Ima Koko ni Aru Kiki to Boku no Kokando ni Tsuite

This was titled "How To Be Likeable in a Crisis" I had no idea what this was about, but I trust that my PBS station is usually right in their programming choices (there have been a few less than stellar series, but only a small percentage). The title was intriguing so I recorded the 5 episodes shown one after the other. I was impressed. The very dark humor highlights the real social and ethical commentary at the heart of this series. The writing is excellent, the cinematography very clear, and the cleverly-composed cheerfulness of the music added an often hilarious counterpoint to the action. But is the acting that makes this so watchable, even for a Western audience. The main character is played by a young man with a real depth to his performance: I was never in doubt that this was a real person he played. I expect if I knew more about current Japanese television and cinema, I would recognize the actors playing the older characters. In the English introduction it is implied that they are well-known actors. If you have a chance, watch this.

The drama focuses on a TV commentator who is hired as a PR specialist for a prestigious university. The personality of that man is very shallow. He wants to avoid difficulties and live an easy, comfortable life and his strategy to do so is to never say anything really. He always stays vague or talks about something else.

Yet he not a completely despicable person. No one is depicted as a monster, but the system itself is criticized harshly. There is a lot of intelligent social commentary on university and media in Japan. But I am sure that most of the problems are the same anywhere else in the world.

On top, the actors are really great and the cinematography is also very good, which is rare for Japanese drama.