J-drama recap/review: Rhythm episode 1
Jul. 5th, 2023 05:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alchemicinkI checked out the first episode of new late-night Japanese drama, Rhythm, because it's Okamoto Keito's first starring role. I just couldn't miss that opportunity!!
(For some background, Keito is a former member of Hey Say Jump. After years of mostly being stuck in the shadows in his group, he went and earned an acting degree at an American university, and ultimately chose to leave the group to pursue acting full-time, instead of having to split time with concerts and variety shows, etc. So anyway, he's done several stage plays and musicals since, but this is his first, well-overdue drama as the lead!)
This is going to be mostly just a brief summary of episode one and just some of my thoughts on it. My Japanese skills are still too rusty that I don't understand everything, but I can follow along with all the major plot points at least. Spoilers ahead (though I don't think anyone reading this will watch the episode too 😅) and a few images under the cut.
So the story is about Maijou Suguru (portrayed by Keito), an office worker who's having some problems in his marriage. He's pretty devoted to his wife, like taking care to fix meals and buying her concert tickets, but she seems very uninterested in him at the moment.
Walking home one day, he passes by a dance studio and decides to sign up for classes. (He's reminded of earlier days with his wife when they'd listen to her favorite band and dance a little.) The dance teacher, Kagami, talks about dance being a kind of language, and Maijou (or Mai-chan, as she calls him) is intrigued.
As he continues, he makes friends with an older guy in the class (also a new student). He starts having fun learning, and there's a cute montage of him dancing around the house and on his commute.
His wife catches him when he was supposed to be cleaning for guests, and he feels bad about upsetting her and considers quitting lessons. But when he goes to grab something he left at the studio, he watches one of the girls dance, and he's moved by the expressiveness. (The girl is a sulky teen named Megumi who's only cleaned the studio in previous scenes and didn't want to dance with them.)
Maijou decides to continue lessons. At their next class, Kagami announces they'll all join a group dance competition. They're excited but one member short, so Sulky Teen Megumi is recruited to join, much to her dismay.
And that's where episode one ends!
My initial thoughts on the show after episode one is that it reminds me of "Shall We Dance?" which also features a guy with marital problems suddenly taking dance lessons. (BTW, I totally recommend the original Japanese version of this movie over the American remake.) But despite its similarities in premise, I hope this drama diverges to tell a different story. We shall see!
Things I didn't really like in this episode: we really don't get much of the wife's point of view, so I don't really understand yet what the root of their problems are. I'll be disappointed if the series keeps things only in Maijou's pov. He's the protagonist, of course, but I want to understand them both. And I'm curious if he's at fault for any of their issues too.
Things I really enjoyed in this episode: the flashback of Maijou and his wife when they were still students sharing headphones together (super cute); the dance practice montage of Maijou around the apartment (Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop This Feeling" was an apt choice); how optimistic and positive Kagami is (it's a good vibe); the Old Guy's choice of wardrobe for the first class (very "how do you do fellow kids"); and an Earth Wind and Fire song over the credits!
Overall, this doesn't look like it'll be deep and thought-provoking entertainment, but it does seem like it'll be fun and uplifting. And that's what I'm personally looking for these days!
It's only a miniseries with four episodes, but I'm looking forward to seeing Keito show off his acting and dancing skills. Maybe I'll bust a few moves myself while watching! (Or maybe not 😁)
(For some background, Keito is a former member of Hey Say Jump. After years of mostly being stuck in the shadows in his group, he went and earned an acting degree at an American university, and ultimately chose to leave the group to pursue acting full-time, instead of having to split time with concerts and variety shows, etc. So anyway, he's done several stage plays and musicals since, but this is his first, well-overdue drama as the lead!)
This is going to be mostly just a brief summary of episode one and just some of my thoughts on it. My Japanese skills are still too rusty that I don't understand everything, but I can follow along with all the major plot points at least. Spoilers ahead (though I don't think anyone reading this will watch the episode too 😅) and a few images under the cut.
So the story is about Maijou Suguru (portrayed by Keito), an office worker who's having some problems in his marriage. He's pretty devoted to his wife, like taking care to fix meals and buying her concert tickets, but she seems very uninterested in him at the moment.
Walking home one day, he passes by a dance studio and decides to sign up for classes. (He's reminded of earlier days with his wife when they'd listen to her favorite band and dance a little.) The dance teacher, Kagami, talks about dance being a kind of language, and Maijou (or Mai-chan, as she calls him) is intrigued.
As he continues, he makes friends with an older guy in the class (also a new student). He starts having fun learning, and there's a cute montage of him dancing around the house and on his commute.
His wife catches him when he was supposed to be cleaning for guests, and he feels bad about upsetting her and considers quitting lessons. But when he goes to grab something he left at the studio, he watches one of the girls dance, and he's moved by the expressiveness. (The girl is a sulky teen named Megumi who's only cleaned the studio in previous scenes and didn't want to dance with them.)
Maijou decides to continue lessons. At their next class, Kagami announces they'll all join a group dance competition. They're excited but one member short, so Sulky Teen Megumi is recruited to join, much to her dismay.
And that's where episode one ends!
My initial thoughts on the show after episode one is that it reminds me of "Shall We Dance?" which also features a guy with marital problems suddenly taking dance lessons. (BTW, I totally recommend the original Japanese version of this movie over the American remake.) But despite its similarities in premise, I hope this drama diverges to tell a different story. We shall see!
Things I didn't really like in this episode: we really don't get much of the wife's point of view, so I don't really understand yet what the root of their problems are. I'll be disappointed if the series keeps things only in Maijou's pov. He's the protagonist, of course, but I want to understand them both. And I'm curious if he's at fault for any of their issues too.
Things I really enjoyed in this episode: the flashback of Maijou and his wife when they were still students sharing headphones together (super cute); the dance practice montage of Maijou around the apartment (Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop This Feeling" was an apt choice); how optimistic and positive Kagami is (it's a good vibe); the Old Guy's choice of wardrobe for the first class (very "how do you do fellow kids"); and an Earth Wind and Fire song over the credits!
Overall, this doesn't look like it'll be deep and thought-provoking entertainment, but it does seem like it'll be fun and uplifting. And that's what I'm personally looking for these days!
It's only a miniseries with four episodes, but I'm looking forward to seeing Keito show off his acting and dancing skills. Maybe I'll bust a few moves myself while watching! (Or maybe not 😁)
