優しい時間 ▫️2005 ▫️Episodes

I remember watching this drama nearly 20 years ago and it leaving a favorable impression. The atmosphere is poured on thick, coated in the gorgeous fall and winter scenes of Hokkaido. I think this show is the reason I always wanted to visit Northern Japan (though I have yet to make it there). The romanticism wrapped up in Nino’s character being a pottery apprentice in a secluded art studio also pulled me in. I will say that on a second viewing, I was surprised by how dark and intense certain aspects of this show were. Almost every episode discusses death and/or suicide. Overall I appreciate them addressing these difficult topics, but I do think sometimes the execution could have been better.

The painful family story kept me interested; Nino and his father split ways after Nino (accidentally) kills his mother in a car crash. This is a story where you are shown different perspectives and therefore get a chance to support and give compassion to each character. I definitely didn’t have as much sympathy for the father even though he did lose his wife, even if it’s the case that we can all do questionable things when struggling with grief. I personally believe the father should have taken more responsibility in this situation and basically abandoning your son is unacceptable. I suppose over time after making that decision when you are at your worst, it would get harder to have humility and try to make amends. This plays into one recurring theme I genuinely appreciated in the show: overcoming the worst parts of ourselves to connect to a deeper, more compassionate and loving experience.

Although the main driving story is hoping for the reunion of father and son, each episode also addresses a side character and there is a love story the whole show happening between Nino and Masami. I’m sure many of you are aware of the rumors that Nino and Masami dated in real life for years after meeting on this drama, so that can make these characters’ love story a bit more tantalizing. That being said, the writing for this love story was kind of disappointing and fell flat for me. There is definitely tension and some cute moments, but I mostly just felt the characters didn’t behave naturally. If I consider their behavior in isolation, I can see how it may have been realistic–Nino is cut off from his emotions and Masami is depressed and codependent, along with having low self-esteem. But while watching it play out during the episodes I just felt something was off. Nino’s character was kind of the worst person for Masami to fall for in this moment!

During the last half of this show I was mostly waiting for it to be over. The scenery and atmosphere were enjoyable through-out, along with Nino of course. But the story lines mostly lost me and I started to feel cynical toward the show in general. The ultimate resolution of the father and son was definitely moving, but even in that moment I wasn’t as touched as I had anticipated. Sometimes in shows when they make you wait for something until the last episode it almost feels manipulative — we have 11 eps booked so instead of making a more creative story let’s use the anticipation of the main event to keep viewers engaged! There was just something draining about this show that rubbed me the wrong way.

Surprisingly, though, even after a second viewing I have an overall favorable impression. Nino gave an excellent performance as the earnest and regretful son in addition to his cool artist persona. The rest of the cast was solid as well, but you can only do so much with your acting when the script is questionable. I think the show is still worth watching because of the atmosphere and the fact that it addresses topics that are important and difficult. I’m not sure how I would have improved the disappointing aspects–maybe give the characters more depth and leave out the overly dramatic scenes. The show mostly had a reflective and slow-paced ambience so sometimes the exaggerated scenes pulled me out of that in an unpleasant way. I don’t think it needed the extra drama, it would be better suited for the quiet falling snow and slow growth of the characters. The best part of the show is probably the theme song/soundtrack and the cafe itself, which I would love to visit someday if I can.