Title: Slow Train / スロウトレイン
Rating: 8 / 10
Recommended for:
Those who want to watch a heartwarming story about life and families and/or are fans of the cast and the scriptwriter Nogi Akiko
Liked:
- As if to coincide with the title, the pace of the story may be a tad slow at first as the groundwork was laid to introduce the key characters and their life situations. However, things picked up considerably in the second hour as the signature style of Nogi became more apparent - talking about life and social issues but not in a preachy or overly heavy manner. It left enough room for viewers to ponder over the points raised and form their own opinions about these topics including the meaning of loneliness, family, love and feeling lost about where we are headed in life. Coupled with the light-toned dialogue and great chemistry among the cast members, it made this drama quite palatable and suitable to be watched at the start of a new year.
- The cast lineup was pretty impressive with most of them being leading men and women-level. I especially liked the three siblings played by Matsu Takako, Tabe Mikako and Matsuzaka Toori who had such great chemistry and it was heartwarming to see their characters' interactions and siblings' love play out naturally on screen. Even guest appearances were fronted by big names like Iura Arata who managed to work their magic despite having just a couple of scenes.
- The scenery along the Enoden railway line and sights from Kamakura were so nice to look at and personally felt nostalgic to me as it has been many years since I last visited the area.
Disliked:
- Frankly speaking, I thought that the link between Kamakura and Busan was rather weak. Although the Haeundae Beach Train was included as a similarity with Enoden, the vibes of both cities felt quite different, at least to me. While I understood that the inclusion of Busan in the story was to show Miyako's resolve in starting a new life and how she had moved out of her comfort zone in a drastic manner, it still didn't quite convince me that Kamakura and Busan were similar in any way. Makes me wonder if the inclusion of Korean elements in the story was partly due to the co-production deal between TBS and CJ ENM. Perhaps Sokcho might be a better choice to draw parallels with Kamakura but I guess it's probably not as well-known to Japanese viewers compared to Busan.
- Although Tabe was acting as Matsuzaka's elder sister, it bugged me a bit because in actual fact, he is one year older than her (strictly speaking, just 4 months+ apart) and looks more mature in comparison due to her babyface.
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