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Now in Japan
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Sunday, 24 December 2006 00:00 |
 Hataraki Man takes us into the world of the gossip magazine, where Hiroko Matsutaka's a writer and editor on the political desk. She's a workaholic who's prepared to make time for her lovelife - except that her other half is a workaholic who isn't. Add in the frustrations of deadlines and stories that don't come out how she intended them, and you have one stressed woman...
1 - The Female Hataraki Man
Hiroko Matsutaka's something of a workaholic - an editor on Jidai magazine, she's one of those reliable people who can do anything when it's required of her, so much so that her colleages call her "hataraki man", especially when she's in high-speed, hit-deadlines mode - not that she appreciates the title. All that work's taking its toll on her, though - her love life's a mess (no sex in over three months!), and she's so tired that writing's becoming a problem. An interview with a Foreign Ministry whistle-blower, however, gives her a front-page scoop and a new lease of life - until the man she's accused of embezzlement somehow manages to wriggle his way out of trouble, and begins to make threats against her...
2 - Stakeout Man
Hiroko's not happy with her latest exposé - she's been able to gather a decent amount of evidence from third parties and write an article around that, but what she'd really like to do is get something from the horse's mouth. Her own dissatisfaction is nothing compared to what their stakeout guy Sugawara is feeling, though - he's spent the past nine years following celebrities and photographing their moments of indiscretion, and he's now thoroughly fed up with his work. When Hiroko and Sugawara have to work a late-night stakeout together, it's potentially a recipe for disaster - neither wants to be there, and they don't exactly like each other, either...
"Hataraki man" means "working man", in case you were wondering - not exactly a flattering title for a woman, but poor Hiroko's stuck with it. The writing side of things is just the wrap that holds the main course of the series together - Hiroko's less-than-perfect life. It's a bit of a mess - her continuing comments on how long it's been since she last had sex almost have the same tone of doom as the "Days left..." counter in Mahoromatic, although at least it won't kill her. Just possibly drive her insane. Her boyfriend doesn't help matters - even when she's been scared witless by a possible stalker, he just stays in his office an carries on working, which makes the way Hiroko and Sugawara interact in episode two quite interesting - I can see a possible office romance there, if it's allowed to develop. Just a hunch. :)
The remaining characters in the office get a reasonable amount of screen-time without being really developed yet. It looks like each one will be the focus of an episode along the way (Sugawara in episode 2, obviously, with Head Editor Kobayashi looking to get his turn in episode 3) - I don't know that I'm entirely keen on that way of doing things, as it can kill an episode when it focusses on a character that doesn't grab you, but we'll see how things play out.
Hataraki Man is one of those rare series that's clearly aimed at the older viewer, but unlike the last one I saw (Bartender), grabs the attention enough for me to keep watching. Part of that may well be the subject matter - I find journalism fascinating, mixing cocktails as boring as hell - so your mileage may vary depending on your own interests, but once again I was pleasantly surprised by a series I hadn't expected to like. The only thing I could pick on would be the character designs, which have a slightly Escaflowne / Heat Guy J feel to them (Mayu-chan's the image of Heat Guy J's Monica, just grown up a few years), but apart from that the presentation's pretty good, especially if you watch the High Definition version. Definitely worth a look. |
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