Difference between revisions of "Shomuni"

Revision as of 09:31, 17 February 2006

Shomuni

Details

Title: ショムニ
Title (romaji): Shomuni
Title (English): Power office ladies 1
Episodes: 12 & 2 Specials
Genre: Comedy
Viewership: 28.5%
Broadcast network: Fuji TV
Broadcast period: 1998-04-15 to 1998-07-01
Theme Song: Sugao na Mama De by Izam with Astral Love
Related Drama: Shomuni 2, Shomuni Final

Synopsis

Shomuni (ショムニ) is a comedic TV drama serial based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Gumi Yasuda (安田弘之 Yasuda Gumi).

The stories revolve around the Office Ladies of General Affairs department 2 (Shomu ni, or GA-2) in a large multinational company called Manpan Corporation.

GA-2 is called "the graveyard for female office ladies", simply because it is the place where female employees are dumped should they mess up big time elsewhere. Jobs include replacing used toilet rolls, changing light-bulbs, organizing company outings among other menial stuff. As an added incentive, their department is located in the nether regions of the company - in the basement, and is in fact a disused store room.

This is done in the hope these errant - or simply useless - employees will quit (and typically people last three days at most) due to the monotonous and meaningless nature of the job tasks, just so that the company, headed by sex-crazed executives and a Personnel Department willing to stoop to any means, will save on the costs of firing them.

As the drama serial progresses, it is evident that these seemingly lowly employees have their own pride despite them being the most despised of female employees, and in every episode, they end up saving the company from a potential catastrophe, inadvertently or otherwise, and usually to back up their own selfish agenda.

Cast

Esumi Makiko as Tsuboi Chinatsu
Kyono Kotomi as Tsukuhara Sawako
Sakurai Atsuko as Miyashita Kana
Hosho Mai as Maruhashi Ume
Toda Naho as Sugita Misono
Takahashi Yumiko as Himukai Rie
Toda Keiko as Tokunaga Azusa
Ishiguro Ken Ukyo Tomohiro
Morimoto Leo as Inoue Koji
Takahashi Katsumi as Terasaki Torao
Ito Toshihito as Nonomura

Other Resources

This article is a stub. You can help DramaWiki by expanding it.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 ==Details==
-*'''Title:''' Shomuni / ショムニ
+*'''Title:''' ショムニ
-*'''Also Known As:''' Power office ladies 1
+*'''Title (romaji):''' Shomuni
-*'''Episodes:''' 12
+*'''Title (English):''' Power office ladies 1
+*'''Episodes:''' 12 & 2 Specials
 *'''Genre:''' Comedy
-*'''Air time:'''
+*'''Viewership:''' 28.5%
-*'''Viewership:'''
 *'''Broadcast network:''' Fuji TV
 *'''Broadcast period:''' 1998-04-15 to 1998-07-01
-*'''Theme Song:'''
+*'''Theme Song:''' Sugao na Mama De by Izam with Astral Love
 *'''Related Drama:''' [[Shomuni 2]], [[Shomuni Final]]
-==Cast & Credits==
+==Synopsis==
-===Producer===
+Shomuni (ショムニ) is a comedic TV drama serial based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Gumi Yasuda (安田弘之 Yasuda Gumi).
-===Director===
+The stories revolve around the Office Ladies of General Affairs department 2 (Shomu ni, or GA-2) in a large multinational company called Manpan Corporation.
-===Screenwriter===
+GA-2 is called "the graveyard for female office ladies", simply because it is the place where female employees are dumped should they mess up big time elsewhere. Jobs include replacing used toilet rolls, changing light-bulbs, organizing company outings among other menial stuff. As an added incentive, their department is located in the nether regions of the company - in the basement, and is in fact a disused store room.
-===Music by===
+This is done in the hope these errant - or simply useless - employees will quit (and typically people last three days at most) due to the monotonous and meaningless nature of the job tasks, just so that the company, headed by sex-crazed executives and a Personnel Department willing to stoop to any means, will save on the costs of firing them.
-Surface
+As the drama serial progresses, it is evident that these seemingly lowly employees have their own pride despite them being the most despised of female employees, and in every episode, they end up saving the company from a potential catastrophe, inadvertently or otherwise, and usually to back up their own selfish agenda.
-===Cast===
+==Cast==
 *[[Esumi Makiko]] as Tsuboi Chinatsu
 *[[Kyono Kotomi]] as Tsukuhara Sawako
@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 *[[Takahashi Katsumi]] as Terasaki Torao
 *[[Ito Toshihito]] as Nonomura
-==Synopsis==
-Shomuni (ショムニ) is a comedic TV drama serial based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Yasuda Gumi (安田弘之). Released in 1998, Shomuni was a surprise winner of the ratings war for drama serials aired in Japan between April to June, despite being projected to finish a lowly thirteenth in a survey conducted by a major TV station[1].
-The stories revolve around the Office Ladies of General Affairs department 2 (Shomu ni, or GA-2) in a large multinational company called Manpan Corporation.
-GA-2 is called "the graveyard for female office ladies", simply because it is the place where female employees are dumped should they mess up big time elsewhere. Rarely is anyone ever allowed to leave for other more purposeful departments. Jobs include replacing used toilet rolls, changing light-bulbs, organizing company outings among other menial stuff. As an added incentive, their department is located in the nether regions of the company - in the basement, and is in fact a disused store room.
-This is done in the hope these errant - or simply useless - employees will quit (and typically people last three days at most) due to the monotonous and meaningless nature of the job tasks, just so that the company, headed by sex-crazed executives and a Personnel Department willing to stoop to any means, will save on the costs of firing them.
-Unfortunately, though, the employees posted to GA-2 exhibit, to the chagrin of the Personnel Department Chief Terasako Torao (寺崎寅男) and his assistant Nonomura (野々?), the people at Shomuni are far too happy with their menial jobs, as this gives them more than enough time to pursue their other interests during office hours.
-As the drama serial progresses, it is evident that these seemingly lowly employees have their own pride despite them being the most despised of female employees, and in every episode, they end up saving the company from a potential catastrophe, inadvertently or otherwise, and usually to back up their own selfish agenda.
-Aside from the friendly and affable GA-2 Section Chief Inoue Koji (井上洸二), whose role can at best be described as nominal. Save for caring for a female tabby cat, he is an old man who appears to be only interested in waiting for his retirement age while idling in the GA-2 office.
-GA-2 comprised of four women from the start of the first episode, and is seen first from the eyes of Tsukahara Sawako (塚原?和? - the fifth woman to join GA-2).
-. Tsuboi Chinatsu (?井??) is the tallest person in GA-2. She is responsible for carrying the ladder which is used for fixing light-bulbs. Before she entered Manpan Corporation, she used to work as a nightclub hostess (episode 1). The de jure leader of GA-2.
-. Miyashita Kana (宮下佳奈) has a past which few people know about. She is often not seen having lunch with her fellow GA-2 colleagues in the company canteen, for she spends lunch hour with different male high-ranking executives of the company on most occasions.
-. Tokunaga Azusa (徳永???) is the second oldest employee in GA-2, after Section Chief Inoue. Nobody in GA-2 seems to remember how she ended up in GA-2 - even Inoue. She is usually responsible for making announcements as well as drawing up the daily company routines of GA-2. Highly interested in stock investments.
-. Himukai Rie (日?リエ) is the quirkiest of the GA-2 members. Her mother sells antiques and her father has a photocopy store. She has a night job as a fortune teller at night after work at GA-2 - and her predictions are never wrong.
-. Tsukahara Sawako is the youngest (at age 21) employee in GA-2, and is very incompetent at getting the job done correctly. After knocking down the president of Manpan Corporation fortuitously at a lift lobby (as the result of a fight between her and a woman in a lift) in full view of many company employees, she was posted to GA-2.
-At the end of the third episode, a sixth member called Maruhashi Ume (丸橋梅) was posted (that's putting it kindly) to GA-2, and she used to know Tsuboi Chinatsu - the two have gone to the same school before. Highly ambitious, she is learning Arabic and aims to leave GA-2 as soon as she can.
-Each of the twelve episodes usually focuses on the developments of one character of Shomuni. Each episode is independent of another.
-Two sequels to Shomuni were made, as well as three Special movie editions. Shomuni was followed up by two movies: Shomuni Special 1 (aired on 7th October 1998), Shomuni Special 2 (aired on 2nd January 2000), and two sequel drama serials: Shomuni 2 (aired from 12th April 2000 to 28th June 2000) and the other was Shomuni Final (3rd July 2002 - 18th September 2002). A third movie, Shomuni Forever, was aired on January 1st, 2003 to round off the drama series.[2]
-. http://web-japan.org/trends98/honbun/ntj980911.html
-. http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A7%E3%83%A0%E3%83%8B
 ==Other Resources==
 *[http://jdorama.com/drama.380.htm JDorama.com]
+*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shomuni wikipedia]
 [[Category:JDrama]]
 [[Category:JDrama1998]]