Quick Review #44: Subete wasurete shimau kara - Summer 2022

Title: Subete wasurete shimau kara / すべて忘れてしまうから

Rating: 3 /10 

Recommended for: 

NA (I think this drama will be quite polarising in terms of viewer response - either you love it or cannot stand it. That is why I struggle to find a reason as a recommendation.)

Liked:

- Personally, Ep 9 was the highlight of the entire series. I liked how it illustrated the message of how time and tide wait for none through the relationship of M and F changing in the 6 months they were apart and how F had changed as a result of her desire to change her life. While things may look like they are still the same, nothing actually remains as a constant and shouldn't be taken for granted.

- Abe Hiroshi and Ono Machiko along with some of the supporting cast members did well in their own ways but it would have been much better if the story turned out to be more compelling. There are also some unexpected cameos to look out for.

Disliked: 

- I actually dropped this once after watching 4 episodes and only resumed finishing the rest of the episodes recently (albeit at a faster speed). There were two reasons for my lack of enthusiasm - the pace was so slow and I wasn't seeing where the story was heading. The title seemed to suggest that the journey of M trying to find out where F had gone and why she had disappeared would be a process of helping him to remember the things he forgot in life. However, it was till the end that I felt - actually, M's discoveries about F hardly filled in the pieces as to why she took off suddenly without a word. As such, it would probably take a lot of patience for viewers to sit through this if they want to find answers about the relationship between M and F or know more about M and his past. And because things were so draggy (if you want to put it nicely, it's relaxing and laidback), I think you need to be in a certain mood or state of mind to be able to enjoy this. I guess I wasn't so I felt quite annoyed at the drama.

Since the drama is based on an essay series, perhaps the less-structured way of storytelling could be the reason why I felt that the drama was going on a wild goose chase. Just like how M really didn't seem to know his girlfriend well at all.

*Now available on Disney+