Yasashii Jikan (2005)

If you're looking for a high-powered, adventure packed, human drama... then this is not the show for you. Yasashii Jikan is a very gentle, soft, emotional drama about estrangement, regrets, time, and healing. It is incredibly beautiful, captivating, and warm. I really did feel time slip away from me in a gentle fashion while watching, though not in the same way as I do when watching other things. Its a look at life, in all its complexities, as well as human emotions and memory. The story is beautiful, the cast was wonderfully chosen, and the two leads were especially captivating. The story was wonderfully timed, and the entire series was packed full with thematic elements that just beg to be analyzed.

But once again, if you are NOT looking for something very subtle, gentle, and slow, this show will be a huge disappointment. I personally found it to be a ready break from the rush of my daily life and the other shows I have watched, and I thought it was a masterpiece. This being said, I wouldn't recommend it to someone who would not enjoy such a quiet and gentle drama.

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yasashii jikan gives its characters the room for the audience to come to their own conclusions, while keeping their reactions both true to their personalities and clean to follow. takuro (ninomiya kazunari) is a character you'd just HAVE to experience for yourself. his father yukichi (akira terao) was personally not always easy to sympathize with (although he had many moments!) as someone who is limited to the perspective of a child, i enjoyed it the most when i tried to understand him and his growth as a person/parent. azusa (nagasawa masami) is a troubled, very emotional, and at times destructive girl that was easy to connect to (she is so cute too!). episode 10 and 11 were stunning

it surprisingly has some edge to it, especially in the second half, relating to takuro's past in a street racing gang and otherwise. takuro's longing (and the love in it) was so sad it was stomach-churning. distance not by location but by heart is devastating to witness

i think this could feel different depending on your relationship with your parents or who you are. it might be healing, and there may be things that resonate with you a lot and others that dont at all. in a way, it feels personal because of that, and regardless of what kinder-surprise-egg-style experience you get, it's worth a shot to find out

there's creative shots in here, hokkaido is a beautiful setting, it features a unique flow of progressively providing interesting information about the characters one becomes invested in, immersive if you let it take you, and the tracks were effective

if you're someone who's interested in this drama but you have a preference for fast pacing, i did a task that required less attention (that i put down for important moments, sometimes whole episodes) and watched this over the span of two days, rather than the week i usually set aside. i felt this could be an appropriate way to experience it as well as taking it slow

taller girl + shorter guy is awesome! bonus points for their hair being the same length, they look cute!

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