There is a somewhat bizarre plot which meanders along picking up themes as it goes. We go through digressions into crime, music, friendship, blackmail, betrayal, unrequited love, abuse, possible murder etc, all embedded in a wintry slice-of-life, set two hours drive out of Tokyo. It gathers all the themes together, along with a seemingly random selection of self diagnosed failures as characters (with the obligatory oddball viola player - musician’s joke…), but like strangers at a party, they don’t quite mesh. There is a slightly surreal feel that I am coming to associate with Japanese dramas and it has a strange affinity with Sartre’s play, “No Exit” (Hell is other people) where each of the characters wants something from the others which the others can’t or won’t give them. However, this is not a story about Hell, but about acceptance, both at a personal and an interpersonal level.

It doesn’t really follow a single plot line, but presents sequences of fragmented scenarios that have a thread running through them. Just when you think it’s all fallen apart, it comes back together at the end.

There are some really good performances from the core cast who hook you in and carry you through. The “playing” of the instruments is a bit unconvincingly painful to watch at times, but that’s a constant gripe in many shows that involve musicians and the actors do a good enough job if you don’t look too closely.

A bit like a meal of leftovers, it’s all hashed together, but tastes good! I was in two minds about how to rate it, but in the end enjoyed it enough to bump it up from ordinary to good.

Note the Easter egg squirrel in the final episode, just before the credits :-)