Finally got to watch the last 4 episodes and man, I gotta add Episode 10 and 12 to my list of faves. Miura Toko is a force in episode 10—great example of an actor elevating the material—and episode 12 was wholesome AF. When that egg scene played out I immediately wanted a whole series of Zukkun and friends.
Interesting to see a series explore the relationship of deafness and ASD in the area of communication. NHK usually does well enough in handling topics of disability.
A lot of Mitsuru Adachi's stories still hold up today. They've been adusted for modern audiences here, but each adapted episode still carries the genuine spirit. And there's just a breadth of material present here—not every one a winner, but there's a flavor of story for all shoujo fans.
A coming of age narrative with a twist. Funny and sweet—you wouldn't expect it to be such a tearjerker in its final episodes, especially with its closing statement.
This really crept up on me and became one of my favourites of the season. Beautiful locations and great atmosphere but also a lot of questions posed about obsolescence and the casualty of progress. Michiko was the perfect character to lead us through these small adventures.
Even though the set-up is begging for a comedy, the show is actually quite delicate. It's so considerate of these characters and their feelings—for one thing, it rarely frames their selfishness as malicious—and it's also careful when it broaches subject matter that's out of the genre's ballpark, like sexuality, identity, even the ethics of the situation. I just wasn't expecting the show to be a mostly quiet and contemplative queer narrative—and that's a nice surprise.
Whether you're here for the emotional journey of our two leads or the physical journey across some unusual but charming locales across Japan, you'll be satisfied. I could write a whole essay on the sentence "Japan is in a state of obsolescence" and Haruko's positive framing of it tbh, but I mostly just want to squeal along with the whole crew. Their love for things sidelined for the shiny and new is evident, and I'm right with them!
Good girl and bad boy have a cat-astrophic meet cute. XD I wouldn't say it's good but it's certainly fun—cheesy, gratuitous, very typical of teen media from the Showa era—and because it's a late 80s Japanese teen film set in the city, it's got some nice city pop tunes. There's some creative action set pieces but overall its attempt at the whole "city is a character" thing falls flat since their vision of Shinjuku isn't as memorable as it could be.
In all seriousness, I've been thinking for a while now that it might end up this way, so let me plant the seed and see the harvest.
Subtitles here: https://mega.nz/folder/Q19yTAqK#g2mnbwK0c2LvID6DrvV25Q