Shomuni

Shomuni
Screenshot of the title screen for the Japanese TV drama series Shomuni
ショムニ
Genre	Comedy
Manga
Written by	Hiroyuki Yasuda
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Weekly Morning
Original run	1996 – 1997
Volumes	7
Television drama
Original network	Fuji Television
Original run	April 15, 1998 – July 1, 1998
Episodes	12 + 2 specials
Television drama
Original network	Fuji Television
Original run	April 12, 2000 – June 28, 2000
Episodes	12
Television drama
Original network	Fuji Television
Original run	July 3, 2002 – September 18, 2002
Episodes	12 + 1 special

Shomuni (ショムニ^?) (also called Power Office Girls) is a comedic TV drama serial based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Hiroyuki Yasuda (安田弘之, Yasuda Hiroyuki^?), though much of the details (all besides the company name and the characters) have departed from the comic. Released in 1998, Shomuni was a surprise winner of the ratings war for drama serials aired in Japan between April to June, despite being projected to finish a lowly thirteenth in a survey conducted by a major TV station.

The stories revolve around the office ladies (OL) of General Administration Section 2 (Shomu ni, or GA-2) in a large multinational company called Manpan Corporation.

GA-2 is called "the graveyard for female office ladies", simply because it is the place where female employees are dumped should they mess up big time elsewhere. Rarely is anyone ever allowed to leave for other more purposeful departments. Jobs include replacing used toilet rolls, changing light bulbs, organizing company outings, and other menial tasks. GA-2 is located in the basement, which is in fact a disused store room.

The purpose of GA-2 is to convince these errant – or simply useless – employees to quit (and typically people last three days at most) due to the monotonous and meaningless nature of the job, just so that the company, headed by sex-crazed executives and a Personnel Section willing to stoop to any means, will save on the costs of firing them.

However, the employees posted to GA-2 exhibit no intention to quit, to the chagrin of the Personnel Section Chief Torao Terasaki (寺崎寅男, Terasaki Torao^?) and his assistant Nonomura (野々村^?), since the people at Shomuni are happy their menial jobs give them more than enough time to pursue their other interests during office hours.