More than just great music
This drama may seem to be all about the music, however the music as lovely and as much screen time as it got (which was a loot)felt to me more like a vessel to help people to relate to the much deeper story hiding beneath is a story about finding that context, that place in the world where you are surrounded by people who build you up rather than tear you down. It is about love, connection, understanding and living rather than just surviving.There may only be one lead listed here but I dare to say that it is about all four band-members journeys, and very much so about our female lead, a woman who gives us an outstanding performance rain, on a boat or in a cramped room, she gives us not only an amazing umbrella scene but is the voice (not the vocals) of this drama, as she is the one who truley invites the viewers in to the slightly unrealistic word of love of music. The second female lead did a pretty decent jobe herself and had some really amazing vocals. Ans yes so did the men, great performances on and off stage, varied, emotional at times a bit to much but over all, all 5 where a pleasure to watch.
A decent binge, with very few annoying elements and a whole lot of good music that may just shatter your heart.
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It made my heart move and for that, I love it.
It was a beautiful and moving story about passion, music, and dedication. Great acting, great OSTs and very heartfelt. I enjoyed all the different relationships in the band, between friends, and the brothers. I don't think it needed romance like this, but I love that the various characters supported each other in their own ways.Was this review helpful to you?
Wishing Tenblank was real
I watched this mainly for Keita, but honestly, the entire cast was phenomenal. The acting was impressive, but not surprising, since I've seen most of them shine in other dramas.The plot was decent. I haven’t read the manga, so I can’t say how faithful the adaptation is, but regardless, it gave me a certain spark, you know life energy. The music was also excellent. I'm no musical genius, but it genuinely felt like they’d mastered their instruments. It looked and sounded incredibly natural. I do wonder if the crowd during their performances were all real.
The drama was also visually stunning. Some details really stood out and added depth to the overall mood. You can tell a lot of thought went into the aesthetics.
There’s a bit of romance, too. There seemed to be an age gap, but it didn’t bother me much. Also, some subtle BL/brotherly sparks that definitely caught my eye.
All in all, everything came together to create a really solid show.
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Music is the universal language
I liked it, I still prefer the soundtrack from the film, Our 30-minute sessions. Glass Heart has excellent cinematography, use of colour, props and acting. The story structure paced itself with a few slow moments.In terms of the romance element, I was not too invested. The cinematography and editing made the chemistry somewhat believable, but due to the disinterest from the ML, it didn't quite convey until the very end.
Overall, I enjoyed seeing how the band came together, the obstacles faced in the music or entertainment industry. Despite the rivalry, hardships, rejection, fallouts, the series makes it loud and clear that music brings people together, no matter what language you speak or know.
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Underwhelming
It starts off great with impressive production, stunning visuals, solid direction and top notch cinematography. It even has a story to tell. But does it touch your heart?? For me, it didnt.Yes, there were a few nice moments here and there but strangely, i never felt excited while watching it. I could see the great visuals, the beautiful music and the good acting yet i didnt connect with any of the characters nor did i feel engaged in the storyline. At times, it even felt boring.
The ML was quite unlikable for me. I understood his character arc and backstory but i still couldnt bring myself to like him. It always felt like a wall between him and his bandmates, as if he never truly cared about them. The FL came off as just an overly ambitious fool.
The romance wasnt a major part of the drama but whatever was there felt lukewarm and unconvincing.
They also underused the side characters, none of them stood out or felt particularly interesting. Even the villain was a caricature at best.
Overall, this was average at best.
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J-drama & J-music !
I’ve been waiting for this drama for a long time, and it was definitely worth the wait. Of course, if it hadn’t been released on Netflix, who knows whether we would’ve been able to watch it or not. Unfortunately, accessing Japanese content isn’t that easy — we can only watch it if they decide to make it available internationally. This drama was announced around last year, and since I knew it was going to be a Netflix production, I waited for it with peace of mind. In this sense, I’m glad Netflix exists.There were two actors I really love, Keita Machida and Masaki Suda. I admire both of them and think they’re very talented. They were the main reason I was looking forward to this drama so impatiently. I also liked the actresses. And there were other actors I love as well, like Takeru Satoh and Jun Shison. The cast was quite large, and I absolutely loved it.
I’m happy because the drama met my expectations. It was very well done. The music was fantastic. I really liked Naoki and Yukino’s voices — their duet was my favorite song. Toya’s voice was also beautiful, and with his image and vibe, he definitely gave off a rock music feel. His performance with Naoki was one of the coolest parts for me. Akane’s drumming was pretty good too, though she looked a little shaky and inexperienced. Sho’s devotion and love for Naoki really stood out to me. It even reminded me of Kurosawa’s role (those who watched Cherry Magic will know what I mean). I also have to say I loved Yukino — she was really cute and beautiful, and her voice was amazing.
I really liked the ending. Japanese dramas sometimes surprise me with their finales because they can often feel a bit underwhelming, but I found this one to be very well done. It was a fitting finale for a musical drama. Overall, I really enjoyed it. Definitely worth watching.
⚠️ This part may contain spoilers:
When I learned that there would be female characters, I already suspected that there would be some romance involved, and I wasn’t wrong. At first, the romantic relationships were confusing — like, who loved who? But one thing was certain: everyone was in love with Naoki, lol. I honestly thought Naoki wouldn’t fall for anyone — especially after rejecting Akane — but then he ended up falling for her. Actually, he already seemed to like her from the beginning, so I was tricked into thinking he didn’t. I felt a little bad for Kazushi; personally, I think he and Akane would’ve made a nice couple. Sho was basically in love with Naoki too, lol. I wish they could’ve ended up together, but then the drama would’ve turned into an LGBT storyline, so I guess that’s why they didn’t go there. Still, Sho’s feelings were obvious. Anyway, despite all the love drama, I liked that romance wasn’t pushed too much and that the focus stayed mostly on the music. Overall, it was really good.
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1Great music does not compensate a weak plot
Glass Heart - it was Good, it could have been amazingThis became Hongrang 2.0 for me , a great drama( loved first 6 eps) downrated by weak plot and rushed ending with forced romance.
✅️ Visuals, styling ( omg those sweaters 🤩) cinematography , production quality top notch 💯
✅️ Music, loved all the songs , so good, so catchy. Do note half of this drama is music. We see them performing a lot of songs , and the story is often told via the songs lyrics. I liked that but if you are not a fan of the music you might not like it. I one have not skipped any music scene. 💯 energy and feels!
✅️ Good and positive life messages. Kind and honest characters.
✅️ Male leads. All have amazing screen presence. The tensions among them and their on screen chemistry was awesome. My favorite scenes were between Toya - Naoki and Naoki -Sho
✅️ the hands homoerotic two scenes 🔥 those were fire and unexpected.
✅️ acting
😐 while all the 3 female characters we saw had good acting I kept telling myself their screen presence pales compared with the male leads. I mean the trio and even Jun are all show stealers. Couldn't help to wonder how the drama would have looked if FL have been played by Imada Mio or Anna Sawai for example.
🚫 this drama would have been better without any romance. The kiss scene felt forced and flat.
🚫 if they wanted some romance focus, they should have developed more Akane - Kazushi relation. That ship was sailing and can't belive how cute was jealous Jun 🤩. I was so rooting for him.
🚫 the plot was the weak side. Except a good twist in ep 5 it was predictible, even nonsense sometimes and that is a pitty because there could have been so many other band related interesting topics they could have explored.
Overall still a good watch 8/10 ❤️
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Whiplash and the art of motorcycle maintenance
A friend in graduate school at Northwestern during the late 90's and early 00's spent some of his free time working for the college radio station. On occasion, he had the opportunity to interview one of the alternative artists as they would appear in the Chicago metro area. One such artist (Neko Case) not only had performed on stage multiple times during his stint on radio but also had a mutual who regularly hosted parties and they bumped in to each other a few times in this context as well. When Ms. Case was headlining the music stage at the local summer arts festival, I expressed to my friend how much I enjoyed her music and hoped to catch her performance. Surprisingly, my friend had no such warm and fuzzy feelings towards the alt-country singer. He recounted that both as an interview subject and as a person in a personal setting, she was not at all interested in discussing music or seemingly anything else with anyone who was not a fellow musician.This anecdote may not paint Neko Case is the most positive light but her solo music remains magnificent and her vocals with Vancouver's New Pornographers are among the finest to be recorded in the last thirty years. This retelling is not so much about her and her shortcomings as a human being but as a relief upon which to discuss musicians and music in general and art and what's it, y'know music and art, all for? What's so great about it?
In "Glass Heart", Satoh Takeru's main character, Fujitani Naoki, is a genius. Viewers know this not only because viewers see him extemporaneously turn a simple melody in to a Mozart-level composition, but also because every character around him says at every opportunity that he's a genius. The first part of that is enough. The second part gets a bit tiresome. Nevertheless, Naoki is a genius and recruits fellow aces of guitar, keyboard and drums to form his new band. To the extent that "Glass Heart" succeeds, it's thanks to the perfect casting of Machida Keita as the stoic and aloof-on-the-surface guitarist and Miyazaki Yu's ferociously unhinged musical sequences on the drumkit. And the camera work and editing for said musical sequences are legitimately stunning.
But the plot is wafer-thin and meanders in-and-out of Naoki's troubles which never really create any emotional impact because Naoki himself doesn't seem to feel anything other than a compulsion to write more songs, perform once in a while and have somewhat robotic interactions with people who have either supported or antagonized him. Had any of the bandmates showed some exasperation with Naoki like any normal human being would have, it would have added some badly needed connection with how things usually operate here on Planet Earth. And Naoki is exasperating. As a positive, he's somewhat mercurially amusing as this easily distracted, stream of consciousness creator. But he's also sporting some pretty toxic and unhealthy traits that get the "it's ok because he's a genius" treatment.
Further, Saijo is a confounding character. While playing the drums, she's an absolute mastodon. When she puts the drumsticks down, she's a mouse. This character needed to be more mastodon. Much much more mastodon.
Where "Glass Heart" really falters is that it very explicitly wants to express why music is so great and important and how this musical genius' creativity is so wonderful. And it's not at all convincing.
The primary issue is that it's all entirely inward-looking. This wonderful thing that Naoki does is generally accomplished with him in some sort of trance where he's wholly unaware of his surroundings or attempts by his bandmates to communicate with him. The big transformative experience by the members of Tenblank is their realization that their performance as a band IS how they live and that their lives without their shared musical exploits are less meaningful.
Which is great.
For them. The musicians.
But music that is only meaningful for the musicians is just a series of notes and words strung together. "Glass Heart" makes some glancing attempts to involve other characters but it's the half-brother from a rival band (musician), a manager who wanted to be a singer (musician), a sinister record exec who's background is a songwriter (musician) and a messy idol-style singer (musician). None of them nor any audience member or anyone have any impact on what "Glass Heart" proclaims as its message. To be clear, it's great that the creators enjoy their process and are fulfilled in their pursuits. But to "Glass Heart" that's the end of it. Music for the musician. It's enough to be the tree in the zen proverb of the tree falling in the forest when no one is around. Hint: that's not all it's supposed to be.
For those that are interested, "Inside Llewyn Davis" is a master class on a musician discovering fulfillment in his art.
As for "Glass Heart", it's fine as an extremely long form music video but isn't much of anything else.
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Learning how to love a musical genius
This starts and ends with a concert. I loved every bit of the music. This alone makes it worth the watch. Naoki is a musical genius. He lives for the sounds that his brain soaks like a sponge to spin songs that takes you to a happy place. He is hard to know because he deliberately cuts himself off from the world to let the sounds around inspire him. He meets three others that changes his musical view. Sho has a gift with guitar and made him form a group. Akane opens his heart to the beat of her drums. Kazushi opened the door to challenge him on keyboards. Together they form bonds of friendship and music that turns them into family. It explores the darker side of the industry and how naive talent can be exploited. How jealousy between brothers can be settled with musical competition and grudges forgiven with better understanding. That healing can come through selfless giving and combining of talents so that all are represented. There are definite flaws but still a good watch and if you like the music, a definite rewatch of the last episode for the concert is highly recommended.Was this review helpful to you?
J-pop Rulez!
It was a challenge to write this review. Not because it is meh. Quite the contrary, when it is good, it is amazing! However, in the cold lights of a post-concert low, you do notice issues. In that sense, it is . . uneven.Firstly, the acting of our ML! While he is always good and dependable in his dramas, he is next level in this. He is the heart and soul of this series. Period. ;)
This is also where the phrase double edged sword takes on some significance.
With such a strong ML, there is little room for the other actors to showcase their acting chops. Not that they did a bad job. Each have their moments in the sun (or rain, for that matter). Yet they pale when Takeru-san is shining so brightly. He is also the executive producer. No pressure.
Secondly, the music! Any fans of j-pop, progressive rock and even jazz will rejoice. It is a roller coaster ride from start to finish. It runs the gamut from mega live concert to impromptu recital in a music store. While the actors are not professional musicians, they trained and practiced really hard for their roles and it shows. Add a bit of movie magic and voila! Awesome, believable performances. Salut! J-pop deserves a chance to blossom.
However, it does cut both ways. If you are not into the music, then this show will be opaque to you. You can still watch it as a fan of the star, but it will be a challenge to enjoy it to the fullest.
Thirdly, the script! Oh, what a glorious mess! There is an overarching plot of sorts. It mostly makes sense. It also reserves the right to do whatever it wants to move the plot along and take detours. There are the prerequisite angst, a dollop of romance and low-key family feud. In that regard, it has a hint of a mockumentary. It is a journey, for sure. There is much healing and growth in the characters. Just don't ask too many questions. The lows will come. Enjoy the highs while you can. ;)
Fourthly, the characters! This is a Pandora's box. Some characters have depth you can drown in, yet others are nothing more than one dimensional archetype. I don't want to pull each character apart because I'm not writing a doctoral thesis. ;) Every character is flawed. Some do feel a bit self-serving though.
My one real gripe is the nasty producer. He is portrayed as a megalomaniac star maker. You can almost imagine him waking up each morning chanting "if I can't control you, I'll destroy you!!!". Consider the industry they are in, and horror stories of exploitations. It feels oddly sanitized.
Lastly, the production! Wow! Just wow! Sure, there are some rough edges but where it counts, this show delivers! The direction, cinematography and staging should be studied in relevant courses. Performing on a moving boat is a challenge at the best of time, but on a wine dark sea?
The final concert is chef kiss! They have 5000 jumping and screaming extras! Even if all of them are volunteers, the logistics is still mind blowing. This is on top of sundry location and studio shots, both of performances as well as "regular" dramatic scenes. Many behind-the-scenes staff needs to take a bow. Bravo!
To be honest, I'm still a little giddy from watching the finale last night. I know the show is not perfect. Every time I try to recall some mental note I made on an issue, my mind is swamped by an earworm tune, and the afterglow of their performance.
Not to worry. I would be nitpicking anyway and we can’t have that! ;)
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A love letter to music
A story of a band and it's members, Glass Heart is a rare japanese drama that shines because of it's production, story, music and the characters.The series explores the struggles and joys of creating music and performing, as well as the power of music to connect people and transcend personal hardships. The story of a band's formation and their journey to success resonates with viewers who love music or dream of making it themselves. The soundtrack was absolutely amazing - energetic as well as soulful.
The characters are well-written and their backstories are explored as well. While the first half was totally fire, the second half loses a little momentum wherein a lot of aspects are covered in a very short time. The other characters' (Sho Takaoka and Sakamoto Kazushi) background could have been explored a little more.
Overall, Glass Heart is a well-made J-drama with high value production and a strong music that resonates with audience that appreciates music and stories about creative process.
My Rating : 8.5/10
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Why is it so gay and cliche?
Okay, so this drama has some extremely good elements, and then they just completely fail on others.First the good:
- Character design: not all were great, but Naoki was really well written and portrayed by the actor — easiest the best performance. Yukino was also great, the best written character by far. But the list stops there. Also, for acting/casting in general, I think all actors did well. I also suspect they all knew how to play instruments, it looked like it, at least. Another great thing, is how they created characters that represent minorities. So, a female drummer in a rock band? Not the usual pick. A seductive female singer who’s actually not that bad of a person? Great. A dude who is fangirling (might be a slight overstatement)? That’s what I dream about. What I think is a gay character in a place you wouldn’t expect one? Funny (not in a bad way) and great.
- Music: no one’s surprised there. I’m willing to bet quite the sum that 99% of the reviews are praising the music. It’s not the great music they make it out to be in the drama, because that’s not how music works, but we’ll get back to that. But rather it’s a type of music almost anyone can like, which is well done if you can achieve that since a film production would never want to push parts of the audience away if it can avoid it.
- Cinematography: so many times watching this, did I find myself just staring at the beautiful composition and interesting filming techniques. They did a lot of stuff I can’t say I’ve seen elsewhere, but it’s not the highlight of the drama, that’s made clear. It’s spice, if you will, to flavorblast the drama, nothing more. The colors were really well tended to, and costume design too. All the characters had such unique styles that worked together yet still separated them. You could show me an outfit from the drama, without the person who wore it, and I could tell you whom it belonged to, even without remembering from the drama.
Now the bad (buckle up, this is going to be long):
- So goddamn gay: these writers don’t know how to make friendships seem genuine without making them gay. There’s so much physical contact — which can be good, don’t get me wrong — but when two guys are staring into each other’s souls while holding hands, I can’t help but wonder if they’re gay at least a little bit. They also say so many things that would be cringe or cliche even for a romantic interest to say. And I’m not talking about one or two male characters here, no, I'm talking about the all of the main male characters.
- Cliches: the things they say, do and apparently feel are all so cliche. The stare into each other’s eyes, they lean in close to look out the window, the character who was closed off but now has opened his heart, I could go on.
- That’s not how music works: I must admit: I don’t know much about music, but I know a lot about many other art forms. And from what I know, that’s not how music works. It’s not like everyone agrees that someone is just amazing and a god, because it all comes down to preference. Of course, you can tell when someone’s good, but to call them a god and think that everyone knows them (including fans who doesn’t know much about music) is ridiculous. Tell me, when you were first introduced to Picasso, did you go “oh my god, what a masterpiece. This artist is a god!”? ‘Cause I sure as hell did not.
Also, that with your “own sound” and stuff, I don’t believe it. Might be true, but I’m just not buying. Sure, people playing their instruments probably sound different to others on that same instrument, but I think it still comes down to preference, not a sound from inside you that determines how you play.
- Reveals and pacing: first off, this drama loves to give you something to wonder about the literal minute before it happens. Imagine a crime drama, and they’re about to reveal the killer, but right before they do, they give you (the viewer) an obvious clue as to who it was. So, you just think “oh, it must be them!” and then right after you think that, they reveal it to you. It gives you nothing to hold on to while watching, because the adrenaline (which makes you excited and wanting to know what will happen next and if you’re right about your guess) runs out the moment it’s revealed.
Secondly, they also love to hide things from you, and then after the reveal, they start showing the hints/signs of this being the case. So, as an example, let’s say someone’s sisters, but the drama hides it from you, but then you find out, and now they’re suddenly calling each other “sister” when they never did so before. You had no chance of guessing earlier, because nothing about them could’ve suggested to you that they were related. And now, after you know, they’re suddenly drowning you in signs that simply weren’t there before? Cheap.
- Character design: yes, it’s back. Just now I praised Naoki’s character for being well written, but he isn’t really that well written, a lot about him doesn’t make sense, and he constantly walks the line between fun genius and a baby who can’t take care of himself. Besides, the whole show revolves around him, but he doesn’t really care for anyone else. Sure, he says it’s because he was locked away or something, but it’s still possible to acknowledge that someone is in the room with you. Every character just wants to take care of him so badly “oh, it’s a pleasure to take care of him, that’s enough reward for me”. Like, seriously? If he was a baby I would understand, but it’s a grown ass man you’re talking about here, much less your boss/leader.
The villain character here is also just sloppily done. He doesn’t really make sense, he is so little impactful I actually groaned whenever he came onscreen, and he just did nothing for the plot — everything he did was behind the scenes, we never saw him actually doing the things, we just heard about the things he did.
I’d recommend this drama to people who like drama, music (rock or pop) and who can appreciate cinematography and visuals. I can’t imagine anyone truly loving this, but there’s probably someone who fits those criteria.
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