This review may contain spoilers
A quiet little side quest
For the most part this series is a slice of life show. It doesn't really have any stakes but it does ask some questions about life. It's not deep questions but they are things that sometimes we think about on our days off.
For someone to enjoy this, there's a small prerequisite that you already enjoy Kasumi Arimura. This is a fictionalized version of herself, but I could see some of her genuine personality show in many of the scenes. Each episode talks about something interesting. From hidden family drama to health check ups and even opening a jar of kaya jam! i found that each episode was uneven in quality but that was mainly due to the different directors involved. Kore-eda himself directed a episode, which had all of his usual trappings. I found the last two episodes the most enjoyable personally. The story of the young child whose seemingly living with a single parent and the baseball episode was the most eloquently presented in speech and direction I thought. The 2nd episode was a great take down of societal issues in Japan. The third was somewhat odd but it felt very cozy due to the setting. Episode 4 touched on some interesting aspects of celebrity status but it also veered into such a weird space. The Jam episode was also lightly comical but ended with a surprising amount of alienation and solitude. The couple episode was also a little uneven with the themes of inadequacy and relationships. I thought this one was paced very strangely. Therefore I really only enjoyed maybe half the episodes out of the 8.
As for the filming styles, since there was a mix of directors each one felt uniquely distinct in the type of blocking, framing and lighting. The baseball episode felt the most cinematic out of all of the episodes to me. The little girl episode felt the most charming and metaphorical. Episode 1 with Kore-eda had his usual flourishes with long lingering scenes of family activities and careful hand gestures. The health episode I shall warn some that the sounds it creates may make some people uncomfortable. As the sound of ultrasonic gel can be heard smearing around kasumi's stomach for long points in the episode lol. The music was cute. I liked the main title song and ending song. I also enjoyed the little bts polaroids at the end.
It's a nice little distraction of a show honestly.
For someone to enjoy this, there's a small prerequisite that you already enjoy Kasumi Arimura. This is a fictionalized version of herself, but I could see some of her genuine personality show in many of the scenes. Each episode talks about something interesting. From hidden family drama to health check ups and even opening a jar of kaya jam! i found that each episode was uneven in quality but that was mainly due to the different directors involved. Kore-eda himself directed a episode, which had all of his usual trappings. I found the last two episodes the most enjoyable personally. The story of the young child whose seemingly living with a single parent and the baseball episode was the most eloquently presented in speech and direction I thought. The 2nd episode was a great take down of societal issues in Japan. The third was somewhat odd but it felt very cozy due to the setting. Episode 4 touched on some interesting aspects of celebrity status but it also veered into such a weird space. The Jam episode was also lightly comical but ended with a surprising amount of alienation and solitude. The couple episode was also a little uneven with the themes of inadequacy and relationships. I thought this one was paced very strangely. Therefore I really only enjoyed maybe half the episodes out of the 8.
As for the filming styles, since there was a mix of directors each one felt uniquely distinct in the type of blocking, framing and lighting. The baseball episode felt the most cinematic out of all of the episodes to me. The little girl episode felt the most charming and metaphorical. Episode 1 with Kore-eda had his usual flourishes with long lingering scenes of family activities and careful hand gestures. The health episode I shall warn some that the sounds it creates may make some people uncomfortable. As the sound of ultrasonic gel can be heard smearing around kasumi's stomach for long points in the episode lol. The music was cute. I liked the main title song and ending song. I also enjoyed the little bts polaroids at the end.
It's a nice little distraction of a show honestly.
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