Erin
Charleston
This review may contain spoilers
Underrated - Intense - Genuine - Painful, Bittersweet Reality
I was extremely unprepared and had little to no expectations for this show. I went in to it thinking it would be something of a comedy, since I mainly know Sato Jiro from comedic genre type shows and movies and I rarely ever look at the genre listing of a show (unless I'm specifically looking for a certain genre) so I won't be too biased going in to the story. I am not exaggerating when I say that this show completely blew me away, blew my mind and absolutely left me breathless.
The story is almost literally what the title says it is: a hikikomori man who regained the self confidence little by little to go outside for work, for food, and for himself. Hikikomori's are not unknown within Japan, between 2010 and 2011 there are 700,000 (according to Wikipedia and google anyways). To see a show created with hikikomori's in mind, almost as if it was created for them, with such respect, dedication, compassion, and intensity toward human kind no matter their issues and how to help not only the "main" person involved but everyone involved within the (same) problem was the definition of epic. To me, at least.
Each episode left me wanting more, to know what was going to happen to, not only the students, but the teachers and the principal, and especially to "yakitori-sensei" and Yoda-kun, too. The dramatics for each episode left me in tears; the emotions of the students and parents involved were so dramatically intense, so raw and fierce, and full of brutal, bittersweet honesty. It was inspiring and empowering to watch the students rise above their issues, not full of entitlement, but full of confidence, preservation, love, and genuinely face themselves and their problems, and especially life itself.
I completely felt depressed when covid reared its ugly head. The feelings and emotions of each person, student and teacher alike, really was a punch to the gut. It completely took my breath away. Personally, covid was a 50/50 high issue. I quarantined and got vaccinated of course, especially because I'm high risk, and I actually did get covid for a week last month, but since I'm vaccinated my covid wasn't as bad as it could have been. Watching how hard covid had hit society, even though it's oceans away from me and involved people who (even though the actors/actresses are real, the characters are not) are strangers to me and (sort of) not real was really hard to watch. I felt my breath leave my body during a couple of episodes, I was so upset and concerned for each person; I sympathized and empathized with almost all the students and hikikomori-sensei, too!
This show was very special, and to me feels underrated; it definitely needs more press and more people to see such a beautiful story full of the joys and sadness and frustrations and hardships that life deals us. I cannot wait for season 2!
The story is almost literally what the title says it is: a hikikomori man who regained the self confidence little by little to go outside for work, for food, and for himself. Hikikomori's are not unknown within Japan, between 2010 and 2011 there are 700,000 (according to Wikipedia and google anyways). To see a show created with hikikomori's in mind, almost as if it was created for them, with such respect, dedication, compassion, and intensity toward human kind no matter their issues and how to help not only the "main" person involved but everyone involved within the (same) problem was the definition of epic. To me, at least.
Each episode left me wanting more, to know what was going to happen to, not only the students, but the teachers and the principal, and especially to "yakitori-sensei" and Yoda-kun, too. The dramatics for each episode left me in tears; the emotions of the students and parents involved were so dramatically intense, so raw and fierce, and full of brutal, bittersweet honesty. It was inspiring and empowering to watch the students rise above their issues, not full of entitlement, but full of confidence, preservation, love, and genuinely face themselves and their problems, and especially life itself.
I completely felt depressed when covid reared its ugly head. The feelings and emotions of each person, student and teacher alike, really was a punch to the gut. It completely took my breath away. Personally, covid was a 50/50 high issue. I quarantined and got vaccinated of course, especially because I'm high risk, and I actually did get covid for a week last month, but since I'm vaccinated my covid wasn't as bad as it could have been. Watching how hard covid had hit society, even though it's oceans away from me and involved people who (even though the actors/actresses are real, the characters are not) are strangers to me and (sort of) not real was really hard to watch. I felt my breath leave my body during a couple of episodes, I was so upset and concerned for each person; I sympathized and empathized with almost all the students and hikikomori-sensei, too!
This show was very special, and to me feels underrated; it definitely needs more press and more people to see such a beautiful story full of the joys and sadness and frustrations and hardships that life deals us. I cannot wait for season 2!
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