Fruits Takuhaibin (2019) User Reviews

Another good J-Drama about the "S" word

[lyntonadam · 8/10 · 6 November 2020]

Stories concerning the world's oldest profession are nothing new, yet this short but very watchable series ( 12 eps, 30 min each ) held my interest throughout. The title comes from a call-girl shop/agency where the ladies are assigned a particular fruit as their stage name. In the office are the gruff owner, a female admin worker & a bulky driver/bouncer. Newly unemployed, the mild-mannered Mr Sakita ( Gaku Hamada ) is pushed into the position of trainee office-manager. He gets to know the ladies & drives them to their appointments on occasion, while also reconnecting with some people he went to school with. As you might expect, the "fruity" ladies ( each gets an ep to themselves ) are a varied bunch. A few have children they're trying to support & some have large debts. Some have really tragic situations which are often exacerbated by the work they do & the awful men they sometimes have to deal with. I was shocked a number of times ( the script unfortunately has a ring of truth about it ) & was ashamed of my gender, yet the showrunners don't want to drown you in an abyss of misery. It's not a documentary, after all, & the writer has a canny knack for injecting humour into the narrative. The second-last ep is very good in that regard, all the women are interesting & most of the supporting characters are as well. A sprinkling of surprises is welcome too. Another plus is the talented cast, with the kind-hearted Mr Hamada the pivot & offering a bit of redemption for the male of the species. The direction & photography are satisfying, though the opening credits are a little over-long for a half hour ep length. And as usual, I salute our Japanese friends for their continuing liberality when it comes to depicting that most vital of human topics : the "S" word. In order to discuss/understand any subject, it absolutely has to be OUT THERE for public scrutiny ! Which is a lesson that the laughably prudish purveyors of K-Drama really need to learn. In 2020, to shy away from even the concept of two adults living together as too offensive/indecent truly leaves me speechless.