Mr. Nietzsche in the Convenience Store #review

Niche Sensei /  ニーチェ先生

Writer -  Koma Matsu (manga), Hashimoto (manga), Yuichi Fukuda
Network -  NTV / YTV
Episodes -  10
Released -  2016, Jan - Mar
Genre -  Comedy

CAST

SYNOPSIS

Mr. Nietzsche in the Convenience Store is a Japanese shōjo comedy manga series turned live action. Follows the lives of a few 777 employees on the graveyard shift and a few of the oddball people who enter the convenience store.

REVIEW

If you saw Clerks, you'll relate to this one.

Not entirely the same thing, but the story does center around a few of the employees who work the overnight shift at a 777 Convenience store in an area of Tokyo that doesn't receive a large amount of foot traffic.

This translates to their having lots of time on their hands to ponder life's mysteries, zone out, and plot get-rich-quick schemes.

Each episode is less than 30 minutes long, and I watched the whole thing via YouTube in one sitting.

Shotaro Mamiya and Kenji Urai

Tomoharu Nii is compared to Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, a German philosopher, and his ultimate goal is to become a Buddhist monk in three years.

He's robotic in movement and thought as well as being stone-faced under all circumstances.

Except for the few times when his Tenchou appears

Sato Jiro makes the cast laugh

I've always thought Sato Jiro was a funny guy, with his random outbursts and tendency to accent the wrong syllable for effect.

This is wacky stuff acted out by wacky characters and well worth the minimal time it takes to watch all ten episodes.

Highly recommended, especially if you're feeling stressed or blue and need a quick pick-me-up.

Niche Sensei

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Hanasaki Mai Can't Be Silent

Title (romaji): Hanasaki Mai ga Damattenai
Title (english): Hanasaki Mai Can't Be Silent
Format: Renzoku
Genre: Comedy/Suspense
Network: NTV, YTV
Episodes: 10
Viewership ratings: 16.0%
Broadcast period: 2014, Apr to Jun

 

Cast

Anne as Hanasaki Mai, and Kamikawa Takaya as Soma Ken

Synopsis

--NTV-- Based on bestsellersing writer, Ikeido Jun's novel from the Hanzawa-series. Hanasaki Mai is but an ordinary employee of a bank with zero diplomacy. She doesn't think twice about pointing out her boss's mistakes. Her job is to investigate any wrongdoings in the bank branches. She is the voice of the suppressed staff who are unable to go against their bosses. Her partner is the veteran staff, Soma Ken, whose career with the bank had reached a dead end, no promotions in sight. Together, they resolve all the non-compliance issues at the bank.

My Take

Now THIS is what I'm talking about.

 Leave it to the Japanese to come up with yet another mundane topic based on a novel (I'm betting Manga) and turning it into something anyone and everyone would enjoy.

The cornball, dated background music and slapstick, pratfall antics aside . . . this was worth the watch.

Another of their dramas that has the main characters doing basically the same thing each week, only under a new premise or situation.

And, it works.

 These two are bankers, and they're pulled from their respective branches to work at headquarters in a created division that investigates issues within the bank's many branches while also bringing to light corruption, greed, and slipshod mentality from within.

Issues

I thought that Korea was awful in its Hegemonic, Patriarchal ways.

I think Japan has them beat in that regard, though.

Working women are still degraded, made to dress a certain way, talk and act a certain way, and only hire in at positions traditionally deemed a woman's role.

Things like sexism, chauvinism, and antiquated notions about power still exist over there, sad to say.

Besides that upsetting issue, there was the appalling subs.

Brit-speak that just sounds stupid, grammatical issues clean through, and spelling errors galore.

The typical lazy typing as well. Punctuation and youth don't go together very well anymore, and I think it is stupid.

... is not a . . .    

and ... is not a .    

and ~ is not a ?    

any more than a . is a ?

And yet there were a few ? tossed in at the appropriate moments, so go figure.

I don't think we needed to have to read [tel] or [knock], either.

she was super tall compared with every man she worked alongside

This was a good series that appears as if it may have a follow-up, or season 2 in the works, which is a good thing.

I'll definitely be looking out for it and then watching.

Thank you, Japan, for the refreshingly delightful bit of entertainment.


However, I do ask that you reconsider the silly background music that sounds like 1956 elevator stuff, and enough with the ridiculous and outdated humor.

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