“Japan Sinks: 2020” Review, Because 2020 Ain’t Done Playing With Our Emotions

2020 really showed it’s behind: A global pandemic, racial unrest around the world, Terry Crews. But leave it to famed anime director Masaaki Yuasa (Devilman Crybaby, Kaiba) to remind you that things could always be worse. In the Netflix anime series Japan Sinks: 2020, Yuasa tests the limits of human will and the dangers of nationalism amidst the backdrop of horrific natural disasters. Inspired by Sakyo Komatsu’s 1973 novel Japan Sinks, the Netflix adaptation follows the mixed-ethnicity Muto family as they try to escape Japan after a series of devastating earthquakes begin to sink the island nation. Japanese father Kōichirō (Masaki Terasoma/Keith Silverstein) and Filipina mother Mari (Yuko Sasaki/Grace Lynn Kung) fight their way through harrowing near-death experiences to find their teenage daughter Ayumi (Reina Ueda/Faye Mata) and young son Gō (Tomo Muranaka/ Ryan Bartley). But it’s through Olympic hopeful Ayumi through which we experience the horror as one of the world’s most iconic countries begins a slow descent into oblivion. But as intriguing as the premise may be, the emotional payoffs aren’t set up for success.

https://youtu.be/yfys-2KA3oQ Japan Sinks: 2020 official Netflix trailer At a brisk half-hour apiece, the 10-episode season forces Japan Sinks: 2020 to burn a bit too quickly through the story. This break neck pace allows little time to soak in the emotional rawness of major events and character deaths (of which there are many). Someone blows up? Ah well. Someo…