gong through a divorce and such, will explain it better as time goes on.

Waku Kyoten as Kyohei Ito... Only saw him in the first show and he's a whiz at computers who just won a prestigious web designer award. He seems to love Toko but those feelings will never be returned.

Naoto Kataoka as Ryosuke Iki.... Is a manager at the esteemed Crown Hotel who has had his eye on Toko for a while, we didn't meet him until the end of the second episode. But by episode four him and Toko have struck up a close relationship.

ETS.... In the third episode we did learn more about this company though much of it was lies Toko was telling Iki. It stands for Extra Talent Staff and Toko told him the agency hires actors to help others in their lives. For instance if someone needed an escort, a grandmother wanted a grandson for a party, etc. In other words to bring some joy to a person's life but in reality ETS brings havoc to a person's life such as a vengeful wife wanting to disgrace her husband and other things along that line, we've seen one life destroyed already by Toko.

Previous recaps

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three .... Episode four

Episode five .... Episode six

 

 Noticed a pattern for the last five or so dramas I've viewed. That's of the last show being solid yet the 2-3 episodes leading into it were a bit better, that was the case for this series too. Not that this was a bad ending at all, just thought it would have been a bit more 'revengeful' though it did end on that note. So if you've been following these recaps you know that the last show ended off with Toko aka Riyako finally fleeing from the devilish Hisae which truly stunned her. There were some flashbacks in the opening five minutes, Hisae had begun giving doses of the drug Tramadol Hydrochloride to Toko ten weeks ago, we saw her at various stages over that time span. After five weeks Hisae thought Toko was completely brand dead and couldn't understand a word she was saying, a very major miscalculation by Hisae. She had uttered out loud about giving that drug to Toko in her food and drinks, Toko was able to understand what was going on and over the next five weeks barely ate anything made by Hisae.

 So over those weeks Toko's mind began to clear up but she still kept up the act of being under the spell of the drugs, she wanted revenge but didn't know what to do. That is until one day in the ninth week when a call came through, Toko had noticed Hisae had unplugged the phone which is why no one could get through. Within two minutes of plugging that phone back in a call came from Kyohei Ito who is in the bottom screenshot. We saw him in the opening minutes of the first show and not again until now. He's a web designer who has become very successful, he's madly in love with Toko but those feelings weren't returned. But Ito still came to Toko's rescue, they devised a plan for emptying the house out plus Ito discovered the Tramadol drug Hisae had been giving to Toko, he immediately switched it with water. So it was Ito who arrived on that 'escape day' with a moving company while Hisae was out, he also brought Toko to a hotel and this man only had two scenes the entire drama.

 Of course Hisae was beyond furious when she returned home to find everything cleaned out. That is save for her belongings which were now trash as Toko had either smashed or cut every single item in that room. Hisae just couldn't understand what had gone wrong with her plan, it seemed to be foolproof but those are famous last words. Luckily Hisae still had the secret apartment Toko knew nothing about and least she had a place to stay as the rent was all paid up. As you can see in the top screenshot Hisae is still worried about her one time 'fake sister', the screenshot below that has Toko saying to start using her real name of Riyako again but I won't. Brought up in the last recap that even though Toko was badly abused it was hard to feel sorry for her, she had really mistreated Hisae over the previous three years. Plus she's now back at her job as president of the ETS agency, that's a company which destroys the lives of innocent people so it's still difficult to feel for what Toko went through.

 The time really flew as it was soon three months later, to Hisae's amazement Toko called and wants to meet up with her! During this scene Toko in a way apologized for the abuse she had thrown upon Hisae all those years, she still won't forgive Hisae for what she did but wouldn't go to the police. At the time thought why is Toko acting so nicely towards Hisae and think she wondered the same thing too, the reason comes out at the end. The location they met at was where Toko had asked Hisae to move in with her three years ago, it was right after Hisae had been dumped by her boyfriend. But my questions were never truly answered such as were the pair still in contact prior to that meeting three years ago? The pair were not going to resume their relationship, Toko just wanted to clear the air and to insist that Hisae stay out of her life forever, during this scene Hisae seemed too stunned to say all that much. So what of Toko's boyfriend Iki as those two had become so close during this series and he was the first man Toko has ever cared for.

 Now we're down to the last five or so minutes of this series, that scene between Toko and Hisae took place in June and now it's just a week before Christmas. After that meeting with Hisae is when Toko finally returned to Iki, she had told him she wanted to finish up all her business before getting serious again. Things seem to be going extremely well between the two, least Iki thought that way. His dream was to open a hotel in Paris with him and Toko running it. Iki's plans are in full gear as the project is slated to finish early, when should the pair move to France? 'Never' was Toko's reply though of course Iki always calls her Riyako. She said there was another man in her life which of course stunned Iki though in reality there was no other man for Toko. In that third screenshot above she's leaving Iki for good, that man happens to be the god of war Ares and is Toko preparing for a battle?

 Yes is the answer to that and naturally her target was Hisae. In that time span since June Hisae has moved in with a man named Hiroyuki who is a businessman and she's even wearing an engagement ring! In the final scene this man had gone to work and Hisae spent the day preparing a Christmas feast. But her 'future husband' never returned nor did he call, what became of him? That next morning Hisae received a call telling her that there was no man with the name of Hiroyuki, she had been used to no end as she's saddled with his debts!!!! That call was from a laughing Toko as her war has begin and her ultimate goal now in life is to destroy Hisae, she's had a solid start. But as the series ended Hisae muttered to herself if Toko wants a battle she'll be giving her one which is how this drama ended.

 So that ending did set up the possibility of a second season or at least some sort of special episode. So to end off will give this series a rating of 8.2/10, solid show which could have been a bit better. One problem is that an episode was only 23 minutes in length, perhaps another 3-4 would have helped. Up next is.... I don't know?! There's one drama starting in July that I will be recapping but besides that am unsure what's on tap, think what you may see next are some reviews for a trio of Korean horror flicks. Hmmm, actually another series with Kii is an option though that's easier said than done and this was the first thing I've seen her in for eons, she really looked so fabulous....