add it to your list. right now.

What a lovely surprise this was. To put it simply, there wasn't a single negative comment I could think of when watching this show. Nothing.

However, this series is nothing but simple. There's a tone that's quite difficult to explain - one that me and my friend spent hours dissecting as it's truly remarkable the effect it has and we wanted to try and understand what it was... The best way to put it is this constant, lingering melancholy feeling underneath the surface. The pacing, storytelling, silence, themes, acting were all 10\10!

Life in Smokey Blue touches on a variety of deep subjects in only a few episodes, choosing to do so with short, non-linear snippets and scenes from the main characters' lives. It feels like an art form that decides to trust its viewers, letting them reflect on their own rather than being told explicitly the subjects at hand. individually, some scenes might seem random but collectively they work in expressing the episode's main message in subtle, implicit moments.

Themes such as family and the role a father plays in one; loss, letting go and moving on; belonging and finding yourself and your "home"; nostalgia, memories and the fear of losing what you love most; and last but not least, how being an adult is just pretending you know what you're doing.

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter your age (from 20s to the end of your life), you will relate with this series. I already know that every time I rewatch it at a different moment in life, I will resonate deeply and in different ways, each time.

Life in smokey Blue: adults navigating all stages of hardships one will face in life, asking questions we all avoid asking and confronting hard truths we force to forget exist - by pretending they know what they're doing.

"The number of memories I don't ever want to forget keeps growing" - Kuji