Jimi ni Sugoi! Koetsu Garu Kono Etsuko

I must start this review by fangirling over the female leads amazing wardrobe and lamenting the fact that the official website for the drama does not have individual shots of each of her outfits, because I would have been screenshotting each and every one. Etsuko is Stylish, and I want to be her when I grow up.

Ok, now that that’s out of the way, I can fangirl about the actual drama itself.

This drama is really good! Etsuko is an extremely likable female lead. Personable, tenacious, thoughtful, intelligent, bubbly, kind, she puts a smile on your face and makes you wish you Were her and had a best friend who Is her. Of course, the rest of the characters are nothing to sneeze at. A perfectly wonderful boss, a snarky/difficult editor who’s really quite nice once you get to know him, a lovely little ensemble team working in the Proofreading department, a male lead who’s thoughtful and introspective and a little quirky, a relatable second female lead struggling to fit in at her job and find meaning in the work she does, and of course, all of the interesting authors you get to meet along the way. There’s no one in this drama you ever really dislike.

I LOVED this drama’s intense focus on a career field that isn’t glamorous or showy but something that happens in the background without any fanfare. It’s repeated multiple times throughout the drama that no one ever hears about proofreaders. They don’t get the recognition they deserve, something that frequently frustrates Etsuko. But that makes the job of a proofreader all the more important and worthwhile, because proofreaders aren’t doing it for themselves. They’re doing it for others. The drama ties all of this together nicely in the last couple episodes with the publication of the male leads new book which focuses exclusively on writing about people with jobs that operate in the background yet hold fundamental value to keeping the rest of society running smoothly. The message is clear: You’re work may never been seen or noticed by most people, but it holds meaning, and that’s what matters.

I truthfully don’t have much about this drama to complain about. I wasn’t on board with the romantic pairings initially, because the potential opposite pairings have some bang on chemistry that really makes you wonder what they’re relationships would have looked like instead. But I did warm up to the writer’s OTP’s of choice over time, and I do think both couples are compatible. Was I disappointed that we don’t get to see our main couple become official at the end? Yes. I don’t totally buy Etsuko’s reasoning for putting their budding relationship on hold till future notice. It would have been one thing if the two of them had been causing too much of a distraction for each other in their work and daily lives, but they don’t. Quite the opposite, in fact. They both do a fabulous job of supporting one another and encouraging each other and pushing each other to give their best in their chosen fields. But her decision, their decision ultimately, was not so far out of the realm of possibility for me to be flipping tables over, so I’m willing to forgive the writers for it.

And surprisingly, I actually really like that Etsuko doesn’t successfully transfer to the editorial department of Lassy at the end. As much as I think she would absolutely flourish there, and it’s obvious that she will eventually get that transfer because why would you Not hire her for your fashion magazine (and there’s no way Etsuko would let anyone or anything stop her from doing it), it felt more natural and realistic for her not to leave the Proofreading team just yet. This is a story about the importance of people whose work takes place in the background, after all, and I think Etsuko needed to learn that lesson before finally achieving her dreams.

So in the words of Yukito, ‘For those who work with pride and keep this world afloat. I cheer for all the plain, wonderful people.’