BrightestStar

There are two themes to this drama. The first that the world is a stage and its people are the actors. The second theme is that the world keeps changing and we either adapt or disappear. That is why the theatre company kept changing from the beginning of its inception to the last episode. However, the pacing and the lack of direction did not do this drama any favor. And while it has a stellar cast, it did feel that some of the cast members were underused. there were very interesting guest stars. Some of them made an impact while others not so much but overall it was a lot of fun seeing them.

I really enjoyed the era, the drama setting and the contrast shown in the last episode of how it changed. And that’s exactly how Japan is. It used to feel more raw, rough and authentic not perfect. Maybe a bit dangerous. While many places are becoming child friendly and feeling very safe makes it comfortable, it feels like a façade shown through bright colours, synthetic, perfection look to it. It definitely has lost its authenticity and rawness.

It’s hard for me to rate this drama. I really enjoyed the last couple of episodes, but it took me a while to get there. Some of the early episodes were difficult to get into or keep my attention. I was unsure of what it was trying to say. It wasn’t episodic, but it wasn’t continuous either. Early episodes felt like just scenes, cut and pasted together and not smooth enough to follow. When you know and like the cast, you will still enjoy what you’re seeing, but the story peaks interest much later in the drama.

I think the ending was very fitting, bittersweet but hopeful.