Japanese Drama - Glass Heart

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

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Glass Heart is a 2025 Japanese drama based on the novel Glass Heart by Mio Wakagi.

The series was written by Mari Okada and Tomoko Akutsu, and directed by Kohtaro Goto and Kensaku Kakimoto.

The series was released on Netflix on July 31st, with 10 episodes.

Main Cast:

Takeru Satoh as Naoki Fujitani

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Yu Miyazaki as Akane Saijo

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Keita Machida as Sho Takaoka

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Jun Shison as Kazushi Sakamoto

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Supporting Cast:

Masaki Suda as Toya Shinzaki

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Reini as Mahiro Arisugawa

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Erika Karata as Miyako Kai

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Pistol Takehara as Genji Kamiyama

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Naohito Fujiki as Ichidai Isagi

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Akari Takaishi as Yukino Sakurai

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You as Momoko Saijo

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Miku Uehara as Eiko

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Hazuki Shimizu as Haruna Shinzaki

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Kokoro Morita as Toya Shinzaki's Fan

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As this is a drama based around a band, it's only fair that I share with you the amazing songs that feature in each episode.

Matrix - TENBLANK

Tokyo Shuffle

旋律と結晶 (Crystalline Echo) - TENBLANK

Tokyo Shuffle

約束のうた (Unbroken) - TENBLANK

Tokyo Shuffle

Lucky Me - TENBLANK

Tokyo Shuffle

シトラス (Citrus) - TENBLANK

치아

Play Out Loud - TENBLANK

하루가사집 [歌詞集]

Chasing Blurry Lines - TENBLANK

하루가사집 [歌詞集]

君とうたう歌 (A Song For Us To Sing) - TENBLANK (Feat. Yukino Sakurai)

하루가사집 [歌詞集]

永遠前夜 (Forever Eve) - TENBLANK

佐藤 健 / Satoh Takeru

Glass Heart - TENBLANK

佐藤 健 / Satoh Takeru

Akane Saijo is a university student  and plays the drums in a band. Suddenly she gets unfairly kicked out of the band.

Genius musician Naoki Fujitani becomes aware of Akane Saijo and asks her to join his new band TENBLANK.

The band members in his band includes guitarist Sho Takaoka and pianist Kazushi Sakamoto.

Meanwhile, there is a rival band that vocalist Toya Shinzaki belongs to.

Netflix Philippines

Seeing 2 of the names for this drama, and reading the info, and seeing the trailer. I knew that it was a drama I wanted to get my teeth into. I knew it would be a drama that interested me and I wasn't wrong. I absolutely love this drama, it's definitely one of my favourite Japanese dramas, as well as overall drama.

The casting is amazing, they all were amazing in their roles, the story and plot is really good and really well told.

I love that even though this drama is a romance drama it focuses more on the band and the music, which for me gives a more developed love story as we see the relationship grow.

For me TENBLANK is up there with my favourite fictional groups with Given, the music is amazing and knowing that they all played their instruments, made this drama so much more breathtaking and enjoyable.

I absolutely loved Takeru Satoh as Naoki Fujitani. I've only ever watched him play Kenshin in the Rurouni Kenshin live-action films, and I feel like this role put him on a whole other level for me. He was amazing in his role and I love the fact that he sung all the songs too. I wasn't aware that he was able to sing. His character is a perfectionist and wants things to go his way, and when it doesn't, he doesn't stop, until he's got that 100% perfection.

I really liked Yu Miyazaki as Akane Saijo. she brought a naivety to the drama and her character, she really made her believable. I love that when she first gets rejected she dye's her hair a different colour, which probably every woman does when they're moving on from a heartbreak etc. I love that even though her character seems naive, she's still strong and independant and keeps fighting for what she wants no matter what or who tries to bring her down.

I loved Keita Machida as Sho Takaoka. I've seen him in a few things including Alice in Borderland and the High & Low film series. I think this role is definitely my favourite so far. There were times that I made some BL jokes between Sho and Naoki, but you could see how close they were and how much they valued their friendship and their talents. I think Sho was someone in the band that anyone could turn to for help an guidance, even when it all seemed to be breaking down.

I really liked Jun Shison as Kazushi Sakamoto, this is my first drama of his and I have to say, what better drama to start with. He really give me 2nd male lead syndrome. He's a character that knows he's talented but wanted to be the best of the best, you could also tell that he wanted Naoki's approval.

Masaki Suda was amazing as Toya Shinzaki. He's the typical rival and is just as talented as Naoki, but has had to work harder to get to where he is. He comes across as someone who is cold and will get what they want, any way that they want, but we see that he has a warmer and softer side to him.

Reini was really good as Mahiro Arisugawa. While we don't really get much from him, we can see that he really respects Toya. It made me think at times that he had deeper feelings towards him, but I think it's more that he has respect from his as a musician, as well as a friend.

I really liked Erika Karata as Miyako Kai, for me her character was definitely unpredictable. There were definitely times that I felt for her, but it was nice to see her character development towards the end.

I liked Pistol Takehara as Genji Kamiyama, I really liked him as TENBLANK's new manager, as he was the total opposite to Kai. In that he kept them grounded and together, he helped each one of them.

Naohito Fujiki was really good as Ichidai Isagi. He's your typical bad guy. He's in power and will do anything and everything to keep himself at the top and in power. He uses his power to keep his artists with him, and to try and bring Naoki back on his side. Be prepared for no character development, his character is one that never changes and you can tell he has no desire to change who he is.

I loved Akari Takaishi as Yukino Sakurai. I went into this drama thinking she was the love rival and would do anything to make Naoki hers. We see some real character development with her and we see that her relationships change. Hers and Akane's relationship really screams woman protecting woman, rather than them bringing each other down.

I don't think I will ever stop recommending this drama, I've been constantly listening to the bands music, and I'm insanely jealous of Japan getting fanmeet's with them, as well as them performing with One Ok Rock, who I see in October. I think that shows how amazing this drama is.

I won't get over how amazing the cast is and how well they worked together to bring this story to life. It's definitely made me want to read the novel and get more in to the series.

Have you watched Glass Heart?

Were you a fan of the cast?

Did you enjoy the plot?

Let me know in the comments below.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

Japanese Drama - Alice in Borderland

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao) 

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Alice in Borderland is a Japanese science fiction suspense-thriller drama series based on the manga of the same name by Haro Aso.

The series was written by Yoshiki Watabe, Yasuko Kuramitsu and Shinsuke Sato and also directed by Shinsuke Sato.

The series was released on streaming service Netflix, the first season contains 8 episodes.

Main Cast:

Kento Yamazaki as Ryohei Arisu

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Tao Tsuchiya as Yuzuha Usagi

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Recurring Cast:

Yuki Morinaga as Chota Segawa

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Keita Machida as Daikichi Karube

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Nijiro Murakami as Shuntaro Chishiya

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Sho Aoyagi as Aguni Morizono

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Ayaka Miyoshi as Ann Rizuna

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Dori Sakurada as Suguru Niragi

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Aya Asahina as Hikari Kuina

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Shuntaro Yanagi as Takatora Samura/The Last Boss

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Nobuaki Kaneko as Takeru Danma/Hatter

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The series was met with positive reviews from viewers and critics for it's visuals, cinematography, editing, and use of graphic violence, with some comparing the series to the films Battle Royale and Cube.

Two weeks after the first season was released, Netflix renewed the series for a 2nd season.

Check out the trailer for Alice in Borderland blow.

Netflix

Arisu is a man without much money, luck and is currently unemployed as well. Out of the blue a blinding light engulfs him one day, in whose aftermath, the city of Tokyo has lost all it's inhabitants, save Arisu and his 2 friends.

This is a dangerous and potentially fatal game of survival now, in which they are forced to take part.

I was intrigued by this series when it appeared on the spotlight section on Netflix, the trailer itself I also found interesting, so I decided I'd give it a watch.

I watched it with Skye and from the very first episode we were hooked, I won't deny that I was in tears by the end of episode 3, but I think that that episode was a turning point for male leads character.

For me if you're not familiar with the manga and get stuck in through the drama, I'd say don't have any favourite characters because it's one of those series' that anything goes.

The cast did an amazing job with this series, and I don't think I could have picked a better cast, even when I'm not familiar with any of them. Everyone involved did an amazing job, I'm not surprised that it performed well globally, even getting a 2nd season confirmed within 2 weeks of it's original release.

I think Kento Yamazaki did an amazing job as Ryohei Arisu, I definitely felt for him throughout the series, he seems to be the typical gamer/loner, he doesn't seem interested in education, work or his family, his main interests seem to be online gaming and his 2 best friends. What we find early on though is that he's clever and online gaming plays to his strengths once the survival game starts, and will try to figure out the game quick to make sure all those involved survive, sadly though sometimes that's not the outcome for him.

I also think Tao Tsuchiya did amazing as Yuzuha Usagi, her character seems that she has had to grow up quickly after the death of her father, within the game she is able to use her skills from mountain climbing and late forms a close bond a friendship with Arisu.

Yuki Morinaga showed us how soft, caring and scared it all was as Chota Segawa, he was Skye's favourite character right from the first episode. He is one of Arisu's best friends and you can see he relies on both Arisu and Karube alot, even more so when he becomes injured and feels like he'll be the death of his friends, we see that he is the way he is because of how he was raised by his mother.

Keita Machida plays Arisu's other best friend Daikichi Karube, he seems to be your typical bad guy, and is the strength behind Arisu's brains, we slightly see him lose his composure as a friend when it becomes the fight for survival, but in the end after some reasoning quickly regains his composure.

I loved Nijiro Murakami as Shuntaro Chishiya, he's smart, witty and knows how use people for his own gain, it seems the only real person he trusts is Kuina, who he meets because of the games, he also seems like testing people to see if they're worthy to be a part of his clique.

Sho Aoyagi as Aguni Morizono shows how friends can really change within the game, on the ourisde he seems to be the man you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of, he's also the only character that seems to be able to control the menaces of the people that live at The Beach, what we don't realise to later on that he doesn't like the man he's becoming or the man his very own best friend is becoming and struggles mentally with everything that happens in the process.

We don't meet Ayaka Miyoshi as Ann Rizuna until a little later into the series, and she seems to be mysterious, as she seems to keep herself to herself, until it's time to figure out what his happening, that's when she has to reveal what she did before they were pulled into the games, as people begin to suspect her, and as to how she knows how to find the evidence to everything happening.

I felt so uncomfortable watching Dori Sakurada as Suguru Niragi because I'm used to his role in Good Morning Call, not only that I'm used to seeing him play risque character's but not as bad an as risque as Niragi, for me this shows how much of an amazing actor he is, and I would loved to see him play more roles like this.

We meet Aya Asahina as Hikari Kuina as Arisu and Usagi get to The Beach, she's also Chishiya's right hand woman, but as we get to know her more, we get to know her painful past, not only with her family but also her battle within herself about who she is and who she should be.

Not only is Niragi bad and having fun with everything, he's nothing compared to Shuntaro Yanagi as Takatora Samura/The Last Boss, before being brought into these games, he didn't feel complete in the world, he had no interest in really living, until being transported to the empty Tokyo, here he comes alive and sees this world as his reason for living, making his personality and mindset completely change.

Lastly we have Nobuaki Kaneko as Takeru Danma/Hatter, he's the leader of The Beach and Aguni's best friend, when we meet him he seems friendly and happy to help those who come to The Beach, but all is not what it seems to be and we get to see how he's changed after entering the game and being made to be a leader.

I'm definitely intrigued with what will happen in the 2nd season, as we were left with a cliff hanger in the final episode, not only did we find out who is behind all of this, but we were left seeing more people being killed within the games, showing that there are more people out there, I'm curious on if we will meet new characters in the 2nd season and if there will be a new team formed by the characters we see at the end.

Overall this series is amazing, it's definitely a series that you can binge watch, and get pulled into the chaos and betrayal. I highly recommend it.

Have you watched Alice in Borderland?

Were you a fan of the cast?

Were you a fan of the plot and script?

Let me know in the comments below.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye