I’ll admit, part of the reason I feel such fondness for Kono Kaisha ni Suki na Hito ga Imasu may be because there’s so little competing against it this season, either in romcom or anime generally. The more arid the desert, the more refreshing the water from the oasis will be. That said, it’s also just plain good. The lack of histrionics – and cliches – when dealing with affairs of the heart is really winning. And considering the relatively unheralded nature of the studio and key staff, I’m increasingly struck by how good the production is (especially for a show of this genre).
One of the marks of a really good romcom can often be how much traction it gets out of the supporting cast. I quite like the other characters (“B couple” candidates) we’ve met. Somei is quite the intriguing stoic, and you could hardly design someone more different from him that Hayakawa-san. Not many romance writers could resist that, and you started to see the buds of an interesting dynamic at the baseball game. I wasn’t expecting a chapter devoted to these two this early in the series, but it totally worked for me.
Hayakawa’s inner monologue rang very true here. She’s always “on” whenever she’s around anyone from work – that’s her persona. But she reveals here that she finds it exhausting. People who act like she did at the ballpark are usually performing, at least to some extent. So for Hayakawa running into a co-worker on the train is a bummer, because she automatically switches on and it eats into her alone time (when she can be “off”). Then Somei wanders into her hideaway cafe, and can hardly avoid being seated at her table. Their encounter is pretty awkward, but it’s fascinating watching the different ways they deal with that.
I love the way Somei just doesn’t give a flip about protocol. He’s quiet, but when he talks he says what he means. Is something being set up here? I tend to think so, but at the very least these two are fun to watch when they’re in-synch. Meanwhile the A-pair doesn’t get the week off. Yui is stressing hard about the launch of her product, and the lack of support she perceives from the section chief. Masugu steps up and shows that his chill is a great mesh with her intensity. He talks her in off the ledge with common sense and commiseration that never crosses the line into pity.
That’s not all Yui is stressing over, though. Masugu is quite popular around the office, it seems – not least with the female employees. He’s patient, a good teacher, tall and good-looking. This unsettles Yui right off the bat, but when their talk inevitably turns to his potential availability she really goes on tilt. She convinces herself that she’s taking him for granted, slips into some sexy underthings (under some overthings), and invites herself over to – in effect – seduce him. The truth of course is there’s absolutely no need to seduce him because he’s quite devoted to her, but this is definitely the most electric I Have a Crush at Work has gotten in the nooky department.
There’s just the slightest danger here of Masugu coming off as a bit of a romcom Marty Stu – if he has any real flaws I don’t think we’ve seen them yet. But darn, he sure is likeable and an ideal boifwi. He really shows his cred here, first by refusing to “take advantage” of Yui when it’s clear she’s not coming at this seduction from a healthy place. And then, when he and Yui get stuck in the elevator with three admirers from General Affairs, his answer to what he does on the weekend is “spend time with my girlfriend”. This is obviously a clear statement of intent, both to Yui and the trio. But while he wasn’t considering it, it will only spark more musing at work about just who the girlfriend is…
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