User reviews

Yes, it had to have the inept advisors like all the shows of this type.

And it had the questionable politicians and business leaders. That's a given.

But it stays the course and delivers an enjoyable ride of technical expertise and problem-solving. This is NOT the Japanese version of the show Chernobyl. That show was much more focused on government ineptitude. If I had to compare it to another show, I would compare it to the Tom Hanks movie Apollo 13. Lots of "make it work with what we have" and grit and determination.

Sure, the end is a bit soft and a tad anticlimactic. But that's a good thing. A climactic finish to a movie about a nuclear reactor would be...umm...bad. And a BANG!

Could be a bit tighter, but the comparisons to HBOs Chernobyl are a bit unfair.

This mini series takes a more documentary/historically accurate approach, with drama being secondary. Nothing wrong with that approach, with this series I felt like i was in the control room and on the ground with the responders. Sure there were times it dragged and at times they did not need to show ALL the failed attempts and ALL the repetative discussions, but it added to the authenticity.

It wasn't a clean/typical, "found the issue, ok we solved it, day is saved" story, it goes through the numerous theories/trials/surprises/let downs that would naturally occur in a situation such as this.

If it is taken as a hybrid documentary/drama, it works well. Take it as a drama or documentary by itself and it becomes either dry or too drawn out.

Solid 7/10.

There are many good moments in this series, capturing the panic, sacrifices and deliberations that followed the Fukushima disaster. The heroic actions of the team is in plain view, along with the emotional impact on each character.

But that's also part of the problem. By episode six, I was becoming distracted because it seemed that every conversation, every event, every calamity is burdened by long periods of the characters thinking and ruminating.

I see the point of depicting the life or death decisions resulting in an almost shock but the overuse of silences becomes an irritant.

Otherwise, worth a look.

So I remember watching this on the news and an element of worry surrounding the events but not in my wilderst dreams did I understand the severity of the situation. The series captures the days following the earthquake and tsunami in fukushima with regards the impending nuclear disaster. This is done in almost an hour by hour fashion adding to the suspense and breaking out the complexities surrounding the issues at hand. And how it turns ordinary power station workers into potential and actual heroes with a real sense of duty and honour in the most japanese of ways. The understated acting and what some people here are alluding to as 'wooden' is just the japanese cultural aspect of the series - the opposite of the american over the top drama we are used to seeing in HBO series but powerful and evocative all the same. The tension and the absolute gut wrenching nature of this disaster is more than conveyed and I was left thinking of it for long after I saw it. A cautionary tale brilliantly told. Go and watch this and try not to expect an american thriller and you won't be dissapointed.

I was fascinated with the idea of a view of the Fukushima nuclear disaster from the Japanese point of view. The event is presented from the views of the nuclear plant operators, management, the federal government and various agencies. Individual characters have some development, and you can see what they may have experienced. Unfortunately, each episode developed very slowly, and it was obvious to me that there wasn't enough material to really flesh-out 8 episodes. It's a shame because this was a monumental event in modern Japanese history. After three episodes, we started fast-forwarding and finally gave up in the fifth episode. Loved HBO's Chernobyl by contrast and I could see there is opportunity for a worthy dramatization of this disaster. I have seen documentaries, and it should be noted that this is still unfolding, and the environmental damage is on-going.

I was drawn into the seriousness of the situation that the series present. Many people say it is too long and boring, but for me, if you look to see what really happened on that day and see it from the eyes of those who had to deal with the situation, it is absolutely worth watching. I don't feel that the characters are wooden, it's just the way Japanese people are when they have to deal with such urgency. They obey the commands promptly. I think the cast did great job.

By the way, you don't have to watch the series all at once. So it's not going to be too long if you are interested to know the detail of what happened. For me, the series blew me away. I didn't even know that such an event happened and so many people had to come together to stop it from escalating to the worst. It's an interesting true story that we can learn from.

I suspect cultural differences make the Japanese style of acting a little bit unemotional and wooden . I binge watched 7 episodes but found it hard going and uneventful .

The interaction of officials and deferring to superiors to keep honour and face was interesting compared to western behaviour but really there wasn't enough action or events to keep interest levels up through 7 episodes . Seeing the evacuation of the towns and personal impact would have been better . One more episode remains . All a bit dull really and wooden acting makes Crossroads look dynamic and emotional . I give it a 6 but ultimately very disappointing .

I hope this is a very inaccurate depiction of the events. If this is even close, it's an absolute disgrace how the Japanese handled a life-threatening and extremely dangerous situation. Everyone cares more about saving face and not being potentially to blame for saying something that might be wrong than doing whatever they can to help and be straightforward. I sincerely hope this is not how it really went down and that Japanese professional culture is not this incredibly stupid. People, who act like they do on this show, should never ever in a million years be allowed to have nuclear technology of any kind. Absolutely shocking.

In the first place don't compare it to Chernobyl.

It wrong to compare it.

Chernobyl has it accident, but Fukushima suufers a huge nature disaster, a historic earthquake of magnitude 9 accompanied by Tsunamis that came not only once but countless times destroying cities...

I completely agree when they say that HBO's Chernobyl is fantastic, that's in doubt. But it is a mistake to say that they completely the same stories and try to compare them.

I think they could have introduced more tsunami scenes around the Power Plant and in Fukushima. Maybe that would have removed this comparison between Chernobyl and THE DAYS.

Anyway, in my opinion, I LOVED IT.

People always expect a production with a Hollywood vision, but you have to remember that not all stories need to follow the same style.

They are different styles an its. It works

Anyway, great story and congratulations to the heroes who gave their lives to try to minimize the damage caused by so many factors in the Nuclear plant, even having lost their families, homes and city.

Some of the action shots are excellent, the acting is very good, the scenario hugely dramatic and largely told as it actually happened with some omissions but nothing overtly wrong. So why does it drag on so much with lingering minutes long shots of a guy reading a piece of paper, technicians gazing at dead instrumentation as if it will make any difference, interminably long scenes with people doing very little but bowing politely to each other. I think this could have been much better if they cut 50% off it. It is good but if you are not that clued up on Nuclear Power and you are expecting the chaos and sheer idiocy depicted in the excellent Chernobyl then this is not it, it does not have the pace or the political undertones of corruption and graft, its just competent, good people caught up in a series of unfortunate events. True enough but drama is missing.

Quite disappointing compared to « Chernobyl » which was more complete, although shorter (5h30).

Although this series lasts 7h, it omits several important information: -when the radioactive cloud escaped from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, favorable winds sent it towards the sea. But if winds had sent it towards Tokyo, then Tokyo should have been evacuated, as said Naoto Kan, the Prime Minister at the time.

• In 2009, two years before the disaster, a report had stipulated that the dykes of two power stations had to be raised because of the risk of a tsunami: the Fukushima power station and the Onagawa power station, further north which did not depend on Tepco. But it cost millions, and Tepco buried the report. On the contrary, the Onagawa power plant raised its dikes and was therefore spared during the tsunami.

As Episode 1 of "The Days" (2023 release from Japan; 8 episodes ranging between 56 and 66 min each) opens, it is "March 11, 2011" and a voice-over laments the events he is about to retell, wondering "was it a mistake or a destiny we would not escape?". The day begins like any other day, but then a massive earthquake hits the Fukushima power plant and immediate areas around it, raising the possibility of a tsunami. At this point we are 10 minute into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this is an al-Japanese production, and not a single name of the production team or the cast rang familiar to me. It doesn't matter. The production itself is top notch. Watch for the dramatic re-enactment of the tsunami hitting the power plant. As someone points out: Fukushima is no a completely different level than either Three Miles Island or Chernobyl, in that Fukushima lost any and all power and hence could not cool the rectors. This mini-series gives a minute-by-minute account of what unfolds after the tsunami hits. It also provides a powerful insight on how Japanese society, business, and culture operates. In stark contrast to, say, the US. Pay in particular attention to how the Japanese Prime Minister deals with all of this.

All 8 episodes of "The Days" premiered on Netflix on June 1, and I just finished the mini-series the other night. If you have any interest on how Japan dealt with this nuclear disaster, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

If you are expecting a Japanese Chernobyl then this may not be for you. This is a much slower more considered portrayal of a nuclear accident which could have been 100 times worse than Chernobyl. Layered and highly observational The Days is just as much about Japanese hierarchy and customer than the disaster itself. Personally I felt watching in Japanese with subtitles was much better than the terrible dubbed english. The quality of the Japanese cast comes through in the original language. A salutary lesson in how corporate greed and arrogance can be completely and literally overcome by the power of nature. Koji Yakusho is stand-out as station manager Masao Yoshida. Settle down and immerse yourself in this high quality drama that will stay with you long after viewing.

The biggest problem I have with many of the series based on true events is that they are overly dramaztized to the point that they appear more like hollywood thrillers than a theatrical account of true events.

This is where The Days shines. This series is credible. One can totally imagine that that's how the real situation must have unfolded. Of course, the events have been stitched together to create a narrative that the vieweres can follow but it doesn't betray the authenticity of the events.

We see the characters only within the confines of the Fukushima station but the characters develop nicely even within this limited space and situation. As a viewer, you start to feel their frustrations, fears and trepidations.

The only notable shortcoming that I can point out is that some sequences are unnecessarily long because of which the time urgency of the situation may either be lost on the viewers or may lead to a disconnect for the viewers between time urgency and the actions of the characters.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who is looking for a break from unrealistic, incredible and untrue stories based on true events.

I'm only on episode three and enjoying most of this, but have a few bugbears. The slow pace gives me and my husband time to talk about what might come next, what they did wrong and ponder on the dilemmas... BUT why would anyone build a nuclear station so close to the sea in a country that regularly experiences earth quakes and tsunamis????

And where are the women? Are there no women engineers in Japan? There are a couple of females on the background but none of them speak or have any kind of relevant role. The only women that talk are relatives of operators. This happened in 2011!!!

While I enjoy the slow pace, the recurring lingering shots of the main characters desperately staring into thin air while holding a phone receiver happen too often and for no reason. Same for the slow motion shots of people just moving around. If a time for reflection was needed perhaps some shots of the nuclear plant or ANYTHING else would have sufficed.

It's interesting to see the reverence and extreme politeness in Japanese culture, yet the PM (Naoto Kan?) gets to shout at everyone one minute and then act all forlorn and pensive the next, which is a source of bemusement and confusion.

The music score is very good, but as others said, it sounds very familiar, straight out of Chernobyl (which is excellent, this isn't quite on the same level).

It doesn't hold a candle to Chernobyl, which was probably one of the best TV shows I've ever seen. This was entertaining and I enjoyed it. But the cultural differences made it hard to watch. Everybody so afraid of upsetting other people that they can't give straight answers. The soldiers are on death's door and everyone just keeps asking everyone over and over again. Are you okay? Are you okay? Are you okay? And the so-called experts could never give a straight answer for fear of upsetting somebody. It was like 100 Marty McFly's operating a nuclear power plant but nobody could do anything without upsetting someone.

This really would make a very good mystery science theater episode. Overall I enjoyed it, however I expected a lot more from it. I guess there's just too much difference between the Japanese style of acting and cultural differences.

Meaning...they could have trimmed 40% out of each show and it would have been a great series. Instead, there were so many redundant shots and unnecessary dialogue which made it difficult to take seriously. The long pauses on character's faces were entirely too long. "We get it!" The slow motion shots were meant to add drama, but they would do five of the same shot, and each one held way too long, like wayyy to long. I blame the editor, but ultimately the director makes the call, right?

Nevertheless, I found myself jumping in each day to binge the series, sometimes as just background ambience, although I would have to look up to read the subtitle during dialogue.

For me The Days is a beautifully made Japanese serie.

The cinematography is absolutely perfect. I agree with some of the comments here with regards to being slightly slow, it could have possibly been made in 2-3 episodes, but every scene is very elegant and minimalist, for me visually is a bit of a work of art.

I have found the Japanese way of acting in this film quite good, yes maybe a bit robotic yet effective.

Japanese culture, such as design in general, food, architecture and its philosophical and historical fascinating background is second to none. The beautiful minimalist calming simplicity, yet powerful in all Japanese culture is fantastic. The Days, for me reflects all this. All Hollywood style big budget rubbish lovers, probably find this boring. 10/10.

This is a series about the Fukushima Daiichi accident but unfortunately it lost its opportunity of being as good as Chernobyl (2019) was. It is too slow paced and has a watery drama sometimes, to the point you feel the need to fast forward some really slow and unnecessary scenes. In some scenes you already know the character is going to die due to the excessive drama in the shots. I could not see the necessity of 10 episodes for this, it could be very well scripted for using only 3 episodes at maximum, still keeping spectators engaged. Summarizing, it is entertainment but the writing feels sloppy.

I loved the overall story but the 15-20 second long pauses during many of the exchanges ruined it a bit for me. To further frustrate the viewers, there were several minutes long slow motion scenes with no dialogue which added to the detection.

The characters/actors chosen seemed to fit with the storyline and the action scenes seemed fairly well done.

The pauses and 1-2min slow motion scenes detracted from rather than added to the intensity they tried to create. It also likely added 2 full episodes to what could have been a great documentary.

All an all it gets 6 stars but could have been 8.5 with the right editing.