by Danica Pacardo
“Geeks” is a highly enjoyable slice-of-life women-led series with the perfect balance of comedy and crime/mystery. Produced by Fuji TV, it aired every Thursday at 10:00 pm during summer in Japan.
It follows the daily lives of the “energy-saving trio” Saijo-san (Mayu Matsuoka), Kira (Minami Tanaka), and Motoyama (Karen Takizawa), three single ladies who are working at the Takanashi Police Station. They are known to have a no-overtime policy, as they are efficient and they set clear boundaries between work and personal time. Each of them has a distinct geekiness which they are able to utilize as they help Serizawa (Aoi Nakamura), the police station’s detective, solve the series of cases in their area.
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Matsuoka, Tanaka and Takizawa have great chemistry as they portray work buddies who unwind by dining out and drinking sake every Friday. Known as a versatile actress, playing the forensic examiner/investigator Saijo-san in this series is a breeze for Matsuoka. She finds herself portraying another geeky, introverted character here. She owns this role because she is effortlessly charming and funny as Saijo. Viewers will surely root for her character who is highly efficient, organized, observant, intelligent, and frank. Outside of work, she enjoys being alone often, completing large jigsaw puzzles at home, and drinking with two close colleagues.
Minami Tanaka plays the role of Kira, a divorced doctor who is still finding her rhythm in co-parenting her daughter who lives with her previous husband. While she often makes remarks about searching for handsome men, deep inside, she prefers to be single. She thinks it’s better for her to be alone, and her current priority is her daughter. She’s the oldest and most mature among the trio. Tanaka plays her role well, as she effectively shifts from being a woman having a fleeting crush, being a reliable mother to her teenage daughter, and providing sound psychology-related inputs on each case and advice to her friends.
This is the first major role of Ukrainian-Japanese model-turned actress Karen Takizawa. As Motoyama, she works as a traffic enforcement officer and is a geography nerd with excellent memory. Like most eldest daughters in an Asian household, she renders a huge amount of care work in the family and is forced to take charge of parenting her two younger siblings, because of their father’s irresponsibility and vices. Takizawa also exhibits good comedic timing and is at her best when she expresses her passion for geography She is believable and relatable when she acts as a caring but strict breadwinner in their mixed race family.
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Rieko Obayashi wrote the three leads with their own lovable quirks. Her colorful characterization of the trio is a major advantage of this series. While their interesting traits are used to elicit laughter, they are not intended to make the audience look down on them. Instead, their intelligence is highlighted and depicted as strength and is instrumental in solving the crimes. Without the trio’s help, Serizawa would definitely take a longer and harder time figuring out the culprits in each case.
Apart from the three, “Geeks” also has interesting supporting characters. Among the standout is Sugita, Saijo-san’s junior who enthusiastically does his tasks and idolizes her. Unlike the female leads, he doesn’t mind rendering work beyond 5:00 pm, as long as the job gets done. Despite getting on Saijo-san’s nerves, he is an endearing minor character who exhibits kindness to strangers and shamelessness in his adoration of his seniors and celebrities.
While it is not promoted as a romance drama, Saijo-san’s lovelife is an exciting subplot. Director Shosuke Muramaki focused on the budding interaction between Saijo and Adachi in the first four episodes. A lot of adorable interactions between them are included, with the former slowly letting her guard down. He sincerely listens to her rant about overtime work and respects her personal boundaries, making her warm up to him but only in a platonic manner. While tackling the featured case, their cute interactions are nicely incorporated into each episode. As the series progresses, we will never know the specific reason he is drawn to her. However, halfway through it, the other side of him is revealed, making the viewers question his motives in getting close to her. This twist also shakes everything off, creating an air of anxiety as one of our female leads suddenly becomes the target of the investigation. This is also the time that the screenwriter makes the audience see Serizawa in a new light and hints of a possible love triangle.
Nakamura as Serizawa is also notable. While he relies on the trio, he also serves as their dependable friend and never intends to take full credit in solving the cases, despite their superiors believing that he has done it without their help. In this drama, he plays a second male lead that the audience will surely root for, since he radiates gentleness and goes out of his way to help Saijo when she needs him.
While one would want a second season, viewers will still have a lovely time knowing and witnessing the trio’s growth, since they will remind them of the importance of self care and work-life balance.
When asked about her motivation in accepting the role, Matsuoka mentioned that she always wanted a drama that people would want to watch while having late dinner or having a drink to enjoy the rest of their day. With this drama’s quality and charm, this writer has no qualms in saying that Matsuoka successfully achieved this goal . “Geeks” is a comforting and funny show that the audience would want to spend the remaining hours of their night on.
