Terrace House

Terrace house encapsulates what it means to be a reality TV show. I'm so sick of eliminations, challenges, prize money, and roses. The show documents 6 strangers living together and the engagement together nothing more nothing more, nothing less. Members still go to work, go grocery shopping, and have phones. At first, I was expecting something like big brother but japanese reality is another form of reality together. To enjoy this show, you need to have an open mind and your preconceptions about reality from western TV shows need to be abolished. Beautiful Camera work.

Terrance House is addictive to say the least. This is truly Reality at its best. Place 6 total strangers in a home and allow their common or not so common personalities to emerge over time.

What's most interesting is the fact that most enter the home with a certain objective in bettering themselves in one way or another. Whether it be a desire to become less shy, create new friendships or even seeking a dating relationship. Since there are no scripts many times such objectives are not so easily accomplished and can be rather rough, which makes it all the more exciting.

As each episode slowly evolves you may find yourself, "Being in the shoes," of one of the occupants which could have the same similarities as yourself. Eventually the show concludes when all have felt their objectives have been met through normal day-to-day activities. For those whom have not met their objectives the pressure can get tough in which they are must make a decision to stay on the show or simply leave. For the individuals that have created an outstanding friendship with others this can be some what of a tear jerk-er for the departing individual or yourself as well.

To add a little spice to the show there are normally 2 intermissions which involves the hosts and hostesses that narrate the show in the beginning providing a brief summary to the past episode and again near the end of the episode. Truthfully the intermission is somewhat of a breather and allows each to provide their input to what they believe is happening or going to happen. I actually Love it because its funny, outgoing and has great perspectives from different age groups. What's even more great about the break is that there is no holding back. Each host or hostess says what they truly feel and is on their mind about the episode. There are instances where I simply could not stop laughing, especially since one host is a sort of comedian. His look and reactions are totally, one-of-a-kind but so true in wisdom from his standpoint.

Granted not all will enjoy this sort of reality show but in my opinion its true reality and that's what is addictive to me. Reality to the core and Reality at its Best.

I found out about this show while flying on ANA airlines and watched the movie they had made (Terrace House: Closing Door). The movie was very good, kind of like a long episode of a season, and I was instantly hooked. I was pretty stoked when I found out Netflix would be airing it. I watched 1 episode of "Boys and Girls in the City" and was instantly hooked. This is a reality Japanese show that puts 3 young adult guys and girls in a house together. The goal is to develop friendships and to eventually find love, if possible. Sometimes romance happens, other times it does not. The ages range from 18-30. The housemates are free to leave ("graduate") the show as they please. Every time someone leaves, they replace him/her with a new member, always keeping the same guy to girl ratio. Most of the members are in the acting/modeling industry, so many are good looking, are charming, and/or know how to provide entertainment. They all carry regular jobs (or are searching for one), so they live their normal lives but always come back to live at the house, where most of the conversation/events happen. Sometimes the camera will follow the outside, for when the members go to work (to give us a glimpse of their real world), go on dates, etc. The producers say that there is no script and nothing is rigged. I don't believe this 100% to be true, due to the certain situations that arise that seem a bit forced or suspicious, but it's fun to watch the show and think everything is unscripted. The commentators, famous actors/actresses/personalities in the entertainment industry, provide very entertaining, sometimes hilarious commentary about the members and what transpires everyday. Some of my friends skip through the commentary, but I really enjoy it. I particularly like the chemistry between Yu, Yamasato, and Torii. The subtitles are close to perfection and are able to catch and describe the context of each situation. If you get hooked on the show as much as me and my friends, you'll start rooting for certain people and rooting against others. It's also easy to get attached to them. I believe every member is on some kind of social media (Instagram, Facebook, etc.) so it is easy to see into their lives from a different angle, even after they graduate. Netflix has partnered with Fuji TV and have provided an excellent and entertaining show that gives us a fisheye view into the lives of Japanese young adults, how they interact, and an unobscured view into Japanese culture. What makes this show special for me is the pure, genuine relationships that develop between the members, and to get an interesting perspective into the minds of Japanese young adults.

Terrace House is a reality show with a different flavor, but the core is the same, which is "What derives human behavior?". Some behavior is driven by desire to find love, some by desire to self-enhance, or find true purpose, etc.. So, every member joins in order to achieve something different, and you can't help but to relate to most of them in a thing or two or even the whole character. As a viewer, you also get to understand that there are no rules for attraction, be it romantic attraction or friendship. people just get attracted to each other in a complete random and unexpected way. Japanese men and women are classy, hard working, very honest and decent, and fun also. My favorite character of all is Misoki, she is beautiful, has pure heart, innocent, and always laughing. I believe this show will appeal to most people and won't cause any regrets.

Some other reviews seem a bit bizarre, e.g. '... most interesting is the fact that most enter the home with a certain objective in bettering themselves in one way or another'.

It's not so interesting when you realize that many of these people that are cast for Terrace House enter the house have with the simple objective of furthering (or starting) a modeling/entertainment career vs. this 'relationship' atmosphere that the series plays up & the commentators talk about.

I certainly wouldn't call this 'true reality'. That being said, yes, some things do happen, and, yes, some people are there for reasons other than fame. It's these people that are worth watching.