Rec [レック]

Rec [レック]
[甜蜜声优]
Aired: 03.02.2006 till 31.03.2006
TV Series, 9 episodes + 1 DVD special
Genre: Comedy, Daily Life, Romance, Seinen, Slapstick, Sudden Girlfriend Appearance
Producers: TBS, Frontier Works, MOVIC, Pony Canyon, Shogakukan, SHAFT, Digital@Shaft
Official Page: http://www.tbs.co.jp/rec-aka/
Original works: 花見沢Q太郎 - (小学館　月刊サンデーGX連載)

Q:
This is one exceptionally sweet and romantic story involving 26 yr old marketing executive Matsumaru Fumihiko, and 20 yr old 'seiyuu no tamago' (rookie voice actress) Onda Aka.

Matsumaru-kun first met Aka at the theaters as he was about to discard the tickets since his date stood him up. Aka supposedly 'saved' the tickets and watched the movie with him, thereafter dinner. Matsumaru-kun escorted her home that evening, and both came to realise that they are actually staying in the same neighbourhood.

By a stroke of fate, fire broke out in the neighbourhood in the middle of the night, and Matsumaru-kun found a very shaken Aka at the scene of the fire - her everything destroyed. Realising that Aka has no other family or friends to turn to, Matsumaru-kun kind-heartedly took her in.

Aka seek comfort in Matsumaru-kun's solace and the two started a 'more-than-friends-but-not-yet-lovers' relationship that very night.

The story continues in a manner that Matsumaru-kun's creative-project got the green light and Aka passed the audition to be the voice actress for the mascot character. Both of them tried hard to conceal the secret of staying under the same roof from their employers and colleagues. Even more hilarious was that Aka insists that the very one-nighter with Matsumaru-kun does not make them lovers or anything and turns down Matsumaru-kun's advances.

This story also sheds light into the hardships, ethics, and professionalism faced by creative-execs and voice-actresses; the numerous rejected ideas and projects, and having to voice-act for events, commercials, games and animes, whether one likes the job or not; and also of drawing the line between work opportunities and personal lives.

The ups and downs of their individual work-lives brought about very complicated emotions between this special pair as they both experience living with one another, living without one another, sparing a thought for each other's feelings, and eventually falling in love with one another.

Sweet to the core.