It's hard to find a women-centred series that isn't ultimately about the aftermath of a man's infidelity and the modern day take of harem infighting that goes on between wives, mistresses and empires. It's harder to find a female revenge story that's really satisfying. 'Burn the House Down' or 'Mitaraike, Enjou Suru' ticks both boxes. To say that I was blown away by this story was an understatement. The female characters are really strong and nuanced and the plot twists keep you guessing till the end. Ultimately, it was hard to draw the line between wrong and right and most of things were left in the grey areas.

What I loved about this story was how fleshed out and realistic it was. It's usual to have one character shoulder the burden, and hog the limelight, for the plotting and revenge work but to share the work between the two sisters was really unique writing. I really liked how the sibling relationships were explored in BtHD both between the Murata sisters and the Mitarai brothers as well. It's refreshing to see supportive, functional sibling relationships as well, having been so used to competitive and backstabbing ones from western shows. All the psychology behind the characters were also realistic. The ineffectual father, the only son from a family of dominant women, was on point. The fact that Makiko could handle the sisters' bullying better and the fact that Yuzu would be too young to fully understand the father's character and the dynamics at play.

Mitarai Makiko was portrayed as the villainess from the start but in the end, the audience is left wondering "what the hell?!" when we discover that her only crime had been envy and being a protective mother. Is she still someone we should hate? Does she still deserve all that bile buildup from the onset? Or was she also a victim of circumstance and only acting out of self preservation? It's all still up in the air. What's not up in the air was Suzuki Kyoka's acting though. From the moment she appears on screen she really captures the attention. Her micro-expressions when witnessing the fire was also excellently acted to portray both possibilities of what the audience was first led to believe was schadenfreude and also the immense relief at being able to start her slate anew that we later discover was the actual case. Kyoka really inhabits each scene she has with the confidence that comes from being a battler single mom Makiko, something that Satsuki desperately seeks. Makiko is a tremendous survivor of the odds and despite her major setback we see her endeavour to make a comeback again in the end. She is not a pure white character but a real one and though her methods were questionable one can't really judge the means by which she employs her resources to survive in a society and culture that is not kind to single, poor mothers. Makiko's juxtaposition against Satsuki was fantastic in that she brings out the "life" in the latter.

As the show developed there was a suspicion that Satsuki was an unhappily married woman. Satsuki's character was interesting in that she was only unhappy because she felt she could not be enough to help her husband in life and career, not because of problems with the husband. All her thoughts were for her husband and family. This was a character who wanted nothing more than to be an effective and competent homemaker, a stark contrast to most portrayals of stay-at-home mums being sapped of life because of their choice to be SAHMs. Despite being bullied by her sister-in-laws Satsuki wanted to develop confidence, not to defend herself, but to help her husband in the family more. She wanted to learn how to communicate what she wanted and felt, and to even know what she wanted to begin with. We see that her blog posts are described as lifeless and mundane. What a great little piece of information to show a facet of her character. In the end, Makiko's family's acts sets her on this path to self deconstruction and reconstruction. We hear harsh words from her that we'd never imagine could come from a selfless, kind, compassionate Satsuki. Words like "I've hated you from the beginning" directed at Makiko, "I will never forgive you" to Shinji, words that would be more fitting coming from villainess Makiko than pure Satsuki yet when she utters those words and feelings there is a life in the woman, for once. It dawns on the audience and now, with the flaws and the dark thoughts, Satsuki has found that confidence and life that she lacked and so desperately sought in the past. Having this contrast made it seem like Makiko and Satsuki were the perfect yin and yang, bringing out the little light and little darkness that balanced everything out to be more harmonious people. Both were not perfect yet both are real. And because of the diametrically opposite dynamic of their characters it was fitting for Satsuki to have been the one who brought down Makiko by doing something slightly Makiko-ish ie underhanded. By doing so, Satsuki became a less passive character and ended up being the one who saved herself.

Anzu is an incredibly strong female character that is so rare on the screen. Nowadays we are used to badass women who are badass on the male level ie they are warrior like amazons or compete well on a male dominated corporate level or similar. Anzu is none of those but still a badass because she is focused, disciplined, and resolute. She was scared of Kiichi but still plowed through those fears because her mind was made up from years ago. She was scared of other things going wrong, of being found out, of this, of that, but she still did it. She didn't meekly take the push from Kiichi but also pushed back. Courage is having fears but still doing it and Anzu is the embodiment of that. When she stood up to her father and b!tchslapped his phone out of his hands Anzu was really showing the strong feminine energy that's rarely, rarely celebrated. Being the firstborn, she's seen the father's role in the Mitarai family, acutely appraised his character from his behaviour during the 13 absent years and know where she stands in what she's doing and his place in it. Unlike Anzu, she has no illusions that he can be relied on to be even a chance of an ally to her plight to clear her mother's name. Where it is usual to portray daughters as being easily fooled by the excuses of errant fathers Anzu has long ago decided she has no place for his BS. The phone smack would be considered utterly rude and unfilial, in the cultural context, but morally correct in the universal justice context. Anzu showed that she was a bigger person in defying culture and her patriarch. The real badassery from that act was the fact that she did it as she was championing her family, which included her mother and her sister. Because, as Anzu so rightly contextualises everything to Shinji at his confession, it is all about protecting one's family, just as he did.

The reveal was a bit of a rollercoaster which hovered on comical in that it was too "Come on! What?! How 'bout the cat? Did the cat do it too?!" However, the flashbacks interspersed in between and the way the characters have behaved throughout (Makiko always refers to protecting Kiichi, Makiko discovers she still had the cardigan but it was in a box whereas the cardigan on the CCTV shows it being worn) supports it. Because the careful editing supported the conclusion the plot twists did not feel like a gimmicky add-on, which made the story even more masterful.

The ending, imho, was very satisfying. It wasn't linear but it was right. Everything that should happen did happen and the characters all found their own peace. Only let down was the odd soundtrack but it sounded like some 80s video games which I thought was an allusion to Kiichi's fondness for video games maybe. It's not a dealbreaker by any means.

I highly recommend this series for ppl who love great stories about strong women and aren't looking for neat, linear endings but real ones. It's refreshing to see a predominantly female cast in the testosterone filled film & tv industry, even more so that the characters aren't cliche and shallow stereotypes.