Ashura no Gotoku Review

Drama: Ashura no Gotoku

Japanese: 阿修羅のごとく

Writer: Koreeda Hirokazu

Network: Netflix

Duration: 55 min.

Actors: Miyazawa Rie, Ono Machiko, Aoi Yu, Hirose Suzu

The latest Hirokazu Koreeda collaboration with Netflix is an adaptation based on the classic Japanese drama of the same name, Ashura no Gotoku. I haven’t seen the original work so I can’t compare but from what we know both have 7 episodes so this could be a 1 to 1 adaptation. "Is it really happiness for women like us to live without making waves?" This is the quote that has been revisited throughout the entire drama. The theme of patriarchal culture in Japan is a theme that has been used in many Japanese movies. It is almost as known as Godzilla or Classic samurai films like almost everybody already knows it. The setting is 1979 Koreeda didn’t change or modernize it. It could probably be his commentary saying that even decades have passed, Japan may have progressed a bit but it still remains as patriarchal society as ever.

Love this drama’s opening 4 women staring on screen throwing something at their men. It’s powerful, breaking the fourth wall moment with Ozu influence framing, conveying its theme couldn't be more obvious than that. The eldest Tsunako, a widow, is a flower arranger followed by Makiko a housewife with two teenage children, then Takiko a librarian and the waitress Sakiko. The story starts when Takiko learns about his father's infidelity then arranges a family meeting to discuss it. They have different opinions on how to approach it, some wanted to confront their father and others just to ignore it and not let their mother know it. Makiko’s husband even says boys will be boys that they just need to accept.

The story became more messy when cheating was involved with the sisters' relationship as well. The eldest sister Tsunako is a mistress, Makiko discovers a potential cheating from her husband, Sakiko’s boxer boyfriend is cheating too. I admit the infidelity was a bit too much like almost all characters are cheating but at least the characters are not caricatures they are three dimensional characters. All of them have depth, especially the sisters. They are unique and their relationship with each other is very realistic. There is similarity between Tsunako and their Dad, Makiko is similar to their Mom and Takiko and Sakiko are fighting like your typical younger siblings. It is quite possibly the most character driven among all of Koreeda’s work and it may be because of the amount of time spent to explore each character, 7 episodes to be exact and some episodes even exceed an hour.

Koreeda is a director that has been compared to the legendary director Yasujiro Ozu a lot and the inspiration is very obvious here. Top notched cinematography like what you will expect in any of his movies. Color grading and the symbolism is some of his best to date. The dialogue is very thought provoking, the vibe is very similar to Still Walking and My Little Sister. I definitely see myself rewatching a couple of scenes in the future. The acting is terrific but that’s to be expected there are no Koreeda films where acting is bad. Well top actors in Japan are dying to work with him anyway so he only works with quality. I mean look at the cast Miyazawa Rie, Ono Machiko, Aoi Yu, Suzu Hirose even supporting cast Kunimura Jun, Ryuhei Matsuda, Motoki Masahiro or even semi supporting cast like Matsuzaka Keiko, Natsukawa Yui and Uchino Seiyou with Koreeda’s writing it is almost impossible that the film would suck.

Koreeda is a feminist director and it is very obvious here. He masterfully highlights the plight of these women that represents women at that time or even modern times. Women having few career opportunities, society's view on women compared to men when it comes to infidelity, women having problems getting married past their 30s etc. Having said that, is it among Koreeda’s best work? No. I wouldn’t even put it among his top 10 but nonetheless it is a very good tv series.