1,000,000 yen no Onnatachi

This is the type of film that could easily be talked about and discussed in universities. If it isn't, then it's a tragedy. This complex, amazing character study rivals some of the best films and shows that I've ever seen in over 40 years of viewing.

This film is truly a work of art. Each character brings something refreshing, new and compelling to the table (almost literally!).

This powerful character study is about a novelist with a tragic past who is unable to become a successful author. For some strange reason, five women are invited to live with him for a million yen per month. When he's not writing, he cooks and looks after them. Each woman is different in age, occupation, personality, and background. Part of the mystery is in trying to figure out why the invitations were sent, what the purpose of the women being there is, and who sent them.

The author learns to accept his new living situation, and finds that there are rules for his interactions with them.

The story weaves like a fine tapestry of tragic, complex pasts in the lives of all of the characters, and basically what drives people to do things and be who they are. It's riveting story-telling that keeps you hooked, and makes you wince when the number of episodes left to watch dwindles. You want more. You crave more, and you find yourself grateful for finding such a unique and exquisite gem such as this series.

This is a series that can easily be watched over and over again. It's touching and heart-breaking that compels the viewer to dig deep within themselves; about the walls we put up to keep from being hurt; about the fear of loss, and the fear to love.

I can't recommend this series strongly enough. It's a story with characters that stays with you long after you've finished, and that's the mark of something so powerfully artistic in how it captivates its viewer.

It is very refreshing to watch something else than the standard kind of series we are used with. It is a different kind of storytelling in a different culture. Very addictive and unpredictable story about a man, writer of crime fiction, housing five women and getting paid 1 M Yen a month for it while he is trying to understand and uncover what is going on. It is a really great series of twelve short episodes of circa 25 min each. It combines so many qualities: its intelligent, polite, complex, soft, scary, violent etc in a unique combination you don't get watching the standard Hollywood output.

This series increased my appetite for more quality Japanese drama, thanks Netflix for bringing it up on my recommendation list

Don't miss this artful and intriguing drama !

Shin Michima is an author but his books do not sell well. He has a policy that none of his characters ever die in his books because his father is a convicted murderer who is awaiting execution. One day his life changes in a strange way; five women turn up at his home; somebody has invited them to live there for a rent of one million yen per month... Shin is hardly in a position to turn them away. One condition of the arrangement is that Shin can't ask the women any questions about themselves. They are all very different and as the series progresses we learn more about them. Shin gradually gets more successful but then a shocking event occurs that lead them to suspect there is something sinister behind the organisation of their living arrangement. In the background we see a rival, and far more successful, author, along with a literary critic, who are constantly belittling Shin's writing; especially as he becomes more successful.

When I saw the premise for this series I assumed it would be a live action equivalent of a harem anime... some mildly suggestive hijinks before we learn which girl Shin end up with; it is nothing like that. Instead we get an intriguing and sometimes dark drama. Even after it became clear that it wasn't going to be as I expected there were more shocks to come. I enjoyed the story from the start; this was down to the interesting set-up and characters. The characters are delightfully varied. The cast do a fine job bringing their characters to life. I would definitely recommend this to people looking something rather different looking for the next series to watch on Netflix... another plus is the short episodes mean if you only have thirty minutes to kill you can watch an episode.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

"Million Yen Women" is a Japanese TV series on Netflix that is based off a manga. The protagonist is Yojiro Noda, lead singer of RADWIMPS, the band that did the very popular soundtrack of animated film "Your Name."

The structure of "Million Yen Women" is the basic set-up of a "harem" manga. "Harem" is a a popular sub-genre in manga where a clueless man lives together with many young, attractive women, many of whom develop crushes or fall in love with him. Although the harem set-up is fine for comics, it rather loses its tenuous credibility in live-action film such as in "Million Yen Women." However this TV series has a twist, an element of mystery, that is almost as fantastical but rather more welcome. Kudos to Yojiro Noda, anyway, for making his protagonist likable anyhow.

Harem is not particularly my cup of tea, but I did enjoy some of the character development in the series and some surprising moments of depth and pathos sprinkled throughout.

Although "Million Yen Women" contains elements of romance and murder, it also is about Yojiro Noda's character, who is an upcoming novelist, and his rivalry with a popular established author. This rivalry is pretty basic, but I did enjoy some of the discussion about novels and expression and "creating a new emotion" and etc. There's an odd peace about Yojiro Noda that makes character as a novelist believable, and makes him unique against the backdrop of criminal intrigue he stands against.

Unfortunately however, the rivalry between the two authors isn't as resolved as I would like, and there are various other plots of the drama that seem rushed or underdeveloped or sort of like afterthoughts. (I haven't read the manga so I make no comparison.) Nevertheless, "Million Yen Women" does have a degree of substance that elevates it beyond a typical boy's fantasy, and it is mostly fun and enjoyable to watch so I recommend it.

This drama also has Japanese audio description and Japanese captions for those wanting to learn the language.

This show snuck up on me.

OK, I will admit it, the splash screen on Netflix showed some attractive women, so I clicked. Well played, Netflix. Well played.

Then the premise listed under 'more info' reeled in the hook already firmly set in my head. A guy lives with 5 beautiful women, and intrigue and hijinks ensue? Count me in!

But don't think this is a light-hearted show. It gets creepy (not in a supernatural way) and very dark. And the ending? Well, the ending....is VERY satisfying. That's two shows I've reviewed lately that have been able to take seemingly difficult subject matter across the finish line in an enjoyable way. The other being Alice in Borderland.

Slightly more than the usual suspension of disbelief is required to fully understand why the ladies accept the invitations in the first place (the reasons given are kind of 'meh' in my book). And the pseudo-antagonist other author and annoying book critic are more throw away characters than anything major, so some wasted screen time there.

So, one star deduction for those two minor gripes. But otherwise, a terrific and well-paced show. Glad I...er...stumbled upon it on Netflix.