Shijukara (2022)

please don't slip away

"My heart lying in my hands
I never wanted this
This tear will never mend
How did it come to this"
~ Slip Away by Ruelle ~

Triggers:
• Rape
• Prostitution
• Infidelity
• Abuse: sexual & verbal

She acts younger than her age.
He acts older than his age.
Yet they are stuck in between.

♣ This drama is about 2 individuals who were used\abused and had no choice but to surrender & numb their feelings to survive. Working close to one another, revived their hearts and reopened deep wounds. Despite the difference in age between them, they found solace in each other as they both never lived their age.

♦ Shinobu suffers from oppressions caused by the continuous condescending behavior of her husband. Drawing manga is her outlet of thoughts: what she can't say or do, goes straight into her writing. Her character is mostly timid but with help from Chiaki, she slowly allows herself to be angry, crazy, and happy.

♠ Chiaki has a daring personality and constantly suffers from taking on more than he can handle. He walks around confidently but breaks apart easily. He took responsibility of his single mother at a young age and was subjected to her negligence and immaturity. He grew up too fast and not because he wanted to.

Pros:
• The raw emotions Itagaki Rihito can deliver is insane! This kid blows me away with the diversity of expressions he can convey. The way he can change the mood of the scene is no joke. I am completely impressed. However, there is one scene where he laughs hysterically/crazily that was a bit not convincing.
• The nerve-wracking sound effects and the instrumental pieces used made me feel like drowning in anxiety & depression. The contrast between complete quietness and sudden music was brilliantly added to each scene.
• As a student of literature, symbolism was so satisfying to analyze. + The level of craziness was something beyond entertaining, I must admit.

Read More

Heart-breaking beginning, Heart-healing finish

I started watching Shijuukara because of Itagaki Rihito (ML actor) and had no warnings regarding the contents. This show presents dark and heavy topics that a lot of other shows are too afraid to mention, so this already captivated my attention and surprise since early episodes.
The best aspect of this show to me is the amazing cinematography! I would say that the worst aspect is the music, because in some occasions the songs didn’t feel appropriate to certain situations… music man wasn’t having it with this one.

I loved the heck out of the realism touch Shijuukara had. Japan indeed does romance best. Definitely recommended!

Read More