Binge-worthy: Asura is a compelling tale of sisterhood with great performances

Asura

Netflix
4 stars

In the period Japanese series Asura, Palme d’Or-winning Japanese film-maker Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters, 2018) has gathered a highly talented cast to highlight the complicated bonds between sisters and spouses, and the ways women rebel and compromise in a rigidly patriarchal society.

The series, which opens in 1979, revolves around four sisters – eldest Tsunako (Rie Miyazawa), a widow who teaches the art of flower arrangement; second sister Makiko (Machiko Ono), a married housewife with teenage children; Takiko (Yu Aoi), a strait-laced librarian; and youngest Sakiko (Suzu Hirose), who is a free-spirited waitress.

When they discover their elderly father (Jun Kunimura) is having an affair and, possibly, has an illegitimate son, the sisters clash over how to best handle the situation.

Here are three reasons to tune in.

1. Portrait of sisterhood

As a family drama, Asura’s appeal hinges on the four sisters in the story, and Kore-eda, who has made a career out of exploring familial or pseudo-familial relationships in his works, shines in this respect.

The unique tension between sisters is compellingly and realistically portrayed in Asura. Tsunako and Makiko, being the oldest who are closer in age to each other than their younger sisters, have a mellow and friendly bond. But both behave, at times, more like meddling and worried mothers to Takiko and Sakiko.

In comparison, the younger pair are more heated and immature, often sniping at each other and ending up in silly catfights.

There is resentment, envy, jealousy and judgment among the sisters. Makiko is shocked and displeased when she finds out that Tsunako is sleeping with a married man; and the dull, bespectacled Takiko is insecure when she compares herself with the pretty Sakiko.

But anchoring the roiling emotions is an all-encompassing love. Despite their disagreements, they will drop everything to be with their sisters in times of need and will stand up for them or quietly support them, even when their siblings make decisions they disagree with.

2. Quiet rage of women

Given the period setting, the series takes place at a time when Japan was still very conservative in gender ideals. Women, like Takiko, may be able to work, but options are still limited and most regard marriage as the most “proper” path for women to take.

Sentiment towards infidelity in men is also very gentle. At one point, a character blatantly claims that if a man provides, then straying is a forgivable misstep. And so the women endure.

Despite many of the women often maintaining a typically Japanese facade of calm and civility, Kore-eda gives space for their anger to be felt. In a memorable scene, the sisters’ mother Fuji (Keiko Matsuzaka) discovers a toy car in her husband’s coat that the son of his mistress had left behind. She plays with the car and hums a song to herself, before her face crumples in rage and she picks up the car and throws it with such force that it makes a hole in a screen door.

The women may clash and have differing agendas, but all of them are so quietly angry, and the repression makes it all the more palpable and powerful.

3. A+ performances

The cast is stellar, with major roles filled by household names in Japan. Everyone does a good job of giving his or her character depth and preventing him or her from becoming a stereotype in a very old-fashioned story of family conflict and infidelity.

Ono, in particular, excels. While Takiko is the most outwardly upset by their father’s affair, it is Makiko who is most distressed by it. Like her mother, she is a full-time housewife who believes “ignorance is bliss”, yet also tortured by her suspicions that her husband is cheating on her.

In a scene where she has an outburst and confronts her father about his affair, Ono gives her all, with her tearful yelling and shaking – a stark contrast to her gentle demeanour. She seems to be screaming at her father on behalf of her mother, but the grief and rage run deeper as she sees her life clearly overlapping with that of her mother’s.