Silent

Slow, delicate and quiet

It's a beautiful drama that revolves around the themes of relationships, self-worth, coping with hardships in life, and the true self as opposed to the idealized self. These themes already make it very interesting, as every single character is shown as a whole person with proper depth and elaborate feelings and thoughts.
An important part of the plot, if not the most important, is deafness (and Deafness) and the many facets of it. Since I'm not deaf myself, I'd rather let actual deaf/HoH people judge whether it's good representation or not; all I can say is that it was a very interesting theme and it seemed to be explored properly and not just used as a fancy plot device.
What I liked the most about this story is that it doesn't make fun of its audience with poor writing. There is no villain because there's no need for one, and all the characters have both their perks and their flaws in good balance. All the events flow nicely without annoying decisions that don't make any sense or annoying events that are just there to make us feel bad.
The actors all did amazing. The friends felt like actual friends, the lovers felt like actual lovers, the siblings felt like true siblings, and so on. There's little to no physical touching in the entire drama, so I suggest you looking elsewhere if you're expecting passionate kisses or anything like that.
While the music is very pretty, I was mostly impressed by the use of the silence in many scenes, which make them have a bigger impact on me. The only thing I really didn't like about this drama were some abrupt cuts between one scene and the next, which were pretty jarring: at some points the music just cuts off to silence all of a sudden, which can be confusing.

Overall it was a very sweet and memorable drama, probably one of the best I've watched. If you're looking for something sweet and slow, I highly recommend watching this one.

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Frustrating

I have mixed feelings about this one. There was things I liked about it but also a lot I didn't. I didn't like the pity party Soe had going for himself the entire story. That wasn't resolved until the last episode. Call me an insensitive jerk but I just wanted to shake him and tell him to get over himself, a lot of people had it way worse than him. I loved Aoba. She tried so hard to be in his world and to understand him. I felt really bad for her because she didn't have a choice in anything. I also like Minato, he was a very selfless person.

In general it was a very slow going story. It took me like 9 months to watch the first 6 episode lol, though I did binge the second half. I don't think I'll ever watch it again, but I don't say it was a waste of time because I did enjoy it in general. Definitely overrated though.

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Grief, healing, and connection (minor spoilers)

I didn't see many comments on this aspect of the show, so I wanted to offer my experience.

While the spotlight may have been on the romance between Aoba and Sakura, for me the message of the show was grief and healing-- Sakura's grief around losing his entire sense of normal, and the grief of those around him, struggling to support and understand while recognizing how difficult it is for those who haven't lived that experience to truly empathize.

Each of us has our own lived experiences, which bring their own preconceptions, biases, privileges, and defense mechanisms to all of our interactions. It is this difference in lived experience that is harder to overcome than any language barrier, cultural barrier, or stereotype. At the same time, the process of understanding that and working to connect with others in spite of this (or maybe because of it) is what makes us human. To me, that was the message conveyed through the stories of the various characters, more than the love story and more than the idea of overcoming language barriers (which I can understand as a takeaway, but was not personally what I experienced in watching).

SPOILER

Sakura came face to face with this struggle in a unique way, when he lost a major piece of what he utilized to connect with the world (through hearing, music, and by extension sports in the way he was used to playing them) and he took several years to go through the process of grieving that loss and the loss of the life he expected to live before beginning to fully reconnect with himself and with the world--part of that through meeting Momose and part of it through revisiting his relationship with Aoba.

END SPOILER

I admit that the lived experience that I bring to my viewing is rooted in processing my own grief around coming to terms with a (in my case invisible) disability, and while I do not pretend to understand what Sakura's character experienced, I found his character's actions relatable and felt a sort of catharsis through watching his journey. Watching Sakura's character helped me in my own journey of healing, and his comment in the final episode:

SPOILER

 (paraphrase)青葉の言葉をもう聞けないけど、見えるようになったのは嬉しい。　
I may not be able to hear your words anymore, but I am so glad that I have become able to see them

was a strong testament to the fact that while our lived experiences may all be unique and our sense of normal may change over the course of our lives, it doesn't change the fact that the life each of us experiences is equally beautiful and full of possibility.

END SPOILER

While I cried in almost every episode, I didn't find this show tragic or heartbreaking. The writing was impressive and nuanced. While I focused a lot on Sakura's character here, I found the full cast of characters and sub-characters to be greatly relatable in their own ways. There was courage and imperfection in each of them, which made them all uniquely human.

The acting was incredible, Kawaguchi Haruna is unsurprisingly a strong lead, and Meguro Ren secures his place as Japan's next rising star. The music was perfectly timed, and Official HIGEDANdism's Subtitle is another masterpiece.

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One Big Meh.. Could Have Been Better

Ok let’s get the good things about Silent out of the way before I air out my grievances. There are so many silent moments in this J drama of just talking in sign language and it forces me to focus on the conversation as if it’s happening to me, as if I’m really there in the scene. The use of silence is nice and oftentimes there’s either total silence or a soft piano in the background and it makes the experience feel quite real.

With that said, there were many cons I found in this series. The characters were very one dimensional, their relationships, conversations, and scenarios felt repetitive and shallow, and it felt like the story wasn’t really moving at all- not to say a slow moving story is a bad thing but a slow moving story needs depth, and this series was stuck in the shallow kiddie pool for 11 episodes. If I’m going to dedicate my time to watch 11 long episodes, I’d like some more deeper exploration like character development, maturation of the characters or deep changes to happen over time. I felt like the main characters especially Sakura-kun didn’t change much from beginning to end. They were terribly boring, including their contrived yawn worthy high school story. Yes Sakura kun started to open up and became a little happier and more expressive but it was all surface level and I didn’t feel anything while watching it. He also seemed quite rigid in his thinking and was fixated on hearing Tsumugi’s voice. Something about him seemed really wooden- was it his acting or his emotional toll from the loss of hearing.. I don’t know. I guess it’s unfair to expect a hero’s journey when he’s just a regular dude going through hearing loss where he’s stuck in the past. I didn’t find his or Tsumugi’s character to be interesting at all. They were like NPCs that I don’t care about no matter what song they play on their iPod or how many CDs they arrange in their room. It felt like the whole show was a lot of regular small talk which I would yawn at and get bored with. Even after the whole show is over, I’m left with the thought- “Ok but why should I care about this relationship?” I simply don’t care- like Minato says in the end- “I don’t care if you get with SO or don’t get with SO, whatever it is just get on with it.” (My version)

On the other hand, the side characters like the sign language teacher, or my favorite Nana were far more interesting than the leads. Minato and Nana were very giving, always sharing and helping others from the heart, but weren’t really appreciated much. Minato’s relationship with Tsumugi in the beginning seemed fine and boring but as soon as Sakura kun came along he turned into an insecure mess- I guess the most badass thing he did was break up with her, but after that it felt like his character just froze and was looping and spinning his wheels like an NPC in the same ditch from beginning to end. Tsumugi was grieving for a whole 2 minutes about Minato and then the script simply dropped him and they became like wooden strangers while she moved onto the next dude as planned. So weird, predictable and …yawn! I don’t care.

I loved the story of Nana and the interpreter teacher- they were both so sweet and so was their backstory, how the guy wanted to see her smile and do more for her. And yes Nana’s smile is so bright and beautiful and I found her to be the most interesting and dynamic character in the whole series. Even though she was the only one who was deaf from birth, she was an expressive communicator and usually direct and brutally honest with what she wanted to say. I loved that about her. She was far ahead than the others. She wore her heart on her sleeve even though she got hurt twice with two different men- Sakura kun and the interpreter guy (although there is hope for them two). How is it that everyone else pretty much sucks at communicating except for Nana? Even at the end at the final scenes of the last episode on Christmas, she buys a big bouquet of flowers to give to the sign language dude (shouldn’t he be buying her flowers? She also sent him a handwritten letter!) and then gives little parts of the bouquet to Minato (who in turn gives it to Tsumugi) and to Sakura-kun. Then at the very end they both share Nana’s gift to each other. Like seriously Nana being the one who cannot hear from birth is the one who shares her heart most expressively with everyone, from her smile to her sharp words, to her flowers. I just loved Nana. And let’s not forget that she is the one who pulled Sakura-kun out of his frozen state after his hearing loss and listened to him and healed him and taught him sign language. And she was also the one who inspired the interpreter guy to become an interpreter who ended up teaching Tsumugi, so basically she is the force behind the entire series that moves everything along. They should just call the series Nana. I wished she could be happy always for being so honest and expressive. Everyone else is stuck and frozen in their characters and spinning their wheels, with repeated conversations like it just gets boring and by the end I just wanted to see if Nana would get with the interpreter guy. I didn’t care about Tsumugi and Sakura-kun because they just bored me to death with their tired old conversations and shallow high school cliche relationship. I’m all about the slow burn, but this series was more like a slow groan.

If it weren’t for Nana and the interpreter guy, I would have switched this off several episodes ago. At the end I don’t feel satisfied, just bored having watched that. Meh. Like having eaten a lot of calories with zero satisfaction and nutrition. I rate it one big MEH.

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this drama is very quiet

not far from the title, the drama is very calm and quiet. how he portrays ( sorry ) a special needs person is great.I was really swept up in this drama, the story that was given was tiring (in a positive context), what I wanted to convey and what I had to feel I got it all. The storyline that is presented is also not boring, and even though at the beginning I said this was a quiet and calm drama, the existence of an ost in this drama made me even more interested in the story. this is the prettiest and calmest drama I've watched, I got a lot of messages from this drama.

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If you want to cry every episode of a series, this is for you.

HONEST REVIEW: I literally cried in every episode in this drama. Like, I have never done that before! Although yes, this is not the most heartbreaking, tear-jerking drama I have ever seen but - I'm utterly speechless for this. Honestly, I didn't like Japanese drama that much before because their acting feels fake (just for me for the dramas I have watched, not generalizing) but this, I felt like I was watching it live. I have so many things to say. At first, I was confused about who will she end up with because even though it's a shoujo manga typical plot of love triangle, they keep confusing the viewers, including me. Everytime someone cries, I also cry. IT JUST FELT SO REAL. I'm telling you, I have never been grateful in my whole life that I am blessed with a normal life. This drama made me feel things. It even inspired me to learn sign language. In conclusion, I can say that this is my most liked Jdrama so far. I love them TT

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Não me prendeu!

Me peguei assistindo depois de ver o clássico Tell me that you love me, por ter uma temática onde umas das partes perdia a audição.

Havia lido algumas críticas positivas, contudo o enredo não me prendeu. Eu achei muito cansativo, pra falar a verdade. Não gostei muito da atitude do prota, sei que ele estava passando por um momento delicado na vida, mas ele tinha que ter deixado ela escolher como eles iriam manter o relacionamento, e não ter decidido tudo sozinho. Achei isso egoista da parte dele. E mesmo depois de tudo isso ela decide se aproximar dele, se integrando a sua nova forma de se comunicar.

Fiquei supresa quanto ao amigo dele e o que se tornou depois namorado da Prota, por um momento, mesmo a amando ele sabia que o amor dela não era completo com ele. Então decidiu não pressiona-la, fazendo com que ela perseguisse o Prota sem qualquer culpa.

Acredito que a história poderia ter sido melhor. Não me atraiu muito.

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calming and realistic

Recently been into the calmer and day-to-day life genre and this drama was exactly that. The plot doesn't have a lot going on, the frame of time takes place within the span of a few months. Overall the drama felt therapeutic for me, it was comforting although I did shed a few tears along the way in some episodes.

Plot is mainly about how the ML (who became deaf) reconnects with people of his past and there's a lot of complicated factors and barriers that each character needs to overcome. I liked all the characters, there's no one really to dislike, however, I don't think that Minato's reason in breaking up with Aoba was reasonable ._. they were honestly a pretty good pair already but anyways~ I'd recommend this series. Acting 10/10 and soundtrack 10/10 as well :)

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I hope more series will be made with these topics

It was very special and beautiful
One of those series that you drown in, full of feelings, love, friendship, life

The theme of the series was wonderful, very beautiful

It was very valuable. Personally, I have not seen a series whose main theme is this. You can never understand all the problems of these loved ones, but the fact that we see a corner of their difficulties gives us a better understanding and knowledge of them.
Spoiler
I loved the sequences where they talked to each other in absolute silence, it felt very special. In most of the scenes, soft music with sign language was played, but the places where this music was not present had a very strange feeling and were more beautiful. The only thing that made it less realistic in my opinion was Minato's method. And Tsumugi ended the relationship, I can understand that Minato ended the relationship because of his two friends, but I can't accept that Tsumugi left with Sakura immediately after his cut.It would make sense if she had no feelings for Minato, but as she said in the dialogue, she loved Minato too. No matter how much he loved Sue, he couldn't forget someone he loved so easily in one day. I think it would be better if there was some time between the breakup and the new relationship.
Of course, I say that this series was so special and meaningful that you can ignore this problem. I loved the character of the sign language teacher. His relationship with Nana was very beautiful. Nana was also very nice.


The games were also very beautiful, especially the role of Sakura, she conveyed her emotions beautifully, whether she was happy or sad, or when she wanted to understand what she meant to others.

I hope more series will be made with these topics

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Poor emotions from the freezer.

Quite without discussion of the whole misery here are some small remarks. Sorry for everything:

In a pub, Momono Nan insults Togawa, whom she barely knows, as an idiot and a fool. In episode 10, she insolently and impudently interferes in his private relationship affairs. Then she explains what he has done wrong.
Is it permissible in Japan to interfere in other people's affairs in such an insulting way and leave the restaurant without a black eye? Or is this the inspiration of incompetent writers? Here, in the West, at least many would advise her to mind her own business.
But the embarrassing relativization of the inexcusable impudence follows immediately, of course. All in good fun, right? And thanks for the fish.

Enough grumbling, by the way, I don't want to discourage anyone from watching a moderately exciting, often slow-motion film. The romances are also unexciting. Somehow the young people are always terribly sad and depressed. Have fun, one wants to shout at them, party, make love and let the good times roll!

And we learn that a disability, which is relatively easy to integrate into everyday life, seems to be a huge problem in Japan.

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Profound, Sublime and Saudade!

I admit I am not frequent JP drama watcher in fact I have mostly watched my eternal love Haruma’s series only. But I was looking for a JP series that could beat my heart. And Silent did that. When I saw the trailer, it skipped my heart.

Silent for me hit the most as it has the elements I want to watch, happiness, nostalgia, innocence, cry, tears, love, longing, sacrifice, and then love again. I am only in the beginning of the series, and we all know how the journey is going to be for ten weeks.

The leads are magical, their connection and chemistry are instant and electrifying. The separation and sacrifice are enough to move you in tears and sadness.

The plot is simple, nothing difficult, it entails a story of school sweethearts who are separated for years when a boy breaks the heart of a girl, he loves to death and disappear. But then as fate would have it, she meets her first love again and now moved on with her marriage happening anytime soon to one of their common friends, she discovered a heart breaking and life changing truth behind his departure and everything changes from that moment forward.

The cinematography, the classic JP style of yellow-hue colouring, editing, music and filming is poignant, sublime filled with sheer nostalgia.

The acting is what takes the cake, super calm, authentic and very warm. Both leads, are very subtle in their dialogue delivery and has embodied their character perfectly. First episode was enough for me to decide that quality is not going to drop and will never change.

I moved to tears with scenes that weren’t even sad, because each action of boy had sadness in it, his love for her was so strong that leaving her made it easy. Although leaving is never easy but you have to be strong enough to sacrifice when you know nothing good will come if you continue, but in doing so the only mistake a person does is that they decide for the other person also, they don’t ask their opinion and leave them hanging behind without any explanation.

Leaving someone for the sake of their happiness has never benefited the person who is left behind. It is not an act of selflessness, it is in fact a punishment bestowed on a person who is oblivious to why they are left behind.

I am hoping for a happy end, but the journey to whatever end has been written is profound, sublime and saudade.

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Noia e buoni sentimenti

La serie racconta una relazione di coppia alle prese con la perdita dell’udito, con attori bravissimi che riescono a rendere la sofferenza personale di un giovane intelligente e talentuoso, che proprio alla fine del liceo comincia a perdere l’udito.

All’inizio, la chiusura del protagonista verso le relazioni affettive e amicali è comprensibile: la fase di shock e il percorso di accettazione sono reali e naturali. Tuttavia, la sceneggiatura esagera, trasformando il personaggio in un individuo morbosamente problematico. Tutti intorno a lui si sacrificano per capirlo e supportarlo, ma il suo egocentrismo doloroso rischia di compromettere i legami più preziosi.

Anche il personaggio femminile soffre per questo: la sceneggiatura non le offre dialoghi capaci di alleggerire la tensione con un po’ di humor, limitandola invece a farla piangere e annullarsi dietro le farneticazioni del protagonista.

L’happy ending c’è, ma il percorso per arrivarci è estenuante: dialoghi ed eventi procedono con una lentezza esasperante. Avendo conosciuto personalmente persone con problemi di udito, il ritratto della serie appare eccessivamente melodrammatico e poco realistico rispetto a come queste persone vivono, lavorano e costruiscono relazioni.

In sintesi, Silent è un lavoro ben recitato, ma la sceneggiatura appesantisce eccessivamente un tema che poteva essere trattato con maggiore verità e leggerezza.

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