Tokyo Girl is a mini series that has a runtime of less than 5 hours with 11 episodes, each ranging from 20 to 30 minutes. It is an excellent show and worth the short period of attention it demands. It has been on Amazon for almost 3 years now, and I stumbled upon it while I was looking for something else.
Because of how short it is, every minute of on screen time has significance. There are no filler episodes or moments when I felt like I was bored. It has amazing cinematography and subtle but effective music with a very nice use of silence. The dialogues are well written and the actors are pretty great too. It has a unique style to it too, wherein characters break the third wall and talk to you in monologs. Our lead actress' narration coupled with these varied monologs further add personal layer to it, as they talk to you and explain you aspects of their lives. But what is this show really about? And what makes it so extraordinary aside from the usual technical 'great' show characteristics?
Its about a girl from a small town in Akita Prefecture who doesn't want to live the small town life and dreams of the high end life in Tokyo. In case you didn't guess, she does manage that in her early 20s and with every episode, we see her growing older, as she starts fulfilling her dream. Accustomed to Western shows, you might already be forming a blurry idea of the progression of the show, but no it doesn't tread into the darker corners of city life. Quite the contrary, the struggles are very synonymous and normal, something all of us can recognize and appreciate, if not exactly relate to. As the show progresses, she moves from one area of Tokyo to other, some representing the "young people area" and the latter ones much more upscale and high class. By the time the show ends, about 25 years have passed.
The show has a strong focus on (Asian) feminism, especially on the working-women vs stay-at-home women conflict. And because it is our protagonist who keeps finding herself facing this conflict head on, it explores the topic excellently. I added 'Asian' since the show is so largely ingrained into the Japanese culture that it may not even suit Western audiences and their perspectives. But as an Indian, I could draw many lines from here into my country's very own culture of how women and work are viewed. This could be one of the reasons why it wasn't promoted at all by Amazon outside Japan. It explores themes of a successful career versus a successful family, the meaning and interplay between satisfaction and happiness, changing ideologies with age and so on. And it is exploration of these themes in a beautiful and subtle way what makes this show so great. It never once puts down women for choosing "this kind of life over that", not even when it has countless chances to do so for the dramatic flare, and that's just wholesome.
Since we are talking about life in Tokyo and its about an ambitious girl trying to find a place through this rich and glamorous city, the show is heavily materialistic throughout. The importance given to making money, being rich/coming from a rich family, wearing expensive clothes/going to expensive restaurants, and being 'high born' are some of the recurring themes which further add to culture shock but as I said, they do resonate with the culture we know of way, for me to complain. But the relentless consumerist ideas may not suit everyone.
All in all, I stumbled upon this show, loved it and felt like everyone should watch it. The only reason its not popular is probably because its most appropriate for the Japanese since their way of doing things are so different and unmatched even today, despite of globalization. The show doesn't sugarcoat or is overly protective of its characters, and is just great piece of art with profound messages on life scattered throughout. For me its a solid 9/10.
