Best movies & TV Shows like I'm Taking the Day Off

Akira is the legendary killer known as the Fable. Following the order of his boss and due to being overworked, he lives peacefully with his partner, Yoko, as ordinary siblings. Akira still works part-time at design company Octopus with CEO Takoda and employee Misaki. CEO Takoda and Misaki are unaware of Akira's background as an assassin. Meanwhile, Utsubo is a representative for an NPO. But, Utsubo works with contract killer Suzuki to set people up for extortion purposes. They target someone at design company Octopus.

Shunsuke Kawamura works for a real estate company. He is usually first at first when it comes to sales. He is respected by his boss and colleagues. Shunsuke is also set to marry the daughter of the CEO of his company. His life is going great by every metric one can think of. On the day before his wedding, his colleagues hold a surprise party for him. On his way home from the party, Shunsuke falls into a deep manhole. When he wakes up, it is late at night and he struggles to get out of the manhole. His wedding is also fast approaching.

Upon entering college, Narumi forms the Asunaro Group along with four other boys and girls. In time, she starts to date Tamotsu, whom she felt attracted to when she first saw him at the entrance exam. Although the two are happy together at first, their very different backgrounds cause them gradually to fall out and ultimately break up. Immediately following the break up, a member of the group dies a terrible death, and this brings the group to an end. The members go their separate ways, but Narumi and Tamotsu do not forget each other. Four years later, when the group reunites on the anniversary of the death of their friend, Tamotsu proposes to Narumi. The story follows the Asunaro Group members’ growth into adulthood as they struggle with the boundary between friendship and love, deal with bitter experiences, and find love for the first time.

A struggling lawyer, Kenji Sakuragi, takes a position at private school Tatsuyama Gakuen to pay off his debts. Kenji decides to try to turn this hopeless school into one of the elite institutions in Japan to help rejuvenate his career. His barometer of success will be to get five of his students admitted to the prestigious Tokyo University the following year. But rather than cramming them with lots of general information, his down-to-earth class concentrates on unknown techniques for passing the entrance examination and how to live a good life in these turbulent times. His refreshing outlook and strategy may just be what is needed to turn around the future prospects of himself and his students and teach the rest of us a thing or two as well!

Based on the comedy manga by Abe Shuji, "Elite Yankee Saburo" tells the story of Ookochi Saburo (Ishiguro Hideo), a plain and shy boy entering high school. Unfortunately for him, his two older brothers had built a reputation as legendary troublemakers at that school. When Saburo arrives, he is immediately misunderstood and treated as an "elite yankee."

This story is about four men who work in a confectionary. Tachibana Keiichiro (Shiina Kippei) is the owner; Ono Yusuke (Fujiki Naohito) is the superb baker that has a mysterious and mesmerizing aura; Kobayakawa Chikage (Abe Hiroshi) is the waiter and close bodyguard of Tachibana; and last but not least is Kanda Eiji (Takizawa Hideaki), the ex-boxer who loves cake so much that he becomes a waiter at 'Antique'. This is a refreshing, yet heartfelt comedy about the 4 very unique personalities that work until the wee hours of the night at the small confectionary. The series follows the romance, family life, and most importantly friendship that these 4 men from different generations experience. This is a confectionary with a "flavor" not like most. Located in the middle of an ordinary residential area, "Antique" stays open until 2 a.m. Every single thing in the shop is antique, in fact even the sherry glasses that water comes in look like they would cost 50,000 yen. On top of this, all the sweets that are sold are unbelievably delicious. The thing that is most peculiar about "Antique" though is that all 4 of the men that work here are very handsome, and each has an interesting past. Those that frequent the store also have a story to tell. Edited Excerpt from JDorama.com

Set in the early 1980's, Moyuru is a student at an art school in Osaka. He is full of passion and desire in his pursuit to become a manga writer. He also doesn't lack confidence in his abilities. Morinaga Tonko is Honoo's senior at school and the manager of the badminton team which Honoo belongs to. Right before summer vacation, Moyuru makes a decision. He decides to take his manga manuscripts to a publishing company in Tokyo.

An all-boys school with a tradition of Princesses, boys chosen to dress up as girls to create tension between the students. Yutaka Mikoto, Shihoudani Yuujirou and Kouno Tooru are this year's chosen Princess team. Unsatisfied with the efforts of the current Princesses, Hanazono Otoya creates his own team of Dark Princesses to rival for the students' attention.

Kisaragi Sumi is a 20-year-old university student. But do not be surprised that she is a 65-year-old inside. Under pressure to help out with the family business from a young age, she could not have a youth. Even afterwards, she devoted her entire life to taking care of first her grandmother and then her father and mother. Sumi finds herself turning 65 without ever having had a boyfriend. She takes a little pride in having lived with integrity. But after her mother passes away, she has the sudden thought of regaining her youth once more and making a fresh start in life. A miracle happens to her. One day when Sumi wakes up, she has the appearance of a 20-year-old. Despite being bewildered by this unbelievable reality, she introduces herself as Sumire and gets another try at youth.

Yuka is an employee at a major Japanese trading company who finds herself dumped by her elitist boyfriend, also a colleague. To make matters worse, she ends up getting demoted and is transferred to a soon-to-be-closed aquarium that's affiliated with her company. Yuka's former boss and ex-boyfriend from the head office come to the aquarium with intentions of closing it, arousing suspicions in Yuka's trainer, Kaji. As a result, Kaji pushes Yuka harder and harder in her work as a dolphin trainer. But over time, Yuka sees through his harsh exterior and recognizes he has a deep love for the aquarium's animals. She becomes competent at her job through the relationship with her dolphin, while beginning to develop feelings for Kaji. Yuka's personal and professional lives are now poised to emerge from the depths!

Featuring the boys of Johnny's West, a gang of zany transfer students are recruited for a mysterious mission ordained by their shadowy principal.

Matsuo Ryo works at a gardening company. He thinks women are annoying. At a client’s office, he meets Satogawa Akane who works as a CEO’s secretary. She is admired by the male employees due to her attractiveness and smarts, but, due to a bad experience, she is not interested in finding love. She only has sex with married men. A new male employee, Kinosaki Haruto, approaches Akane. One evening, Matsuo Ryo’s boss asks him if he is interested in marrying his daughter Tanno Ayaka and eventually taking over the gardening company. But, Ryo is embarrassed by the suggestion. He views Ayaka as a sister. Meanwhile, Ayaka works at a construction site during the day but works at a girl's bar at night. She has lost her sexual identity. While working at the girl's bar, female customer Kuroda Azusa approaches Ayaka.

Wako Taira is 31 years old. She works part-time at a cinema close to her home. Her boyfriend is Fu-kun and they have lived together for three years. She has never thought of breaking up with her boyfriend, considering her age. One day, she meets high school student Yumeaki Iko. She can't resist him. Wako Taira has an affair with Yumeaki Iko.

Higashiyama Yui works as a director at Net Heroes, a web production company. Due to her workaholic father and bad experiences in the past, she loathes working overtime. Even 2 years ago, she broke off her engagement to Taneda Kotaro because he was a workaholic. At her job, Higashiyama Yui always leaves at the end of the regular working day and never works overtime. She tries to be as efficient as possible and productive during her normal working hours. After she leaves her office, Higashiyama Yui normally drinks beer at her regular Chinese restaurant. Her peaceful days begin to change after a new department head arrives at work.

Nagao Kanji works for an advertising agency in his hometown of Ehime Prefecture. He is assigned to the Tokyo sales department where his colleague Akana Rika takes care of his work. One day, Kanji is invited to drinks by Mikami Kenichi, a former classmate from his hometown who is now in Tokyo, and he is also reunited with Sekiguchi Satomi who has feelings for him. However, Rika ends up joining them when she delivers Kanji’s wallet which he had left in office. On the way back, Rika tells him, “Kanchi, shall we kiss?” and he is rattled. There have been rumours in office that Rika is in a relationship with their boss Waga Natsuki - JDrama Weblog

One day, Anzu went to a drinking party with her best friend Yuka. Anzu got really drunk and saw a handsome man before she left in a hurry. However, fate appears when Anzu reunites with the handsome guy who is one of the two new employees in the company.

Takamine Hana is a super ace employee at a traditional confectionary company. Despite her elite look and high performance, Hana only has love skills of a fifth grader. Hana has recently fell in love with Yowaki Tsuyoshi, a young employee who always gets scolded. Can Hana make Tsuyoshi like her back? Will a love bloom between the two?

Hinako is the executive assistant to the CEO of Relation Gate, a startup company growing at breakneck speed. Apt to listen to his gut feelings, her boss bombards her day in and day out with tall orders he concocts on a whim. Life is far from chill for Hinako, who hasn't had a boyfriend in six years. She barely even has time to sit and think carefully about her future. Each long workday ends with the same toxic thought, "I find no meaning doing this!" as she clutches a beer and lets out a huge sigh.

Imai Mio made her debut as a manga artist three years earlier. However, she did not gain much popularity and now works as a manga assistant with no bright future in sight. One day, 14 years after her junior high school graduation, a class reunion is held out of the blue. This is where she meets her first love Amemiya Shoichi again. The cool and handsome Shoichi excelled in his studies and sports and was like a perfect prince to all the female students back then. He is now the CEO of an IT company and still as popular with the ladies. Mio had thought that her feelings for him were one sided but this class reunion results in his active pursuit of her. Then of all things, members among the group of six good friends who attended the event get caught up in incidents and start to die one after another. Each of them are hiding something shockingly dark which triggers endless lies and an unstoppable, tingling love-hat

Mitsu became a college student while dragging along the trauma of her first boyfriend and a broken heart in her years back in junior high school. She was thinking about going to college and finding a new love, but the person in the room next to hers is Kaede, her ex-boyfriend! It had been 5 years and he has become sophisticated and grown-up, but his gentle smile has not changed. Mitsu wants to forget her old love and enjoy university life, but she finds herself trapped between her grown-up ex-boyfriend and her best friend.

The story features two people who experience their first love late in life. Maruya Kosuke is a 29-year-old employee in the sales department of his family's brewery. Thanks to his good looks he was always popular, receiving many love confessions from women since his youth. However, he experiences a rude awakening the moment he realizes his cuteness has an expiry date. Sanada Izumi is a researcher at the brewery. Past experiences have led her to believe she is inferior to others.

Work-life balance, side job, online meetings… In today's world of drastically-changing work styles, an incredibly cheerful but incapable new employee is borne! Meet Marilyn Tanaka. She is assigned to a redundant department where a peculiar employee, Ms. Minegishi, becomes her senior. "Don't you want to climb the ladder?", she tempts Marilyn.

Kindaichi Hajime is a high school student and a private detective with an IQ of 180. He solves murder cases that are riddled with difficult clues. Kindaichi Hajime works with his childhood friend Nanase Miyuki and Kenmochi Isamu. Kenmochi Isamu is now the chief inspector of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

39-year old Nozue is facing a mid-life existential crisis. Can Togawa, his reliable, younger subordinate, come up with a plan to help him out? With the aid of lunch, dessert and a little love, there may yet be hope.

Tatsuya Shindo (Keisuke Watanabe) has worked as a game creator for Dynamic Dream for the past 9 years. He dreamed of holding that job since he was a middle school student. Now, Tatsuya Shindo gets promoted to a middle management position within the company. He is excited to work in his new position as a manager, but what awaits for him are team members who are hard to deal with. A new project is also assigned to him. While working on the project, Tatsuya Shindo encounters various problems. Can he complete the project successfully?

Yamada Fumiko, nicknamed Bun, is a poor university student who lives alone in Kita Senju, Tokyo with her talking soft toy Hokusai. A shy person and a day dreamer, Bun makes the people around her happy with imaginative, delicious food that takes little effort.

As a reporter at a weekly magazine, Satoshi Onoe takes pride in his ability to write well and report ethically. But when the stakeout teams are shuffled around in light of a new investigation, Onoe ends up being paired up with the one and only Motoharu Kaburagi, an ill-mannered photographer who spells nothing but trouble. Onoe, who secretly regards Kaburagi as his biggest rival, absolutely despises him and his haphazard and unethical reporting methods, with the two bickering constantly. However, much to Onoe's surprise, his annoyance soon begins to shift as he spends more time with Kaburagi, and his feelings towards his arch nemesis turn a bit sweeter...

Despite being famous on social media as the “Angel of HR,” Hitomi Mamoru is unhappy with her job. Upset one evening, she goes out drinking, spending the night with a devilish stranger who changes her life!

Kazuha Ono is divorced at the age of 35 due to her husband's affair. Despite this, she is trying to live positively but is conscious of other people’s remarks regarding her age and the fact she’s a divorcee. While announcing her divorce to her coworkers she is overhead by Mitsui, a new employee, who happens to be there. Furthermore, Rensuke Hayami, a former business partner, now a popular actor, also appears, and begins to wield her Kazuha?!

Fujisaki Aki is an employee at "Tsukiyono Drink", a medium-sized beverage manufacturer. She has been transferred to the Intellectual Property Department, that is in charge of managing intellectual property rights. Together with her superior, Kitawaki Masayoshi, who is a licensed patent attorney, the two work together to overcome various challenges faced by the company.

Sō Utsumi doesn't have many friends. After school and before going to a private institute, he kills time by doing nothing on the riverside. One day, Shōkichi Seto appears in front of him. Shōkichi quit the soccer team and has nothing to do. They spend time together. In front of the two guys, Ichigo Kashimura and Hatsumi, from the same high school, appear.

Bullied by his classmates, Ogino Yusuke lives his life in hell. After becoming obsessed with motorbikes, Yusuke starts attending driving school in secret where he meets Nagumo Yumi, and the two begin dating.

At the end of the first year of high school, Futaba Yoshioka meets Kou Tanaka who was her first love. In their middle school days, they attended the same school, but he suddenly transferred to another school. Three years later, he appears in front of her again with the different last name of Kou Mabuchi. His personality also seems to have changed from warm to cold. He is like a totally different person from three years ago. Futaba Yoshioka slowly learns what happened to Kou Mabuchi for the past three years and she become to have feelings for him again.