Silent (2022)

Quiet drama.

A drama that is mainly based on dilemmas and questions about how people see me with my disability.
Sakura who loses his hearing begins to distance himself from everyone including friends and family.
You see his pain in the series, his difficulty with the lack of hearing.
Throughout the series he understands things and connects what is happening to him with the present.
Oba on the other hand after Sakura dumps her she starts dating his best friend and is basically unaware that she still has feelings for Sakura.
She is learning sign language "to communicate with him better".
And little by little memories from the past are coming back.
Sakura's best friend - all the time with the fear that Sakura will return and Oba will leave him.
He is ahead of his time and breaks up with Ova with the excuse that he didn't think about his own life and desires and always did what she wanted to make Ova happy.

A touching and moving series in everything related to Sakura and his dealings with deafness, but - the drama is a bit smeared, and every second there are different aspects of farewell.
The last chapter was definitely the most beautiful. I just *hope* that the whispers in the ear were the sentence-
"I love you".

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IT'S ONE OF THE BEST JDRAMA I'VE EVER WATCHED

First of all,we gonna talk about the plot and storyline... for me the storyline is not that rushing nor slow,it's a normal pace yet beautiful,there are too many beautiful things in this series and i can't even describe all of them... there are no conflict between the three of them made the story so beautiful,how they handle the situation calmly and matured... the acting made it looks so real and it goes through my heart,all of the episode made me wanna cry tbh..

then we go through their editing,i meant it made me confused when the throwback like you should make the throwback timeline a little bit darker so that the viewers doesn't confuse... and pleaseeeee make an ending which we could see their future life like they're are getting married and communicate with their child using sign😭... the creator for real left us hanging at aoba and sou laughing like brooooo please give us moreee beautiful ending😭😔😔😔

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My Thoughts After 11 Weeks...

My 11 week journey with this drama has finally ended, and I don't think it'll feel finished without a proper review. From the beginning, I was already excited about this show. I could anticipate the heartbreak and joy I would experience, and let me tell you, this show did not disappoint.

The emotional connections between the characters is truly the star of the show. It feels illegal not to point that out. The writing was rich in expression and love. Every scene tugs at your heart. Yes, I do feel like some scenes could have been taken out and some conflicts could have been resolved quicker, but this show is slow. It was made to be paced slowly, and as you watch it, you know it will be paced slowly. It was perfect to watch spread out through 11 weeks. I would not recommend binging it. I think there will be something missing if you do.

The cast was phenomenal. Kawaguchi Haruna had my heart in the palm of her hands the entire time. Her eyes are so expressive. Every time she smiled, I smiled. Every time she cried, I cried. Her performance was my highlight of every week, and I know others feel the same. Meguro Ren is also an amazing actor. His facial expressions spoke volumes, and I don't even need to mention when he cried...

Subtitle, the song they always play at the end of the episodes, will now spark memories of the time I watched Silent. It is so nostalgic; I can't imagine how I will feel playing it in the future. All the other music and audio was spectacular as well. My rule of thumb to know how something is great is that you don't notice it until after, and that's exactly what happened with this show.

I know it sounds like I would rewatch this show any chance I would get, but I think it's better to let sit and rest for a while. Just like the main characters, I think that I should watch this show again when I'm more mature to look back at my life now and reminisce.

I love this show, and I hope you do too.

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there is no communication barrier that cant be crossed . . .

Beautiful drama that shows the connection between hearing and hearing impaired person. Like hearing person, every hearing impaired person is unique and different thereof it's a matter whether we try to understand their thought or merely just to understand their words

Specific comments are below:

[Acting]

Definitely one of the best part from this drama. All casts acted tf out here. Shout out to my favorites Meguro Ren and Kaho. Both of them really did wonderful job conveying themselves in sign language. Their expression, gesture, and body language r perfect. Kaho is an experienced actress so I expect that much from her, but I am surprised at how good Meguro is. It's amazing how he make it so easy for viewers to tell what Sou feels just by looking at his expression. He made me smile when when he smiles and made me cry when he cries. To be able to act is one thing but to be able to do it well without speaking is definitely on another level. I hope all the casts receive deserving awards for this.

[Story]

Surprisingly, I found that story development is the weak link from this drama. The acting, directing, scoring are all beautifully done except the story line. I felt like the writer is too greedy to pack as many as life lesson in this drama it affects the plot development. I do agree that side characters r important, but to flesh out all side characters in such details requires longer episodes to make the overall story line to flow nicely, if not it makes the transition between each development choppy n rush.

I also found that minato-tsumugi relationship to be redundant. If sou-tsumugi was planned to be end up together, it's better to just focus on them from the start. There r a lot of hurdle between hearing n hearing impaired person that can be fleshed out to build their relationship instead of the cliche love triangle. Herein, minato-tsumugi relationship doesnt bring anything to the plot other than unnecessary drama.

But I am still grateful that this drama attempt to give us a glimpse about the beauty n the struggle of silent world. The other good thing is the writer has done a good job to make flawed yet relatable characters. I may not agree with what they have done but I can understand where they r coming from.

[Overall]

This drama is not perfect, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. Rather than romance drama, I would categorise it as slice of life. The conflict presented here was something that we may overlook before so it open up a new perspective for me. The visual n aesthetic r also very pleasing in the eyes. Overall this drama feels like a warm blanket, it gives you a calm fuzzy feeling rather than excitement

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Lovely story with great Leads

This is a lovely gentle story with beautiful leads. The lead Male plays a great role and acts superbly. The drama provides valuable insight into what it is like for someone who loses one of his senses and the psychological effects this has on one's sense of identity and well being. The lead female does a great job of communicating with Sou. I hope there will be a happy ending for them. Although I found the Episodes too long to wait for at times it was still worth the wait. Many Japanese Dramas are slow to provide subtitles, which is often frustrating but some of them are stunning.

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A lot of wasted opportunities and unnecessarily draggy

This was recommended as one of a top tier Japanese drama but I kind of differ. It is a beautiful drama, with amazing cinematography and really fitting soundtracks. However, the drama was unnecessarily slow and the drama wasted the opportunity to tell a good compelling story of a hearing impaired person. Most of the time, the ML was engaging in self-pity and was a melancholic character. It did highlight some of his struggles when he slowly lost his hearing but I just don't really feel a lot for him most of his time. Perhaps, it was the limited emotions that Meguro Ren was able to portray for the character. His crying scenes just feel one-dimensional and I think his character needs him to be able to emote well for the drama to succeed. The FL actress was not great in crying scenes too. I watched another drama of hers and it seems to be so as it felt like she was constipated everytime she wants to cry, which is quite distracting everytime I want to invest myself to the tender moments of the drama.

I can't relate to their romance too. When they were highschool lovers, I can feel the attraction. But after they got back together again after ML lost his hearing, I feel that the FL love for him was pity rather than true love. The second ML was frustrating too as it doesn't make sense for him to give up on the FL and not do anything. He didn't fight for her love, he just gives up?? The only character that save the show was Haruo. He was such a comforting source for everyone and I am moved and convinced about his maturation.

Perhaps I would have appreciate the show more if I understand Japanese as I feel like I am not getting the nuances of the script as intended due to lost in translation, which was also highlighted by the writer that causes some controversy.

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Slow

At some point, one of the characters says something along the line of "it's difficult to convey emotions using sign language".
I think this drama suffers from the same problem. The scenes that are designed to break our hearts and make my little sister cry just fall flat.

The very - very - slow pace doesn't help. Many times I felt like pushing the fast-forward button.

Some support characters become very quickly unlikable (especially Togawa - I felt pushing the super-fast-forward button every time he appeared on screen).

Bottom line: it's well made but something just doesn't work.

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I really enjoyed it except for one thing

I hate open endings, the show was extremely well-written and the actors did a superb job. Everything was amazing, especially the ost but the damn open ending. Idk what is going up lately with Japan but the last few dramas that are new have been open endings and it erks the shit out of me. I had really enjoyed this drama a lot up until they made the ml character keep running away from the fl which is completely understandable due to the fact he is deaf and is still coming to terms with his deafness and doesn't want to burden anyone with his impairment. His self-consciousness suffers a lot due to him going deaf out of nowhere before graduating high school and gradually getting worse when he is in university. Anyone would have a difficult time losing any of their senses. The part that bothered me is that near the end of the drama they really really heavily focused on his issues on him not wanting to be a burden in multiple episodes. After like 2nd or 3rd ep of the plot still on him trying to run away from the fl due to his deafness I had to take a break and come back to the drama cuz I had a feeling the writers/directors weren't going to have enough time to allow the ml or fl be together after the struggle they both had to endure with them breaking up in high school cuz the ml was going deaf and had to come to terms with his deafness and he still didn't really come to terms with it when you follow his story in the show. We get to see his character development throughout the show that he isn't a burden that he kept assuming he was going to be he just couldn't take not being able to listen to music anymore and be able to communicate like he used to. Again it is completely understandable, I just wish the problem between the fl and the ml didn't take so long to resolve. It is implied the couple got together but they never flat out come out with it which pissed me off and that's why I had to take a break. Would I recommend it yes but you have been warned the ending for me personally could have been better. Did I enjoy myself yes I did, but the ending left a sour taste in my mouth it took away everything that was building up between the two leads to just the end without knowing if they became a couple or stayed friends. Would I rewatch it, no, it was good but the ending ruined it for me.

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A beautiful story…

I loved this drama! It was so beautifully written and did an amazing job at delving into the relationships of a man who lost his hearing in adulthood. It had a great takeaway that everyone processes change differently. I’d highly recommend a watch.

The Good

The acting was done wonderfully from all of the cast, especially since it focuses on the hearing impaired with cast members who aren’t hearing impaired. The story was well written and I appreciated the details the director included like the sound cuts that gave us a take on the sudden silence that comes with losing one’s hearing. I also loved the portrayal of the different relationships and connections surrounding the change in the main ML. With a shorter amount of episodes at a standard runtime, this was definitely a slow burn but executed very well. This drama gave us a real take on relationships without the cliche or forced romance. Really loved the OST.

The Bad

Though not really a bad thing, this was less of a romance and more of a melodrama as there were no kissing scenes. It didn’t really bother me but some may not appreciate it. The only other bad thing was sometimes the flashbacks were sudden and took a minute to realize it was a flashback as there were no real distinctive markers from present to past scenes.

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Tenderness Meets Kindness

About once or twice a year I come across a "wow“ drama.
At the very end of 2022 this treasure wow-ed me in the best possible way.

A music lover that lost his hearing and a girl that will go the extra mile for the person she treasures.

Essentially that’s the story but there was sooo much depth and nuance that I - once again - fell in love with the genre "melodrama". A genre that often gets a bad rep but this one is just so good.

This drama features the most kind FL I‘ve ever seen - but not in a generic way. The ML is having a really hard time and I don’t want to spoil anything so I‘m just gonna say, that he is very tender and she is very kind to him.

Without any words the actor has given a 10/10 performance that touched my heart.
His smile is so pure and deep in a way. It lights up the room in a natural way. It doesn’t feel like he’s acting.

The drama also is very poetic and has very good dialogue (even in sign language) and people are very honest with each other. Although some interactions may be a bit too good to be true, for a drama it was just heart-wrenchingly beautiful.

My recommendation while watching this drama is to give it a few episodes. It doesn’t start weak or anything but the more you watch the more meaningful and touching it gets.

Let’s end this with a quote that I really liked.
"A world without sound…is not a sad world"

Minus Point:
- the music editing is very off putting at times since the music cuts off all the time mid lyric. Idk what they thought they were doing.
They may wanted to show that for him it’s silent but she hears it but it happened even in scenes where he wasn’t on screen so it felt random.

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Beautiful

"As pessoas tem sua maneira de pensar e seus caminhos de vida. É inevitável que não consigamos entender completamente um ao outro. Mesmo assim, acho que as palavras existem para que você possa se agarrar a alguém que você gostaria de estar."

Um dorama sobre amor e palavras, a fala não é o único meio de transmitir palavras, é possível pela escrita, pelas mãos e até mesmo pela arte. As vezes nós pensamos de uma maneira limitada, e precisamos que outras pessoas nos mostrem outro ponto de vista. A conecção e evolução dos personagens foi gradual e lindo de se ver. Todos me conquistaram de uma maneira, que me fez querer ter amizades assim. Um jdrama lindo, que trás muitas lições que levarei para minha vida!

Amei a trilha sonora, e como também eles deixavam tudo em silêncio focando somente nos sentimentos transmitidos ali! Atuação incrível merecedor de prêmios!

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Heart-warming and touching dorama

Honestly, I came across to watch this drama because of the clip of eps 1 that went viral on Twitter. This drama is absolutely worth the hype.

Silent explores what some of us take as granted. It is the ability of hearing. This dorama not only reveals the point of view of hearing people towards the deaf people but also vice versa.

Sou's hearing impairment becomes the center of this story. How he feels so little toward everyone else, how he tries to adjust his life after losing his hearing ability, and how he shuts down from society to protect himself. For me, that is a normal reaction. To suddenly not be able to hear is painful enough. I have to give a standing ovation to Mame since he is able to convey all of the emotion with facial expressions and sign language.

The triangle love story between Sou-Tsumugi-Minato is beautifully made. At first, I thought Minato, for Tsumugi, was just the substitute for Sou after he had gone. But It was wrong. Minato holds another place in Tsumugi heart while Sou holds a special place in her heart. Yes, she falls in love with them over different periods of time. Their story gives the same feeling when someone loses her or his lover and she or he starts to love and be loved again. You can't help but keep yearning for the deceased one while start loving another one. In addition, for me, Minato character is truly the hero here. He just loves to see Tsumugi and Sou together even though he does love Tsumugi.

Tsumugi also gives her best effort to communicate with Sou by immediately learning sign language. Along with time, she understands that it is not the only voice that can convey someone's thinking but also words. I love how she tries as much as she can to understand Sou.

The other characters complement the story as well. Sou's family and friends' acceptance of Sou's condition, Nana's thoughts as a born-deaf person, and Masaki's thoughts as a hearing person really blend well.

Another thing I like about this dorama is how every sound is showcased more to my ears. I could hear clearly those sounds compared to another dorama. Subtitle as the OST also makes this dorama complete. How I wish this dorama could end with Sou calling Tsumugi name and holding her hand. Nevertheless, the ending is still beautifully created.

Regardless of its xenophobic and gate-keeping screenwriter, I hope this dorama could be streamed legally on the official streaming platform (aside of Viki ofc) so it could reach more audiences. I sincerely hope the screenwriter would apologize since her reckless statement has hurt a lot of people.

Lastly, Silent is a really worth-watching dorama which could leave you in tears in each episode.

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