Oh My Boss! Love Not Included Review: The Stern Female Boss And Her Clumsy Assistant Steal The Show In This One

“Oh My Boss! Love Not Included” is a shojo dorama that follows the life of a clumsy girl from a small town trying to make it big in the city by taking up a job in a fashion magazine. Working in the competitive field of fashion is hectic and extremely challenging and this we see through our female lead who does her best to keep her boss happy and survive in the company. At the same time, she also finds her dream lover who fills her life with warmth and happiness. 

Actress Kamishiraishi Mone was my reason for picking this dorama. I loved her in “An Incurable Case of Love”, which is one of my favorite J-doramas. Mone is absolutely adorable and watching her on-screen makes me smile. I went into this show expecting to once again see her act cuddly cute and I’m glad my girl didn’t disappoint me.  

Oh My Boss! Love Not Included (2021) (10 Episodes)

Right from her childhood, Suzuki Nami (Kamishiraishi Mone) has been taught one thing by her mother that is be an average person and live an ordinary life. Nami lives by that teaching her whole life but when her crush finds a job in the city, she too relocates to the city hoping to get closer to him.  

She gets a job with the fashion magazine ‘Miyavi’ and has to report to the Chief Editor, Horai Reiko (Nanao) who is a workaholic. She is known as the ‘devil’ amongst her employees for her cold demeanour, critical nature and rational approach to work. 

Nami too hates her boss for making her life difficult but the more she works for Reiko, the more she learns about the fashion business and how to approach problems in life.

I enjoyed watching “Oh My Boss! Love Not Included” because…

…it was a simple drama with bare minimum complications and lots of takeaways in terms of business and life lessons.  

The drama starts with Nami who comes from a humble background. Her father always dreamt of becoming a famous writer someday but never achieved his dream which is why he never moved on from running a tiny bookstore in his town.

Her frustrated mother then warned her from having unrealistic dreams and ambitions and advised her to stick to being a regular person living a regular life.

Nami follows her mother’s advice and aims to be an ordinary person with an average job at a decent company. She applies for a job at a publishing company but does not get selected for her desired profile but instead is hired for the job of an errand girl aka assistant to the Chief Editor of Miyavi Magazine.

The Chief Editor of Miyavi, Horai Reiko is a nightmare of a boss who puts Nami on tasks right away. Her orders are curt sans any extra detail. Nami has to be on her toes all day picking or dropping stuff for her boss.

In team meetings, Reiko hardly looks at the ideas presented by the team and instead proposes an idea of her own before stomping out of the room. Nobody in the office likes her but they also cannot deny that her ideas work the best.

Then there is Junnosuke who Nami meets on the day of her interview. She accidentally ends up with paint on her clothes so Junnosuke helps her find an outfit which ultimately becomes the reason for her selection for the job.

Junnosuke’s mother is after him to get married so he asks Nami to be his fake girlfriend so he can get out of the arranged marriage meetings that his mother pesters him to go to.

Instead of faking it, Junnosuke ends up falling hard for Nami. Nami too likes him but considering his rich status she feels as if he is like a distant dream for her. But she also cannot help falling for him especially because he looks like an adorable puppy to her.

A romantic office drama is incomplete without a second lead. Nakazawa Ryota works as an editor for Miyavi and falls in love with Nami despite her clumsy ways. He witnesses Nami crying over Junnosuke and confesses his love for her. Nami does not encourage his advances as she is aware that her co-worker, Izumi Haruka harbors feelings for Ryota. Also, Nami truly loves Junnosuke.

That was the character dynamics on the show. Coming to the story, the drama follows the regular layout wherein the episodes start with a challenging task that meets a roadblock in the middle, which the cast overcomes by the end. This is how each episode plays out.

With every episode, we see how Nami progresses as an employee working with the best in the industry. Even though she is an errand girl, she shows interest in other departments and is keen on learning from her boss who almost comes to idolize her towards the end of the show.

The best part is when Nami starts to dress better to fit in the hip crowd at her office. I love fashion too and seeing fashionable characters is always a treat for me. 😎😍🙂

Actress Kamishiraishi Mone performed well because rom-com is her home turf. Her character is very similar to Sakura from “An Incurable Case of Love”. Nami is clumsy but dedicated. She lacks confidence but is still helpful to others. She aims to be good at her job and gives her all to impress her boss.

Since Mone is naturally so cute, such characters suit her. Hopefully, this is the last time she plays a similar character because I would love to see her in more diverse roles. She has the potential to expand her horizons and I would love to cheer her on.

This was my first time watching actress Nanao and all I can say is…. wow!! Nanao’s role is similar to that of Meryl Streep’s character Miranda Priestly from “The Devil Wears Prada”. Reiko is smart, arrogant, and most importantly a competent Chief Editor. Nanao looks like Reiko, walks like Reiko, and even sneers like Reiko.

Reiko comes from a rich business family and hates the fact that her father wishes her younger brother to take over the family business when he hardly has any interest in it unlike she who is a true businesswoman. Her father looks down on her chosen field of fashion and hence she has the passionate drive to work hard and make it big without her father’s help.

Nanao makes a very convincing Reiko. She looked like a model out of the cover of a fashion magazine but went about her business with utmost sincerity. Reiko is not as mean as Miranda Priestly, but she is just as capable and knowledgeable as her.

Reiko and Nami were the best characters on the show. In fact, if I remember anything about the dorama then it is Reiko and Nami’s bang on chemistry. Nami, I felt, did better when with Reiko than her boyfriend, Junnosuke.

 

I did NOT LIKE “Oh My Boss! Love Not Included” because…

…I did not like the male lead or even the romance on the show. Nami and Junnosuke were good individually but as a couple, they did not appeal to me. I did not find their chemistry magical or even existent. And I blame this on the weak character of Junnosuke.

Junnosuke is a professional photographer coming from a rich family. His father wants him to take over his family business but Junnosuke has no interest in his business so he works as a photographer hoping to make it big without his father’s help.

Sadly, people contact him for work not because of his talent but to get into the good books of his father which frustrates him to no end.

As a person, Junnosuke is an extremely thoughtful and kind guy. He starts a fake relationship with Nami but eventually falls for her and tries to become the best boyfriend possible. And this is what I disliked about Junnosuke. I felt his character was too sweet and unrealistic.

He is rich, handsome, and loves Nami to bits. Why does he love Nami? Well, I’m not so sure. He does explain how he fell in love with her but the way he behaved like a clingy boyfriend made no sense to me. I understand that he is like a free bird without any serious attachments. But even then I could not find it justified to see him hanging around Nami all the time.

Long story short, Junnosuke is not a bad guy it’s just not the kind of male lead I would like to see in a drama. I like good guys but not overly, sugary, sweet guys.

Since I wasn’t a fan of Junnosuke, his pairing with Nami too did not work for me. They lacked chemistry and even after trying hard to look like a couple in love, I did not find anything special about them.

One thing I have been itching to mention is the way Nami’s crush is dealt with. <<Spoiler>> Nami has a crush on her childhood friend. Sadly, he breaks her heart by introducing her to his girlfriend. One evening, Nami meets him at a party where he notices the change in Nami’s appearance and immediately proposes to have an affair with her. Shocked, Nami reminds him of his girlfriend but he brushes it off saying he will deal with his girlfriend later.

This scene of her crush acting like a jerk was just not required. I never understood the need to ruin a perfectly decent and inconsequential character. Perhaps they wanted to justify his disinterest in Nami. But the manner in which they did it was not done. <<Spoiler>>   

 

“Oh My Boss! Love Not Included” is an average drama at best. It has some good characters and a decent storyline but nothing memorable.

I give “Oh My Boss! Love Not Included” 2.5 out of 5 rating. Nothing extraordinary here. Just a simple drama with some important life lessons.

 

Image Courtesy: TBS Sparkle/Viki

 

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