Hotel Concierge (2015)

Maybe I'm a boring person, maybe I'm doing dramas wrong, maybe I got old, but I occasionally really enjoy watching dramas that focus on a profession, people doing their best and working towards a common goal and facing different challenges. Sometimes, I'm not interested in fast-paced action, cliche love triangles or suspenseful thrillers, sometimes I just want dramas about genuine people doing their jobs the best way they can. This is one of those.

You're not gonna get a whole lot of world-building here, you're not going to find star-crossed lovers or dreadful villains, but you'll find a lot of genuine characters and over-all good people trying to make others happy by providing the best work they can in a great hotel. Like there usually is in dramas of the kind, there's people with different perspectives of what's best for clients, there's personal issues getting involved in their jobs, there's clients that transcend the limits of what the crew can do, including, but not limited to: stalkers, overbearing parents, interns with severe social anxiety, kids trying to make their parents or grandparents happy, husbands being toxic and various other situations, always centered in human emotion and social links.

A great surprise and something I'd like to point out is that there's a character, played by Asari Yosuke, who uses sign language to communicate and him and Mariya's character use it back and forth pretty smoothly. This is something I rarely see in dramas, sadly (I hope one day we get a good live action drama of the Koe no Katachi manga, for example, because it's amazing), and I found it great that they not only did it in a recurring character, rather than a guest, but that it was also explored in an episode somewhat, when his uncle shows up.

Maybe, in comparison to other shows with the same theme, it's not the most original or well-written, some situations tend to go a bit in circles and there is, I believe, a bit of a lack of development for the lead character, because, even though I get what her importance is in the plot, I feel she doesn't get a very clear resolution in order for her development to be consistent throughout. It's not as strong as other job-centered shows, but it's not bad and it's well performed. I particularly enjoyed Watanabe Natsuna a lot in this.

So, long story short, if you want to see a drama that's relatively calm, heartwarming and not too much of a stress, but which does focus on human interaction and has some deep emotional scenes, this is a good one for you. It's probably not gonna keep you on the edge of your seat, but sometimes I'm not looking for that in a drama. Sometimes I just want nice people trying their best.

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This show really was dramatic. You will not find a lot of the stereotypical "drama" in this show at all; this show is definitely able to stand on its own, however. If what you're looking for is the stereotypical drama, then this may not be for you; however, this show is absolutely stunning.

Each person in the cast was amazing, honestly. They did all of their jobs perfectly to make it seem like a fantastically run, fancy, hotel. Everything that goes on in a hotel, from check-in to the restaurant(s) to the housekeeping and bellboy staff to the management, was extremely precisely detailed. Each episode was filled with a very interesting, exciting, and thrilling story; I laughed and I cried throughout this entire show. Each actor and actress gave this show moments where I laughed and cried with them, got mad with them or for them, held my breath in anticipation and fear, and so much more.

This show is more toward the job/career genre than "drama" specifically, however it is interesting to see how the inside of a company, let alone a hotel, works. It's insane all the detail, planning, supplies, problems, surprises, mysteries, excitement, fear, and even disappointment that comes with the stressful and stimulating job of a hotel, or any other company, employee. There was not a lot of character story for the hotel's staff, that is true, but I believe this show relied a lot on the feeling of an actual hotel: it was all about the guests.

I think this drama is something different that maybe a lot of viewers just didn't like, but I found it very enjoying, thrilling, entertaining, and a wonderful show from the story of each episode to the music to the entire show's theme/storyline... It is definitely forever one of my favorite shows!

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