DeborahM-99

Gosh. After years of travel, I somehow never made it to Japan. The authenticity and openness and thought process of this group of singles living together, working together, refurbishing an historic property together, all while getting to know each other / considering their needs and their hearts for a life long partners, was an honor to have witnessed. This series has haunted me with insights way beyond the first viewing. That said: The format of 2 commentators interrupting the flow of the actual footage is irritating. But it is what it is. There is a Season 2 as well. However Season 1 is the Season that moved my heart the most.

Two powerful actors held my attention from start to finish. For those who in daily life do the deep deep dive of authentic conversations when their path crosses with others and a window for such opens for a human to human being sharing, even if with a stranger whom they'll never see again ... This movie will for you also I believe, be a must watch. So well written. Spaciousness of silence, human responses, script, camera angles, close ups ... creatively a feat of accomplishment. Yes, it also holds up well, or did for me, for rewatching many times. No doubt it helps that I'm a big fan of Sean Penn.

This might indeed be my favourtie of favourite competitive reality shows. I literally corner my nerd friends to sit down and watch an episode, after which they're hooked too. The emotional dynamics, the explanations of the games in play (which I often take to the time to rewind rewind rewind in order myself to figure out the rules that are in play), was an unexpected revelation about myself. So many of my friends children in their 20's are 'gamers'. I had assumed I knew what that was. But no, I didn't have a clue to how wide and fascinating that world is. A deep deep bow of respect to every single one of the participants, to the creators, the producers. I've heard rumor that though the creation of the games and format were set from the start, that the playout of it hour by hour and day by day was so different than anticipated, that adjustments and format had to be modified constantly. In a few weeks Season 2 will hit. I can hardly wait.