31
98
7
The Butterfly
This review may contain spoilers
"If we can't live together, we'll die alone!"
Pending Train was an entertaining story about strangers on a train mysteriously landing in a dystopian future. The strength of the drama was the characters and how they learned to work together through their fears and problems in order to survive.
Mild spoilers:
From the first, "Guys, where are we?" it began to feel like the writers had recently watched Lost (2004) and wanted to update the story for Japan. Shirahama Yuto (Jack) was a fire fighter with a painful past experience at work that has left him with deep seated guilt and a need to save everyone. Kayashima Naoya (Sawyer) was a hair stylist who due to his painful past trusted no one. Hatano Sae (too bland to be any character from Lost) was a school gym teacher who thought no one liked or respected her at work who was part of a weak sauce love triangle. The rest of the main cast contained a businessman who took a walk on the wild side (Locke), an effervescent game designer (Hurley), a graduate biology student who had a physics professor for some reason, a shady self-centered manicurist, and a middle-aged CEO who worried that she didn't spend enough time with her daughter.
As with Lost it turned out there were Others on the island who would compete for resources and survival. The battles were not nearly as deadly or mysterious. I have to say there were several characters who had me wishing a Smoke Monster would come and drag them away. At one point I honestly thought earnest Shirahama was going to quote Jack and say, "If we can't live together, we'll die alone," and he did more or less. Hatano was so uninspiring that her flashback story centered on her looking at a rainbow. She was everyone's cheerleader with either a smile on her face or a look that said, "where did I leave my purse?" None of the women had particularly interesting backstories or compelling stories in the future.
Despite the Lost coincidences and poor writing for the female characters, I did enjoy this drama. Kayashima showed the kind of character growth that makes dramas worthwhile. Shirahama worked through his guilt with the help of his new friends. The struggle to figure out where/when they were, and how to obtain food and water was interesting. The bromance that developed between Shirahama and Kayashima was the most engaging relationship.
The scenery varied with one side of the tunnel displaying Tokyo's ruins covered in an almost rainforest. And on the other side of the tunnel (always a tunnel in these pesky time-traveling dramas!) was a barren landscape. The latter setting appeared to be the one Kurosawa Akira used in his film Dreams for a post-apocalyptic future. The OST had a tendency to err on the overwrought side, not always meshing with a scene's mood.
The biggest problem I had with the drama was their "science" which would have been convoluted for an old Godzilla film and only coming in second to the Professor making phones out of coconuts on Gilligan’s Island ( yes my pop culture references are old ^^). And it was hard to get on board with people starting a fire with a green stick on a green leaf. The last two episodes dragged and didn't make a lot of sense with what had gone on in previous eps. To make matters more complicated the drama seemed to give an alternate ending unless they threw their own pseudo-science out the window.
Some people wanted to go home, desperate to see their loved ones while others had nothing to return to and were happy in their made kingdom. Many of the characters decided after learning how to survive in a hostile environment, the problems at home would be easier to deal with and they also would show appreciation for each day and those they cared about. "We have the power to recover from all kinds of obstacles and failures." Yet life is funny and people can be cruel and ignorant in the face of the unknown. I'm sure there were more than a few characters who would like to have said, "We have to get back to the island!" or at least "When's the next train to the future leaving?"
Pending Train came across more as a healing drama for damaged people than "it's the end of the world as we know it." If you enjoy a more character driven drama, don't mind a lack of dire consequences in your dystopian stories, and can overlook the terrible science, this drama can be a fun watch.
8/12/23
Mild spoilers:
From the first, "Guys, where are we?" it began to feel like the writers had recently watched Lost (2004) and wanted to update the story for Japan. Shirahama Yuto (Jack) was a fire fighter with a painful past experience at work that has left him with deep seated guilt and a need to save everyone. Kayashima Naoya (Sawyer) was a hair stylist who due to his painful past trusted no one. Hatano Sae (too bland to be any character from Lost) was a school gym teacher who thought no one liked or respected her at work who was part of a weak sauce love triangle. The rest of the main cast contained a businessman who took a walk on the wild side (Locke), an effervescent game designer (Hurley), a graduate biology student who had a physics professor for some reason, a shady self-centered manicurist, and a middle-aged CEO who worried that she didn't spend enough time with her daughter.
As with Lost it turned out there were Others on the island who would compete for resources and survival. The battles were not nearly as deadly or mysterious. I have to say there were several characters who had me wishing a Smoke Monster would come and drag them away. At one point I honestly thought earnest Shirahama was going to quote Jack and say, "If we can't live together, we'll die alone," and he did more or less. Hatano was so uninspiring that her flashback story centered on her looking at a rainbow. She was everyone's cheerleader with either a smile on her face or a look that said, "where did I leave my purse?" None of the women had particularly interesting backstories or compelling stories in the future.
Despite the Lost coincidences and poor writing for the female characters, I did enjoy this drama. Kayashima showed the kind of character growth that makes dramas worthwhile. Shirahama worked through his guilt with the help of his new friends. The struggle to figure out where/when they were, and how to obtain food and water was interesting. The bromance that developed between Shirahama and Kayashima was the most engaging relationship.
The scenery varied with one side of the tunnel displaying Tokyo's ruins covered in an almost rainforest. And on the other side of the tunnel (always a tunnel in these pesky time-traveling dramas!) was a barren landscape. The latter setting appeared to be the one Kurosawa Akira used in his film Dreams for a post-apocalyptic future. The OST had a tendency to err on the overwrought side, not always meshing with a scene's mood.
The biggest problem I had with the drama was their "science" which would have been convoluted for an old Godzilla film and only coming in second to the Professor making phones out of coconuts on Gilligan’s Island ( yes my pop culture references are old ^^). And it was hard to get on board with people starting a fire with a green stick on a green leaf. The last two episodes dragged and didn't make a lot of sense with what had gone on in previous eps. To make matters more complicated the drama seemed to give an alternate ending unless they threw their own pseudo-science out the window.
Some people wanted to go home, desperate to see their loved ones while others had nothing to return to and were happy in their made kingdom. Many of the characters decided after learning how to survive in a hostile environment, the problems at home would be easier to deal with and they also would show appreciation for each day and those they cared about. "We have the power to recover from all kinds of obstacles and failures." Yet life is funny and people can be cruel and ignorant in the face of the unknown. I'm sure there were more than a few characters who would like to have said, "We have to get back to the island!" or at least "When's the next train to the future leaving?"
Pending Train came across more as a healing drama for damaged people than "it's the end of the world as we know it." If you enjoy a more character driven drama, don't mind a lack of dire consequences in your dystopian stories, and can overlook the terrible science, this drama can be a fun watch.
8/12/23
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