10
50
1
Are you happy in the end?
When I describe a "hard watch", it's usually something I had a tough time getting through, for whatever reason, but when I say this is a hard watch, do no take that lightly.
This is brutal, raw and downright disgusting at times, and that made it so hard to watch, so hard that I had to constantly take breaks, watch a lighter, more easily palatable show in between watching episodes of this just so I could finish the series.
But don't let that put you off either. Watching this, you definitely need to be in the right mind space, and you could even do the things I did to calm yourself. The brutality and morbid reality of this series are no joke, but don't let that put you off.
This series perfectly depicted an interdependent relationship that teetered between comfort and toxicity. Where another person is your comfort zone in a world that's oùt to get you, but they may very well be the reason the world is oùt to get you. Chihiro and Haoren are pitiable characters but I don't think they were written to be viewed as just that. They're not wonderful people, no one in this series is, but they're flawed in a likeable manner. You want to root for them. Each episode makes you root for them even more because you realise that their actions are the consequences of other people's actions. The decisions they made weren't devised to be evil by nature, they were more like coping mechanisms to adapt to their surroundings.
They are messed up, yes, but it's also so much more complicated than that. With each episode, you can see each of their perceptions of love and life change and grow, the twisted comfort the two of them bring to each other are the only good things in their lives. And no matter how toxic or twisted it seemed, there was no denying that they brought each other happiness.
This is such a complicated series to write a review for, because it was dark, uncomfortable and harrowing, but the thing that kept me going were the little glimpses of Chihiro and Haoren being each other's lights. The light at the end of the tunnel. I stuck with it, and it was worth it. Be prepared before you venture into this, watch it concurrently with a lighter drama if you need to, or even convince someone to watch it with you, whatever you need, and just focus on Chihiro and Haoren asking each other, 'are you happy?'
This is brutal, raw and downright disgusting at times, and that made it so hard to watch, so hard that I had to constantly take breaks, watch a lighter, more easily palatable show in between watching episodes of this just so I could finish the series.
But don't let that put you off either. Watching this, you definitely need to be in the right mind space, and you could even do the things I did to calm yourself. The brutality and morbid reality of this series are no joke, but don't let that put you off.
This series perfectly depicted an interdependent relationship that teetered between comfort and toxicity. Where another person is your comfort zone in a world that's oùt to get you, but they may very well be the reason the world is oùt to get you. Chihiro and Haoren are pitiable characters but I don't think they were written to be viewed as just that. They're not wonderful people, no one in this series is, but they're flawed in a likeable manner. You want to root for them. Each episode makes you root for them even more because you realise that their actions are the consequences of other people's actions. The decisions they made weren't devised to be evil by nature, they were more like coping mechanisms to adapt to their surroundings.
They are messed up, yes, but it's also so much more complicated than that. With each episode, you can see each of their perceptions of love and life change and grow, the twisted comfort the two of them bring to each other are the only good things in their lives. And no matter how toxic or twisted it seemed, there was no denying that they brought each other happiness.
This is such a complicated series to write a review for, because it was dark, uncomfortable and harrowing, but the thing that kept me going were the little glimpses of Chihiro and Haoren being each other's lights. The light at the end of the tunnel. I stuck with it, and it was worth it. Be prepared before you venture into this, watch it concurrently with a lighter drama if you need to, or even convince someone to watch it with you, whatever you need, and just focus on Chihiro and Haoren asking each other, 'are you happy?'
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