It’s been a busy year chock full of Japanese productions dropping on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Jme, and elsewhere. Some disappointed, many entertained, and a handful soared to heavenly heights. The following mini reviews are taken from REEL JAPAN’s current and upcoming posts:
ASURA
Score: 8/10
Director Hirokazu Kore-eda known for his dozen feature films, painstakingly adapts this Showa era novel at a leisurely pace over 7 episodes. Beautiful cinematography and a great ensemble cast, highlighted by Ono Machiko, make it a pleasure to watch.
Score: 6/10
More action-packed than season 1, but not as scary, the season brings all the characters to their inevitable conclusions.
UNBOUND (BERABO)
Score 10/10
The best NHK taiga drama in years, written by Morishita Yoshiko (NAOTORA). Learn about the glorious Edo literary and artistic scene of the 18th century. Witness characters climb out of the deprivations of the red light district on their journey to fame and consequence.
HOTSPOT
Score: 9/10
A charming ensemble workplace comedy sprinkled with hints of sci-fi and the supernatural. It will pull you in and make you fall in love with the very humdrum personalities that populate this small resort town in the mountains.
Score: 6/10
An ambitious production starring Non as a talented shogi player on a mission for honor and vengeance. Non’s performance carries the series.
HUMAN SPECIMENS
Score: 6/10
Adapted from the novel by horror writer Minato Kanae and starring Nishijima Hidetoshi, Ichikawa Somegoro, and Miyazawa Rie, the story seeks to endlessly disturb while it educates about insect life and questions the role of art in human life.
BULLETTRAIN EXPLOSION
Score: 7/10
Starring Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, Non, and Ono Machiko. An exciting disaster thriller that is a followup to the 1975 BULLET TRAIN thriller which the Hollywood film SPEED is based on.
Score: 4/10
A promising but ultimately disappointing series about the pitfalls of unethical talent agencies. Shibasawa Ko and Kawaguchi Haruna star.
Score: 5/10
It is fun to see a historical policework thriller set in Okinawa. Takahashi Issey, Aoki Munetaka, and Kobayashi Kaoru give it their all as actors. The plot is murky and hard to follow but at times you may feel transported to an exotic time and place.
Score: 5/10
This series will please the sword fighting crowds with its great stunts and visuals. Perhaps the least interesting among many samurai roles played by Okada Junichi.
SINCE I TOOK YOU AWAY
Score: 4/10
Kitagawa Keiko excels in her role as a grieving mother whose obsession leads to a new lease on motherhood. Kitagawa carries the series with her star power, but the plot amounts to mild entertainment. Curious, considering the kidnapping storyline could have driven a much darker drama.
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