Just a little tidbit, I will be using the romanized title for Japanese dramas as that’s typically the title they go by. When it comes to other ones, if there is a more common English translation, like how there is with Chinese, Taiwanese, and Korean, then I’ll be using that. If anyone is curious the English translation for this show is: This is Not A Business Expense. I will also be mostly using the character’s first name, even though I know that’s not the norm, but just to make it easier in the case if someone has the same last name.

So I just happened to stumble across this drama one day when I was kind of looking for something that would jump out for me to watch. And after watching the first episode, I can say that I did enjoy this. It seems like a light-hearted slice-of-life type of workplace drama that I’m impressed focuses on a line of work that I haven’t really seen many done about, the work of an accountant.

The general premise of the drama is about Moriwaka Sanako, played by Tabe Mikako, a woman who is working in the accountant department of a company called Ten Ten Corporation, who specializes in cosmetics and soap production. It may seem like a very general premise, but Sanako seems like someone who will dive head first to get to the bottom of things, as much as she tries to stop herself from getting too involved in the personal matters of the people at the company.

Of course we have a male lead, presumably played by Shigeoka Daiki, of Johnny’s West, an idol group, but it doesn’t seem like this drama will be primarily romance focused, but instead more about Sanako’s life as an accountant and her interactions with the people around her. So, without further ado, let’s get into the first episode!

We start with Sanako going around to the various employees of the corporation to hand them back their papers to fix the receipts that they submitted to the accounting department. It seems like everyone is tense around her when she appears and even though some people are resistant to what she points out, she’s firm in standing with the company policies about how and what for the reimbursements are for. She even rejects one that the sales director already approved for an employee.

We’re introduced to a couple of characters, such as Shibata Hideki, the section head for the accounting department and Sasaki Mayu and Takura Yutaro, nicknamed Yu, who are both accountants. We’re also introduced to Yamada Taiyo of the sales department as he runs to greet a client. He’s the one in charge of the new ParaCafe that the company is opening and works closely with Sonezaki Mirei, the interior coordinator for the project. And with that, it seems like our main cast may be set for now.

It seems like Hideki and Yoshimura Akihiro, section head of the sales department, go a little back and forth with one another as they just have some playful banter, like some sort of small rivalry. They argue about their departments being the best and about their department doing the most work. Hideki tries his best to keep his cool, but he can’t help but jump in. Yu also joins in and the argument abruptly comes to an end when Sanako tells him that the revised receipts he brought in are good and will be processed immediately.

Sanako leaves the room and goes to see Kagami Mitsuki, who works in research and development. Turns out that the two are great friends, and former classmates, as Sanako helps Mitsuki with her research by testing out various products for her and giving her an honest review about them.

It’s the close of the workday when, in a voiceover, Sanako tells about her love for the moment when the numbers all balance. As the other workers prepare to leave for the weekend, Mayu has some trouble since her total doesn’t match what’s in the system. Sanako decides to take a look and, after going through pages and pages of numbers again, notices that a number was incorrectly typed in and when fixed, everything balances.

Just when they shut down the computers, Taiyo comes into the department to submit receipts. Mayu tries to tell him that they’re done for the day but Sanako takes them and when he promises a coupon for the café when it opens, she thinks that she doesn’t want a coupon, just receipts without any errors. So she begins to look them over and finds one immediately with no description on the back. The others seem appropriate but one she notices is for going out to eat takoyaki with Mirei.

Because Taiyo brought his receipts late, Mayu and Sanako end up staying an hour later and while Mayu complains about it, Sanako points out that it would’ve been a pain to do the following week as well, which Mayu agrees with. At the same time, Nanajima Kirika, another sales department employee, is leaving at the same time and runs into Mayu and Sanako. It seems like Mayu and Kirika are closer than Sanako is as she walks ahead of them while they head to the locker room to get changed. But she, obviously, overhears their conversation about how Mirei apparently really likes Taiyo and that really pleases Akihiro, their section head.

After getting dressed, Sanako declines an offer to go out with the other two girls for dinner and goes grocery shopping instead. Even as the employee is ringing her out, she is able to add everything up and produce the right amount of change before the register even finishes. She also goes to a DVD rental store, one that she seems to frequent, before going home and in voiceover, says that she likes to spend her private time alone because it’s hard to keep things even when she’s with other people. After all, even is her favorite word, she likes it when everything balances out.

While watching a program during dinner, Mirei just happens to be on it and she thinks back to the earlier receipt wondering if Mirei would eat that but shakes the thought. Later, she paints her fingernails as she explains that spending the weekend doing what she likes without anyone bothering her is her ideal weekend and looks in satisfaction at her nails.

But it’s just that moment that she gets a message from Taiyo expressing his gratitude. Sanako is shocked as she gets another message from him explaining that he forgot one of his expense forms and asks if he could submit it the following week as an expense for the month. She’s just more concerned about how he got her phone number. But another message comes in saying that he went to USA Land during the middle of a three-day weekend wondering if he could be reimbursed.

It’s another day at work when a new employee comes in with some expense forms. He seems nervous as it’s his first time submitting them and Sanako looks over it to successfully tell him that there’s no issue. In voiceover she says that most employees get more lax as they continue to work there and that after three or four years, they’re as good as they’re going to get.

That’s when Taiyo pops his head into the office and apologizes for messaging her on her day off. He hands over the receipts he mentioned and when Sanako makes a comment about going to USA Land during a three-day weekend, he explains that Mirei gets ideas about interior designing from visiting different places and because she doesn’t have a license, he ends up going with her. He confirms that they’re for a research expense and wonders if that’s okay and Sanako tells him that as long as they aren’t used for personal time, that it should be but it’s not really her decision.

Right when she’s about to leave the room, though, she asks him how he got her phone number but he won’t say calling it restricted information. Taiyo laughs at himself while Sanako just stares at him for a moment and asks him to delete it. Taiyo asks her if she has another form of contact, but she doesn’t, and wants to know how he should contact her in the future. She says that she’ll be right there but that’s not what he means and before he can explain, he gets a phone call from Mirei confirming that he’s free on Sunday. Sanako goes to check the forms for the company car and sees that Taiyo did use a company car for his time in USA Land and sees one for that weekend as well.

Back in the accounting department room, Mayu comes with a picture on her phone to show Sanako of Taiyo and Kirika together with the claims that Kirika is seeing a nice guy, who must be him. They don’t know for sure when the pictures were taken, since Kirika said that it was just the other day, but they are in USA Land. That gets Sanako thinking about Taiyo saying that he went and begins thinking that just maybe he didn’t go for work. She tries to keep herself calm and hold back from investigating it since she says she learned from experience before.

But her thoughts are quickly interrupted by another member of the sales department, Yamazaki Shuichi, enters asking Sanako to check his receipts. He hands over some free tickets for a spa resort that the company works with, since they always help him out, and the two accept. Mayu asks to go together and Sanako seems taken aback, clearly not wanting to go, but after hearing the name of the spa and knowing that it’s the name of the spa Taiyo and Mirei were going to, she lets it get the best of her and goes.

Sanako lets Mayu go ahead of her and she looks around to try to get a glimpse of the two together. First she finds the company car and wonders if he came for work or for a date with Kirika. Inside she finds a poster for their new product and also samples of their new product pointing that it’s probably for research since no man would do that on a date. She begins to rethink her whole thing when she hears an argument.

The sound is right behind her and it’s Kirika and Taiyo. She turns around and sees them and tries to run off as Kirika wonders what she is to Taiyo calling herself convenient. Kirika walks away and Taiyo tries to catch up to her so they can sort things out but he takes notice of Sanako who is attempting to walk away and not be seen during the fight. Kirika takes notice, too, and she tries to continue to walk away but he chases after her causing Kirika to loudly ask if he and Sanako are dating and if they came together.

She ends up crying and Tiayo offers to talk it out but a young girl then runs up to Taiyo and Kirika thinks that she’s Tiayo and Sanako’s daughter. Turns out that young girl is Yumi, Mirei’s daughter. Sanako looks at the situation and tires to walk away and Taiyo asks her where she’s going. She announces she’s going to the footbath and Mirei asks to go together.

That’s how Sanako gets roped into being there with Mirei and her daughter. Mirei asks Sanako if she works at Ten Ten Corporation and the two exchange greetings. Sanako apologizes for the earlier instance before asking her what she’s doing there. Mirei simply says that she’s there for a tour of inspection with Taiyo and that as a creator, it all leads back to her work. Sanako tries to ask about going to USA Land but gets interrupted by Mirei taking a phone call that calls her out. Yumi doesn’t want to go and asks when they can go eat takoyaki with Taiyo and that gets her thinking.

While she’s in the spa with Mayu, she thinks about how Taiyo came for work but is still confused about the pictures from USA Land. She thinks about everything that she’s seen and heard so far trying to distinguish whether it was for work or a date.

During lunch one day at work, Sanako asks to see Kirika and Taiyo’s picture again. She notices that they’re wearing warm clothes, which would be strange given that it’s the summer, and Mayu wonders if it’s from autumn of the previous year since everyone from sales went there for some sort of event. Mayu thinks that maybe Kirika is telling everyone they’re together because she wants to warn people to leave him alone because he’s her fantasy boyfriend. Sanako then thinks that there’s no problem because that means he clearly went for work to the other places.

Kirika tries to strike up conversation with Taiyo during work but he’s not that responsive and ends up leaving when he gets a phone call from Mirei. It’s then that a rumor begins to fly around the office and through the various departments saying that Taiyo and Mirei are dating and having an affair. The rumors continually get worse as they start to say that Taiyo claimed some of his dates as expenses leading to some employees telling the general affairs section head, Niijima Souichiro.

Hideki comes into the accounting department after a meeting with Risk Management about the rumor of the affair because they’re concerned that Taiyo might be claiming things that aren’t company expenses. Mayu tells them that the rumor is that they’re going to Europe Village over the weekend and that makes Hideki suspicious since the proposal for the ParaCafe is Japanese style.

Hideki decides to send the accounting department to investigate to make sure that it’s not a misuse of company expenses, which Sanako feels is not their job or responsibility. He throws out that they’d be in trouble of they had a tax audit on it but their conversation quickly dives into what counts as an affair and what doesn’t. Sanako tries to get him back on track and it turns out that he wants to kind of stick it to the sales department. Mayu then volunteers herself and Sanako for it.

But Sanako ends up going alone as Mayu oversleeps that day. Sanako walks around the grounds to look for them and finds the three of them together. She sees Taiyo being nice to Yumi and her ask him to take her to Aqualand and to eat takoyaki. But when they’re heading in to eat, people begin to notice Mirei and a crowd begins to form. Feeling that it’s not good, Sanako gets up and heads over to the crowd.

Taiyo spots her immediately as well as Mirei. Taiyo asks why she’s there and Sanako asks if they’re there for inspection. Taiyo says that they are and Mirei asks why she’s there but she can’t give a straight answer. Mirei tells Sanako not to misunderstand and claims that she’ll make ParaCafe succeed. She gets called away by Yumi leaving only Taiyo and Sanako.

He wonders if she’s there to watch him and Sanako doesn’t deny that, just advises him against inappropriate behavior. She explains to him in numbers about what his possible lifetime earnings may be and how bad rumors would affect that amount. She excuses herself from the conversation but mentions Aqualand and wonders when Taiyo takes his days off.

It’s the beginning of a new week and Sanako is called to the meeting room because of the rumors of an affair between Taiyo and Mirei. Turns out that there was an article published. They ask Taiyo for an explanation and if the article is telling the truth but he claims that it’s wrong and asks that they trust him. Akihiro puts his trust in Taiyo but Hideki is suspicious about the entire thing. Well, probably half is suspicion and half is the fact that he’s against his kind of “rival.”

They begin to discuss about whether Taiyo’s expenses were really for work or for his personal life and he continues to insist that what they’re insinuating is not true. The two section heads begin to yell at each other and Souichiro demands they sit down after Taiyo yells for them to listen to him. He claims that he wouldn’t be submitting receipts if he were in love with Mirei and going on dates since that would be uncool and asks that they believe him.

Next, they want Sanako to give her opinion and she says that she doesn’t think they can count them as research expenses since the café has a Japanese style, not a Western one, therefore it’s not really a research based trip. She then gets asked about her opinion upon seeing the three of them together in Europe Village and she tells the truth that they seemed very friendly and happy.

But when Hideki says that they shouldn’t be counted as an expense, she disagrees. Sanako explains that Taiyo told her that Mirei was put in charge of their project even though she had other things to take care of and that of course they want to make something great and spectacular and she’s been doing a good job at it. However, that makes her very busy and she therefore doesn’t have enough time to play with her daughter. That’s when Taiyo suggested that they spend time together with Yumi instead of eating at high class restaurants.

Hideki still wants to point out that it wasn’t for work, but Sanako says that that was Taiyo’s way of showing his appreciation, showing the company’s appreciation, to Mirei and says that they could categorize the expenses as entertainment and hospitality. That throws everyone for a curve but Sanako further explains that their collaboration and harmonious relationship made a great contribution to the ParaCafe project so hospitality expenses should be acceptable.

They’re still hung up on the possibility that it’s an affair, but Sanako says that that doesn’t matter because business expenses are essential in helping the company essentially make a profit, as per her understanding, therefore it doesn’t matter if there were a hidden meaning if it means that the company is benefiting from it. She also points out that there’s no rule against it and suggests they create a new rule for the future if they’re so against it and proclaims it as a business expense, much to the relief of Taiyo.

Sanako goes to leave the room but Akihiro begins to chide her for simply not overlooking the expense issue and when Taiyo tries to step in, he gently pushes him away so he can continue saying that the project is expected to bring in millions. But Sanako doesn’t just take it, she argues back that if she ignored and overlooked things, like the theme park tickets, almost thirty-seven thousand times, then that would be the same as the multi-million dollar project he claimed they were contributing. She tells him that her job is to protect the money everyone works hard to earn and Akihiro doesn’t have anything else to say.

The two section heads leave first with Taiyo and Sanako lagging behind. She asks Taiyo if he’s properly taking his days off and he’s a little taken aback but seems largely impressed with her.

Mayu comes running to her that moment as Mirei has come to see her. She tells Sanako that it was her fault for the article and came to apologize to the directors and that they’ll give out a statement to not cause Taiyo any more harm in the future. She explains to Sanako that Yumi took a liking to Taiyo when she took her to a meeting and that Taiyo treated Yumi nicely since so Mirei ended up taking advantage of him. Sanako doesn’t know why she’s telling her that but Mirei wants to know how Sanako does her nail art since she wants to do it for Yumi and promises to take proper breaks to spend time with her daughter.

After getting off the elevator, Kirika apologizes to Sanako for what happened and says that she was the one who started the rumor about the affair. She then claims that she’s moving on from Taiyo and Sanako doesn’t fully understand but Kirika disappears into the office. Before she gets too much farther, Taiyo, who was standing in the doorway the entire time, thanks her for what she did and suggests that they go out for a meal together. Sanako rejects him but he points out that she was asking about his days off. Sanako explains that if he doesn’t keep track of them properly, then it’ll mess up his salary and goes back into her office.

Finally back in the office, Sanako wants to know how she could categorize her expenses for Europe Village and Hideki gives her the money but Sanako doesn’t like that since she went for work it’s a business expense and would mess everything else up. Plus, what he gave her wasn’t enough anyway.

At that time Minase Oriko, the PR representative, enters the office and wants to know if she can interview Sanako for the job information magazine since the person she was going to do went on a business trip. Sanako agrees to it but under the terms that she uses a false name and picture, which she agrees to and gives Sanako some receipts to process. Sanako notices that they’re all for very high amounts.

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For a first episode, I thought that this was fairly enjoyable. I like that Sanako is someone who sticks by her word and doesn’t let other people push her around. She knows her limits in the company policy and through that, doesn’t let anyone get away with anything. I like that she has the guts to stick up to the section heads about things that are wrong and I like that she has a number brain so when Akihiro was giving her the numbers about how well the new ParaCafe was supposed to go, she was able to hit him right back with numbers that he wasn’t able to deny.

I think that the first episode gave us a good insight into what she has to deal with day in and day out of being in the accounting department. As per what Sanako had said, she deals with protecting the money that everyone else works so hard to earn and therefore doesn’t want everyone’s efforts to go to waste. She feels a sense of responsibility to the people who work at the company and to the company itself, which is obviously good to have in that sort of profession.

I do like that there were little hints about things sprinkled around the episode like how at one point Sanako had asked Taiyo about whether they were research expenses and he agreed. It was a little hint, unknowing at the time, that having it be a research expense wasn’t right but that it should rather be a hospitality expense. Another one was also with the picture of Kirika and Taiyo with them wearing long sleeves and flannel when everyone else was clearly in short sleeves, and given that the drama premiered in in the summer, it would make sense that that would stick out.

Additionally, so far, I do like the cast of characters that we’re given. I know most of the focus was on Sanako, obviously, but I like seeing how everyone worked together and how we’re just kind of thrown right into the middle of their lives instead of someone really starting something new and having to be introduced to everyone and the type of work as time goes on. Instead, we’re just essentially playing catch-up with the characters to understand what their lives have been like so far. There are no new employees and it seems like Sanako had been there for quite a while with the company as well as everyone else, including Taiyo.

But given what it seemed like, Sanako is someone who likes spending her time alone without her coworkers and now that it seems, obviously, that Taiyo has taken a liking to her, I wonder how her alone time is going to continue. He got her phone number from an unknown source and he seemed pretty impressed with her when she was sticking up for him in her own kind of way and now he’s asking to treat her to dinner because of what she did for him and it doesn’t seem like he’ll let up anytime soon. So we can only see how this progresses.