'Tokyo Alice' season 1: A heartwarming tale of female friendship and quest for love in Japan
Japanese slice-of-life offerings are close to our hearts.
From 'Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories', an all-time favorite and an absolute must-watch for those who have love food shows, to 'Samurai Gourmet', sometimes all you need after a long day at work is a foreign-language show that distracts you completely.
The latest addition to the bevy of Japanese shows is the upcoming slice-of-life series 'Tokyo Alice' which is out on Amazon Prime on June 21.
'Tokyo Alice' is based on a Japanese romance josei manga series written and illustrated by Toriko Chiya.
The series first started airing on Amazon Prime Japan on August 25, 2017, but is now coming to the US.
The show is directed by Natsuki Seta of 'Parks' and 'Vampire Heaven' fame.
According to the official synopsis, the show is a romantic drama series that follows "fashion-mad Fū Arisugawa (Mizuki Yamamoto), manga-artist Mizuho Haneda (Reina Triendl), preppy gallery assistant Sayuri Enjōji (Aya Asahina) and cool doctor Rio Sakuragawa (Maryjun Takahashi) as they live together in a shared house in Daikanyama and pursue their own happiness in terms of romance and career."
The show has a wonderful start. Peppy, feel-good music is the first thing that hits you.
As Fū Arisugawa, Mizuki plays the role of a fashion-savvy shopaholic who can't seem to love anything—or anyone—more than she loves shopping. Arisugawa goes overboard on her credit card to the extent that she doesn't have any money to pay rent. Absolutely no one on the show even thinks of this as a problem—they merely nonchalantly shake their heads every time Arisugawa fails to bring money to the table. Arisugawa is undoubtedly the protagonist of the story.
Her best friends from school Mizuho, Sayuri and Rio play the supporting cast.
Mizuho is a manga artist, but can't find a job. Sayuri is set to be married in a year's time and wants to experience all kinds of eroticism that is possible before the big day. And finally, Rio struggles with her sexuality, which is perhaps the most mature treatment of a character arc on the show.
The manga was launched in Kodansha's 'Kiss' manga magazine in 2006, ending in August 2015, and was nominated for the Best Shōjo Manga award at the 38th annual Kodansha Manga Awards in 2014.
The original manga also revolved around Fū Arisugawa, a young woman who loves nothing more than shopping, but finds out that she is slowly falling in love with her boss.
Ryōhei Ōtani plays Shinji Okuzono, Fū's love interest and her boss.
Somewhere towards the end of the first episode, she falls in love with him and finds herself in a dilemma that she can't get over.
If you are intrigued by Japanese culture, specifically the Japanese dating culture, 'Tokyo Alice' is a show you must watch.
With realistic female friendships, an earnest quest for love and stories of women told by women, 'Tokyo Alice' is one wholesome show that you should not miss.