jrtone-49357

It took a few episodes for me to get into this. The initial few episodes are very much, 'look, it's a different culture!' and 'look, we're in the 90's!', but that soon gives way to a more fulfilling story, albeit it with some issues.

On a positive note, the development of the Japanese characters was well done and satisfying. Sato's motivations are clear and the conflicts he has with himself are explored in great depth. The same goes for Ken Watanabe's character, although it did feel like he occasionally wasn't performing to the best of his abilities.

The American characters, Jake and Samantha, weren't fleshed out nearly as much and they often seemed to be developed as much as a forgettable side character, despite them supposedly being the leads. Their motivations are changed to suit the direction of the story, and this had an impact on the pacing of the series.

Technically, the show was shot well and the neon signs of Tokyo provided from some breath-taking cinematography.

The arrogance and, almost offensive, lack of a basic understanding of how the world works, made this show incredibly difficult to watch for as long as I did.

It's a programme purely about a group of rich and entitled Californians and their travels across the world - which, of course, they don't have to pay for - and their snobbish treatment of the people that they've come to learn from.

Some segments from the show had me wondering if it was a dark comedy, but it eventually becomes evident that they are as culturally stubborn as they seem.

If it had been marketed as a show for young children then I wouldn't be so harsh, but unless you still don't know that water is good for you and single use plastic is bad for the planet, then this isn't worth watching.