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Actions speak louder than words.
Objectively a great show, this show falls short of a 10-star review because 1) That's for shows I actually loved and enjoyed every moment of and 2) The storytelling falls short of delivering the proper emotions at parts.
I also feel very conflicted about whether I should recommend this or not. The thing is the production level of this is amazing. The cinematography, set design, lighting, make-up, clothes, directing, and acting are on par with the best of the best, I believe. It's a naturalist style, to a fault! Every character, situation, and interaction feels, painfully, like it was plucked from a real moment. And from episodes 1 to 6, I loved that world so much, that I wanted to open the screen and crawl into it and live in the characters' lives. The show just makes Japan look lovable!...and then episode 7 happens.
For the record, I don't think the show is "ruined". They didn't "mess up". The plot works. The doomed, terrible fallout is logical and expected. It's just that that moment feels like a balloon has burst and suddenly the rose-colored glasses are off and you see the grimy, messed gore of the show's underbelly. Nothing in life is that clean, easy, and straightforward forward, and as a show that feels more like a documentary in its realism than a scripted scenario, it was bound to fall apart as magnificently as it did. But just because it's logical and true to style, doesn't mean I enjoyed sitting through it. This was so upsetting. Maybe because it felt so real, it hurt more than your average drama. It was devastating and I felt so much distress during the final hours of the show. So how can I just consider the technical part when the emotional part was so scarring and dissatisfying?
Summary: The story follows three friends. Meiko, a girl with a hardened heart but a deep fear of abandonment, Makki who is the poster child for a manic pixie dream boy but who is actually hiding his fear of being left behind under a sunny personality so people around him don't feel burdened by his sadness and won't leave him, and Eiji a spineless but kind university student who I would like the punch very very hard in his soft face but that's not related to the plot. Meiko has sworn off relationships, and Eiji has recently discovered he's gay. He falls for the INAPPROPRIATELY younger Makki and Meiko who is lowkey 100% also in love with Makki just sort of settles for supporting them and hangs around like a really lovely third wheel. Things fall apart later. Of course they would...ugh!
Plot: I could probably write a whole essay on this show's plot. It's low-key brilliant but it's also so frustrating. So you end up wanting to acknowledge how brilliant it was but being too pissed off by everything that goes down to be able to appreciate its greatness. That's why you would see a lot of reviews either praise what a great show it was but avoid talking about the details or people ranting angrily at how much they hated this and rating it suspiciously low. I'm here to tell you both are valid reactions. I also feel like throwing the metaphorical show out of the window from frustration but also give the crew a standing ovation. Frankly, I'm only just leaning towards praise because I didn't like Eiji's character much and liked the fourth (mysteriously kept out of my summary) main character who shows up way too late into this show. Now if I wanna get real deep into it, this is how I would review the plot. There are two issues with the plot:
1) The core of this story lies in the name of the show: More than words. In order to understand the plot, the characters, their motivations, and their ridiculous choices, you need to pay attention not to what the characters say with their words but what they say with their actions. Characters say they want something but don't really mean it. Others say they don't want someone but actually do. Other characters just don't say much but show their feelings with their actions and ultimately the tragedy of this story comes from the fact that even the characters miss each other's silent pleas. It's beautiful but also...it wasn't totally well delivered? Some bits of the editing work to the detriment of the plot. They manage to trivialize certain dynamics or underplay the importance of certain connections to the point that until the end, I'm still not sure who feels what and how much. And not knowing this, affects how you see these characters. This works especially against the relationship between Eiji and Makki which in addition to having a very imbalanced power dynamic, also suffers from the fact that I could never be totally sure just how committed one was to the other. Meiko is our POV character for most of the show and she herself knows there's a deep part of Makki and Eiji's relationship that she can never gain access to (and she desperately wishes to insert herself into it! Gosh!) But because of this, it just feels like Eiji and Makki are really good friends who are randomly living in the same house! Now, in retrospect, this may have also been due to an unreliable narrative situation involving Meiko's perspective of things (and how she wanted to make it SEEM less deep than it was due to personal...guilt) because, in the last 3 episodes of the show, you get ALL that when Makki is the POV character, lol (and honestly? that's when I started to feel nauseated watching this because a 16yo should never date a 22yo because that clearly fcked up his perception of intimacy and it was just painful to watch during those last few episodes AAAAA) Anyway, I'm getting off track but what I'm trying to say is, I could never trust Eiji's feelings, not the whole time throughout the show and he just irks me, that creepy mf.
2) The second arc is too short. So turns out, this show is an adaptation of a manga called "More than Words" and a partial adaptation of another manga called "In the Apartment". With MTW being the prequel to the main story of ITA. Unfortunately, though, this show is 80% More Than Words and only includes one arc of In The Apartment. Mainly because that's when the narrative set up in MTW reaches its conclusion and this being more focused on MTW, they probably added the extra episodes for clarity. But, In the Apartment is a nice story too! It's not as raw or lovable as MTW, but MTW was actually a mirage so that's why it was too good to be true, anyway. ITA is more realistic in its gloominess but less so in its characterizations because we only get a very very summarised glimpse of it. To be honest, I would have loved it if this show had 3 or 4 more episodes so that we could see Makki's character recover a bit from the messed up indoctrination that his former relationship left on him. He was so flawed and beaten down by the end, I wanted to just sit and cry for the kid.
I also have to talk about the characterizations because, despite her selfishness and bad choices, I really liked Meiko's character too. All the characters are so flawed but so well-written. Even though I want to sucker punch Eiji, I still appreciate his characterization. It's so brilliant. And of course, I feel deeply sorry for Makki because we just don't see enough of his interiority but what little we glimpse of him through the eyes of others is so intriguing and interesting. And that brings me to the next point:
Acting: The acting in this show is wonderful! Usually for me, Japanese dramas are a hit or miss as frequently they have this cartoonish, cutesy, over-the-top acting that I just hate. I simply hate it. There was none of that here. Maybe, some background characters had a bit of that but the main cast was so good, so natural, so level-headed, and so realistically awkward in their performances that I just can't praise them enough. Such a wonderful cast. I love them. They made the characters FEEL complex, like real humans.
Production and music: I already said how wonderful the production is. I will just add that the credits are so beautiful too. So smart. Also, the music on this show is amazing. This is how you score a show! SK and China please take notes...please! I am begging!
Rewatch: Hell, no.
Negatives: There is a freaking minor/adult relationship in this show. It's never properly addressed as being weird and I know, it's not legally wrong in Japan since I think the age of consent is 13?! But still. How do I say this... this must be how the relationship is in the show because the show may not say it but as you watch, you can literally see the bad education and emotional scarring that such a relationship left on the minor. The show doesn't mention it but it's there! Right there! Especially if you have seen this in real life, you will know the signs and they are there and it's heartbreaking. I just wish we got more of the show so we could see more of that aftermath and maybe some form of recovery because no minor deserves to be taken advantage of like that and then just be left to fend for themselves. (now if you'll excuse me I'll go cry)
Overall: I don't know if I should recommend this. I would have recommended it if I'd written this while watching episode 5 but...I've seen all 10 and while I know it's a good show, the lingering emotions I feel after watching this are not what I would like to share with you all. Dive in at your own risk!
I also feel very conflicted about whether I should recommend this or not. The thing is the production level of this is amazing. The cinematography, set design, lighting, make-up, clothes, directing, and acting are on par with the best of the best, I believe. It's a naturalist style, to a fault! Every character, situation, and interaction feels, painfully, like it was plucked from a real moment. And from episodes 1 to 6, I loved that world so much, that I wanted to open the screen and crawl into it and live in the characters' lives. The show just makes Japan look lovable!...and then episode 7 happens.
For the record, I don't think the show is "ruined". They didn't "mess up". The plot works. The doomed, terrible fallout is logical and expected. It's just that that moment feels like a balloon has burst and suddenly the rose-colored glasses are off and you see the grimy, messed gore of the show's underbelly. Nothing in life is that clean, easy, and straightforward forward, and as a show that feels more like a documentary in its realism than a scripted scenario, it was bound to fall apart as magnificently as it did. But just because it's logical and true to style, doesn't mean I enjoyed sitting through it. This was so upsetting. Maybe because it felt so real, it hurt more than your average drama. It was devastating and I felt so much distress during the final hours of the show. So how can I just consider the technical part when the emotional part was so scarring and dissatisfying?
Summary: The story follows three friends. Meiko, a girl with a hardened heart but a deep fear of abandonment, Makki who is the poster child for a manic pixie dream boy but who is actually hiding his fear of being left behind under a sunny personality so people around him don't feel burdened by his sadness and won't leave him, and Eiji a spineless but kind university student who I would like the punch very very hard in his soft face but that's not related to the plot. Meiko has sworn off relationships, and Eiji has recently discovered he's gay. He falls for the INAPPROPRIATELY younger Makki and Meiko who is lowkey 100% also in love with Makki just sort of settles for supporting them and hangs around like a really lovely third wheel. Things fall apart later. Of course they would...ugh!
Plot: I could probably write a whole essay on this show's plot. It's low-key brilliant but it's also so frustrating. So you end up wanting to acknowledge how brilliant it was but being too pissed off by everything that goes down to be able to appreciate its greatness. That's why you would see a lot of reviews either praise what a great show it was but avoid talking about the details or people ranting angrily at how much they hated this and rating it suspiciously low. I'm here to tell you both are valid reactions. I also feel like throwing the metaphorical show out of the window from frustration but also give the crew a standing ovation. Frankly, I'm only just leaning towards praise because I didn't like Eiji's character much and liked the fourth (mysteriously kept out of my summary) main character who shows up way too late into this show. Now if I wanna get real deep into it, this is how I would review the plot. There are two issues with the plot:
1) The core of this story lies in the name of the show: More than words. In order to understand the plot, the characters, their motivations, and their ridiculous choices, you need to pay attention not to what the characters say with their words but what they say with their actions. Characters say they want something but don't really mean it. Others say they don't want someone but actually do. Other characters just don't say much but show their feelings with their actions and ultimately the tragedy of this story comes from the fact that even the characters miss each other's silent pleas. It's beautiful but also...it wasn't totally well delivered? Some bits of the editing work to the detriment of the plot. They manage to trivialize certain dynamics or underplay the importance of certain connections to the point that until the end, I'm still not sure who feels what and how much. And not knowing this, affects how you see these characters. This works especially against the relationship between Eiji and Makki which in addition to having a very imbalanced power dynamic, also suffers from the fact that I could never be totally sure just how committed one was to the other. Meiko is our POV character for most of the show and she herself knows there's a deep part of Makki and Eiji's relationship that she can never gain access to (and she desperately wishes to insert herself into it! Gosh!) But because of this, it just feels like Eiji and Makki are really good friends who are randomly living in the same house! Now, in retrospect, this may have also been due to an unreliable narrative situation involving Meiko's perspective of things (and how she wanted to make it SEEM less deep than it was due to personal...guilt) because, in the last 3 episodes of the show, you get ALL that when Makki is the POV character, lol (and honestly? that's when I started to feel nauseated watching this because a 16yo should never date a 22yo because that clearly fcked up his perception of intimacy and it was just painful to watch during those last few episodes AAAAA) Anyway, I'm getting off track but what I'm trying to say is, I could never trust Eiji's feelings, not the whole time throughout the show and he just irks me, that creepy mf.
2) The second arc is too short. So turns out, this show is an adaptation of a manga called "More than Words" and a partial adaptation of another manga called "In the Apartment". With MTW being the prequel to the main story of ITA. Unfortunately, though, this show is 80% More Than Words and only includes one arc of In The Apartment. Mainly because that's when the narrative set up in MTW reaches its conclusion and this being more focused on MTW, they probably added the extra episodes for clarity. But, In the Apartment is a nice story too! It's not as raw or lovable as MTW, but MTW was actually a mirage so that's why it was too good to be true, anyway. ITA is more realistic in its gloominess but less so in its characterizations because we only get a very very summarised glimpse of it. To be honest, I would have loved it if this show had 3 or 4 more episodes so that we could see Makki's character recover a bit from the messed up indoctrination that his former relationship left on him. He was so flawed and beaten down by the end, I wanted to just sit and cry for the kid.
I also have to talk about the characterizations because, despite her selfishness and bad choices, I really liked Meiko's character too. All the characters are so flawed but so well-written. Even though I want to sucker punch Eiji, I still appreciate his characterization. It's so brilliant. And of course, I feel deeply sorry for Makki because we just don't see enough of his interiority but what little we glimpse of him through the eyes of others is so intriguing and interesting. And that brings me to the next point:
Acting: The acting in this show is wonderful! Usually for me, Japanese dramas are a hit or miss as frequently they have this cartoonish, cutesy, over-the-top acting that I just hate. I simply hate it. There was none of that here. Maybe, some background characters had a bit of that but the main cast was so good, so natural, so level-headed, and so realistically awkward in their performances that I just can't praise them enough. Such a wonderful cast. I love them. They made the characters FEEL complex, like real humans.
Production and music: I already said how wonderful the production is. I will just add that the credits are so beautiful too. So smart. Also, the music on this show is amazing. This is how you score a show! SK and China please take notes...please! I am begging!
Rewatch: Hell, no.
Negatives: There is a freaking minor/adult relationship in this show. It's never properly addressed as being weird and I know, it's not legally wrong in Japan since I think the age of consent is 13?! But still. How do I say this... this must be how the relationship is in the show because the show may not say it but as you watch, you can literally see the bad education and emotional scarring that such a relationship left on the minor. The show doesn't mention it but it's there! Right there! Especially if you have seen this in real life, you will know the signs and they are there and it's heartbreaking. I just wish we got more of the show so we could see more of that aftermath and maybe some form of recovery because no minor deserves to be taken advantage of like that and then just be left to fend for themselves. (now if you'll excuse me I'll go cry)
Overall: I don't know if I should recommend this. I would have recommended it if I'd written this while watching episode 5 but...I've seen all 10 and while I know it's a good show, the lingering emotions I feel after watching this are not what I would like to share with you all. Dive in at your own risk!
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