Title: 人生がときめく片づけの魔法 Jinsei ga Tokimeku Katazuke no Mahō
English Title:
- The Life-Changing, Pulsing Magic of Cleaning Up
- The Magic of Tidying Up Which Makes Your Life Prosper
Language: Japanese
Year: 2013
Episode: 01
Cast:
- 仲間由紀恵 Nakama Yukie
- 夏菜 Natsuna
- 速水もこみち Hayami Mokomichi
- 福士誠治 Fukushi Seiji
SYNOPSIS
Norita Makiko's company Jinsei ga Tokimeku Katazuke does not clean up after people. Representatives of the company conduct lectures on how to properly organize things and keep things in order. Clients may also hire the company's representatives to teach them how to keep things tidy.
Futagotamagawa Kaoru is a messy person who lives in a dirty apartment overflowing with random things. Kaoru invited her long-time crush to her place in a week's time and she wants to impress him so Kaoru contacts Jinsei ga Tokimeku Katazuke, mistakenly assuming that the company will clean her apartment for her...
REVIEW
Jinsei ga Tokimeku Katazuke no Mahō is a drama about cleaning up. And ultimately, it is about how cleaning up after oneself can enrich one's life and change one's life for the better.
Most people assume that the company Jinsei ga Tokimeku Katazuke is a cleaning service. It can't be helped as cleaning service companies are more common compared to companies that teach people and organizations how to properly organize things and keep things in order.
People normally get taught about cleaning and tidying up at home when they were young, whether by parents or by any other adult. Hence, the concept of cleanliness and orderliness sometimes varies, depending on one's background and training. It is sometimes inevitable that one person's idea of 'clean' may be another person's idea of 'dirty'.
Norita Makiko, also known as Norimaki teaches the basic guidelines for cleaning up; knowing essentially what 'cleaning up' means, and determining how to sort out which items to keep and which items to dispose of.
Norita Makiko, also known as Norimaki: Do you know the meaning of 'cleaning up'? 'Cleaning up' means 'sorting things out'. It means sorting out the past from your life.
Norita Makiko, also known as Norimaki: Cleaning up isn't something that goes according to each room or each place. What is important is to clean up according to the category of the things themselves and then returning them to their place.
Norita Makiko, also known as Norimaki: There is a difference between things you simply keep and those that you treasure. Those things without any practical use have no meaning.
Futagotamagawa Kaoru hired Norimaki's company in order to clean up her apartment so that she can confidently invite her longtime crush Oda Masato over to her place. Unfortunately, Masato saw her place when it was dirty and that is apparently a deal-breaker for him because he is fastidious about cleanliness and orderliness.
I understand Masato's concern that having a relationship with someone who does not share his views and habits may be difficult. I also think it is his prerogative to decide if he is willing to have a relationship with someone or not, considering their differences. But I think it was hasty of him to assume that people don't change.
Oda Masato: I'm sorry but I don't think a person can change. If people can change that easily, they'd never have any problems.
People are sometimes the way they are because they didn't know any better since they weren't taught any better or they weren't exposed to better things. People are sometimes the way they are because they have chosen to be that way, but even they can also change if they wish to do so.
Anyway, the drama is based on Kondo Marie's book Jinsei ga Tokimeku Katazuke no Mahō about cleaning and organizing. The English language edition is titled The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.
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人生がときめく片づけの魔法 Jinsei ga Tokimeku Katazuke no Mahō
