While watching NIHON CHINBOTSU, it suddenly occurred to me that one of its stars, Nakamura Anne, has been asked to play the part of the pesky, ideal office colleague repeatedly. In SHUDAN SASEN, GRANDE MAISON TOKYO, and finally this one, Nakamura Anne stands in for the person who is the backbone to any well-run organization. The three distinct characters are portrayed by Nakamura without much variation, but in such a way that the portrait she paints is of a person who has a secure sense of her individuality combined with a strong desire to belong. It is a very appealing character type, and one that is not very well understood or appreciated.
By ideal colleague I mean ideal for the male office worker. A Nakamura Anne employee is reliable, speaks up when few are willing to do so; she is competitive in the same way a male is on the job, and so she feels at ease with men and they with her. I feel that if I happened to find myself working in the same office as Nakamura Anne, and I have worked with the type, I'd make it a point to befriend her, for the laughs, but mainly just to keep myself attached to a good worker, one who is determined to bring out the best of the staff as she impresses upon us all not to take our jobs lightly.
Though there is something to her character or background that prevents her from ever becoming management, her mode is to act as leadership even when that's not her job. She doesn't have patience for the office comedian. Her most natural instinct is to not appear the hack. When she makes us smile or laugh, and she usually does, it is never by cracking a joke or letting rip a witticism. It is her excess enthusiasm that is unintentionally endearing. There is always a solution to be found at a time of crisis, a Nakamura Anne character will remind us, and somebody, probably not she, will most definitely find it.
I like and admire the Nakamura Anne office worker, because she is the kind the other women of the office learn to mistrust if not hate. They find her coziness with her male colleagues manipulative and disgusting. They see her drinking beers or turning over the meats at the grills, during office parties, and find her laughter forced and insincere. "Why doesn't she get along better with us?" the women ask when seated among themselves at the cafeteria tables. It's hard to know, because not only does a Nakamura Anne character hardly spend any time with her female colleagues, she makes it clear that she has no interest in getting to know them. Her desire is to please her male superiors first. This is compensation for her inability to achieve power herself, the women add. But at least she shows no interest in sleeping with a male executive as a tactic for achieving professional success. But then comes the soft, quiet voice heard from the end of the table from a colleague who almost never speaks up: "I wouldn't put that past her."
Nakamura Anne first caught my attention as an extremely dedicated bank employee for the 2019 drama SHUDAN SASEN. I loved the way she acted the part of the team player, unhesitatingly devoted to her colleagues and work, even though the bank, and the branch manager, presented her and the staff a sales goal that was practically impossible to achieve. Not only inspired but inspiring the rest, Nakamura's Emiko is absolutely determined to make her quota.
In this scene we can see that the sales pitch is made with a wonderful combination of desperate urgency and unflappable assurance, but it's the comic delivery of that "onegai shimasu!" that endears me to Nakamura's style. In isolation, perhaps the comedy of her delivery doesn't stand out. Prior to making the rounds, we see Emiko participating in staff meetings. Whenever Fukuyama Masaharu, as Branch Manager Kataoka, urges everyone to do their best, we notice that Nakamura's Emiko is first, loudest, and most eager when showing a superior one's undying support. The drama actually has a take on the very Japanese notion of "doing one's best" (ganbaru), especially against impossible odds. I was very surprised to see that in a scene featuring Branch Manager Kataoka chatting away lightly with other businessmen in the sauna, they actually raised the question of whether ganbaru isn't in fact a bit of a lie, that other factors beyond our control are what determine our success rate? Nakamura's delivery in this scene is especially memorable for happening within the context of the slight absurdity of ganbaru when everything about the job looks incredibly pointless.
In NIHON CHINBOTSU, Nakamura plays Aihara Misuzu who is part of the young, Cabinet-level government team placed in charge of saving the Japanese people from the Japanese land mass sinking into the sea. I felt one of the weakest aspects of this fascinating drama was the casting for this government team. Rather than a group of highly qualified individuals representing the very best and most able of the country, which is what you'd think the country should expect of a team handling such a catastrophe, the committee looked like it consisted of nothing but nerds and ninnies. If any of these people took charge of an issue, I would have no faith in their judgment, and would just as well assume all was for lost. It was up to Nakamura's Aihara to straighten everyone out so that the division could get serious. She didn't lead the committee, but not for a moment were we unaware that she was there. During staff meetings she gave comments when nobody asked for them. Oftentimes her voice could even be heard just beyond the reach of the camera. When one of the leaders would make a seemingly bad decision, she didn't waste any time expressing her disapproval. All in all Aihara came across as an irritant and a nuisance, but that's only because the rest of the team didn't look like they were up to the task.
In this scene from Episode 9, we see Aihara drop her guard of complete seriousness for a moment. I felt the high-fives she was throwing around the office a little premature, considering that Japan was still scheduled to vanish at any time now. I am fond of this scene, because in this moment I feel we are receiving the real Nakamura, the kind I would absolutely love to have for a colleague. I have been out of the Japanese workforce for a while now, but from what I remember, I don't think anyone ever gave a high-five for a job well done. Gut-poses and fist-pumps yes, but high-fives? I do not recall such a thing. Maybe a high-five is more prevalent nowadays, but judging by the slight awkwardness with which Oguri Shun received Nakamura's, I'd say it's still not a common part of the culture (or maybe Oguri is like me in that he doesn't really care for the silly gesture). I especially adore the girly way Nakamura delivers the fives. Everything about this scene tells me what a delight it would be to have Nakamura for a colleague.
For GRANDE MAISON TOKYO (2019), it was almost as if the writers were fully aware of the way Nakamura was being typecast for certain roles. She was as super supportive of Kimura Takuya and Suzuki Kyoka's kitchen staff as she was Fukuyama's sales force for the bank. But no one can ever be that loyal, can they? The drama decided to add a plot twist of Nakamura's loyalty hiding an ulterior motive. It got dicey there for a moment, but in the end Nakamura proved to be the kind of worker we all need around us.
Moments before this scene it was revealed that Nakamura Anne's Kuzumi Kanna had been deceiving her colleagues. Her taste in wines, her expertise on it, made her a valuable member of the staff. Everyone found it hard to reconcile her deceit with the enthusiasm she brought to her job. But in the end, her love for her work showed her true motive. They bow to her and her expertise, but also toward her love for her work.
I like to think of this scene as a nice little culminating moment for the work Nakamura Anne did over the 2019 to 2021 seasons. Rarely does her loyalty get questioned, in these dramas, of her undying commitment to her colleagues. What ultimately saves her from disgrace, her moments of bad judgment? The same answer could be given for each one of Nakamura's three roles: Her steady, full commitment to the job which surpasses the rest, even if she isn't the most capable.
No, no one can refuse Nakamura Anne.
[Photograph: 中村アン, from the commercial CHOPARD Behind the Scenes with Anne Nakamura, directed by VIVIENNE & TAMAS]
Script
From グランメゾン東京 Grande Maison Tokyo, Episode 9.
Aizawa (Oikawa Mitsuhiro): でもさ 何で 自分がやったって嘘ついたの？
Kuzumi Kanna (Nakamura Anne): 嘘じゃない… これを自分が食べる料理に入れてこの店を潰したいと思ってた
尾花夏樹の店がまた 混入事故を起こしたって騒いで…
Obana (Kimura Takuya): でも できなかったんだろ？せっかくの料理にそんなもん入れて濁らせたくないもんな
Kyono (Sawamura Ikki): 栞奈さんも…
死ぬほど料理が好きなんだな 栞奈さんはお店のために働いてくれてたお客様に喜んでもらえるよう懸命に努力してた
それは近くにいた私だけではなく他のみんなもちゃんと分かってます
Hayami Rinko (Suzuki Kyoka): これから 他のメニューも変える
全てのペアリングのワイン探してほしい
Kanna: えっ…
Rinko: 栞奈さんにうちの店の正式なソムリエールになってもらいたい
Aizawa: 名案だと思います 疑っちゃったおわびに 僕も最高のﾏﾘｱｰｼﾞｭを生み出す料理を約束するよ
Serita (Kanichiro): 俺達からも… お願いします！
Everyone: お願いします！