The 1990s Tokyo backdrop and the fact that it is based on someone's memoirs make this show worth watching. Oh, and before I forget, I really like the opening credits! Otherwise, the characters are not very interesting (except for Sato and maybe the female boss at the newspaper) and there are lots of things that seem unnatural or unconvincing. I've only watched the first few episodes so far, I'll update my review if the show gets any better.
We learn very little about Jake's motivation related to the Japanese language and working in Japan as a crime reporter. He just happens to speak near-native Japanese (otherwise he would not have been hired as a journalist). Why is he drawn to this culture? What does he want to achieve? There are never any 'meta' conversations about his interest in the Japanese language or culture. He acts pretty much like a drifter, which cannot be true because of all the efforts required to be able to pull this off. The actor is too childish to be credible in this role, even considering that he is a 'gaijin', it is difficult to believe that police detectives and Yakuza leaders would take him seriously. I agree with the reviewer who mentions that it is not explained how he can afford to frequent expensive nightclubs and restaurants.
Samantha's character is not credible, either. She is too intellectual, too independent-minded and her Japanese is too fluent to imagine that she would work as a nightclub hostess. Okay, let's imagine she is motivated by the money, but why? We only learn that she wants to open her own club but what is her motivation?
I also dislike the way the show mixes Japanese and English conversation. If Jake speaks near-native Japanese, it would be more natural for everybody to speak Japanese all the time. Okay, they did not want to do this because it would have been too difficult for the actor to learn all those lines and I know that American viewers dislike reading subtitles. Then again, if we are supposed to feel that when they speak English they actually speak Japanese in real life, they might as well speak English all the time and you know, we would imagine... And finally, if we take the theory that the Japanese would want to practice English with him all the time, then the Japanese characters should speak English like an (Asian) non-native speaker would speak and not like a native speaker, with sophisticated vocabulary, no grammatical errors and perfect fluency, only with a Japanese accent. The conversation with the old Yakuza leader is a typical example for this discrepancy.
The joke about I Want it That Way is hilarious, if you get that far, you will understand!
We learn very little about Jake's motivation related to the Japanese language and working in Japan as a crime reporter. He just happens to speak near-native Japanese (otherwise he would not have been hired as a journalist). Why is he drawn to this culture? What does he want to achieve? There are never any 'meta' conversations about his interest in the Japanese language or culture. He acts pretty much like a drifter, which cannot be true because of all the efforts required to be able to pull this off. The actor is too childish to be credible in this role, even considering that he is a 'gaijin', it is difficult to believe that police detectives and Yakuza leaders would take him seriously. I agree with the reviewer who mentions that it is not explained how he can afford to frequent expensive nightclubs and restaurants.
Samantha's character is not credible, either. She is too intellectual, too independent-minded and her Japanese is too fluent to imagine that she would work as a nightclub hostess. Okay, let's imagine she is motivated by the money, but why? We only learn that she wants to open her own club but what is her motivation?
I also dislike the way the show mixes Japanese and English conversation. If Jake speaks near-native Japanese, it would be more natural for everybody to speak Japanese all the time. Okay, they did not want to do this because it would have been too difficult for the actor to learn all those lines and I know that American viewers dislike reading subtitles. Then again, if we are supposed to feel that when they speak English they actually speak Japanese in real life, they might as well speak English all the time and you know, we would imagine... And finally, if we take the theory that the Japanese would want to practice English with him all the time, then the Japanese characters should speak English like an (Asian) non-native speaker would speak and not like a native speaker, with sophisticated vocabulary, no grammatical errors and perfect fluency, only with a Japanese accent. The conversation with the old Yakuza leader is a typical example for this discrepancy.
The joke about I Want it That Way is hilarious, if you get that far, you will understand!