Public Affairs Office in the Sky (2013) - Jdrama Review

-May contain major spoilers-

 

Photo source: TBS

Public Affairs Office in the Sky - Soratobu Kouhoushitsu (空飛ぶ広報室) is an 11-episode TBS slice-of-life romantic Jdrama based on a novel of the same name. 

Starring Aragaki Yui and Ayano Go

Summary

Inaba Rika (Aragaki Yui) used to be a news reporter, but she got "demoted" after taking her job too seriously to the point of harassing people, and now works as the director of an information segment in an evening TV program. Her dream since she was a child was to be a news reporter like her father, so she is quite against the change in her career path and now works without any passion. 

Rika gets tasked to do a special on the uniforms of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces (JASDF). She goes to the air staff public relations office, where she meets her "contact" with the office, First Lieutenant Sorai Daisuke (Ayano Go) -whose first name, if you say it fast, is similar to "I love the sky"-.

Daisuke's dream was to be a pilot of the "Blue Impulse" squadron after seeing them do an aerobatic demonstration when he was a child. Daisuke was selected to be a part of the squadron, but before he could fly as an official member of the team, he suffered a grave accident while he was walking in the street and permanently injured his knee. Although he got reassigned to the public relations office, he silently mourns his lost dream without his new team knowing.

At first, Inaba Rika and Sorai Daisuke are on bad terms due to Rika thinking she is above the assigned job (and being a bit annoying). Because she wants to be a news reporter again, she tries to get "breaking news" of the JASDF to the point of mistaking an emergency drill as a real accident. 

Rika starts to change her mentality and that leads to understanding the hard work of the JASDF and appreciating her new job...

Thoughts

I really love Public Affairs Office in the Sky, it holds a special place in my heart and as I wrote before in my review of Unnatural, it was my favorite Jdrama.

The cinematography is very nice and I love planes, so the shots of the Blue Impulse squadron were a total win for me. Though I have to confess that I wasn't paying attention at the time this Jdrama was set (even though sometimes there was a date at the bottom of the screen) that the scene where SPOILER the 2011 earthquake strikes SPOILER ENDS left me in shock.

The acting is really good, I'm a big fan of Aragaki Yui (Gakki) and I think that this is the drama where she shines the most. The character growth of Rika is really well done and I love how she came around to appreciate all the members of the public relations office. 

I like Sorai Daisuke a lot and I think that Ayano Go did great playing him. I like how his character is quite innocent (especially when he says things that sound quasi-romantic without noticing). I like how he accidentally leads Rika on.

But I have to say that my favorite character is Sorai's boss, the eccentric Sagisaka Masashi portrayed by Shibata Kyohei he is really funny, and although sad I loved his back story to the point where SPOILER I wanted to start a journal similar to the one his late wife made (I'm sadly bad at drawing). SPOILER ENDS

The ensemble cast is also really good and I felt somehow invested in the relationship between SPOILER Yuzuki (Mizuno Miki) and Maki (Takahashi Tsutomu) SPOILER ENDS -I was also fully invested in the relationship between the main leads-.

The official theme song of this drama is 「Contrail」by Jpop legend Namie Amuro. The entire soundtrack is really good, but I have to say that my favorite song is「"SKY" in the sky」 I don't know why, but it makes me feel very happy

I recommend this Jdrama if you like to watch dramas with work settings, a lot of character growth and airplanes (like me!)

Ratings

Acting - 9/10

Plot - 10/10

Romance - 10/10

Soundtrack - 10/10

Cinematography - 10/10

Overall Rating - 10/10

Extended Drama Info.

Quantity of Episodes: 11.

Run Time: 45 min/each.

Release Date: April 14, 2013.

Network: TBS.

Based on: Soratobu Kouhoushitsu by Arikawa Hiro.

Directed by: Doi Nobuhiro, Yamamuro Daisuke and Fukuda Ryosuke.

Written by: Nogi Akiko.

Starring: Aragaki Yui, Ayano Go, Shibata Kyohei, Mizuno Miki, Takahashi Tsutomu, Kaname Jun and Muro Tsuyoshi.