A bit contrived—but full of heart.
When I first started watching this, I was really put off by how overproduced and clean it was. I tend to prefer film that aims for a more realistic vibe over this sort of pristine, highly polished look/sound. I also had the same issue with the plot; it was just really hard to get genuinely invested in something so clearly contrived to bring about a particular final result. That said, there is an earnestness to this show's production that starts to come through, and I think that's what kept me interested. This show clearly wasn't produced just to look/feel good, but with a very specific artistic intention in mind. In spending some time going through BTS clips and learning more about Takeru Satoh's process as co-producer, I found a lot to appreciate about this work as a passion project, and have developed an annoying love for it despite how ridiculously contrived some of it is (the yacht scene in particular comes to mind). Add to that the final episode—literally just an entire live show from start to finish—and Naoki's extremely well-written monologue about why we make music (and art more broadly) that genuinely resonated with me on a profound level—I had a pretty good time all things considered.Something I definitely want to mention is how authentic all the music in the show and its associated performances were. While they of course didn't write and produce the music themselves (it was the combined effort of 26 brilliant artists from all over the industry), the actors all put tremendous effort into learning their instruments to be able to actually play while acting, which, beyond just being a really impressive feat, gives this show a uniquely authentic aura that I wouldn't have expected after the pilot.
I could say a lot more about this, but anything more would probably wind up repetitive, so I'll keep it at that. If you're a musician, you will almost certainly have a good time with this, especially if you're willing to overlook a few contrivances. 7.5/10
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Cinematography is actually very impressive at times—not your typical j-drama. Very, very funny—some of the best comedy I've seen in a while. Really on-point depiction of the times, with the plot paralleling the changes in the bubble economy both literally and thematically in really interesting ways. Plot moves very haphazardly and skips over details in a way that makes it really hard to buy into any realism the show tries to suggest. That said, some of the twists the story takes are really surprising in a good way—this show becomes unexpectedly hard to predict at a point, and that had me hooked as hell I can't lie.So many genuinely perfectly directed scenes. Most memorably, the bento salesman (ifykyk). I also appreciate the show for pushing the boundaries in how it depicts sensitive subject matter, though I wish it were handled a bit more tastefully at times. There's a wee bit too much SA just, brushed under the rug without consequences for my liking.
Annoyingly tone-deaf at times, frequently choosing comic value over emotional impact (e.g., how Muranishi's family was handled). The tone will occasionally make it seem as if the show is trying to portray Muranishi as a sort of honorable rebel, while the literal events depicted, viewed on their own, unambiguously reveal him as a self-obsessed coward. That disconnect colors the show all the way to the end, which specifically left a really sour taste in my mouth. I was so relieved when the last act made it seem like all this tone-deafness had been intentional setup for his eventual fall. It really seemed that way, until the final episode threw all of that out the window and awkwardly tried to redeem him, all while keeping him a totally static character. That's by far what irked me the most about this show—despite how much potential he has as a character, and despite numerous setups, Muranishi does not once, at any point, complete a character arc.
The side characters have a lot of problems too, especially around moral consistency. A character like Junko, for example, who's shown to be more skeptical than the others, would absolutely not be onboard with the Hawaii plan, or really anything Muranishi does past her first few episodes with the crew.
That said, the acting was absolutely phenomenal. That goes for the entire main cast, but Misato Morita in particular deserves infinite praise for this—I have no idea how she managed to mimic Kuroki Kaoru so well, down to her tiniest mannerisms and idiosyncrasies.
There's an interesting discussion around how faithful the show is in both its depiction of the porn industry and of Muranishi and Kuroki. With Muranishi, unsurprisingly, many take issue with how positively he's depicted, particularly in his relationships with his staff. The show strips him of nearly any indicators of misogyny, rather having him be the one to champion women's autonomy and agency against his rivals, which apparently deviates significantly from his actual reputation. Controversy around Kuroki's depiction seems to be much less about her interpretation and more about the fact that she's depicted at all, given that her last move before leaving the public eye was a massive infringement-of-privacy lawsuit. There's something odd about seeing someone so adamant about keeping her life private have her likeness imitated for a drama—especially one where that character attempts suic*de...
All-in-all, this was a phenominally enjoyable show, though not without its share of contrivance and controversy. Personally, I would feel much, much more comfortable praising this show if it ended after S2 E7. Everything about that final episode had me genuinely writhing in my seat. Not only was it a stylistic farcry from the show I'd come to love, with shitty covers of "What a Wonderful World" and "Friday" replacing the iconic score during what were seemingly intended to be impactful scenes, but it also just took everything meaningful I took from the story and threw it in the bin in service of reaching some sort of happy ending for Muranishi, which he, as depicted, absolutely did not deserve. It would be one thing if he showed some like actual character development at any point, but he doesn't. He stays exactly as he always was, feigning ignorance and skirting around consequences through to the end. The montage at the end with the credits had me genuinely gagging. I really, really wish this show committed to taking its plot and characters seriously, but alas.
Was this review helpful to you?
