Takunomi. – 12 (Fin) – Makoto Super Dry

Michiru wakes up to strange sounds an fears a burglary, but it’s just Makoto, up late and binge-eating over the stress of her job hunt. She’s perhaps a bit too worried about how she’ll come off to elders.

Michiru recommends she have drinks with alumni from her school, and Nao recommends the designated beer for business events: Asahi Super Dry, once an upstart, now Japan’s #1-Selling Beer—as well as one of my personal favorites.

Makoto’s housemates give her a “Super Dry run” by role-playing as pantsuit-donning salarypeople, and hilarity ensues.

They go through all of the subtle rules of etiquette, from the proper place to sit, pour, and hold the bottle and glass, to the very obvious rule of not getting too drunk and rowdy. Since Asahi was developed as a beer to go perfectly with sashimi, they tuck into some delectable dead fish as well.

By the end, Makoto’s confidence is built up, and she proceeds to have a very fun alumni night. Unfortunately, she was so focused on making a good impression with her perfect beer etiquette (which she did), she forgot what any of them said about job hunting.

No matter; by sticking to her core concept, like Asahi Super Dry, Makoto will be just fine, and join Michiru, Nao, and Kae in the ranks of the working public. Takunomi was a fun little show that reminded me that all of the answers in life can be provided by good food, good spirits, and good friends to share them with.

Takunomi. – 11 – Hot Pot, Hot Sake

Michiru is full of energy and kitted out in full yukata as all four housemates visit a shrine to pray for a prosperous New Year. Since everyone else is in modern garb, Michiru can’t keep up and get lost in the crowd, missing a chance to drink some traditional amazake with the others.

She also gets pretty cold with no coat, so when they get home Kae whips up the perfect meal for a cold day off: hot pot. Nao provides the booze-of-the-week: a special sake called Daishichi Junmai Kimoto, especially well-suited to be enjoyed hot (but also great cold). One thing I didn’t know: how quickly you heat it and the specific temperature results in different flavors being released.

Nao heats it up to “Atsukan” packs a rich punch that goes perfectly with the hot pot proteins, vegetables, and broth. The combination of hot food and hot sake quickly make Michiru very relaxed, changing into her PJ’s and cuddling up to Nao like she’s back home—where she was the talk of the town for her big city exploits.

Takunomi. – 10

It’s the end of the year, and Kae is going to Okinawa with a colleague, reminding Nao of the time they went together so Kae could get over a heartbreak (both have embarrassing pics of one another from that trip). Nao is too busy at work to go, and eventually becomes burnt out, so Kae, with Michiru and Makoto’s help, arranges a way restore Nao’s spirits.

That results in an Okinawan-themed dinner and drinking party, which immediately cheers Nao up. Okinawa is a relatively small island, so it stands to reason they use every possible bit of the pig in their cuisine.

In a neat fact not mentioned in the ep, some of the pork Nao and Kae ate when they went was likely descended from the pigs shipped to the island by Japanese Americans in Hawaii after WWII to help deal with the food shortage.

The perfect beer to wash down the rich, fatty pork is Orion beer, which like all beers brewed for tropical locals, has a light, clean, refreshing taste, a sensation that comes through in the precise animation of the characters drinking.

Makoto managed to find Orion beer at a store a little further out of the way, prompting Nao to embrace her sister, pronounce her love, and beg her to never find a man so they can be together forever (Makoto is understandably noncommittal).

The quartet also remarks how they’ve been together a whole half-year, and it’s been so much fun they should all go to Okinawa together next year.

As it is, Michiru is headed home to spend New Year’s with her mom, but due to all the Okinawan celebrating, she oversleeps and nearly misses her flight; another reminder that part of mastering drinking is making sure you can meet your scheduling obligations afterwards. Still, lots of good food, beer, and fellowship this week.

Takunomi. – 09

I never thought I’d see a young Shidare Hotaru cameo in Takunomi, but I shouldn’t be surprised, as this week is all about dagashi, or junk food. In Japanese dagashi means “futile snacks”, as in it’s futile for Michiru to try to shed those Winter pounds when there’s dagashi around, courtesy of Nao.

Of course, since this is a show about booze, Nao presents the best alky for pigging out on cheap snacks: a Sapporo Otoko Ume Sour drink, a pre-mixed canned drink based on “Manly Pickled Plums.” Pouring it into a mug with ice, a salted rim, and some real pickled plums compounds the effect.

From there, Michiru (and Kae, who is drawn in) give in to the all-too-easy-to-consume empty calories, which fill the various holes in their souls. As Michiru looks on in pity, Nao and Kae salute the fact that while they may not have men, at least they have manly plums in their life!

Takunomi. – 08

From slice-of-office-life, history and life lessons, to the usual drink and food pairings, Takunomi. has a little bit of everything this week, which made me inclined to offer my first “recommended” score after seven straight “watchables.”

We dive a little deeper into Michiru’s office experience as she’s chosen to head up a client presentation the same day she dreams about it. Things don’t go as smoothly as she imagined, but she wins the client over, netting her her first work victory.

It’s a special occasion, which necessitates a special beverage: the venerable Suntory Kabukin (亀, tortoise) Whisky. Around since the 30s, it’s the first whisky by Japanese for Japanese, and still going strong. While it says Kabukin nowhere on the bottle, it’s always been called that because of its tortoise-shell bottle design.

The whisky goes perfectly in a 4:1 highball, though I might want to try it neat or on the rocks. It’s also the perfect drink to go with freshly fried chicken karaage.

But with Michiru’s work victory come a slew of new responsibilities, and in an attempt to keep up with the breakneck pace, she simply overworks herself—not a tenable strategy if one wants to live a long life.

After showing up late for a meeting, Michiru works right up to the time of the after-work office celebration meant to celebrate her. She’d have worked through it to, were it not for her 5-year veteran co-worker Hanamori, who has her back, doing the remaining work for her at hare-speed.

She also has advice for Michiru at the pub: young workers should expect to keep up with the hustle and bustle, they have to be more like tortoises, focused on getting it done, period, without worrying too much about how fast they can get it done. It’s what their boss said to Hanamori when she started out.

Michiru takes to that mentality, pulling her coat over her head to show her boss she knows what he was talking about, and takes care of business. The speed will come in time.

Takunomi. – 07

Aside from one extra-brief cameo from Nao, it’s a Michiru-and-Makoto episode this week, as Michiru tries to act like a cool Tokyoite by doing work in a Starbucks…only to scurry away when a barista approaches her!

Fortunately, the barista is Makoto, who just wanted to say Hi. But Michiru notices something off with Makoto, blames herself for bothering her at work, and makes up for it by preparing a little “home cafe” roleplay with donuts and coffee rum to unwind.

Turns out it’s “typical work stuff” bothering Makoto—not Michiru’s presence at the cafe—but that won’t stop her from having a coffee rum latte and trying out a few of the easy-drinking mixers one can make with Kahlua, which was actually the first alcohol I bought as a teenager! (The second was a King Cobra 40. My tastes were diverse!)

Once Michiru has unwittingly “greased the hinges”, Makoto opens up about what’s got her off her game: while on a job interview, someone said she had a fake smile. She asks how Michiru smiles, leading both into a very self-conscious mirror-viewing session, with no positive results in real smile development. Meanwhile, Nao’s drunken cat smile is a bit too real.

The next day, having unwound from coffee rum and sweets, Michiru greets her next customer with a perfectly warm, easy, genuine smile—and that customer happens to be Michiru again! Michiru tells her not to let a one-time comment in another environment get her discouraged about her face, and whenever she does, well, that’s when you break out the Kahlua!

Takunomi. – 06

Ah, nothing wakes you up and gets you ready for the morning than the upbeat stylings of RaFa and meg rock…even if that show is primarily about drinking booze, which in the morning usually only comes in the form of the occasional mimosa or bloody mary (for the record, Takunomi. airs at 2:43 in the morning JST).

At first, this episode seems more interested in a suddenly somewhat homesick Michiru’s futile quest for fish to eat; ironically back home there was hardly anything but fish and she always craved meat, but the protein tables have turned. It’s fortunate, then, that Nao and Makoto’s folks shipped them a care package full of fish from Hokkaido, and that fish is waiting for Michiru when she gets home.

It’s when Michiru finally gets some fish that Nao introduces the booze of the week: sake, and not just any sake, but Dassai, made from 50% polished rice for extra fragrance. Nao welcomes Michiru to the “Fish-and-Sake Pairing Crew”, and the new squab learns firsthand how blissful a bite of fish is when paired with a sip of Dassai. “Captain” Nao goes on to list the higher quality sakes, the highest of which don’t even disclose how much they polish the rice prior to brewing.

The first time Michiru tried sake, she could barely handle it, but now that she knows it’s all about the kind of sake you drink and what you pair it with, she’s expanded her drinking horizons thanks to Captain Nao, and shares her rekindled passion for the occasional fancy fish set with a co-worker at lunch.

Takunomi. – 05

This week we learn a little more about Midorikawa Kae, who at 27 is the eldest member of Stella House Haruno. Specifically, we learn she isn’t the most excited about continuing to grow older and remain single, as well as her preferred drink (red wine).

Neither Michiru or Makoto like the wine straight (probably the tannins), but Kae cuts it with ginger ale to make a “kitty” (akin to a spritzer) that many guests at her weddings are able to enjoy.

Kae has a few too many of these amidst a light accompaniment of almonds, crackers, cheese and ham, and shows Michiru and Makoto the kind of drunk she is: a bit of a pessimist at first, and devolving into someone who simply wants someone or something to spoon for the night.

When Michiru brings her phone, Kae is in the latter state, and Michiru is snatched up and becomes Kae’s warm stuffed animal for the night. The next morning, Michiru can scarcely look a much-better-put-together Kae in the eyes, but Kae doesn’t remember last night…until Michiru jogs her memory.

The moral of the story is as simple as it is universal: Try not to drink too much…especially if you have some not-so-happy thoughts on your mind!

Takunomi. – 04

Michiru finally gets to drink with Nao’s sister Makoto, who is closer in age and a third-year student in college weary of entering the labor market. After a morning of yelling at her sister for amassing so much recycling from beer cans and a day of studying and worrying, she needs a drink, and not just any drink: Kirin Hyoketsu (“Frozen”), a canned shochu-soda-fresh-squeezed juice blend she prefers to other chuhis.

After a couple years of listening to Nao’s lectures about the alcohol she’s consuming, Makoto has a knack for it too, and when talk turns to Makoto’s worries about getting a job, Michiru suggests the best way is to be straightforward and informative about the company she wants to get a job from, the same way she talks about booze.

When Nao comes home, she seems to have gotten the message and announces she won’t be drinking that night; just eating her TV dinner and going to bed. Makoto tells her she doesn’t have to kick drinking cold turkey like that, and Michiru urges her to be straight once more.

It’s not just that Makoto doesn’t like loud, personal space-invading drunks (she doesn’t), but she’s genuinely worried about her sister continuing on her pace of drinking. When Nao hears her sister doesn’t hate her, she decides to crack open one—and only one—Hyoketsu with her little sis.

When Michiru wakes up, she discovers the sisters never left the couch, but had a lot more than only one, since they were having so much fun. And since Nao has the day off after working overtime and Makoto doesn’t have classes that day, they have the whole day to recover from their sisterly celebrating.

Takunomi. – 03

When Michiru heeds a work poster that encourages employees to leave on time on Wednesday (which may or may be a trap depending on her co-workers reactions to her leaving), she’s discouraged to find no one home yet. She decides she’ll use the extra time on Wednesday to attend a gym and do yoga, since that’s what she believes Tokyoites do.

When she gets home Kae is there, lounging like a cat with a can of Suiyoubi no Neko, a Belgian Style White Ale brewed with orange peel and coriander (like Allagash White or Blue Moon). It’s described as a great beer for hump day and also a good first beer for people who don’t like the bitterness.

Kae reveals that Neko was indeed her first beer, and that prior to that she didn’t like beer’s bitter taste at all, shocking Michiru. The white ale inspired Kae to travel the world sampling various beers and the cultures that brewed them. In other words, it was a catalyst for action.

Michiru ponders how she can change her life post-Neko, but she already has: after a couple of rough early sessions, she’s gotten the hang of Wednesday Yoga, and can now claim to have an active lifestyle!

Takunomi. – 02

Michiru has somewhat overblown standards of how a young Tokyoite office woman should look, and her perceived failure to meet them leave her frustrated to the point of tears upon coming home. Enter Nao, who works at a clothing store. Michiru offers shochu as payment for fashion advice.

After the presentation of “chu-hi” (shochu highballs) as one of the more delicious alcoholic beverages one can enjoy (for those over the age of 20), Nao opens her closet for Michiru, who settles on an understated natural look. In doing so, Michiru rekindles the passion that drove Nao into clothing industry: that satisfying moment when a customer has found their look.

As for things like finding a man to accompany her to couples spots like Tokyo Sky Tree and an office demeanor in which she’s not mixing up words like “call” with “coal”, Michiru is on her own. But when she comes home, she can be assured of good drink, good food, and good friends.

Update: What do you know, my local state-run wine & spirits store actually sells shochu, a 50-proof mugi (barley) variety made in Kyoto. Earthy and nutty, it’s great neat, on the rocks, or with club or flavored soda. Kanpai!

Takunomi. – 01 (First Impressions)

Takunomi is a good old-fashioned sitcom, centered on the lives of four young women who live together in Tokyo, and enjoy good food and good beer, particularly YEBISU premium beer.

That golden can is flashed on the screen so often you could make a drinking game out of it. But I didn’t really mind the blatant product placement, because A) I personally like Yebisu and B) the rest of the show is quick, simple, enjoyable enjoyable watch.

Takunomi isn’t trying to do that much, merely portray that Michiru had nothing to fear by moving to a Tokyo share-house with three strangers; they all turn out to be very friendly, kind, and generous. The first housemate she met, in fact, retrieved her purse from a thief at the station before they even knew each other, after all.

Everyone’s drawn to look at least five years younger than they are (Michiru is supposed to be 20), but it’s still good to have a show about adults who appreciate good beer, good food, and good company, and know how to properly kick back after the grind.

If I had to choose between Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san and this—and I do—I’m choosing this. Kanpai!