I found it after searching here in IMDB what other things have done the actors in another great mini series (We married as a job - Netflix) and if they're available in any platform; luckily, there was this one.
I love japanese movies and some anime, but wasn't used to the tv series/mini series format.
I never read any manga in my life, just a sort of comics (we call them "historietas") when I was a child; but know of their existence and their styles, with that in mind, it's much more easy to understand the acting and directing in this series; they're like mangas in action. Every shot could be a panel in a comic, the "over-acting", the exagerated expresions...it's all there.
Now the mini serie itself: Our "hero" is a yakuza guy (Tomoya Nagase) that while doing his job finds rakugo (a storytelling art of comedic episodes almost 400 years old, told by a rakugoka who plays all the characters in the story). Through the episodes we learn more about his own story and the ones of each other character he crosses paths with. The whole serie is an excuse to portray in modern times a different rakugo story per episode, wich by the way is being told during it and pictured also as an Edo period play. It sounds complicated but once you get acostumed to it and its great editing you'll surely enjoy it.
The overall performance, I understand, could be a little too much to some U. S. viewers (not all western audiences are U. S.); but it surprised me how some gestures and reactions are very "latin". At times it could easily pass as an italian dramatic comedy; the big table, the whole family, the shouting, the drama, the crying mother, the laughter, found it very relatable being of italian/spaniard ancestry.
A last applause to the rakugo master and head of family, Toshiyuki Nishida, a tremendous actor and Arata Furuta who played an alcoholic in one episode (how can a character make you laugh and cry at the same time?) and an intriguing gay man struggling with loneliness and ageing in We married as a job, superb actor.
Rest of the cast is good, almost every one has its own moment to shine.
So, whenever you get angry at any platform because there's nothing interesting, pick any japanese movie or series, won't be disappointed.
