Quick Review #106: Tokyo Sarada Bouru - Winter 2025

Title: Tokyo Sarada Bouru / 東京サラダボウル

Rating: 8.5 / 10

Recommended for: 

Those who are keen on a crime suspense story related to issues surrounding foreigner integration and prejudice in Japanese society and/or are fans of Nao and Matsuda Ryuuhei

* Disclaimer: I have not read the original manga.

* Potential spoilers ahead!

Liked:

- This drama was unexpectedly very upfront and frank about the issues pertaining to foreigner integration and prejudice in Japan which is a largely homogenous society. Especially since this drama was made by the national broadcaster and issues about foreigners can be quite sensitive and touchy, I was surprised by how these things supposedly taboo so far that were brought up for discussion in the story. One of the lines which left a huge impression on me was when one interpreter said that you don't have to love/like the foreigners around you but you have to realise and accept that these foreigners have helped to sustain the modern Japanese society in many ways which you cannot imagine or haven't realised or choose to ignore. As the world becomes more mixed like a salad bowl, the topics raised in this story are definitely food for thought for everyone regardless where you come from and whether you are in your home country surrounded by foreigners or a foreigner in another country.

One good thing was that the story didn't try to be overly dramatic and underlying emotions were conveyed in a relatively subtle manner. As such, it didn't feel too heavy and had the right amount of drama without feeling like a strictly-business suspense story. The downside to this was that you probably have to pay close attention to the story as some answers to questions were hinted at or went by in a fleeting moment e.g. why Kouda Mari's hair and clothes most of the time were in green and the significance of this colour to her.

- I liked the story's focus on interpreters and how communication can be facilitated or hindered due to the different languages we speak and whether there are interpreters to break down the barriers in communication. While I cannot comment on the quality of the interpretation of languages which I do not understand, I thought that the English (Sekiguchi Mandy) and Chinese interpreters were quite decent. 

In Matsuda Ryuuhei's case, I remember reading an interview that he did not know Chinese at all and had to learn from scratch to speak his lines. However, he sounded pretty natural 80% of the time so that's a reflection of how much his hard work had paid off. It's just that when he was speaking multiple lines or long lines at one go, the intonation tends to drift a bit and in Chinese, once the tone differs, the words can come across quite differently. On the other hand, Mikami Hiroshi's diction and intonation was quite spot-on so I could understand him a bit better in comparison. It probably also helped that he had lesser lines than Matsuda.

- Nao delivered a great performance as Kouda Mari, not just in terms of her green hair which was very eye-catching but also how she managed to convey the emotions of her character beneath that cheery facade. Her chemistry with Matsuda Ryuuhei was such a joy to watch especially in the later episodes when they bared their souls to each other and shared their traumas and painful pasts. Likewise for Matsuda, I think this was the first time I saw him looking pretty "normal" and suave because many of his characters I saw to date were either nerdy or on the eccentric side. While he maintained a straight face most of the time, I liked how he handled Arikino's emotional scenes and when he appeared vulnerable in front of Kouda.

Another surprise this time was Mikami Hiroshi who I had not seen on screen for a long time. While he may not have appeared a lot in this drama, his screen presence and suitability for his role Agawa was certainly impressive.

Disliked: 

- Frankly speaking, I didn't think that the suspense element of this drama was strong and the cases featured were somewhat straightforward. Other than the central theme of seeking out "Volunteer" and finding out the truth behind Oda's demise, there really wasn't much going on in the individual cases. As such, it can feel somewhat underwhelming for those who are in this for the suspense since the drama was more skewed towards the humanity side of things.