We Married as a Job

"Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu", also known as "The Full-Time Wife Escapist" or "We Married as a Job" is a one of the best josei manga out there, and it was brilliantly adapted into a TV series version some years back.

The casting is simply perfect. The lead, Aragaki Yui, is perfect for the role of Moriyama Mikuri, an over-qualified professional unlucky to be born a woman in modern-day Japan - i.e. No good job or career prospects. She's maybe down, but she's not out.

The supporting characters are equally well-cast. The plot is interesting and entertaining. And the dialogues are generally good. But Aragaki Yui stands out the most for me - she's so cute, sincere, and head-strong as Mikuri that she practically steals every scene.

The story line is so apt for today. Declining birthrates, sexless marriages, too many singles, etc. Then there's the cultural/societal limitations on women with respect to work and career. Add to that the usual marital infidelity, challenges of dating, etc.

Everything hits home with this series.

Enjoyed this simple, unpretentious (inner joke!) comedy more than I thought I would.

All the actors did a wonderful job - well done, team!

The plot is straightforward and fun. Nothing unexpected would happen here, you know exactly what to expect. A few nice side-stories add variety.

I don't really have any criticism to offer, the show sets the expectations clearly and delivers on them. I loved that it doesn't take itself seriously and has some funny day-dreaming sequences.

The only thing is, it's "very Japanese" in terms of actors play style. A bit more exaggerated in intonations and gestures. I don't mind this, but to some audiences this may seem "artificial."

It also helps that the clear Japanese they speak helps keep my language skills up! Picked up a few fun phrases from the dialogues for my own use :)

As a drama, it covers the basic premise of romance developments, while also discussing more pairs and several topics that pertain to Japanese people. Specifically "de facto marriage" relationship (living together but not actually married), same-gender relationships, and other more general subjects. But the core is the main couple, and the evolution of their complicated arrangement.

I actually quite enjoyed it, but mostly because the drama revolves more around the character of "Mikuri". A very cute and approachable young lady, with a logical approach to things, while still being emotionally pushy. Certainly a journey to get to know her, and one I'm glad I went through. Aragaki-san is one of my favorite actresses , and is beyond delightful for her to do such a role! Mikuri's side of the family is just as appealing.

Gen Hoshino is definitely a talented singer and does well in his role as the cherry-boy, but his character is far from likeable a lot of the time. But, is this contrast that allowed the character of Mikuri to develop the way it does. Some other characters are well defined, but equally awkward. Still, everyone delivers with ample charisma and help build a world you'd be happy to be a part of.

Series has good production and very energetic segments that contrast well with the seriousness at times. And while not completely predictable, it rarely goes anywhere unexpected. But it keeps a joyful atmosphere and I laughed quite a bit. Would definitely recommend, because it is well written.. and the execution couldn't be better!! There's a movie, for anyone interested.. one that is even more serious still, and deals with the Pandemic and it's problems. As the series itself, all interesting content, educational and a different point of view to consider.

It starts out with the female lead having just finished graduate studies and finding it difficult to land a job. After being let go from a previous employment her father gets her a job cleaning the male leads apartment. When her parents decide to move away she convinces the man to have a contractual marriage so that she can stay there as she did not want to move with her parents. He is very shy and closed off but she manages to get him to open up little by little. He became this way due to his past during his childhood. They eventually have a child and he starts to fall in love with her. She was already in love with him but was ready to give up when he wouldn't open up. Eventually he did. They rode out the pandemic together and in the end he tells her that he wants another child to correct his mistakes from when his first child was born. This is a must watch. At the end of each episode the female lead and the others do their dancing. She's sexy when she dances also the actress that plays her aunt. That was my favorite the ending of each episode. Eventually the male and female lead got married in real life. Now that's a happy ending.

I've watched a lot of series, and can tell you this one is awesome!

For the purpose of keeping this review spoiler free, I will only comment on the gems -- what I think made this series as good as it is!

Each one of the actors are sooo good at playing their roles, the plot is interesting and has a great pace, and the scenes look great; action-packed (without any boring pauses or flashbacks), colorful, meaningful, and sweet.

Honestly I could go on and on.. but to summarize I totally recommend this series as both funny and interesting.

Big congratz to the cast, producers, and directors for this amazing series!

Looking forward to seeing more from y'all!