Nothing drives us crazy more than a program that can’t find a consistent tone, or at least doesn’t have the ability to integrate two or more tones into a coherent whole. Boys, For example, it was capable of being thrilling, funny, vulgar and extremely violent all at the same time, especially during its first few seasons. But often, shows that try to mix tones shift from one to the other less fluidly, like a new Japanese series on Hulu.
LAND OF TANABATA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening shot: A man on horseback is being led across a meadow. One of the men accompanying him is holding a boat.
The essence: In the seventh year of the Eiroku era, a battle is fought over the village of Mount Murakami. A huge army faces Lord Murakami and a few others. Suddenly, popping noises and flashes of light are heard. All of the soldiers lie dead, with holes in their heads and chests and other such fatal wounds.
Currently, Yōji Minamimaru (Kanata Hosoda), nicknamed Nanmaru, is demonstrating his telekinetic ability to the members of his university’s New Skill Development Research Society, of which he is the president. He screams and then makes a small but perfect hole in several sheets of paper. Everyone is impressed, except for his friend Aki (Yui Narumi), who thinks he should be looking for a job.
She gives him a tip from Professor Masami Marukami (Hiroshi Mikami), who has been looking to speak with him. When Nanmaru goes to the professor’s office, he is not there; his homeroom teacher, Sayuri Emi (Mai Kiryuu), tells Nanmaru that the professor is on a fact-finding mission.
Meanwhile, a woman named Sachiko Higashimaru (Ryōko Fujino) wakes up from a recurring nightmare in which she feels like she is falling and/or drowning.
Marukami learned that he has telekinetic ability from his grandfather. He skipped a generation and his parents didn’t seem to talk much about his family’s origins. He begins to feel like his telekinetic power doesn’t really mean much when Professor Emi calls him back to her classroom to tell him that Professor Marukami disappeared on a trip to Marukami Village to conduct further research.
It seems that the professor also has the same telekinetic ability as Nanmaru, but he can generate much larger holes and can do so almost at will. This comes into play when a businessman in Marukami Village is found dead, with a massive hole in his head and a perfectly shaped hole cut through his office window.
What shows will it remind you of? Land of Tanabatabased on the manga Tanabata in Kuni, crosses Shogun with a program about people with superpowers, like Supacellula.
Our opinion: The first episode of Land of Tanabata It’s slow and confusing, and oddly violent. We get the idea behind the story; Nanmaru will learn that his abilities are important, and he’ll likely step up and become the hero of the story as he and the professor’s investigation team search for him in Marukami Village. But we came away from the first episode not quite sure how the show will get there.
There are moments where the show is supposed to be light-hearted and moderately funny, most notably involving the fact that Nanmaru screams when he uses his abilities and gets tired of poking little holes in things. There are also moments of great seriousness, such as flashbacks to the hooded Lord Marukami and his followers wielding their telekinetic powers with deadly consequences.
But amidst all that, there seems to be a murder mystery afoot, and the fate of Marukami Village is part of that mystery. Given the professor’s prodigious telekinetic abilities, is he the one blowing huge holes in people’s heads? Or is it someone else? And how will that tie into the mystery of who Lord Marukami was all those centuries ago?
Oh, and one more question: Who the hell is Sachiko and how does she fit into all of this? We see her very briefly in the first episode and have no idea what her connection is to the overall story. We’re sure there’s a connection somewhere, but the first episode moves so slowly that it doesn’t even bother to give us any clues.
Sex and skin: None.
Parting shot: After killing the army general, Lord Marukami spreads his hands, with his extremely long fingers, in the air and speaks of not allowing anyone to invade his domain, including “one day, far in the future.”
Sleeping Star: Mai Kiryuu, as Professor Emi, seems to have a special interest in going after Professor Marukami. We’re not sure why at this point, but it’s definitely more than just the fact that he’s her mentor.
Pilot’s most typical phrase: The scenes where someone gets a hole drilled into their head are unpleasant, of course, but they also seem out of place given the overall tone of the show.
Our calling: SKIP IT. The first episode of Land of Tanabata It’s oddly restrained and incredibly gory, making for a disconnected viewing experience that doesn’t compel viewers to continue following its story.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting, and technology, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV addict. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.comFast Company and elsewhere.
