Welcome to The Avocado’s weekly discussion of Japanese pop culture! I finished watching Turn to Me Mukai-kun recently (on Netflix), and it was so good that I’ve decided to feature it in today’s post to encourage everyone to check it out! This live-action series is based on an ongoing josei manga by Yōko Nemu about an office worker, Mukai, who is in his 30’s and suddenly realizes he hasn’t been in a relationship for 10 years. The main story focuses on the ups and downs of Mukai’s love life, but the other characters get a lot of time to develop, and we often get to see things from their perspective as well. The story about his sister and brother-in-law is particularly well done and thoughtful, but really everyone is interesting. I hesitate to call this a romantic comedy, although I think that’s now Netflix categorizes it, because while there is romance and comedy I wouldn’t say that romance is the point of the show. It’s more about the many kinds of relationships we build with others, societal expectations regarding those relationships, as well as gender roles, the pressures we feel from our families, friends, and co-workers….Basically, it’s about a lot! And it’s really, really good! The acting is really great too, with another great performance from Haru (from my favorite 2023 show, Mr. Bride) as one of the leads, Fujiwara Sakura (yes, the singer! turns out she’s a great actor too!) as the sister, Okayama Amane as the brother-in-law, and Akaso Eiji (from Cherry Magic!), who perfectly embodies the complex and nuanced Mukai.

And as if that wasn’t enough…the soundtrack is delightful! I often had these songs swimming around in my head for hours after watching an episode.

And, as always…

What have you been watching/reading/playing/eating/listening to lately?

Happy Wednesday! 🙂