We'll carry that burden for you.*
Hakobiya (ハコビヤ, "The Courier"), is a Japanese series, first aired on TV Tokyo on January 12, 2024. Ken Shiratori (Seiichi Tanabe) is the proprietor of the Western restaurant Kitchen Shiratori, who moonlights as a courier providing delivery services beyond those offered by conventional companies. One day, Anna Amano (Yuka Kageyama) joins Kitchen Shiratori as a part-time waitress, and also gleefully takes part in the delivery side. However, it seems that Anna might have met Ken in the past...
Order a hot cocoa and peruse these tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Yuka Kageyama is famous as a soccer buff and has a catchphrase related to the sport, "Gegenpressing to your heart!", which has been referenced in this show.
- A customer suggests that Anna does her job with more humor so as not to be replaced by machines, such as by saying cutesy phrases like "Roast pork to your heart!" when serving an order.
- When the same customer tries to run from paying his bill, Anna confronts him and yells "Gegenpress! Pincer him!" to signal Ken to cover his escape paths.
- Adoption Angst: A woman hires Ken to deliver a birthday cake to her daughter, who ran away from home the year before because she was upset that her parents never told her she was adopted.
- Alternate Character Reading: As described in the page image caption, the show's tagline is "We'll carry that nimotsu for you", where nimotsu can mean both "package" and "burden" and given the furigana "kimochi" ("feelings"), alluding to the emotional weight of most of their jobs.
- The Cameo: Yuzu Hodaishi (played by Riho Sayashi), the protagonist of TV Tokyo's previous drama in the same time slot, Oshi wo Meshiagare, appears in the final episode's epilogue to request the Hakobiya's services.
- Imagine Spot: On the way to the park to deliver a ring from a man to a woman, Anna imagines that they're a part of an elaborate marriage proposal, with everyone in the park, including her and Ken, breaking into a Crowd Song while the man comes to propose on a red carpet.
- Lying to Protect Your Feelings: As a child, Anna once enlisted Ken's services to find her Missing Mom. In the final episode, Ken confesses to the adult Anna that he actually managed to locate her mother at the time, but she had already started a new family and would probably not be welcome to Anna anymore, so he told Anna that he couldn't find her. Anna forgives him as she could move on and grow up happily, which she might not have been able to do if she kept on looking for her mother who'd abandoned her.
- Only Friend: A young girl hires Ken to deliver a teddy bear to her only friend Riko, with whom she interacts only through a messaging app. It turns out that Riko (romanized as "Lico") is an advanced chatbot who is actually designed to be a friend for lonely people.
- Product Placement: The Nissan Sakura electric kei van is prominently featured as the courier duo's vehicle of choice. A series of shorts
titled Anna's Errand was also published on Nissan's YouTube channel, showcasing the car's abilities. - Public Secret Message: People who wish to inquire about Ken's delivery services will order hot cocoa, which is on a hidden menu and costs 10000 yen, which also covers the delivery fee. Ken chose the beverage for its calming properties, to help the potential customer explain their unusual circumstances that requires his services.
- Sense Loss Sadness: A painter wishes to show his best work to his master, who for some reason closed the painting class years earlier and cut off all contact with him. As it turns out, she was losing her sight and is now completely blind. The painter added additional layers of paint over his work, so that his former master can perceive it by touch.
- Work Off the Debt: A regular customer who repeatedly commited Dine and Dash is made by Anna to distribute the restaurant's flyers in his rabbit costume, reducing his debt by 0.1 yen for each one handed out.
- Write Back to the Future: Ken and Anna go to a public park to make a delivery ordered a year before the main story of a ring and a letter, accompanied by a bouquet of roses to be procured on the delivery date, from a man named Mitsuo to a woman named Mitsuki, who would be waiting at the park. As it turns out, Mitsuki is actually Mitsuo after going through gender reassignment procedures for a year; the letter from Mitsuo congratulates Mitsuki for finally being able to live as her true self, with the ring and roses as a gift.
