REVIEW: ‘Glass Heart’ on Netflix is your new fave music series (starring Satoh Takeru, Miyazaki Yu)

REVIEW: ‘Glass Heart’ on Netflix is your new fave music series (starring Satoh Takeru, Miyazaki Yu)

Hello people of the internet. It’s Amanda and if you’re new here on my channel, I usually talk about Japanese movies, dramas, entertainment. Sometimes I tap into other Asian pop culture topics as well. In today’s video, you’ve seen the title below. We’re going to be talking about a drama that is much anticipated because of its general storyline as well as its ensemble cast. I’m talking about Glass Heart. Now, Glass Heart is a newly landed series on Netflix, but it’s been teased for quite some time now. It stars Satakiru, who is also the producer of the series, and it’s based off of a novel by Wakagi Mio. Um, and it’s basically like your usual story of misfits finding their way into um, a band and creating music that resonates not just with them, but to a wider audience and that they plan to like make their music more known with a unique identity. And that’s pretty much that, at least on the surface. Um and this stars um Miyazaki, Machi Daketa, Shishan Jun. Um other notable supporting cast include Suda Masaki, absolutely love, Karatika, Takashiakari and um Bjikinhito. Um and again as I mentioned ensemble cast this is something that is not really novel when it comes to you know the the story line or the the kind of like surface level narrative of it but something about music genre films and TV shows are just generally captivating and that’s the reason why I was looking forward to this series and then I finally watched it and I’m here to share my thoughts about this show. So, if you’re into that, I might be spilling some spoilers. So, if you haven’t watched it yet or if you’re very careful about those things, then please keep that in mind. But if you’re all geared up, then please keep on watching. Heart is basically um about a girl named Akane, played by Miyazaki. Um and she is very passionate about drumming, but she gets kicked off her band. Um however during a festival you know where the actual kind of like her being kicked off um happens it started raining the audience are leaving um and the festival is pretty much like over at that point but because of her despair she kind of like sets up her drum in the middle of kind of like the lot um and she just started playing out of frustration um on the other side of like the venue on the stage itself. Someone plays alongside her using the piano and instead of them kind of like matching each other sounds, it feels more competitive, but at the same time it feels like their music was dancing with each other. Um, and I think that’s just the kind of best way to describe how that opening sequence was. We hit kind of like a time skip in the first couple of minutes of the movie after that opening sequence and we see that Akane years later was still struggling to find a band that would accept her. Um, and she says that that particular day, you know, she it’s over. She’s given it her all and she’s finally giving up her dream on belonging in a brand or a group or performing as a drummer. Her mom is very supportive through and through. they have a restaurant resto bar type of thing. And so she um um her mom tells her that you know this this these artists that um that you’re kind of like uh that you admire, they’re kind of like looking for a new drummer. Maybe maybe you should give it a try. But Akane was pretty much resigned at that point. Um but then her mom still kind of like encourages her and tells her, “Okay, so you do this errand for me.” Um and yeah and then that’s that. So Akane does the errand. She ends up in the house of none other than Fuji Fujitani who played with her all those years ago like during that particular music festival. He was the one who was playing the piano at that time and she was so like captivated and first go moment seeing him actually there playing. Um but she was also kind of confused when he started you know being the eccentric kind of a musician that he is. He has kind of like a reputation in the industry of being this very talented very genius composer/p producer but he’s also kind of like quote unquote weird in his own way. he gets lost in the music and once he’s there then he’s just so totally like just focused on it and his other kind of like um group mate or session band session mate at the time is Taka Kasho um who is very kind of like this levelheaded side of the this relationship um and he kind of like jives with Naoki’s kind of like requests when it comes to music and stuff like And then we also introduced to like another member of this ensemble which is um Sakamoto Kazashi. Um and you see like these three music geniuses in itself kind of like meeting in the middle or playing it off of Naoki’s kind of like weird requests. Um and Akane was just standing there mesmerized. But then in the middle of like the chaos of all three kind of like talking, we then were it cuts to Akane like just suddenly jumping in and sharing her touch to the composition with her drumming. And it kind of like takes the three by surprise, but at the same time that jumps off of where the story starts of them kind of like absorbing Akane into the group. Now the thing is Akane is not exactly the most polished drummer but in Ni’s um POV her drumming is so distinct in his her own sound. She doesn’t he doesn’t really want her to like just blend in and accompany them but rather to deliver her own kind of like energy and her own sound to the group because that’s who they are. They all have their individual kind of like sounds, their own styles, and joining all of that together kind of like creates a fifth sound that is that ends up being the sound of their group or their band Tenlank. Now for this particular like series um again as I mentioned there’s nothing really novel about the story or the plot or just the general narrative of it all because it’s something that we’ve seen and say like if you like these types of genres then you probably are familiar with the whole misfits again meeting together wanting to create music that would change the world and something that is also so true to them blah blah blah. It’s something that is so exhausted at this point, but Glass Heart brings another level of warmth to the story because again with Naoki’s character, he is a different level of genius and with that level of genius inspires different layers of insecurity and humanity towards other people that he’s worked with. Um, and we see that in the character of Ichidai played by um, Pujiki Naito. Um, we see some kind of like history with their characters. Um, that kind of drives Ichidai to be kind of like one of the main antagonists of the stories or maybe just the main antagonist of the series. But even then, like I couldn’t call him that. Um, because they also made his character a little bit more nuanced. But again, just on the surface level, it’s so easy to just say that he is the antagonist of the story because of what he’s doing. Um, but overall, what’s interesting about this is because of now’s genius, again, it it invites in this different level of insecurity from the people that he’s work working with. But what what is with the relationship with it within um Ten Bank is with Takoka and Sakamoto. um they kind of like understand him and he respects them as well and they kind of like fill in each other’s geniuses. And although Naoki is again described as being on a different level, um the other two don’t find it as an excuse to hate him or resent him for it, but rather challenging to become better in their own space as well and to believe that they have their own sound to contribute to the group. And it’s also similar to Aken’s character in a sense that she she is always encouraged to give it her all and to not really hold back as much just to blend into the sound of these three people, but rather like what she contributes to the group is something that is also very essential into creating the sound that is unique to them as a whole. Um, and I think and on like the essence of it, you know, it’s something that is really really interesting and also plays into how like just in general the humanity of it all and how someone like talented like that is often left to be isolated because they couldn’t find people who could mesh with them. But it’s also very human to feel insecure around them because it’s always like feeling like you’re chasing after someone that you couldn’t reach. And I think this narrative kind of like plays off of that very very nicely which also translate in uh translates to two other characters in the story which is Overchrome’s um Overchromes Toya played by Suda Masaki who is one of my favorite actors and is also a very talented artist. I love Suda’s music. Um, and at the same time, I love that he was tapped by Tak specific before this role. Um, and then there’s also Takashi Akari, who plays Yukino, which is kind of like the the kind of female, not really pop starish type of vibe, but that’s kind of like the template that she’s playing for this series. Um, again, um, Akar’s voice is so beautiful. I love the texture. I love the sound of her voice. She delivers like a different kind of like R&Bish type of sound to the soundtrack of this which I absolutely love. But anyways, apart from those just focusing on their characters and how they relate to kind of like Tenlank as well and Naoki specifically as a character, these three characters are all very passionate about the music that they deliver and they have different sounds but to the core it’s just the same. They all love music. So with Toya, we see his music as very hard edge. even this fan base, they’re kind of like this very um grungy type of of sound rock, but still with that kind of like sharp edge to it. He describes his music as somewhat reckless to some extent because of the lyricism, which is very different from some of the nuance lyricism that Tan Blank has, but overall we see that he still connects to an audience and he has a very interesting dedicated relationship to his fan base and his fan base to him and it just shows. And same with Yukino as well. Like she is described as someone whose music kind of like continuously um attracts people the way that she is as an artist even if her sound is again very different from those other two um artists with Ten Blank and Overchrome with Toya and Naoki specifically. Um but she loves her craft. She loves performing. She loves music. And with these three artists you see the relationship between the artist and their music. And no matter what genre it is, and it’s like how it is with people, we kind of like sometimes judge music by, you know, ballads are better because they have more show or this one is just noise music, whatever. But the the the portrayal or putting these three groups or these artists in the same story line and having them connect shows that any type of music has a way of finding itself into an audience and people resonating with it. Um, and it’s not just like um caging people into boxes and saying like which type of music is good because no matter what genre it is, someone will resonate with it. And that’s the power of music and it creates this type of relationship not just between the artist and their audience, but also in between artists and the way that they connect to each other and how they take inspiration from each other’s strengths and kind of like build and shape that into their own kind of like identities as musicians. Um, and I really really liked how they kind of like created that for all these car characters. Um, my favorite episode would probably be aside from the finale episode would be episodes five and six, which focuses on now um, Naoki and Toya’s relationship as well as Toya as an artist. I think Sudasaki performed it really well, especially with the extreme visuals that he has with like the bleached brows, the kind of like ey like heavily line eyes, but the dramatics of it all. He’s al he’s always delivering amazing performances and he was able to translate the vulnerability of Toy Doya behind kind of like his artist persona and it’s very similar to like with Yukino as well and Nali and Penlack as well like they all have like outward personas that they’re trying to kind of like portray out there but at to their core they’re still kind of like these very soulful musicians that have this very deep connection with the music that they’re making or music that they’re putting out there to the audience. Another thing that I love about this series is it’s concept of love. It’s not just romantic love, but it’s focused on love for again like family, for camaraderie, for friendship. How love for something like for example for each character, how love for music has driven him to the extremes. um and how that also corrupted the way that he interacts with music and with Naoki specifically. Um and love between like a fan and the artist that they admire and the artist with their audience as well. Um and most specifically obviously there’s a love for music in general and how each artist interprets that as their own. Um, I think for Aken’s character specifically, I like that she she was able to grow into an artist that again, I talked to my brother about this cuz he plays the um the drums as well. And he says that there are sometimes there are two types of drummers. Ones that are more into freestyling, who are just they’re doing their own thing and then drummers who um takes it easier to just be to accompany. And there’s no one better than the other. It’s just the preference or kind of like the style of how a drummer is whenever they’re playing with other artists or how they interpret their craft on their own. But with um with Akane’s case, it was kind of like a combination of both. She has her own very strong style that doesn’t really mesh well with others, but she found how she was able to stand out while still blend in with Dan Blanc. And that’s the beauty of her journey. Now, for each of the characters, I really love that to some extent we also see how the relationships of Takoka and Sakamoto kind of like is with Noki. Like again both of them it’s not like they were w were weren’t also kind of like um overwhelmed with now’s genius but in a way like they were able to overcome whatever potential negativities that would rise from you know dealing with a genius or or creating with a genius by um allowing them to see the person behind the genius like Naoki is just someone who also equally respects and values what they bring to the table. And so it’s so much more bigger than just, you know, seeing him as a threat to who they are or their abilities or anything like that, which is the beauty of their relationship. I love the camaraderie that they’ve formed. I love the friendship that Sakamoto and Akane has also um developed um outside of just being in a group as well as um Takoka and Naoki’s specific relationship as well um because he is kind of like the more levelheaded person who takes care of his chaos and I really really love that. Um, and again overall aside from just the narrative of it and even for like the character of Kai who is their manager, um, it’s so easy to like for her as well and I really and I’m really like I wouldn’t dive deep into you know Erica Kata Erica’s um, you know, like history um, in showbiz, but I personally like just on that level of seeing her there. I think she also delivered a really good performance in terms of playing Kai and kind of like that level of wanting this group to succeed, but also kind of like having your own vision of how you want the group to succeed that you’re willing to go to lengths to put them down first. And I think that’s kind of like the twistedness of it all like again boils down to love. Like what love does is if it goes into the extreme, your love for something, it can either make or break you and make you do things um outside of what you would usually do. So I like that kind of contrast or their characters as well like K her and Ichidai where um they are kind of like the forces behind the scenes in the industry and how Tenbank operates and kind of like how that is a certain reality for some groups on why they’re being restricted to do certain things or why they’re being subject to these type of things and all these things. And again, it’s a certain level of not to say just evil, at least for Kai’s um Kai’s point, but there’s a certain level of evil as well that goes into, you know, like controlling someone as like a puppet, especially in the entertainment industry. And I like that Yukino was able to point that out later on into the narrative as well. But um to the core of this, you know, these are also people within the same space. And sometimes because of ambition, because of certain something, they’re willing to override someone else’s talent, someone else’s contributions for their own benefit. Um, and despite the fact that they made Ichidai’s character a bit more nuanced, it still doesn’t make what the things that he did right. So, yeah. Now, with all that said, aside from that, I love the performances. Um, not just the musical performances, but like even the acting in itself as well. I really really love that cinematography is just so beautiful. Love the colors. Love the camera work. Absolutely amazing. And even the way that they shape the performances in itself. It’s really such an experience especially coming from a music fan as well. Um it’s one of the best that I’ve seen so far. Um and they really like and again I’ve seen a lot of like films and movies um films and dramas that are within the same genre within the same space but this is one of the most beautiful iterations of it that I’ve seen. Um, I’ve seen Beck, which also stars um, Sataku, Shark, um, Sakamino Apollo, which not really within the same space, but again, music centric stories. Nana, Linda, Linda, Linda, Detroit, Metal City, um, even like the semi-autobiographical, Keki, which also stars Udam Masaki. So for this one, it is one of the kind of like most beautifully crafted series within the kind of like genre. And again, I think it’s because it’s also backed by Netflix. Um, so there’s definitely a lot of funding that went into it. But aside from it just being a very generally beautiful film visually, the soundtrack is amazing. There’s a lot of artists. Most of the contributions came from um the leads of Rad Wimps, which is amazing. And sometimes you can detect like the touches of their style into the music. Other artists like with um also contributed to the soundtrack which I added to a richness of the sound of Tenblank um as a group as a fictional group. Um and aside from that just overall like the storytelling the characters. Um I really like that I they ended it on a high note pun intended. Um again because of that twist about Mali’s character. It’s not exactly a twist because I think they’ve breadcrumbmed those clues all over the plot before they even revealed it. So, it wasn’t surprising, at least to me. But, I really like that they ended it on a hopeful note, which is usually how it is with these types of of shows, especially if it’s in a series format where they end it on kind of like a concert experience in the end of the group singing all the songs that they’ve sung in the other episodes. And I really like how they did it with this one because it despite the kind of like the expectation of what will happen in the plot or kind of like the un the unsaid things that will happen eventually and for people who’ve read the novel would probably know what happens after. I like that they ended it in a sense that you know it this was tends to be remembered as a group fictional group obviously but in the narrative sense this is how they want to be remembered at their peak um unstoppable and just giving so much energy out there and it’s not within giving a hateful energy but collaborative and being able to just deliver music that resonates not just with their audience but something that is so true to them and I really really love how it ended at that. So yeah. So with that said, tell me down in the comments below what are your thoughts about this series. If this video, please give a thumbs up, hit subscribe, and yeah, um I’ll be seeing you again soon in a new one. Bye.

#GlassHeart #グラスハート #TENBLANK   

Jumping off from ‘Marry My Husband Japan,’ Satoh Takeru brings another masterpiece to the table with ‘Glass Heart’.

Satoh co-stars with Miyazaki Yu, Machieda Keita, and Shison Jun as they bring the fictional band ‘TENBLANK’ to life.

The story itself isn’t exactly novel, following the usual formula of ‘misfits finding solace in music and each other’ — but that’s exactly where the humanity of the narrative resides.

Presented with stunning cinematography, a masterful soundtrack, and of course, stellar performances not just from the main ensemble but from the supporting cast headlined by Suda Masaki, Takaishi Akari, and Fujiki Naohito, ‘Glass Heart’ is a bingeworthy series that’s worth countless repeats.

Full review up top.

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