Prominent Woman follows the life of Woo-Hee, a magazine editor that struggles with her relationships. Throughout the five episodes, the difficulties between her personal and professional life become more noticeable as she attempts to salvage her own integrity to carry on with the career and life that she has built for over the nearly thirty years she has been alive.

While this synopsis may sound like it leads into a great series, Prominent Woman falls prey to empty narrative and aimless characters, making it almost a pointless drama to watch. From beginning to end, it sets up the illusion that something remarkable may happen with Woo-Hee and the characters around her, but it ultimately fails in providing any sort of substance.

The show has Woo-Hee go through a seemingly ordinary life, the entertainment of which hinges entirely on empty relationships and half-wrought interactions. While watching this series, I couldn't help but ask myself constantly, "What's the point?" - nearly pleading with Prominent Woman to give me any shred of a story or character arc.

Prominent Woman tries to stand out by making a statement that everyone has problems, but one must learn to love themselves and overcome. However, this point is so buried within the horrible story direction that I could hardly figure out what the point was until the very end.

Overall, I don't think this series has much to offer. It is short, so you don't lose much by checking it out, but I truly believe there is nothing in Prominent Woman that has any clout.

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Before I start my review, I'd like to mention that this is one of the first foreign television shows that I've watched. Alongside that, I haven't read any of the shojo manga that this was based on, so I cannot pull any similarities between the two for comparison. That being said, let's start my review.

Good Morning Call has a somewhat overused story line. Timid girl meets boy and, by some odd happenstance, both are forced to spend excessive amounts of time together to hide their deepest secret: living together while attending school.

Now, tropes are not inherently awful and having a classic story-line like this certainly doesn't sully the show itself. Admittedly, they did a pretty good job at filling in that trope with meaningful characters, story progression, and evolving relationships. However, it still leaves a lot to be desired and that's why my score is average.

My first gripe has to be with the acting chops on most of these characters. Nao Yoshikawa does a tremendous job working through the serious parts in the show. The emotions seem sincere and don't feel awkward when watching, but some of the more lovable and goofy moments appear forced and almost annoying.

I found that some moments seem to drag on far too long, making it uncomfortable to watch. Many of her goofy scenes - mostly the ones that require her to hide that she has any feelings for a certain someone - seem very over-acted and drawn out. Sometimes forcing me to fast-forward through some bits just so I can catch my breath.

Uehara is a more frustrating character. He's a very brooding and bleak character (understandably so, after you learn more about his past), but hoping for any sort of character evolution seemed like a lost cause. Even though you knew his underlying feelings and that he was hiding his affection for Nao most of the show, he never once outwardly showed that side of him, which was unfortunate to say the least.

All of the other characters seemed really well acted. I enjoyed the relationships with Marina and was visibly excited every-time she came onto the screen. Her story with Mitsuishi is almost better than the main story and I was really glad that she appeared frequently throughout the entire show.

My second gripe has to be with fillers. Some episodes seemed to persist longer than I would have liked and didn't really add to the story all that much. While there weren't very many that I could find, I did sometimes find myself wanting to fast forward to some of the better bits. Which, to give the show credit, it did have plenty of those 'better bits' between those fillers.

Lastly, my praise for the show.

I think it did a lot of things right. It took an overused trope and placed it into a good story. It was inevitable that something like this would have a couple of hurdles to jump over, but it really was an entertaining and engaging story that fell just short only a couple times - which is more than I can say for most American shows!

If you're considering watching this, I would absolutely recommend it. Also, if you're not a complete stickler for story like I am, then you'll probably disregard most of the complaints that I had with the show. Many users praise this show and I can see why, so go ahead and watch it!

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