Fishbowl Wives

This short series is based on a manga and tells the stories of a group of ladies living at the top of a high rise who all enter into affairs. It has a main story running through of a successful businesswoman and a goldfish seller and these two appear in a thread throughout the series. Over the eight episodes it also looks at five other women who enter into extra marital relationships and their reasons behind that decision. It is quite an erotic series and it may overdo the titillating sex scenes but it does not judge the women and leaves you to decide if the ladies actions are justified.

It's a good movie pulling all the right strings that keep you engaged. It's erotic but it has a lot of sensible, heartfelt drama to offer. While it revolves on Sakura and Haruto, the stories of other women living in that high-rise condo are fascinating, too.

Rhiko Shinohara shines as Sakura. The character playing Haruto succeeds in making him too good to be true. Is he for real? So cool and so mature.

Women don't have to live in a fishbowl because they can decide to be free and be what they dream to be with determination despite the odds.

Adaptasi manga populer berjudul sama karya Ryo Kurosawa ini sukses menempatkan 'ikan mas' dan 'akuarium' sebagai analogi dari kisah enam wanita yang tengah berjuang dalam hubungan cinta/rumah tangganya masing-masing, terlepas dari problema yang berbeda-beda.

Semua terangkum dalam 8 episode berdurasi tergolong singkat dengan bingkai Haruto-Sakura-Takuya yang jelas menjadi sorotan utama. Minusnya, Michiko Namiki & Hiroaki Matsuyama seperti terbentur oleh keterbatasan saat mengeksplorasi tiap karakter sekaligus mendalami tiap subplotnya.

Mini series Jepang ini lebih mengedepankan emansipasi wanita walau di satu sisi agak terkesan melegitimasi perselingkuhan, see those sex scenes with purposes. Namun rekonsiliasi atau perpisahan akan selalu jadi perdebatan dilematis dengan segala konsekuensi sikap dan pilihannya.

Karakter dan plot terfavorit: Sakura Yuriha Noriko Hisako Saya Yuka

Terlepas dari open ending yang cukup mengganggu terlebih bagi pasangan utama yang sudah begitu apik membangun karakternya, antologi pahit manisnya pernikahan ini hadirkan insights menarik yang sifatnya universal.

In Last Cinderella (2013) Ryoko Shinohara stars as Sakura, a hairdresser who is torn between the salon manager and a guy, Hiroto, half her age. In Fishbowl Wives (2022) Ryoko Shinohara stars as Sakura, a former hairdresser who is married to a salon chain owner, but has an affair with a guy, Haruto, half her age. Coincidence? Seems implausible. My interpretation is that FW is an alternate universe continuation of LC in which Sakura had chosen her boss over the young pup, and this is her second chance to get it right. Too bad FW is nowhere near as entertaining as LC. It's impressive how little Shinohara has aged, though.

If this is your 1st drama. Then you will probably like this more than most people. In which case, I would recommend to watch the kdrama movie called-High Society 2018 (Sanglyusahoe) on Netflix.

Other than that, Fishbowl Wives is average at best. But at its' worst, it is like a 4.5 stars-that keeps dragging on and on.

Reason why I say this, it relies heavily on the softcore sex scenes. In order to cover up the weaker elements of the script. Kdramas on the other hand, have less scenes like these, but manage to be more entertaining.

However I will admit the softcore sex scenes were well done, enjoyable, and I hope more dramas put them in. Without sacrificing the storyline, dialogue, and character development.