I think at this point, either everyone born in Asia has already watched this show or they will watch it at some point in their life! Watching this show is basically a rite of passage! An absolutely iconic classic, this show has started whole terminology and lifestyles. "Be like Oshin!" is a real threat and advice.
So how do you rate a show which is more than the sum of its part, that has had generations of people grow up watching it that that they will swear by Oshin, she is like...your long lost impressive rich aunt that everyone in the family loves and will kill for.
Fun fact: did you know Japan intentionally exported this show to help reinvent its image after their imperialist ambitious came to an end?! Kind of puts a damper on the enjoyment of the show if you think of it as an intentional propaganda drama....so let's not! lmao! Oshin is too iconic to mess with and also the show is not at all in favor of the government so I don't see why I would punish it for the crimes of others.
The most impressive thing about this show is Oshin, herself. This character is insane. You will only get it once you finish watching this and try watching the other dramas of the same production company which are more or less imitating this show and you will realize that it wasn't because Japan is just unnaturally good at historical storytelling. Oshin is just iconic on her lonesome. This woman is beyond impressive. Her character is so meticulously designed and written that she genuinely feels like a real person but also so unnaturally perfect. She's like a real life version of a mythical creature! The second most impressive thing about this drama is how well it holds up almost 60 years later! The show just looks good. It doesn't look as perfect as modern drama, obviously but it is so well-made and it spans such a long and impressive era of time that you can't help but be impressed with what they pulled off. Shoutout to the make up artists who aged the characters, especially Oshin's mom because WTF??! Those make ups looked way too real! I still gotta laugh at how they probably hired a 45 year old man as a 20 yo just so they could keep the same actor for the next 60 years of plot! That was perhaps the most offensive act of the production team. lol
The plot...is infuriating. I have never felt such violent emotions towards a farmer, a feudal's wife, a fabric selling merchant, and a child...though the child in question is already a grown up man at this point... these characters, these situations are so unfair, irritating and just...so upsetting(?) that you will basically hate every character but Oshin. Gosh, they sure knew how to rage bait back in the day. We might be living in a hell where hit tweets by @fartsforlife are giving you migraine spirals but people in the 80s were getting those exact same headaches thanks to that devil-spawn mother-in-law of Oshin. So I guess that's how generations connect.
Just go watch this show. You will understand so many more Asian conversations once you know who Oshin is and why she is so beloved.