Asura is a very particular period piece about the typical, rule-following Japanese family in the 1970s, and yet it feels universal too in its tales of family, marriage, and above all else sisterhood. Based on a novel by Mukoda Kuniko, Asura captures the frustrating, odd, exhilarating, and reassuring specificity of having a sister. You could be in a severe argument one second but laugh about an accident in the next. You could get mad at your sister for staying in a toxic relationship while offering her a place to stay and promising not to judge her in the same breath. And as we witness the dynamics of these four sisters, we also get to see the relationships they pursue (or run away from) all while trying to stay afloat amid Japan’s rigid societal rules. “Is it happiness for women to not make waves?” their mother asks. The entire series sees the women try and fail and try again to answer that all-important and ever-relevant question.
Synopsis
In 1979 Tokyo, four distinct sisters uncover their aging father's affair, causing their happy facades and bottled-up emotions to slowly unravel.
Storyline
Tokyo, 1979. Takiko (Yu Aoi) hires an investigator to look into her father’s secret affair. When she tells her sisters Tsunako (Rie Miyazawa), Sakiko (Suzu Hirose), Makiko (Machiko Ono), and Makiko’s husband Takao (Masahiro Motoki) about her discovery, they promise to keep it from the sisters’ mother and ponder on what it means to be a woman in modern society.
TLDR
Don’t let the show’s specificities fool you: it’s a period piece about a particular Japanese family, but what it has to say about family, womanhood, and society are comfortingly universal.
What stands out
It looks stunning, like a newly found photograph come to life or an unrestored film, but in the best way. Beyond coloring and using actual film to shoot it, the series feels real for a host of reasons: the precise costume and production design, as well as the references, customs, and language used. Yet, for all its historic accuracy it never feels dated. Just the opposite, it’s one of the most vibrant and refreshing shows I’ve seen in a while. It never pretends to be anything other than a realistic glimpse of a tight-knit family.
