少年たち ▫️1999 ▫️Episodes

This is an NHK drama and due to the topic I figured it would pretty slow. I can’t say my assumption was wrong. There are a few things I can appreciate about the show, though, specifically the overall message. The focus is on several troubled youths that for one reason or another have ended up in juvenile detention. The lead character, Hajime (who has a trouble past of his own), puts his full faith into the children while acting as their investigator in family court. He holds onto hope for their revitalization despite everyone around him condemning his approach.

In the past I have studied mediation and the focus is on carefully listening to the clients and meeting them where they are. I feel in the real world a lot of the time people caught in the legal system are viewed so narrowly through laws and social standards that they don’t stand a chance at getting the support they need to address whatever led them to committing a crime in the first place. Even if it is idealized, I appreciated the approach of the lead character and how much compassion and love he gave to the young people who had been essentially abandoned by everyone else in their life and even the judicial system itself.

That being said, the show wasn’t very enjoyable to watch. I’m not sure why they felt the need to add the love story between the two main characters. I know it’s typical to do that whenever a man and woman are the leads but it didn’t really add much to this particular story. I also wish we could have delved a bit deeper into the main characters lore because I feel it is a big factor in why he approached his clients the way he did. The show would have been stronger if it had focused more on the intentional messaging around juvenile delinquents and less on creating some stereotypical plot points.

Aiba’s character in the show is fine, he’s rebellious but mostly just got mixed up with the wrong crew. There is also a very young Yamapi, I think it was his first role. I liked the variety of characters but for some reason I didn’t feel very connected to any of them so there wasn’t much of an impression left after the show ended. The story is emotional but the world building ends up shallow.

This show kind of felt like a waste of my time in terms of it’s “ARASHI-NESS”. I don’t mind watching one of their shows that they have minor roles in if it’s good but there seem to be a few that I probably could have skipped. If you are a super Aiba or Yamapi fan then I’d say check this out, otherwise you’re not missing much.