AD is watching this right now, so wanted to revive this thread.

gaijinmark wrote:

AD is watching this right now, so wanted to revive this thread.

Thanks GM I'm loving it too

Anime Dad wrote:

Thanks GM I'm loving it too

FINALLY!

I LOVED Shomuni. All three of them. I watched them back to back and STILL wanted more.
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Wanna trade? My Drama List (UPDATED: July, 2013)

AD, I missed it when you posted which episode you were watching, but episode 5 of Shomuni when Tsukuhara's father shows up might be my favorite of all 3 series. That is one of the best versions of "mistaken-identity-comedy-of-errors" I've ever seen.

gaijinmark wrote:

AD, I missed it when you posted which episode you were watching, but episode 5 of Shomuni when Tsukuhara's father shows up might be my favorite of all 3 series. That is one of the best versions of "mistaken-identity-comedy-of-errors" I've ever seen.

Yeah, that was really funny I'm up to ep. 10 now. The personalities of all the girls are really distinct now, and you know what to expect from them in each situation

She doesn't have a thread of her own, so I thought I'd put this here:

Mai Hosho retires

33-year-old actress Mai Hosho announced on her official website that she has retired from show business as of May 31. She explained that she wants to focus on living life as herself from now on, rather than spending her time acting out roles.

Hosho got her entertainment start as a teenager in 1993 when she won the grand prize of Young Jump's 3rd "All Japan High School Girl Uniform Collection." She made her acting debut that same year in the television drama series "Twins Kyoushi." About five years later, Hosho enjoyed a boost in popularity when she appeared in the hit series "Shomuni." In 2007, she married a graphic designer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/runpup/Esumi-Makiko-1450.jpg
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2 Shomuni specials (Shinshun/New Years Special (SP2) & Forever Special (SP3)) are available here:

http://community.livejournal.com/rare_doramas/6318.html#cutid1
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Looks like they're bringing "Shomuni" back. But with none of the originals save Esumi: http://asianwiki.com/Power_Office_Girls_4

Mmmmh, on the plus side Ando Sakura, on the minus side Becky (I don't mind her as an tarento but acting is not her forte) ...

^ She could be a deal-breaker for me.

This sounds like the writers were sitting around devoid of any ideas and somebody said, "You know that GTO remake did pretty well last year." And the rest is history, , ,

I also don't like no mention of Naho Toda. Half the fun of 'Shomuni' was watching Esumi and Toda go at it. Without her would be like trying to watch 'Downtown' with just Hamada and no Matsumoto.

Good point about Toda.
Oh well, if it's a dud, we can still re-watch the orignal three!

Well, apparently this one won't be a remake.
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Some more on this year's 'Shomuni':

This summer Fuji TV is going to bring back the popular drama 'Shomuni' with a new season in 10 years. Speaking of 'Shomuni', the first thing that come to mind are actress Esumi Makiko as the protagonist and the classic office lady (OL) outfits. Fortunately, none of those two are being changed in the fourth season.

However, Esumi is being supported by a completely new cast this time. The other office ladies who are now working in the General Administration Section 2 (GA-) of 'Manpan Corporation' are played by Becky, Honda Tsubasa, Ando Sakura, Mori Kanna, and Horiuchi Keiko. Esumi's character 'Tsuboi Chinatsu' left Manpan Corporation after the third season that aired in 2002, but now something causes her to go back to Manpan Corporation. The new season starts with her return to the company.

The office uniforms are almost exactly the same as previous seasons, a white blouse, blue vest, and tight mini-skirt, but Esumi revealed that there is a slight difference. She said, "It was a really strange and happy sensation when I put on this outfit again. A lot of time has passed since the last time I've worn this uniform, so we had to make a slight adjustment. The skirt is now 2~3 centimeters (0.78"-1.2") longer than before. That's still pretty short, though."

Other new characters in the fourth season are played by Miura Shohei, Katase Nana, Yasuda Ken, and Suzuki Kosuke.

'Shomuni 2013' is premiering on Fuji TV on July 10th.

Source: Mantan-Web, Fuji TV

I'm guessing that Katase will be taking over Naho Toda's old role.

gaijinmark wrote:

I'm guessing that Katase will be taking over Naho Toda's old role.

And she is. Just watched the first episode. Better than I expected. There's no way they can measure up to the original but it wasn't the disaster I thought it might be. The writers' hearts are in the right place, they're trying to keep in the spirit of the original.

Takahashi Katsumi is still in charge of personnel and it looks like Leo Morimoto is the head security guard now. They brought back the original girls for some of the first episode but I don't think they'll be sticking around. Anyway, good enough to keep watching for the time being.

Episode 2 of '2013' was Becky's. Same formula as previous 'Shomuni's', MANPAN Inc. gets itself in a bind and the girls of GA2 bail them out.

No Leo Morimoto or Katsumi Takahashi in this episode though.

EstherM wrote:

Mmmmh, on the plus side Ando Sakura

Just finished episode 4 and her character seems to be the best of the new Shomuni cast. Episode 4 was an improvement over episode 3, I don't know if the writings getting better or I'm getting used to the characters.

Finished '2013'. Not bad at all. It looks like the ratings went steadily downhill. I'm suspecting that's because people wanted it to be like the original which is unrealistic because except for Esumi it's an entirely different cast. Kind of like expecting a solo album by one of the Beatles to be as good as something they did together. I thought Ando Sakura was the best of the new girls, not to mention her psychic turtle Constantine.