Like many others, I was quite interested in this after seeing HBO's Chernobyl. While this is similar, they're two very different shows conceived in two very different ways.
The acting is what you'd expect with any other Japanese drama. Seemingly emotionless characters, long awkward silences, and lots of staring. The one exception to this is the Prime Minister. Never before have I wanted to strangle a seemingly innocuous character. Constantly berating everyone who can't give him answers which are impossible to give without being on the ground (he expects absolute certainty and then blows his top when his expectations are not met). I'm not entirely sure if this was supposed to be an accurate representation of the actual Prime Minister at the time of the real incident, and for the sake of the real people involved I hope not.
A good thing is the cinematography. This show is absolutely gorgeous. However, in between beautiful yet harrowing establishing shots, 70% of the series you're locked in a dark control room. I also HATE when shows use first person views with gas masks on. I understand they're trying to depict the actual struggles and claustrophobia / confusion or the operators, but it makes the show a confusing mess to the audience. Every time characters need to enter the reactor buildings, they choose to show this. Everything is dark, the masks are filthy and you can't see a thing, I actually found myself fast forwarding through the scenes by the third episode. I have to admit the first episode is by far the best. The tsunami effects were well done, even paying attention to small details like water rushing out of small cracks.
I'm just going to tell it how it is - this show didn't need to be 8 hour long episodes. 3 of the episodes are literally focused on characters struggling to enter reactor buildings / turning valves. I can understand putting it in a single episode to show the conditions these characters struggle with, but episode 3 - 6 can literally be skipped. Watch one and you've seen them all.
There's almost no character development, but I honestly expected that. This is a very factual depiction of events. They've even depicted the most small and monotonous of details. I feel like there is literally so much they're trying to cram into the series that it just ends up bloated.
I'd definitely recommend anyone who's interested in man-made disasters (specifically nuclear) watch it, but be aware that it's a slow burn and drags on, and on, and on.
The acting is what you'd expect with any other Japanese drama. Seemingly emotionless characters, long awkward silences, and lots of staring. The one exception to this is the Prime Minister. Never before have I wanted to strangle a seemingly innocuous character. Constantly berating everyone who can't give him answers which are impossible to give without being on the ground (he expects absolute certainty and then blows his top when his expectations are not met). I'm not entirely sure if this was supposed to be an accurate representation of the actual Prime Minister at the time of the real incident, and for the sake of the real people involved I hope not.
A good thing is the cinematography. This show is absolutely gorgeous. However, in between beautiful yet harrowing establishing shots, 70% of the series you're locked in a dark control room. I also HATE when shows use first person views with gas masks on. I understand they're trying to depict the actual struggles and claustrophobia / confusion or the operators, but it makes the show a confusing mess to the audience. Every time characters need to enter the reactor buildings, they choose to show this. Everything is dark, the masks are filthy and you can't see a thing, I actually found myself fast forwarding through the scenes by the third episode. I have to admit the first episode is by far the best. The tsunami effects were well done, even paying attention to small details like water rushing out of small cracks.
I'm just going to tell it how it is - this show didn't need to be 8 hour long episodes. 3 of the episodes are literally focused on characters struggling to enter reactor buildings / turning valves. I can understand putting it in a single episode to show the conditions these characters struggle with, but episode 3 - 6 can literally be skipped. Watch one and you've seen them all.
There's almost no character development, but I honestly expected that. This is a very factual depiction of events. They've even depicted the most small and monotonous of details. I feel like there is literally so much they're trying to cram into the series that it just ends up bloated.
I'd definitely recommend anyone who's interested in man-made disasters (specifically nuclear) watch it, but be aware that it's a slow burn and drags on, and on, and on.