Everyone has their reasons, but everyone has a reason.
In our world, every single human being, whether they be a newborn or someone in hospice, has their own story and reasons as to why they are in that position. But one thing is certain: all of us will find our purpose somewhere along our journey through life.
This drama, although rather short, tells us viewers the entire story of Masaharu's rather unfortunate-seeming life, along with the evolving lives of his extended family living with him. Without spoiling much, we see Masaharu go from a complete recluse to a functioning member of society who finally feels like he has meaning in life after he is exposed to and forced to deal with situations concerning his past, others' futures, or others. And although he is the main character, we do see similar developments in some of the other leads (again, I don't want to spoil much, so I won't say).
I find this style of storytelling amazing: a realistic plot with realistic characters and situations. Nothing is blown out of proportion for "drama," and no obvious plot devices are used—not even the addition of music to induce emotion is used often. All they relied on was the camerawork, acting, and story itself, which is absolutely beautiful.
From a more technical aspect, I can say that literally everything was perfect: cinematography, lighting, sound, etc. They even managed to include the rather unique element of a cross-sectional house set into the story without it feeling out of place or useless.
This J-Drama is rather peculiar to me because I'm neither used to this genre nor this level of production quality with J-Drama. Honestly, I think this surpassed many of the K-Dramas I've seen too!
Anyway, you already know I have to give this a 10/10. It's also now #2 on my list of favorite dramas—both incredible feats.
I highly recommend this to absolutely everyone.
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This review may contain spoilers
Reality Check
*** POSSIBLE SPOILERS ***The story for this show was truly spectacular and one of the most honestly unique yet real "true-to-life" stories I have seen in a long time. Granted it may just be my personal bias since recently I've also moved and had to go through combining households, which is tricky for any situation.
The family in this story is relatively close and friendly with each other, however, you can tell from the beginning that each member also had their own worries and challenges they kept secret, making it even more difficult for them to fully immerse themselves immediately into the "2.5 household".
Watching each character find their own pace and place within the newly built home/family was gut-wrenching and even a little heartbreaking, yet also very relatable. Watching Ema-chan go through such a big family change while going through her own turbulent private, personal growth and change was extremely relatable and made me feel so very proud of her when watching her character grow. The same goes for Masaharu-san, too; I felt attached to both him and Ema-chan, they both seemed to bring to light sides of me from when I'm depressed or overwhelmed, and even sides of myself from when I was younger. I apologize if I sound like a broken record here.
Watching the family dynamic from an outsider's point of view was truly wonderful. While there were some relatable things, there were also some moments that felt like there was a "lesson" to be learned. Though, not so much so that it felt pushy or more prominent than the story or overbearing. It was nice to see a family gathering together, even while in their own spaces, to grow as their own person and to strengthen the family without such strong feelings that overtook the show or warped the story into something completely different.
I truly enjoyed this show. It was a very calming, relatable, genuine, open, honest, funny, and comforting show to watch, while also bringing up some questions for myself, and for society as a whole on how we treat people or help people different than ourselves. After all... "what is diversity?"
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Will 2.5 households become the norm in reality?
It's an enjoyable and relaxing watch of a lovely family in their sweetness and flaws. As Masaharu takes small steps to move forward in life, we see the family adjusting to the new situation. It sounds great on paper, but adjusting or readjusting yourself to live with others isn’t easy. But with rising inflation and recession felt worldwide, probably more and more people will look into living with family as an option like they used to in the past. Therefore the situation presented here will have an increasing number of viewers identifying with it, myself included.The characters feel very mundane, everyday people which makes it easy to connect with the characters. The focus here is on the choice to live together or on our own. Both have their challenges and rewards, and one must choose which challenge they are willing to face.
There is the grandpa who is used to being served and not pushing himself to help out. He can’t stand being criticized for it by his daughter because he’s always been told it’s okay. Grandma is always here robe of help to everyone, never vocally complaining but her health can’t help it and internally judges. She loves her kids so much that she does too much for their good. The daughter and her husband struggle with wanting support but not wanting to lose their place in their children’s lives. Saori in particular is typical of every working mom, trying to do her best everywhere, an impossible feat, and constantly feeling guilty that she’s unable to attain such expectations. It comes out as frustration and being ungrateful. Ema is a sweet teen whose introverted self makes her resistant to change and moody about it. As for Red, not only is he adorable, but rarely do we see children on TV present it authentically. That morning resistance to go somewhere where he’ll essentially play all day is oh so very real.
Then, there Masaharu. Unlike stereotypical Hikikomori, he’s actually a very normal guy in the way he lives his life immersing himself online in ways he can’t in the real world. It’s not online when we immerse ourselves in sites like MDL and others but maybe gone to the extreme. It’s not like he refuses to live normally, he just doesn’t have the courage. Taking the step for it needed a little motivation from the outside and a GENTLE push from within. I love his connection with the convenience store clerk. But you can tell one of his more important reasons for change was to improve his relationship with his niece. That development went smoothly and felt authentic.
The point here isn’t for the protagonist to become independent and work. It’s made clear that it’s okay to stay, accept help and receive support, as long as an active role is taken at home, to do things together while also pursuing things alone. That’s the difference between being reclusive and being home.
The only part of the drama I might be critical of is Saori’s workplace. It was shown as if we know the characters and are just returning to them, as Saori is. The failure is, that we never get the chance to connect with them or even be interested in them. The cut to their scenes always felt off place and sometimes I’d just skip it.
I have to say, I love the way the new house was presented and the camera filming the family’s movements. The directing makes viewers feel as if they’re peaking into the lives of everyday people. It made the scenes at home that much more interesting and intimate. The actors never felt like they were acting but just going through life, which in itself shows their talent.
The drama is rounded up with fitting music with many quiet moments for contemplation.
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