More than Words (2022)

A love story that is more than just the perfect dream you expect it to be.

More than Words is a realistic take on the lives of 3 Japanese Characters and the effects of traditional society and life have. This is not a show to watch if you want perfect endings, it is however, a beautiful and inspiring journey through life and very fulfilling! This series was so real and I was completely caught off guard, relatable and emotionally hard hitting.

I should inform that I don't usually enjoy 'just' drama shows but this show kept me up all night and I'm writing this at 7am after completing it.

Story:
The Story is broken up into two parts that you can commonly find in most LGBT shows. The good half, where friendship and love is found and no obstacle is too hard to overcome, and then the 2nd part where the reality of life sets in, but in this show they decided to throw down the gauntlet. Dysfunctional families, unspoken words , jealousy, pretending everything is okay. I was shocked and constantly in turmoil as MTW took me down the hole of what life looks like when it gets real!

Cinematography:
The camera work was excellent showing the audience what they needed and letting us figure out some of the story through expression and creative scene flow. Emotion was captured and conveyed with the scene. It's so important for cinema to embrace the idea that we don't always need to have everything explained and then shown.

Characters:
What can I say, all 3 of the main characters in this show are exquisite. They grow and develop and have friendship and love built out of hard hitting life situations. You will get to see what makes these characters real. You get it all; compassion, empathy, understanding, frustration, impatience, duty, longing, jealousy and grief. Don't expect them to be perfect people, humans make mistakes, they change their minds and feel differently after something changes or after a period of time. Characters with depth written as if they were biographies.

Pros:
-Beautiful ORIGINAL story that makes you wonder if you haves friends that are experiencing this.

-Characters are real and relatable.

-Great acting and amazing production quality.

Cons:
-Hits very hard maybe a little too hard.

-Emotionally frustrating.

-Not the typical BL love story I thought it would be.

-Some of the storyline is a bit rushed compared to the well thought out and planned bulk.

Conclusion:
Watch this show, it's a beautiful story that you don't want to miss out on. It's hard to watch, but you won't be able to stop once you start.

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an emotional turmoil

If anyone is happy with the turn of the events in whole series, it’s Meiko. It’s a win win situation for her. Being a non-romance person, she still got a companion in a socially acceptable relationship, got a daughter, improved her relationship with her mother and in the end still got her heartfelt friend back. The one who is losing everything is Eiji. But he reaped what he sowed. Being a non-decisive person from the start, he just went the flow and even desired a conventional relationship by confessing to Meiko after childbirth ‘I like you’ ‘You are not taking me seriously’.Quite pitiful character but in the end he is the one left alone, post betrayal to his lover. And he can’t even search for a fling, being a happily married man and being unable to do sexual escapades in clubs.
Makki suffered from trauma due to betrayal, lies and possibly Cheat. But Hopefully he gets his happy ending with Asato. He reconciled with his friend Meiko because a platonic friendship, but obviously he can’t reconcile with his ex.
All in all this series gives us a toxic female character, like many BLs, although sugar-coated, Homophobic parents who ultimately win at the cost of their son’s lifelong grief and a platonic friendship which ruins everything.

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A realistic japanese BL Drama

I have read many reviews in here. As much as I agree with some point of view, I think people need to remember that it is in Japan, not Amercica or an european country. Japan is a coutry with very high discrimination against LGBTQ. No laws are provided to protect them, and families are very much patriarcal. So, children are pushed by their family to be married, even quiet young as your considered old past 30.

Characters:
Eiji (Eichan): Openly gay, extrovert, cook in a restaurant. Come from a rich family with patriarcal values.
Mieko (Takagi): A girl looking for love, friend with Makio at school
Makio (Makki): Extrovert and friendly. Popular with girls at school. He is discovering his sexuality with Eiji.

Why do I talk about that in here? Well, this drama is realistic to a T. Mieko, Makio and Eiji became friends wile working in a restaurant part time.

Mieko wasn't really loved by anyone, neglected by her mother and beaten by her boyfriend, she quickly got attached to Makki. He was, at the beggining, really secretive about his sexuality. We discover than Eiji is gay when Mieko and Makki talked about him (Ep01). Eiji was slowly falling in love with Makki, But Makio's sexiality wasn't clear. So, even if Eiji told Mieko he had feelings for him, she tried to push Makki with a girl from school called Sakaki. At the end of ep02, she predicted that Makki will be the one leaving her because he is so popular.

Mieko started to get closer to Eiji (Ep03), and Makki started to notice. And we discover that Eiji is quiet insecure by comparing himself to his sister. Makki became more protective of Eiji about it and Mieko saw the changes in Makki towards Eiji. Eiji is also not out to his family. Mieko gets close to Eiji's sister Chisa but cracks started to appear as Makki and Mieko started to get jealous of each other. While arguying, the conversation about Eiji turned out into a coming out to his sister and him telling Makki he likes him. However, Makki, still trying to understand his feeling, tells him that he doesn't have the relashionship with Mieko that Eiji has. He also tells him that he's not interested by any girls, but that going out with Eiji is more appealing to him.

In ep04, Makki tells Mieko he decided to go out with Eiji. But, we are quickly introduced to Eiji's family. However, Eiji doesn't really say anything to his parents, making them think that he has a relationship with Mieko, while Mieko watched those two falling for each other. She stay close to them as she could find a way to protect them both taward Eiji's family. In the other hand, Sakaki admit to Mieko that she will be dating someone else, because she deserve to be happy with someone who likes her as much as she likes him. In Eiji appartment, Eiji and Makki kissed for the first time. The started to spend more time together and got closer and closer. Mieko soon discovered that her friends were to a new level in their relationship (condom in the bin). She realised that she wasn't part of their world anymore because she couldn't be at their level in the relationship. During Christmas, Eiji's parents started to push him to bring Mieko. at the end of ep04, Eiji decide to come out and tell his parent he's dating Makki. In Eiji's apartment, Mieko and Makki are preparing the flat for christmas as a surprise for Eiji.

In ep 05, we soon discover that Eiji's mum is not really surprised. However, Eiji's father doesn'tt approve of his sexuality and say that it is fine for a while but nobody can know about it. Few years have passed and soon Mieko and Makki will graduate. Eiji's dad saw Makki at the apartment while Eiji was away. He became curious about their relationship. He explain to Makki that even if he understand their relashionship, he is a father who want to protect his son against the society explaining how violent people can be towards gays. After that, we see that Eiji has changed. Not only he is getting less "gay", first changing his hair colour to natural, and than telling Makki that he will be joining his dad's company that he never wanted at the beggining. Makki started to drft apart from Eiji and Mieko. The conversation with the dad and Eiji started to make him rethink about his future with him. When he came back to the apartment, he played like nothing happened. He casualy asked Eiji if he has ever been interested in girls, and Eiji told him the he was his first love.

In ep 06, after leaving his apprentiship in Kimono making, Eiji join his father's company. After ofering them the kimono he has made for them, he tells both Miako and Makki that his dad want to see all of them. But the lunch wasn't what they expected as his dad told them to break-up as having grand-children his the most important. He doesn't understand how a man can choose to love another man. With that, we understant that he still believe it's a choice. Seing Eiji's cry for help to keep his father happy Mieko offered to be a surrogate mother for them and tried to convince Makki.But, Makki is not convince that will stop Eiji's father. She remind them she never was really interested in men, or even wanted to be married. Time passes, and they all working hard in their jobs. Eiji is growing into realising that both Eiji and Mieko are doing something to make each other happy. Lieko will have a child wouthout the love of a man, and Eiji will have a child for his dad to be happy. But were does that make Makki happy. He was happy just by beeing with Eiji, but it wasn't enaught. They all went to the seaside in an hotel and she has sex both Eiji and Makki. We soon discover that she's pregnant.

In ep07. Miako tell her mother she's pregnant. Her mum congratulate her. She didn't expect this reaction. She became interested by her daughter, and wanted to be closer. During the pregnancy, Makki drift apart.While talking to Miako, he asked a lot of question she had no answer to. It shows that they made the decision without thinking about him at all. The baby wasn't his, and never will be. Even if she lied that she's not sure who the father is, it will not include him. His love for Eiji changed as he didn't feel he was needed and wasn't happy anymore. Makki decided that it was time for him to leave them. He went to his own apartment. We see that Miako and Eiji start to have a normal married life, and Eiji put the kimonos and memories of Makki away.

In ep 8, Eiji is started to feel that he miss Makki, even if he has a wife an a kid on the way. He's happy, but someone is missing. His family came after the birth of their grand-daughter. They cried of joy. Miako and Eiji talked at the appartment about their feeling toward Makki. She never wanted to loose him, and the lies she told about the child being his was only to keep him close. Eiji tells her that she's loved by many people, so she shouldn't have regrets. In the other hand, Makki meet his neighbour and old classmate Asato. He's an assistant hairdresser. They quickly get close. Asato is really responsible and mature compare to Makki. Makki finaly tells him about Miako and Eiji.

Ep9 start straight from end of ep 08 when Makki talks about them. But he didn't tell the whole story. Asato ask him if he wanted to eat with him every evening, revealing a bit more about Asato's loneliness seen in the previous episode. Asato is not really into his job. Makki tries to be close to Asato, and makes a move on him. He tells Asato that he doesn't really understand the deal with who you love. Loving guy or loving girls is the same to him. We can see that Makki is a person who do what he like without care of anyone's opinion. He tells Asato to do what he wants. Asato open up about his family, and we realise that he acted the oposite way to Eiji. Makki pushes Asato to open his heart to him. They became very close and feelings grows between them but they don't want to be tied-up. Also, Asato is hot and cold in the relationship, not really knowing what he wants. Later at night, while going through picture from work, Makki sees a picture of Miako. The wound that he thought was closed reopened.

Ep10 (final), After a few days without news from Makki, Asato looked for him. Makki tels the whole story about them. We see a bit more of Asato by his big brother, and understand a bit more about him. One day, while a the salon, Asato saw Miako. He asked her if she knew Makki. She jump at him asking him where he lives and promise to contact her if he knows. He didn't say anything to her. In the evening, Asato tells Makki about it. Asato tell him that he needs closure, but he is scared. He blame himself for all this, and he also can't forgive them for putting him in this situation. Asato feels ready to let him in and promise to do his best to be there for him. So, few days later, Asato bring him to a restaurant to see Mieko and Eiji. We can see the pain in their eyes and how much Makki was hurt, even if he was trying to hide it. He tries to reassures them by saying that the two of them seems right. Back in Eiji's appartment, they look happy to have seen him again but its just a facade. When alone, they both felt the heartbrake. But the whorse was for Eiji. who, despide everything, is still gay. While playing dad, he didn't realised how much he missed Eiji (flashbacks of their relationship) and cried for the love he will never be able to get back. He only has pictures of his daughter in the appartment were he shared his first kiss with Makki. but nothing about his relationship. Eiji will now just be a memory to him. In the other hand, Asato confort Makki to help him move forward and tell him that he loves him (but not to heavely). Also Asato tries to be closer to his grandfather before it's too late. Some times later, Makkii and Mieko talk again to each other. We see their complicity as it was at the begining, before all the love story. But at the same time, they both going to different direction.

Asano Taeko is very much an activist on the position of a woman in Japan. Here, you can see how Mieko is treated. She wasn't loved by her family until she was pregnant, and used as a procreator. Her role is second to everyone else. Of course, the drama is about relationships and not only focused on sexuality, but you have to remember that the woman, as important as she is, is pushed aside. where is her hapiness? In her daughter. That is important in the political point of view in a patriarcal society. If people were able to love who they love, she wouldn't be in that situation, and may have found real love. But pushed by the society, she pushed hapiness aside in the name of duty.

Of course, this is only my understanding, and I may have missed something (I am not fluent in japanese, so I may have misunderstood something). But it can give you an overall view of the drama. It's more complicated than some reviews said, and the context needs to be considered while watching it. It is important as it's also a political point of view on relationship in Japan. J-Drama are very realistic in they interpretation of BL. In 2022, from Minato Shouji Coin Laundry to Takara-kun to Amagi-kun, we can see that the take in BL is beautiful with real emotion.

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یک داستان تلخ با چاشنی واقعیت

ممنون می‌شم اگر نظرات‌تون راجع به این سریال رو با من در زیر این بررسی، به اشتراک بذارید

※ احساساتی که موقع تماشای سریال تجربه کردم :
خوشحالی ، عشق ، ناراحتی ، سردرگمی ، خشم ، نفرت
پ.ن : بازیگران این سریال به شکل تحسین برانگیزی نقش‌های خودشون رو ایفا کردن و همین موضوع در هنگام تماشای سریال منجر به تجربه چنین احساسات متفاوت و گسترده‌ای در شما میشه که از نظر من میشه نمره کامل رو به بازیگران این سریال اختصاص داد.

※ بذارین اول از سیر داستانی سریال شروع کنم :
از قسمت یک تا هشت، سریال به داستان دوستی میئِکو ، ماکیو و آشنایی‌شون با اِیجی می‌پردازه. در طول این هشت قسمت، شخصیت اصلی داستان بین این سه نفر جابه‌جا میشه . در دو قست آخر (هشت تا ده) هم داستان به کل دستخوش تغییر میشه و صرفا به شخصیت ماکیو و آساتو می‌پردازه.

داستان به گونه‌ای تلخ حقایق دنیای امروز رو به تصویر می‌کشه .

※ شخصیت‌های سریال :
میئِکو : دوستی وفادار و حامی با این تفاوت که تصمیماتی که برای کمک به اطرافیانش می‌گرفت، غالبا اشتباه بود
ماکیو : شخصیتی که ساکت بود اما از بیرون خوشحال به نظر می‌رسید. ترجیح می‌داد رابطه‌ای منحصر به دوست‌پسرش داشته باشه و تمایلی به داشتن بچه نداشت
اِیجی : فردی که در ابراز خواسته‌هاش دچار ناتوانی بود و از طرف دیگه قادر به پافشاری بر روی تمایلاتش نداشت و خیلی راحت براساس نظر اطرافیانش تغییر جبه می‌داد

در کل نمیشه این سریال رو جزء اون دسته از آثار معمول بی‌ال دونست . بیشتر برشی از زندگی واقعی بود که در اون کاراکترهایی از خانواده ال‌جی‌بی‌تی‌کیو+ حضور داشت

جنبه منفی : سریال شامل خیانت یکی از شخصیت‌های اصلی داستان هستش . با اینکه کارگردان می‌تونست اون کاراکتر رو یک شخصیت بایسکشوال معرفی کنه اما این کار رو نکرد و در دید اول اینطور به نظر می‌رسه که گرایش‌های جنسی صرفا براساس شهوت و در طول زمان متغیر هستش .

⨷ خطر اسپویل ⨷

یکی از سوالات بدون پاسخ سریال مربوط به عمل " رحم اجاره‌ای " بود. وقایع این فیلم در تاریخ 2014 رخ میده و اولین عمل رحم اجاره‌ای در ژاپن در سال 2001 اتفاق می‌افته. سوال اینجاست که چرا شخصیت‌های داستان از طریق قانونی و علمی اقدام به انجام این روش نکردن (موضوعی که بعدها منجر به خیانت شد)

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There's always an other way to handle problems

This was a realistic take on what actually LGBT+ people go through in society. I was enjoying the drama until the moment I saw the three characters on the same bed. When Meiko proposed to be the surrogate mother for their child, they should have talked about the aftermath and whatever that's related to the pregnancy BEFORE FINALISING. But no, it was a rash decision followed by another naive decision to have a threesome. I couldn't understand that if they slept together once , then what was that misunderstanding about whose child is it. And if there was a difference then, they didn't sleep together just once. Just because they had to convince his father. They didn't even talk about this with Eiji's parents before sleeping together. How more fucked up decision could they make? That's so sick. I was liking Eiji's character until he totally didn't care about Makki at all. I understand taking care of the pregnant mother was necessary but that doesn't mean you can ignore the feelings of the person you are doing all this to be with. And what? He fell in love with her afterwards? He was literally gay? Was marriage the only way? He didn't even try looking for him for should I say he gave no effort for being with Makki at all. Rather he was thinking about how to go on once he leaves. About Meiko, she thought she was helping but it turns out she was one of the reason for their breakup. She should have talked it out with Makki if he truly wanted it or not. No matter how much I liked her character, she turned out to be very selfish character. I pity Makki a lot. He was loyal to his boyfriend, he even rejected Meiko's feelings, who he cared about the most just because of his love for Eiji. I kinda understand why he bailed out at the last moment. Asato and Makki's story needed more episodes though. It felt like Asato was helping Makki slowly put all his broken pieces together. Anyways, it was hard to watch but what can I say, it's just how complicated it is to be a part of this society. Always trying to fit in, and in the process of it, some people lose themselves completely.

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It won't make you happy, but it will open your eyes :)

It was a production in which life was handled more realistically. Everything is not as easy and rosy as it seems in other bl's. Every definite had faults and many mistakes were made. And the conclusion we can come to is this: choose the people in your life wisely.

! There are spoilers after here. !

Personally, I find the conclusion they come to very absurd. Eiji has a very fragile nature, so he hastily decided without thinking about what he should do, and the result is in front of you. Still, Makio made an attempt to get someone into his life. I believe those two (Eiji and Makio) still love each other. there was something special between them and i find eiji sinful. I don't expect season 2 to come.

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"Heartwrenching and captivating"

I just finished this series and I m literally crying ...More Than Words" is a series that truly lives up to its name, delivering a narrative that goes beyond mere dialogue and action, delving deep into the hearts of its characters and its audience alike. Throughout its episodes, the series masterfully weaves together a tapestry of emotions, leaving viewers simultaneously moved and captivated by its heartwrenching storytelling.My favourite character was Makio.Makio's character is a poignant reminder of the power of storytelling to touch the soul and leave a lasting impact.I m sorry i believe not every viewer will agree with me but I really hated "meiko ejji parents and ejji the most(most hated).they didn't even try to search makki and lived a happy life with their child in that period makki was alone in his room ...I know makki ran away but ejji didn't even search or tried to contact him .....it was all perfect till episode 6 but after 7..I didn't stop crying because I felt so bad for makki ...The most cheerful character just became so ...? Ejji choose child and meiko over makki ...but I m glad makki was not alone in the last episode .I really hate Ejji or what he did to makki ? and Meiko (in my opinion she was really jealous of makki from the very first episode.
I m literally writing this review to relieve my anger and hatred towards Meiko and Ejji but its only becoming more and more hatred and anger?.. obviously I will never watch this series again ....?
❤️Makki (the most pitiful character. Get hurt by the people whom he love,care and trusted the most.I m really glad that in the end the writer decide to give us some clues that makki is trying to move on ..)
Ejji (I just hate him..I don't even. Want to write about him)
Meiko (the 2 hated character....she was just jealous of makki .makki was present in her hard time and look she payback to makki ...)Exclude the parents ther are just awful?

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A very unique and realistic drama

I came here to watch this in hopes of a cute bl, but this was a very unique and amazing show. One thing i loved about this show is how realistic it was, it wasn't fiction but the reality that most queer people face in real life.

What i liked about this show: all the people in the show were very unique and they were all different from each other, they had their own personality, all the cast delivered an amazing performance and executed their characters very well. This show was very realistic and not some fiction. The best thing about this show was in the last ep when meiko told eji,"do as you please, please don't think about whats good for shihi and me". This kinda brought tears to my eyes.

the reason i watch bls is to run away from reality only to be bombarded with reality in the face ........

What i didn't like about this show:
One of the major things i didn't like about this show is that it was a little too slow paced for my liking, i would catch myself zoning out a couple times, like that ep where eji was blow drying maakis hair, it went on for so long and they weren't even talking, so it was a bit awkward. They should've made eji and maakis relationship a little longer, should've added more days and alone days with just the two of them, we just kept jumping from year to year but they didn't really show that the two characters build up and having those random lovey dovey moments, because of this, ejis and maakis relationship didn't really seem that strong and they were both kind of awkward around each other. They just seemed like they were each other high school crushes and nothing more.

Storyline: the story line was amazing and every bit of this show was a masterpiece, it felt like i was watching a reality show than a fictional bl drama because of the camera positioning and the dialogues, it just felt like they were talking from their own mind rather than a script and we were actually there and that was one of my fave things about this show, sometimes its good to face reality, haha. I liked how every single character is portrayed, just amazing. the story went from interesting, cute and fun to realistic, sad and depressing and i somewhat liked it.

Music wasn't it really there but the end of each ep with the credits and the music was kinda nice, i really like the simplicity of the show

Rewatch value: I would kinda never watch it again, it was a cute and fun show but it gets to depressing for me, if i were to watch it ever again, i would only watch the first 4-5 eps because the days where eji, maaki and meiko were chilling and going to fun places was very fun and entertaining to watch, then when they became adults, the show starting taking a more serious turn it got too much to handle.

Overrall a great show, i really enjoyed, there were some scenes that were cute and recording worthy, the show is just too depressing for me, it was such a perfect end, i don't want another season, if there is another season, it better not have a single second of a depressing moment, every second and every ep should be the cheesiest and unrealistic moment as possible

if you're into dark, realistic shows with queer characters existing, then you will really like this show.

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tragic, but neededly grounded

I really enjoyed the cinema style and dialogues, they gave the show have a sense of realism. I enjoyed the characters and how the story unfolded, it captured a youthful love between friends and lovers that I felt really moved by. The story is happy yet tragic, and I can't help but wish for a different outcome. I truly wish I could have seen more fight from the lead lovers and not turn practically into a surrender, as I felt way too attached to them to want to let them go. However life isn't a drama series, so I can appreciate the writing and direction of how the story plays out. That doesn't mean I didn't wish things turned out differently but, Makki is human after all. I'd recommend the show for a decently emotional lgbt coming of age story between friends and lovers.

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An original story with remarkable surprises

Through the interwoven stories of Mieko, Makki, as well as an older Eiji, More Than Words makes the point that all relationships have to evolve with time.

The story takes a particularly interesting turn when Mieko decides to become a surrogate mother for Makki and Eiji’s kid. To the 3 of them, this is the only way they know how to move forward. It’s a way for Makki and Eiji to exist in society, and a way for Mieko to cement her indispensable significance in their lives.

And as the characters are placed under the ultimate test, their fraying relationship teases out the worst tendencies of human nature. I don’t want to spoil what happens in the end so you’ll have to watch it to find out, but the twists and turns that the story takes is remarkable.

The storyline is creative, emotionally wrecking and sometimes, deeply uncomfortable to watch.

More Than Words is a slow burn that you must be prepared to sit through patiently. There are moments where the show just involves 2 people having a conversation while eating a meal. It feels realistic and mundane, which adds to the charm of the show, but can get a little dull if you’re looking for more stimuli.

All in all, it's a truly original story.

Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/10/31/more-than-words-2022-review-bl/

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