I watched it a few times and I fell in love with it. I don't remember the name but it was about a Office Lady Comedy drama whose main actress was rather tall and beautiful, very tall. She took charge of her small band of office ladies and hijinks insues. Anyone know what I'm talking about, it was couple years ago maybe more than 5 years or less. Does any of this ring a bell?

Kaji2015 wrote:

I watched it a few times and I fell in love with it. I don't remember the name but it was about a Office Lady Comedy drama whose main actress was rather tall and beautiful, very tall. She took charge of her small band of office ladies and hijinks insues. Anyone know what I'm talking about, it was couple years ago maybe more than 5 years or less. Does any of this ring a bell?

Sounds like Shomuni to me...

KouSeiya315 wrote:

Sounds like Shomuni to me...

definitely shomuni isn't it? that tall lady is esumi makiko.. other actresses include sakurai atsuko, kyono kotomi, takahashi yumiko, toda keiko, toda naho..

Shomuni was funny. They had that cat that was really really big.
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Brief Synopses: 12 episodes, each with its own storyline, all revolving around 6 non-career-oriented office ladies (OL's) condemned to menial jobs in Shomunika, an odd-jobs department meant for employees posted there to resign voluntarily.

Main Cast Members in Shomunika (in order of importance the way I see it): Esumi Makiko (as Tsuboi Chinatsu), Kyono Kotomi (Tsukahara Sawako), Hosyo Mai (Maruhashi Ume), Toda Keiko (Tokunaga Azusa), Morimoto Reo (Inoue Koni), Sakurai Junko (Miyashita Kana), Takahashi Yumiko (Himukai Rie).

Review: Episodes 1, 4, 7, 9 and 10 are the better ones among the lot, with the scriptwriters maintaining the standards of the previous two Shomuni dramas.

Episode 9, in particular, was a refreshing change from the rest of the Shomuni episodes, for the scriptwriters decided to come up with a drama instead of a comedy. Watch out for Toda Keiko's moving protrayal of Tokunaga.

That said however, episodes 2, 5 and 6 were sadly predictable, I could see the twists to the storyline way before the ending, particularly 5 and 6.

Kudos: As a lot of people focus on the acting skills of the 6 pretty OLs (yes, Toda Keiko too), I shall highlight Morimoto Reo, the unsung hero in Shomunika who has done an outstanding job in portraying the clueless and incompetent Inoue Koji. As the Shomuni dramas are filmed with a style meant to bring out the irreverence and light-heartedness of the original manga of the same title, Morimoto Reo has done the most, in my opinion, of making his character jump straight out of manga and on screen. No other actor/actress managed to interpret his/her role as a manga-based one. You go, Reo!

Kudos as well to Toda Naho, who portrayed her character (Sugita Misono, the chief secretary) very well, though she didn't outshine Reo.

Boo: Very little of Himukai Rie in this series compared to the other 5 female Shomunika members. In 2 episodes, she was inexplicably taken away from the main storyline and never reappeared into the central plot of the story, and in the others where I could understand her removal, I never saw very much of her throughout the rest of the episode.

It's a waste of a very interesting character who added much comic value to the first two seasons of Shomunika.

Soundtrack: Ojima Michiru did another fantastic job with the soundtrack. Listen out for the very uplifting piece when Sawako leaves the Manpan office building to meet the other 5 female Shomuni colleagues (near the end of episode 1), the one which brought out Sawako's confusion and dilemma when Ukyo talks to her (in the middle of episode 1), as well as the very ominous-sounding piece that was played when the head of the Overseas Business Department (Kai gai ji jo bu) finds out about his new job posting (also in episode 1). Almost all the previous pieces from seasons 1 and 2 can still be heard.

Also, listen out for the irreverent piece with the saxophone as the melody when Ume goes to the toilet (episode 4), the one where the female Shomuni employees meet up at a roadside Yakitori (roasted chicken meat sticks) stall near the end of episode 1, and the one in the middle of Episode 1 when each of the seven (don't forget Inoue!!) Shomuni members meets up with people who gave each of them an interesting phone call.

In fact, this soundtrack is what makes Shomuni stand out from other dramas with even better plotlines but unmemorable soundtracks (see Terms of a Witch, with a touching storyline but an average soundtrack). Like Hero (music written by Takayuki Hattori), Shomuni's soundtrack made an above-average drama series into a good one.

Pace: Fast, to-the-point. The scriptwriters, true to the tradition of previous Shomuni dramas, spend little time in wishy-washy scenes and in eye-candy camera shots (to understand what I mean, look at Charlie's Angels where I lost count of the hair flicks by the three female leads). Episode 4 seems slightly choppy to me (because there was too much material to squeeze into 45 mins?), but it is the funniest of the episodes in this instalment of Shomuni.

Overall Rating (out of 10): 6 for the drama - relatively low because of several predictable storylines, but bonus of 2 X 0.5 for Ojima Michiru's outstanding soundtrack to make 7 - a distinction grade.

*Article writer is contactable via [email protected]*

Great post!!! I have to rewatch the episodes; My fav. were when Ume had her first crush and the company had the bowling competition. I'm suprised there aren't many shomuni fans! Wasn't this popular in Japan? I loved it: live anime with white-collar politic humor. Yeah, I wondered why Rie (psychic) wasn't on that much; she didn't even have her own storyline. The biggest character change was Ume. In the first season, Ume had little emotion--spock-like. but in the third season, she had Lucy Ricardo's personality--making goofy faces.

Nacho wrote:

Great post!!! I have to rewatch the episodes; My fav. were when Ume had her first crush and the company had the bowling competition. I'm suprised there aren't many shomuni fans! Wasn't this popular in Japan? I loved it: live anime with white-collar politic humor. Yeah, I wondered why Rie (psychic) wasn't on that much; she didn't even have her own storyline. The biggest character change was Ume. In the first season, Ume had little emotion--spock-like. but in the third season, she had Lucy Ricardo's personality--making goofy faces.

For Takahashi Yumiko's character, I was disappointed to say the least when I watched through the entire drama and didn't see much of her...but I was more disappointed about Miyashita Kana's not getting her own storyline. Sakurai Junko can act (try giving a sweet smile and looking angry at the same time! - Last episode), but throughout the 3 Shomuni dramas, she only had a grand total of 1 episode on herself...though I applaud the directors for remembering to put Tokunaga and Inoue under the spotlight.

Oh well, nobody's fair to everybody all the time.

You're spot on about Ume. This is one of the good things that a lot of drama producers should learn if they want to produce sequels: Make your youngest characters change with the passage of time. This the Shomuni producers did, particularly to Ume and Sawako, the two youngest characters among the six females.

As I said, I felt Episode 4 was the best among the episodes. Though Hosyo Mai's acting is good (as is all the acting of the entire Shomuni cast down to the extras), I think she can improve if she improves on her delivery of her lines.

It's good that she can look sad, happy, angry, smitten with love and all - see how she leers at the computer screen in episode 4! Try it with a mirror if you think it's easy - , but she only knows how to talk and shout, and doesn't really know how to vary her voice as well as Kyono Kotomi can.

Quote:

oo: Very little of Himukai Rie in this series compared to the other 5 female Shomunika members. In 2 episodes, she was inexplicably taken away from the main storyline and never reappeared into the central plot of the story, and in the others where I could understand her removal, I never saw very much of her throughout the rest of the episode.

That's a shame. She was my favorite out of the group. =\

I've only seen the first two seasons. =\

aka known as power office girl at malaysia
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Cast importance of G&S Manpan employees (my opinion) to the story developments:

Esumi Makiko (as Tsuboi Chinatsu), Toda Keiko (Tokunaga Azusa), Kyono Kotomi (Tsukahara Sawako), Ishiguro Ken (Ukyo Tomohiro), Morimoto Reo (Inoue Koni), Takahashi Yumiko (Himukai Rie), Sakurai Junko (Miyashita Kana), Hosyo Mai (Maruhashi Ume), Toda Naho (Sugita Misono), Sawamura Ikki (Kamiya Shintaro).

Brief Synopsis:

2003 (The Year of the Goat) has just arrived, and all six female Shomuni employees have wonderful visions of their future. When they meet for supper, they discover links between their dreams which could change their lives forever, and inadvertently stop a man from committing suicide.

One of the richest men in the world, Mr. Hamed pays a visit to G & S Manpan to discuss a business deal Ukyo has made with him, and demands President Maikawa to guarantee his safety throughout his visit. As a result, security is stepped up and Shomuni would also play a minor part in it.

Sawako discovers a dark secret Ukyo has been keeping from everyone at the company which could mean that she would never see Ukyo ever again.

Review:

Fuji Television has revealed to the press that Shomuni Forever would be the very last episode to bring an end to the Shomuni saga. I have to agree that it deserved this conclusive end (as all good dramas should before they turn stale), for the scriptwriters have, as I have noted in my previous posting, run out of ideas on how to meld 7 employees (incl. Inoue) who do odd jobs in a company into doing some good for the company which they don't even hold dear to their hearts.

Thank you, Fuji Television for exercising common sense. I've seen enough of dramas who get booed off by reviewers for not ending drama sequels on a high.

Characters: Himukai Rie is a periphery (again!!!) character, but here, she was a necessary link between the sub-plots based in Manpan Company and the Century Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo. Kana and Ume also don't really affect the storyline, with Ume less important than Kana.

Best actor/actress performance: Morimoto Reo again gives a masterclass on interpreting comic-book characters onto screen, with his portrayal of Inoue Koji. On the actresses' side, since Toda Naho didn't affect the storyline and got too little screen time, and none of the six actresses portraying the Shomuni characters actually shone way above the others in this one, I leave this blank.

Hair Watch: Worst hairstyle exhibited by Hosyo Mai out of all the Shomuni dramas and drama specials...I thought her hairstyle in the First Special Edition took the cake but this one sucked big time. Is she wearing a wig for
this final episode!?

I was more unhappy about the numerous bloopers I spotted in the movie.

Bloopers:

1. Why was Okano's hair unusually wet in the scene where the President, the Overseas Business Department and Personnel Department were planning to barge into the President's office by force?

2. Why would security officers be clad in riot gear and handling riot equipment when dealing with a gun-toting man?

3. Why did the (unseen) clock from afar chime six times when the time was supposed to be 5pm?

4. Why did Rie's eyes twitch when she fainted in the arms of the hotel supervisor?

5. Where did the drip bag which fell onto Rie's face go to when she was hospitalised? It simply vanished after she woke up!

6. Why did the director not correct the camera still at the moment the photograph was supposedly taken (Ume's eyes were closed)?

Pace: Not exactly breathtaking, but never dull. Like almost all Shomuni episodes.

Final Rating (out of 10): 6...7 for the good scriptwriting and storyline, 1 mark for the soundtrack and 2 marks deducted for extraordinarily bad pre-release vetting of the show to weed out all the above-mentioned flaws before public release, as a heavy penalty.

here are a couple of questions on the shomuni females. why is Miyashita Kana (pretty one) working at GA2? she has the president and directors wrap around her finger. she doesn't even have to work. also ume (smart one) has the brains to work at other companies. why would she stick around?

great review. wow, you're truly a shomuni fan. i have to watch shomuni forever. i'm going to little tokyo (in la); there're japanese video rental stores. yeah, i agree that the series was getting a little stale. i did see a pic of ume in shomuni forever. i couldn't recognize if it was hosyo mai or the special used a different actress. mai did had that "vilma" (from scoby-doo) hairdo from the first special--looked different...

know anywhere that we can d/l Shomuni Final?

Nacho wrote:

here are a couple of questions on the shomuni females. why is Miyashita Kana (pretty one) working at GA2? she has the president and directors wrap around her finger. she doesn't even have to work. also ume (smart one) has the brains to work at other companies. why would she stick around?

According to the official Shomuni website http://www.fujitv.co.jp/shomuni , I understand with my smattering of Japanese (ie little more than the katakana and hiragana alphabet) that Miyashita Kana's background is unknown. So your guess is as good as mine.

One can perhaps conclude that because she's not capable of holding any more glamorous job (usually Male Boss-Female Employee affairs take place at Boss-Secretary levels!) because of her inability, and that the boss(es) at Manpan Corp got her working there because they want to have a good time with her any time they wished to?

As I said, all this is pure conjecture...the scriptwriters never showed how she (like Rie, Azusa and Chinatsu) got into Shomuni (again bravo to the scriptwriters - they leave plenty of things for us the audience to imagine). The story started from Sawako.

As for Ume, it is true that she seems to be a loner. She sat alone at lunch before she joined Shomuni (ep. 3 Season 1), and revealed that she didn't plan to stay for long (ep. 4 Season 1) in Shomuni, even taking up many language courses with the aim of leaving Manpan starting up a company.

But at the same time, she appears to want a sense of belonging and companionship deep down, despite her outwardly headstrong character.

If you remember the episode when Sakura, a little girl with no friends, entered the company for seemingly no apparent reason (Season 2, 2nd last episode), she probably realised that there are other less important, but not insubstantial, things that she treasured in life than her personal goals (don't forget what she put behind the entry proof for the test used to pick out prospects for overseas-based employees).

That appears to be what has been keeping her from leaving the company - despite her desire to look for a greater frontier to exhibit her capabilities, that desire is not strong enough to break her from other things in her life.

On the JEM site, only 10 episodes of Shomuni 3 (Ep 1-Ep 10) are available but, as has been pointed out by ShomuniFan, there are 12 episodes to this series. Are two episodes missing from the JEM site? Any clarification on this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

hiroshi wrote:

On the JEM site, only 10 episodes of Shomuni 3 (Ep 1-Ep 10) are available

I think it is just that JEM has not finished posting all the episodes yet. Episodes have been posted at regular intervals, so there's no reason to expect he won't finish the series.

Thanks Vibius! .... now why didn't I think of that?!

vibius wrote:

Episodes have been posted at regular intervals, so there's no reason to expect he won't finish the series.

Episode 12 just aired in Singapore last Sunday, so it will take Jem some more days to encode it. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the TCS 8 tv station logo in the AVIs.

I am really want to see this series.
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Episode 12 is released yesterday.

Wished someone would reseed season 1 and 2.