Series synopsis
Shomuni, also known as ショムニ is a Japanese comedy drama television series that premiered on Fuji TV on April 15, 1998. It ended on September 18, 2013. It stars Makiko Esumi, Atsuko Sakurai, Keiko Toda and Tsubasa Honda.
Shomuni, that's the common name given to General Affairs Section 2 of a trading company. Here are six women who have ended up in this department known as "the dump" for office ladies. But Chinatsu Tsuboi (Makiko Esumi) declares that the value of woman is equal to the number of men. With her as the central focus they create a totally new type of office lady drama that does away with those heartless men still caught up in worn-out social ideas and the class system within the company.
Premise
Shomuni, that's the common name given to General Affairs Section 2 of a trading company. Here are six women who have ended up in this department known as "the dump" for office ladies. But Chinatsu Tsuboi (Makiko Esumi) declares that the value of woman is equal to the number of men. With her as the central focus they create a totally new type of office lady drama that does away with those heartless men still caught up in worn-out social ideas and the class system within the company.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Makiko Esumi as Chinatsu Tsuboi
- Atsuko Sakurai as Kana Miyashita
- Keiko Toda as Azusa Tokunaga
- Tsubasa Honda as Maruyama Shiori
- Yumiko Takahashi as Rie Himukai
- Kotomi Kyono as Sawako Tsukuhara
- Becky as Madoka Minami
- Mai Hosho as Ume Maruhashi
Supporting cast
- Leo Morimoto as Koji Inoue
- Sakura Ando as Reiko Abe
- Naho Toda as Misono Sugita [Secretary]
- Ken Ishiguro as Tomohiro Ukyo
- Kanna Mori as Kojima Misuzu
- Katsumi Takahashi as Torao Terasaki
- Toshihito Ito as Nonomura
- Keiko Horiuchi as Masuyo Fukuda
- Ikki Sawamura as Kamiya Shintaro [Security guard]
- Kazuyuki Aijima as Eiji Mitamura
- Rika Izumi as Akane Mita（三田 茜）
- Naomasa Musaka as Tsukahara Zenzo
Guest cast
- Naomasa Musaka as Tsukahara Zenzo
- Takanori Jinnai as Toru Samejima
- Kenichi Yajima as [Lawyer]
- Megumi Kobashi as Tachibana Hiroko
- Takashi Ukaji as Kagami Toranosuke
- Machiko Washio as Sawada Yoshiko
- Keiko Imamura as Kato Kozue
- Naomi Hosokawa as Nagasawa Akie
- Kanako Fukaura as Umebayashi Kimiko
- Yoshimasa Kondo as Fujiwara Shinji
- Shigemitsu Ogi as Kuroda Tsuyoshi
- Hajime Okayama as Numata [fake security guard / thief]
Episodes
This series spans 5 seasons with 49 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 3 | October 7, 1998 | January 1, 2003 |
| Season 1 | 12 | April 15, 1998 | July 1, 1998 |
| Season 2 | 12 | April 12, 2000 | June 28, 2000 |
| Season 3 | 12 | July 3, 2002 | September 18, 2002 |
| Season 4 | 10 | July 10, 2013 | September 18, 2013 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Shomuni Special 1 This time, Shomuni faces off against the formidable president's wife, Sayuri (Nogawa Yoko), who lives by formality, customs, and manners. And Azusa's "100-year love" gets involved in the mix. |
October 7, 1998 |
| 2 |
Shomuni: New Year Special 2 As the year 2000 approaches, Manpan has contracted a team of computer experts to counter the anticipated threat of malfunctions to the system when the Y2K bug hits. Meanwhile, Terasaki and Nonomura are about to deliver the dreaded Black Card (a lay-off notice) to a member of the staff, but to whom? When Chief Inoue mysteriously vanishes, Shomuni are left without the key to the safe, which contains their tickets for a relaxing New Year trip to the Onsen (Hot Springs). An infestation of rats is in the building and Shomuni must lay traps, but what kind of rat will they catch? |
January 2, 2000 |
| 3 |
Shomuni Forever As the New Year dawns, a sequence of dreams reveals a significant set of numbers to the girls of GA2. Manpan hopes that a new medical scheme will bring global expansion, but could there be a debt to pay? As the fortune of the company increases, so too does the threat from malignant external forces. Crime Prevention Training is clearly mandatory. Ukyo seems strangely detached during Manpan's finest hour, but why? Time is precious to many people, in many different ways. |
January 1, 2003 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | April 15, 1998 |
| 2 | Episode 2 | April 22, 1998 |
| 3 | Episode 3 | April 29, 1998 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 13 | April 12, 2000 |
| 2 | Episode 14 | April 19, 2000 |
| 3 | Episode 15 | April 26, 2000 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 25 | July 3, 2002 |
| 2 | Episode 26 | July 10, 2002 |
| 3 | Episode 27 | July 17, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | July 10, 2013 |
| 2 | Episode 2 | July 17, 2013 |
| 3 | Episode 3 | July 24, 2013 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | Fuji TV |
|---|---|
| First aired | April 15, 1998 |
| Last aired | September 18, 2013 |
| Runtime | 60 minutes |
| Status | ended |