Hotaru no Hikari immediately made it straight to the top of my favourite series. I found it after reading about “himono onna” on a ‘Japanese words explained’ site. A himono onna – literally dried fish woman – is a Japanese term to describe a single woman, in her twenties, that basically lazes around at home instead of making an effort and going out (well, there’s more to that but just google it). As it sounded eerily familiar (ahem) I wanted to see the series that centered around such a himono onna. And that’s Hotaru no Hikari. They could have easily made a caricature out of Hotaru (the leading himono onna) but instead she’s a silly, loveable character that I really rooted for instantly. This is due to the fantastic performance of Haruka Ayase, her comic timing is great (and her facial expressions cracked me up). Her combination with “Manager” is hilarious. But what further lifts this series is that all the supporting characters are also well written and acted. There are several small side stories so you get to know almost all of Hotaru’s coworkers. The one big exception here is Makoto Teshima, the love interest. What a dull dull dull guy. Maybe that’s a deliberate move or maybe that’s what the average Japanese girl goes for, I don’t know. There are only 10 episodes and the pace is good, so there isn’t much filler. Sometimes things are a wee bit ridiculous or over the top, but Haruka pulls it off I think. I’m going to look for other series starring her. And I’ll probably be rewatching Hotaru no Hikari very soon.