Sleepless Nights with Bakarhythm's "Non-REM no Mado"

Bakarhythm in Non-REM no Mado

 As someone who absolutely LOVES the works of off-kilter madman BAKARHYTHM and his wonderfully imaginative stories, set-ups and scenarios, when I found out he has a series of thought-provoking shorts called “Non-REM no Mado”, I knew I just HAD to check it out!

Starting off as a sort of “Twilight Zone” feeling show, the series slowly became more of a take on societal niceties, fun observations and funny gags, becoming more Jerry Seinfeld than Rod Serling!

At first, Non REM no Mado started off slow and seemed more like throwaway ideas left over from his dramas, (at least in my opinion) but by the third installment, it really seemed to pick up and become wildly fun to watch! Some I even now regard as full blown faves!

Hosted by Bakarhythm in his always stoic persona (think the dude in the white room purgatory in Brush Up Life and you get the idea), along with an abstractly dismembered Yuki Saito as his companion, they introduce each segment and talk about it afterwards, making for nice ‘bookends” to each chapter!

 

Just got finished wrapping 'em all up and thought I'd break the series down for anyone interested in checking it out! The synopses of the chapters and the guests appearing in them (of which there are MANY!) follow: 

Spring 2022 Special

"Our Love"

Kazama stars as a two-timing guy who wakes up one morning to find that his cheating heart has split him into two separate beings! Now free to date each woman exclusively, his life should be a breeze…or is it just inviting MORE problems?

Shunsuke Kazama

"Cancellation Game"

A man trying to cancel a subscription contract online find out just how difficult companies make it for someone to end their service, with hard-to follow instructions, hidden buttons and forms, til one is about to lose their minds! 

For those who have actually tried to cancel a subscription, you know that this is a scenario that is far too close to the mark to be funny!

Toru Nomaguchi

"Customize"

A young barista learning the ropes at a Starbucks-like cafe finds that there is a skill in learning and memorizing those agonizingly long customized orders of extra cream, low fat milk, two sugars, etc, and find there’s a status and art in it!

Mayu Matsuoka

Fall 2022 Special

"The Man from the Future"

Average guy discovers that he’s time-slipped back 3 years into the past, unfortunately, having lived a completely unremarkable life unaware of any real social events or advancements in science or technology around him, finds he has no way of using this power to his benefit!

Masataka Kubota

"Banned Terms"

Fumino as a Charismatic Newscaster who finds that in his current world of cancel-culture, easily offended parties and outrage baiters, it is becoming harder and harder to do her daily report without using words or phrases that might “set somebody off”. 

With Cancel Culture becoming a bigger and bigger thing nowadays, this is a very timely one!

Fumino Kimura

Yuno Ohara

 "I Want To Know The Password"

A game of cat-and-mouse between a housewife and her husband when, believing he is cheating on her, engages in a battle of wits with him as she tries to get into his phone, laptop, etc, for proof. But the savvy hubby is always one step ahead….

PS: MAN, Tae was so damn pretty in this chapter!

Tae Kimura

New Year’s Special 2023

"The Shelter Man"

Hilarious short of a schleppy guy who finds a fugitive at his doorstep, begging for cover from the police. Normally he would call the authorities right away, but she’s an absolute babe so he invites her in, with hopes of somehow getting it on with her. But will his sense of appearing gentlemanly to his beautiful guest dash his chances?

Disco Hoshino

Riho Yoshioka

"Proxy Society"

In a futuristic world where you can hire a proxy to stand -in for you at any event that makes you uncomfortable, Ryuta Sato is at the top of his game. His latest job is to stand in for a guy who wants to propose to his girlfriend for hand in marriage. But when the girlfriend sends in her OWN proxy, things can get a bit muddled!!

Ryuta Sato

"Making Friends as an Adult"

A short but sweet story of a woman who finds that as she approaches middle age, it gets harder and harder to make friends to do things with. When work and home connections fail, she must dabble in latest methods and fads in search of true friendship!

Also featuring Yu Kashii, whom I haven’t seen in forever!

Haruka Kinami

Yu Kashii

Summer 2023 Special

"Dilemma At Dusk"

A supermarket quandary we’ve all been in, where the line you choose to pay for your goods goes slowly while the other goes fast… and when you move to the faster lane, IT slows down and the line you left picks up. What is a customer to do! Yukiyoshi Ozawa as the frazzled customer and Kana Kita as the cashier. Really liked this one!!!

Yukiyoshi Ozawa

Kana Kita

 

"Can You Be My Oshi/Death?"

Kaho as a bored OL whose only happiness is supporting her Oshi in a local idol boy band. When her stan suddenly quits, she seeks a new idol to support, and eventually finds one...a clerk at the local convenience store she shops at!!

Kaho 

"For Those Who (Don't) Want To Get Ahead in Life"

Seto stars as a succesful entrepreneur who, after being chided by an attractive contemporary of his (Miori Takimoto) for being too “high falutin’”, attends a class which teaches one to lower self-goals and become a more “Down to earth” unachiever!

Koji Seto

Miori Takimoto

Winter 2023 Special

"Nozaki's-San's Dream"

A high-school girl (Mori) dreams of becoming a famous model, actress and singer when she graduates. In her eyes, she’s always had star quality and has never doubted success would be on the way. But while being complimented by a gushing classmate (Karin Ono), she senses that her peers may not have seen her in the same light! 

This chapter is PURE BAKARHYTHM, the dialog so zany, fast and quirky, it could have come straight out of Brush up Life, especially with the karaoke flashback scene! 

Nana Mori

Karin Ono

"Love Chart"

A middle aged Dad faces the nerve wracking ordeal of parenthood when his young daughter falls in love with a boy in school for the first time! Using her school journal as a guide, he tries to work out what’s happening in class while he’s at work!

Kenichi Takito

Yuno Nagao

"Death Game"

A down on his luck guy with nothing to lose (Okayama) enters a “Squid Game” like scenario where the winner wins millions-but to lose costs you your life! But unlike life or death dramas like Liar Game or Da Capo Shimasenka, THIS game is run by a couple who, though intimidating looking, appear to be novices to the whole death-game dealing thing and fumble right along with the would be contestants! HAHAHA, this one was freaking HILARIOUS!!!

Amane Okayama

Takumi Saito

Misako Renbutsu

That's it so far- Five Specials in the span of two years.... pretty good output! I’ve talked to friends about Bakarhythm’s awesome SUTEKINA SEN-TAXI series, and how we WISH he would make new seasons every year, and though he won’t be doing that any time soon (I would wager that Yutaka Takenouchi would be waaaay to busy to commit to THAT), it seems like we may count on more Non REM no Mado specials in the future!

PS: Also really love how Bakarythm continually uses actors and actresses from his previous series, Kaho, Haruka Kinami, etc,  even cute Yuno Nagao (who played young Ando Sakura in Brush Up Life) among others!

Will be waiting for MORE of this FUN series!!!

Dried Flower: Our Room in July 終わり

 GODDAMMIT, somehow I just KNEW Dried Flower was going to break my heart! 

Well…not sad, but perhaps melancholy. Because though it ended on a mostly positive note, it sure left me in a sombre mood!!!

 A study of two people over the course of three years who, though they start out wide-eyed and optimistic about their future together, slowly drift apart even while on the surface things seem fine, told in three parts: Episode one shows how the couple meet and their first year moving in together, Episode 2 shows the third year from the guy’s side and Episode 3 shows from the girl’s side.
Dried Flower shows how even if you are well-meaning and feel like you are treating your significant other with love, you can still end up hurting them through lack of understanding and empathy...

Certainly made me think back about past relationships where I might have made the wrong choices by misreading the situation and times where I might have made the other feel insignificant by not seeing what is important to them...This was actually a pretty hard-hitting drama, one to make you really think about things.

 Arghhh, Now I’m feeling all melancholy and lonely.

Somebody to Not Love: Koisenu Futari

 Sakuko Kodama (Yukino Kishi)  is a sales executive for a marketing company. She is passionate about her job and has good things lined up for her, including a possible romance from her co-worker Maruyama who has taken a shine to her.

On one of their in-store visits,  she happens to meet a curious man by the name of Takahashi (Issei Takahashi) who, though excellent in his work with produce, doesn’t seem very social. When he hears the company guys joking about love, he murmurs “There are some who simply choose not to love” which strikes Sakuko profoundly.

Indeed, Sakuko has grown up without the usual desires for love and romance and find them burdensome. his all comes to a head that afternoon where her co-worker flat-out confesses his love for her, which she curtly rejects. She feels bad but doesn’t know any other way to handle it.

After work, her childhood friend Chizuru (Fujiko Kojima) understands her negative reaction to the confession. “Ever since we were kids you’ve always been bad at romance” she says, recounting a time when everyone at a party talked about relationships while she simple ate cake and got sick, LOL

Even her parents (Mantaro Koichi and Nishida Naomi) and sister Minori (Kana Kita), whom though they encourage her on the outside, secretly worry about her and are impatient for her to settle down. But she just hasn’t ever felt romantic for anyone.
After she finds her co-worker Maruyama has requested to stop working with her after the rejection (what a sap!), she begins to wonder if she’s truly some kind of misfit.

Googling around one night, she finds a series of compelling articles written by blogger named “haneirocabbage” who puts forth the idea of the”aromantic” people: individuals who do not have romantic feelings for other.

Reading the writings, a great burden seems lifted off her, for they seem to describe all the feelings she’s gone through herself- being looked down by others, being pressured into meetings, etc. In time, this blog becomes her comfort to get through the day!

Part of her duties taking over her departed partner is to see over the grocery store they were at and it’s during one visit that she meets the strange Takahashi again. They make friendly small talk, but when she sees a curry stain on Takahashi’s shirt is the SAME as the haneirocabbage blogger, she realizes he is one and the SAME guy!

Delighted, she instantly starts gushing and following him around in a loud voice, "Are you haneirocabbage? You are, aren’t you!” to which he finally has to admit it, it only to calm her down!

He agrees to talk with her in detail about things after work, but with limited places to go tha Takashi would be comfortable with, they agree to go to his house.

Upon arrival, it’s just what Sakuko imagined, and for the first time in her life, she talks about her cares and worries to someone she knows understands her. She talks about the worries of social interactions. She worries of family expectations. And most of all, she worries about ending up alone. She doesn’t crave romance but is afraid of loneliness. 

And when Takahashi confesses the same feeling of helplessness dealing with being alone, Sakuko puts forth a radical idea: “Excluding all romantic notions…Won’t you become my FAMILY? Just WHERE will this novel idea go from here?!

Aw man, this drama is so freakin’ good so far! It’s everything I like in a quirky drama and I must say that it comes down to the two leads. Takahashi (the actor, not the character, LOL) is channeling his thoughtful “Bokura wa Kiseki de Dekite Iru” Character Kazuki and always feels so sincere in his portrayals. funny how he can play so many jerks but also so many kind and soft-spoken fellows.
And Yukino Kishii!!! WOWOW, you know, though she’s been in so many dramas I’ve seen (including Lupin No Musume and Kazoku Boshu Shimasu), I didn’t really realize how great she was until the recent “No Activity” with Kishii as the manic influencer Mari, (the kidnappee who is thrilled as it might make her go viral), and she continues that with the spazzy and instantly likeable character of Sakuko!
I immediately liked both lead characters from the moment I saw them and I’m excited to see where this storyline goes!!! MORE PLEASE!