Thanks heaps @pkml3!!! I’m really enjoying this Show, very slowly… each episode gets me grinning from ear to ear. I want to savour the sweetness which fortunately is not the cloying kind.

I’ve yet to complete the series but I already want to rewatch the first episodes and come here to give my 2 cents on them.

The first episode could have the title “On having the courage to try new things”.

Having a very rough 40th Birthday just makes Arata look for an alternative. As we see in this episode she may be jaded yet she still retains her kindness. Not falling for the bystander effect and deciding to help the old lady she could grow to be (she is also empathic) ends up giving her a better recommendation letter than she could ever dream off. Also loved how her fears and apprehensions are signaled for change is hard.

Also love the cast of old folks. How they receive her with warmth but lowkey ask her to take better care of herself as a first step.

EPISODE 1
At the close of the bar, she gets a birthday song and is told to celebrate her 40 years of life. She’s in tears.

Kuji Mama : “This is a special day. We met on this special day. And it’s your birthday. Happy Birthday. Celebrate the 40 years that you’ve lived so far. And let’s enjoy the rest of our lives together as long as we’re alive. Okay?”

Arata who had thought her life was over at age 40 suddenly had the best birthday ever. There’s a new spring in her step at work the next day, and her colleagues are agog and worried with the thought that she might be duped at a hostess club. LOL.

The transitions in attitude and relationships are a joy to watch.

A thing I love about Asian Dramas is also the presence of Family. Nobody comes out of thin air. You could say that those presences are the ones that have left the circles of the World yet their presence is still active.

Mama Jilba is one such presences. In my rewatch I am still in Episode 3 but you will see later how Lovely Ghost she turns out to be. A person that has suffered a lot yet found the courage to save and reinvent herself, and also gave new life to the people around her.

We humans are beings made up of stories, both the good and bad ones. This “Lovely Ghost” trope is a tip of the hat to that… perhaps even a knowing smile to us viewers that are into stories and the sageness they contain.

She is not the only Lovely Ghost in this series, though 😉

@FGB, it was the same for me and why I keep on with Asian dramas. The warmth of family whether families of origin or found families makes so many dramas rewarding to watch. They engender hope in relationships that can evolve to be sweeter, and more filled with understanding and acceptance.

The sacrifice and fortitude of the grandparents’ generation: I wonder if we will be the same and can carry that forward. To give without counting the cost and in the face of rudeness, a lack of appreciation and even rejection. Those who are able to do this for the long-term are the true heroes and saints in our midst.

My dear @FGB, my goodness! Thank you for your good, kind words! When I chose my handle, it was with the thought that I wanted to keep growing no matter how old I became. I did not think so far as to consider becoming a work of art but I’ll gladly accept that interpretation of my name!!

And there is great truth in what you say. I know that you are more a Buddhist, but even in Christianity we believe that we are all made good and can choose to become better and better under the guiding hands of the Artist of our lives.

Yes, the putting on of Jilba’s shoes struck me. They were painful to wear and walk in, but Arata patiently wore them. I watched up to Episode 6 so far and imagine that just as Arata’s feet conformed to Jilba’s shoes, so too did the shoes fit more comfortably as it stretched, as the staff of the bar stretched to accommodate each new person or lost waif that came through its doors.

@FGB I’ve just watched Episode 7, but I’ll go in order here and avoid spoilers in case we have readers who come and have not yet watched the Show.

EPISODE 2 – Brief Recap
The likely downsizing of the warehouse staff spreads a pall over the transferred employees. Team Leader Hamada Sumire is her usual frank self, who says they are ‘useless’. We are given the impression that she’s hard of heart and harsh towards her subordinates.

This episode reveals more backstory of the first owner of the bar, Jilba Mama and those who started the bar with her. I like how we get to hear the backstory retold to Arata in such a way that it does not feel like tedious narration. We also get to see a snippet here and there of the past and lovely black and white photos of the cast as young adults.

Arata is introduced to social dance at the bar. The ladies dance beautifully with their partners but poor Arata’s dancing was more like Sumo LOL. She’s embarrassed by her inability to dance and has negative thoughts about it.

Arata gets a crash course in social dance with the help of Master’s granddaughter, but it is Master who’s the better partner. He leads her well in the dance and Arata begins to enjoy herself thoroughly, with no more thoughts of being unable to dance.

Arata is such a sweet person, touched and grateful to receive her pay directly in cash, and thanking her colleagues at the bar, plus Jilba. Kiju Mama and Master like her very much. Master thinks why he likes Arata and remembers that Jilba who looks very much like Arata had taught him to dance. She had been much older than he (by 13 years?) but she had been his first love.

Arata gets herself a present with her pay from the bar and looks different the next morning in a nice dress and shoes and with her hair down. She decided to live her life more fully at age 40. Her colleagues notice the change in her at once and foolish ex-fiance finds her cute. Muraki Mika figures out that he’s the unfaithful fiance who had dumped Arata.

What I liked: seeing Arata’s ungainly dance, her colleagues rallied around to help and give moral support. In the warehouse, work roles were well-defined, but at the bar, it was like family, with even Master teaching Arata how to dance.

It was sweet to know that as he had learnt how to dance from Jilba, he now was passing on the knowledge to Jilba’s lookalike, Arata, who was dancing in Jilba’s shoes.

On another note dear @PkMl3, I would like to ask you on your favorite kind of Dramas. You can send me an e-mail or just send me a reply with @GB. Loved to have you in “Shitsuren Meshi” (2022) and would like to have you onboard again 😉

I sincerely think that Japanese Dramas doesn’t receive as much recognition as they should. But being perfectly honest Chinese Dramas fly under my radar so I am not someone that should preach.

As I am still catching up to you, in Episode 3 minute 7:14 found a lovely Easter Egg. The door has a plaque that says “OPEN – There is always a way to open any door”. What a lovely memento of how past opportunities may be lost to us but the future still have its fair share! 😀

As I told you earlier, this one was one of the Dramas that warmed my Pandemic days. It is a bottle full of optimism without sugarcoating the hardships of the ensemble.

SPOILER Episode 3

Arara: How much time it took for you to forget him?
[… Eri explains she was rescued by Mama Jilba and had to learn to dance]
Eri: I danced, fell, and laughed.

EPISODE 3
@FGB I’ve just rewatched Episode 3. Yes, what a lovely Easter Egg. The Door that can be opened even after we think it has been locked, and the key, lost.

The 40-year olds thought that their doors had been shut and that they faced lonely lives in their 60s, but Eri demonstrated that despite being tricked and having her heart broken again in her 60s, despite a painful back and the regret of being a bad daughter, she could bounce back with friends. She could still enjoy being a woman and hope to fall in love.

We shut the door on our lives too soon!!!

“There is always a way to open any door.” Therefore we need to ensure we don’t cement over the door to make a wall!!

= = =

It took the will of Arata to try something new for herself for her to rediscover her ability to enjoy life, and rediscover that her colleagues/superiors/ex could be her friends. Despite flaws, the majority of people mostly acted out of goodness, and experiencing that, Arata began to be positive and see her life more positively.

I liked that Master and Mama understood the need to celebrate little achievements, whether on the part of a guest/customer or staff, they celebrated with cake and champagne and took many opportunities to have a party.

They counter the usual negative attitude we have towards mistakes, failures, aging, being frustrated … by celebrating the positive things.

Episode 3

That little Heart-to-Heart between Mika and Sumire shows such a goodwill… Sumire really understands that for someone that was on a stellar path being in the warehouse must be almost an embarrasment. Yet for her that was a Yankee (a Hooligan) just to be able to have a normal job despite her violent past and lack of education must have been an achievement.

@FGB, I found the scene where Arata introduced her colleagues as Mika-chan and Sumire-chan so delightful.

I looked it up: “Chan (ちゃん) expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. In general, -chan is used for young children, close friends, babies, grandparents and sometimes female adolescents. It may also be used towards cute animals, lovers, or youthful women.” https://www.google.com/search?q=when+do+we+call+a+japanese+person+chan&oq=when+do+we+call+a+japanese+person+chan&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDgwODdqMGoxqAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

They were shocked, embarrassed and pleased at the same time. Then they gloried in being able to call Arata Arara-chan LOL and to be accepted as young women, ordered to come in by Master.

Hello dear @GB, today we had 31°C in Caracas. That I am cooked is an overstatement yet it feels so. Hope you are better in Singapore… but if we are 1 km over sea level and have no significant water bodies near us I don’t count on it. Are you and your family keeping hydrated and safe?.

Will do my best complete Episode 4 today and comment properly. If not at least advance a good while.

Hi @FGB, our humidity is the problem. We might get a smattering of rain in my part of the island but the heat continues and the humidity. Other parts seem to get better rainfall in the last few weeks.

Yes, I’m drinking all kinds of teas and drinks (coconut water!!) to keep cool and hydrated. Please make sure you do the same.

I mentioned in the Queen and I thread that I’ll be out of the house later and may be late or may not be able to do the rewatch today, however I’ve left some comments already and will come by when I can. I hope to get back in time.

As for this sweet Jitterbug show… no hurry. It’s one of those shows we can savour slowly. It’s only now that I’m getting to Episode 10, that I’m feeling the compulsion to know how it ends.

The beginning gave me a bit of concern because in Ep 1, Arata’s brother says “I’m sorry” as if she had a sad experience and he was commiserating with her. So I wonder what happened before she went home to visit.

Episode 4 SPOILER

Well, you could say that Episodes 1 and 2 were about Arata’s accepting her new life and adapting to it. Accepting her Arara side. Episode 3 did let us know Eri better and now in Episode 4 we will focus on Arata again, and see Arara starting to deal with her family preconceptions.

Dear GB, happy to hear you are mindful about the heat. These days wherever I go I try to advice people on heatstroke prevention.

Caracas has been one of the Capital Cities with the best climate all year round, but lately our “winters” have been colder (don’t laugh but in January this year temperatures here in Caracas went barely above 10ªC – I felt like turning into an icicle) and our “summers” hotter. The river that runs across town – the tiny Guaire – is a small stream that has been sadly turned into an open air sewer but has almost no humidity to offer. On the other hand, we are blessed by the Venezuelan Coastal Range (Cordillera de la Costa) so we are kind of surrounded by the montane forests (very few parks with greenery inside the city yet lots of planted trees along roads). So our humidity comes from there. It has also rained A LOT. We are still winding down from the Lash of Saint Francis (Cordonazo de San Francisco) with 45º windy torrential rainfalls. These last days we have been calmer but the heat (or the thermal sensation) have been increasing.

That said there is some magic in our beautiful sunrises and sunsets with the Ávila National Park at the background and yellow-and-blue macaws (Ara Ararauna) traversing the sky.

Episode 4

Master: “We need a storyteller like her, otherwise this era will be forgotten”. Everyone have things they don’t want to speak about yet it is important to pass the baton properly for our offsprings not to make the same mistakes as we did… their ow are unavoidable, but if our wisdom removes a roadblock or two then we have succeeded.

Started Episode 5 with Mika hunting Makoto like a Banshee. From disliking Sumire to worrying about her is a great memento on how far a little bit of understanding can go.

Today I will go to sleep early to avoid sleeping until late.

EPISODE 4
@FGB you may be right about Arata falling for Makoto through Misattribution of Arousal, because she first met him in a lift that stalled and he seemed happy-go-lucky and different. Now that she thinks about what she liked about him, she has no clue!!

We find that everyone has different sides that they show or hide at different times. Not only that, but people have similar stories and the story of one person persisting and succeeding despite hardship and loss can inspire another who identifies with the similarities.

Hikaru takes heart that Jilba took 9 years to start the bar just as he was starting his cafe after 8-9 years. Sumire discovers that Namako was also an orphan who did not know her parents and was alone except that she got married.

I like how unexpected things come out so funny in practically every episode. This time the 3 colleagues party all night to celebrate Jilba’s 9th death anniversary. Arata figures that despite this she’d be fine the next day at work because she was still ‘young’. LOL.

But the ‘young girls’ had a hard time at work the next day. 😵😵‍💫🥴 😬🤪😂

EPISODE 5
Mika seems to have been quietly thinking of quitting for a long time. She held on out of pride and greed… she says that when she put that aside and her concerns too, and then thought of what she really wanted, she knew that she was tired of Tokyo and wanted to be with her mum in her home town.

She’d been thinking that she might be ‘losing’ by giving up a full-time job without any future plans, and that her neighbours would be spreading rumours about her. However Arata and her mother put those thoughts in perspective… there was never an issue of winning or losing when choosing what she really wanted over the unhappiness she had expressed in keeping the current job. And rumours are like the breeze. We see that a breeze moves Mika’s hair for a while and then is gone.

Eye-opening Wisdom
This episode was a good reflection on why we stay put doing what we are doing, and whether we are doing what we really want or whether we are staying out of fear, pride, greed, etc.

Are we concerned about the really important things or killing ourselves over stuff that does not matter.

The girls spend the night chatting and Arata points out that happiness is found in the ordinary joys of spending time with friends, talking, being at peace …. hence they were ‘all good’.

Jilba showed that success and happiness is not found in some grand event or getting/keeping everything we want, but in being content with what we can do and what we can give. This I’ve personally found to be true. Hence happiness is within the reach of everyone.

What a gem of a Show!!

@FGB, I’m doing the rewatch very slowly too… I’ll be preparing other work this week and so will pause from time to time. The idea is to do this in a relaxed, leisurely way, because we enjoy the show and the protagonists in it who had to wait and live 40 – 60 – 70 – 80 +++ years to be where they are now. So we can take our time to watch and discuss this show as and when we can (but of course we will not take 40 years!!!).

I’m in horrible humidity most of the day time. It is cloudy and dark but refuses to rain where I am. If it does rain it’s just a little, not enough to water the plants well or cool the air. It’s hard to concentrate unless I keep putting on the a/c which I try to avoid. 😥😓🫠

I like the juxtaposition of the rigid and formal during office hours and how they change into their own clothes and become relaxed and informal as they leave the warehouse. Theirs is a structured society with rules of propriety to follow. However all hair is let down and everyone can just be themselves, let the stress go, be somewhat wild, childish, emotional, but always considerate once they enter the bar. Even Chi Mama who irritates Kujira Mama has consideration in what she does. 😉

Hope it rains soon there… in a safe way. It will help cooling the ambient if only a bit and also plants needs showers! 😀

Chi Mama vs. Kujira Mama’s confrontation is still some episodes ahead, but as you saw there was method in their madness 😉

Namako has her struggles by having a sick husband and have to work by selling probiotic yoghurts, yet she still have the good heart to worry about her kindred spirit Sumire. This cast and script made a show that was particularly memorable to me.

The little Arata thought process in the bar where she realizes that everyone has many sides of them for their lives are as complex and varied as hers.

Dear @GB, I did read your two last comments but after re-reading them (and as Jorge Luis Borges used to say, “to re-read is to read”) found your reflection on Mika’s journey.

It made me sad that she stayed in a place she hated just not to feel she had lost. Redoubling on a failed strategy does not push anyone out of a bad place, if something, it takes away precious time we could employ going into a better direction. Sunken Cost Fallacy.

Also loved your take on Jilba’s philosophy of success: to enjoy what we have and with whom we share it.

EPISODE 6 (partial recap)
Another lovely episode with a mysterious twist at the end.

Romance is in the air as Sumire and Arata receive talismans that promote successful romance from Mika, and reveal the type of men they liked. LOL Makoto sneaks in to eat around the corner and is all ears to listen to their conversation. I was chuckling like crazy at his expression of utter curiosity and desire to hear when Arata spoke of her favourite type of guy. The girls catch him listening to them but don’t really bother about it. Arata passes him some pain relief patches, as she would to any friend. I like that soon after this, she realises that she is quite free of the trauma of the break-up. She finds that she can even joke about it. Gone are the days when she had cried and hated her life. She thinks: The grudge is gone and her heart felt lighter and uplifted, like Jiruba Mama’s smile.

The bar girls and Kujira Mama take incorrigible Eri in their stride by helping her finish her Christmas present for Asayama-san. It’s so sweet seeing them all working on the sweater like big sisters helping their young sister.

We get to find out more backstory of Master and Jilba, and that Jilba had lived on the floor above the bar.

I enjoyed the Christmas party especially the fact that wives and children came along for it with the regular men folk. I loved the fact that the men dressed up in skirts and did the bar’s line dance for their wives/girlfriend and that the ladies all stood up to support them. Such good fun!

In the midst of the jollity we are reminded that reality has it’s downs as well. Hinagiku says farewell to her first love who had died. She had loved her own step-brother and so had remained unmarried all her life. A willow tree? magically lights up with flowers for her and she sees it as her step-brother saying goodbye. Still instead of saying goodbye, she says: “See you again.”

The something mysterious that happens at the bar every Christmas takes place this time as well. Not only does a mysterious, attractive stranger walk in and give Arata some flowers, but Isurugi-san discovers that he is more attracted to Sumire than to Arata. It seems that the romance inducing talismans are working!

While Sumire starts a new life of dating, Arata is disgruntled that the handsome stranger had seen her in a racoon-dog costume. LOL obviously she was quite bowled over by him.

Later the stranger comes back to ask about Jilba but hears that she had died 9 years previously. And what a shock to us to find out that Jilba who had accepted everyone, had actually kicked out this man when he had been a boy, many years ago. We are agog to find out why!

EP 6

Personally Takiguchi drinking with his son is almost a story hoping to be told. A son discovering that a business is about getting to know people and help them fulfill their needs. That there is another, unsuspected sides to all the people that he thinks he knows so well… an endless endeavor.

I get why Sumire and Isurugi got together, they are lonely people so their experiences resonate (they feel sad when good moments end as they want to keep that feeling that still lingers). If they were real people I would worry for them yet I would do my best to support them.

EP 6 with SPOILERS
@FGB
The continuation of Jilba’s legacy is a testament of how deeply she touched the lives of the ‘young’ people who had come into her orbit. She must have met them at (and been able to assuage to an extent), their greatest needs. Her example of love in action must have struck all who observed her and inspired them to continue with a similar disposition. So the continuation of Old Jack and Rose is also a testament to the goodness of those people who decided to follow through with Jilba’s worthy aims.

It occurred to me that culture is full of contradiction… on the one hand propriety and respect is paramount with a distinct hierachy to uphold, but at the same time there is a right time to let loose and lose loads of inhibitions. Takiguchi doing the line dance in a skirt met with the approval of his son and wife (when I might have expected at least the son to cringe!) LOL. Even the very staid Mika did a crazy sideways gallop dance as her farewell, and no one thought it odd.

A son discovering that a business is about getting to know people and help them fulfill their needs. That there is another, unsuspected sides to all the people that he thinks he knows so well… an endless endeavor.

This is an interesting observation of yours. The lesson that is not couched as a lesson. The coming of age of the son who gets to drink what his father is drinking (probably for the first time). A growing understanding about what it takes to do business which is outside just the accounting.

EPISODE 7 RECAP of sorts with SPOILERs
The episode where the youngsters (40-year old Arata and Shirahama Shunsuke or SS for short) get advice from their elders, and consider where home is.

SS returns to the bar on New Year’s eve to ask after Jilba, only to learn that she had died 9 years previously. Chi Mama comes into the bar in time to hear him speak of Gataro whom he’d seen as a child and who had belonged to a group of Japanese Brazilians (the Victory Group) who mistakenly thought that Japan had won the 2nd World War. Hearing that SS wanted to write about the Victory Group and Gataro who had been Jilba’s brother-in-law (the one who had stolen her money), Chi Mama educates him (talks non-stop) all of New Year’s eve.

Arata and SS walk home at midnight to hear the horns/bells ringing in the New Year. SS promises to return to the bar after he returned from Brazil to do research for his book.

Arata returns for a holiday at home with her parents and brother’s family. Hikaru’s family were living with her parents after his home had been swept away in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Her news that she wishes to quit her day job to work full-time at the bar is a shock to her mother who causes a commotion. Mum considers poor Arata a troublemaker who could not get married and now was spoiling the family name by working in a bar.

However Mum had prepared Arata’s futon (she thinks Mum had sunned it) for her and in her sleep, Arata dreams or has a vision of grandma (now dead) who tells her that she had been away so long she’d forgotten Aizu’s winters where snow kept falling. Mum had used the futon drier and could not possibly have sunned her futon LOL. Grandma is supportive and would cheer Arata on no matter what decision she made.

Continued below…

EPISODE 7 with SPOILERS

The best part of this episode was Arata’s relationship with family and her realisation that home was really where the heart (happiness in this case) was. It was where she felt most accepted and welcomed, and therefore where she was happiest.

I liked her relationship with her brother, Hikaru. He had loudly rejected her offer of help 9 years previously, and now was apologising for shouting at her. She sweetly pretended that she did not remember and that Hikaru could not have shouted at his older sister. So all remained good between them.

I liked also that although younger, he gave Arata good advice ie she should have given her news to Mum in small bits instead of shocking her with all her news at once. One piece of info that she wisely held back was that Makoto was in her workplace LOL.

The other scene that I liked was Arata’s sharing with Dad about how she felt she was losing herself by just doing her daytime job. It was like being stuck in the mud for years. It was suffocating. She couldn’t see her future and wasn’t motivated at all. Her co-workers at the bar rescued her. “It felt like I found a new me.”

The bar was where she had finally actualised herself and been accepted as she was … hence it was home to her emotionally.

Conjecture: if SS could find that he is accepted by Arata and the people at the bar, it’s likely that he too would be able to find his home in Old Jack & Rose, and be yet another lost ‘waif’ who’d be taken in by the bar… by another Jilba in the form of Arata. 😆🥹🥰🤭

Hi @FGB, no rush… come back when you can.

I’m having tech problems with my office laptop. But fortunately not with my devices at home which bring me to BOD.

@FGB what a cute analogy! To be sure, it was Master and whomever else made the mistake of buying the Racoon costume who made the youngest bar girl pass herself off as a reindeer. However I noticed that although Arata protested wearing it at first, unlike Eri, she did not change out of it at all. She was at home in it until Shirahama (SS) walked in and called her a Racoon Dog. In other words she was comfortable with everyone and her self-esteem was not affected until someone she might want to impress came into her orbit.

Isurugi’s transfer of his crush was at the speed of light! One moment he was trying to give the flowers to Arata, and the next he discovers he’s actually more into Sumire.

Yes, it didn’t occur to me that the completion of the jumper/sweater is an interesting reflection on life and work. So often we cannot complete what we begin and we need our friends/colleagues to help. Often again, the people who put in the effort do not necessarily get the credit, but it’s all good when service is offered for its own sake, without requiring acknowledgement.

You said it right:

There is a lot of life and joy between the confines of good relations, and life is there to be explored!

.

A little tussle with my old friend (this computer belonged to Dad) gave me a little oasis.

Back to Episode 6:

Loved that the Christmas celebration includes the whole families like here in South America. The wives understands that their husbands needs a third place, out of home and work, to round their lives… for there is much more to life than just family and work. That they understand that is a sign of maturity and trust.

On drinking with young family members, I had the pleasure to have several beers with a fourth degree cousin that is like a nephew to me. He happened to have his 18th birthday several months earlier in the States where he is studying College, and as you know is seeing that person you knew as a baby, then a child, then a teen and even if he is still technically a teen, the (good) burden of responsibility generates an adult that you know so well yet will change as he takes his own decisions. All the memories flow in your heart and you just feel Oh so happy!!!… Gave him a nice pen and a videogame, he was happy even if the first one was a “grow up” (utilitary) gift and the second was of a genre he had yet to explore!!!.

Widening horizons. That is the new name of the game once they reach that age. And guidance by providing perspective… when asked 😉 .

Is the magic of getting to know people and be able to go alongside them while they grow. It is silly yet it kind of marks the time in your heart.

Both Master and camera putting emphasis on the glass of whisky being served to the son: that transmission of knowledge from the mind of the father to the mind of the son.

On Japanese Christmas: it seems it is more a day for couples both old and new. The old and unrealized one is Hinagiku who carried a torch for her step-brother all her long life. Sometimes Love is not enough for a series of conditions and opportunities must be fulfilled.

Star-crossed lovers.

The couple that will succeed that same night is Sumire and Isurugi, their stars were aligned.

On the Cherry Tree flowering to send away Hinagiku, I still remember that when an uncle of mine passed away a particular orchid he really loved flowered that night and out of season. There are more things in this World than our Philosophy can dream of…

@FGB, I guess, sadly, that you are not able to get your computer to work for you and come online recently. I missed you at our Queen and I rewatch.

I’ve been meaning to come back here to complete thoughts on the last 3 episodes but they will not be complete without your input.

EPISODE 8 – A recap of sorts but very briefly
Sumire and Arata have news for each other and for Makoto. It’s good that we see more of the good side of Makoto. We find that he’s shocked Arata is going to quit the job after he tried so hard to keep her. He also factors in maternity leave for Sumire and advises her to do less strenuous work because of her pregnancy. He’s even good enough to check on her accommodation because she had forgotten that with the job, her company housing would be gone as well.

The dream solution of course is that the Bar can offer Arata not only the job but also the accommodation at a ridiculously low rent.

We move on into Sumire’s insecurities. Isurugi has been offline for too long and by chance Sumire and Arata while in the bar, find out to their surprise that no one really knows Isurugi. He was not an employee or colleague of any of the regulars, and Eri fears the worst ie marriage fraud LOL.

But the great shock comes to Sumire to hear that Isurugi had actually meant the flowers that she received, to go to Arata whom he had had a crush on. It’s too much to take in and Sumire is already about to leave but Isurugi comes in, with a flat battery cell phone and an offer to make.

Sumire won’t listen to him and leaves. Arata and Isurugi pursue her so that Arata gets to witness Isurugi’s marriage proposal and Sumire’s rejection of him.

Arata leaves the warehouse saying goodbye to Makoto and Sumire. While Makoto’s farewell built bridges with Makoto, because Arata found that she was glad to have met him again and to have resolved all grudges… her farewell with Sumire was more like a tense break-up.

Kujira Mama hears of the tension between Sumire and Arata and recalls what Jilba had done for her when she was in distress about her past. She says the exact right words that Sumire needs to hear ie that she’s afraid to be happy but that she deserved to be happy and she should trust people.

Sumire asks why Mama cares about her and we see a flashback to Jilba and a young Kujira or Kirako. Jilba had advised her to put her past behind and be reborn/to start a new life and had hugged her. Sumire apologises for yelling at Arata and they all have a group hug.

We end the episode with the Sumire’s fun wedding at the bar. Although she has no family, the bar girls support her like a family does and Master gives the bride away.

The wedding party is in full swing with bride and groom singing on stage, but everything comes to a sudden halt when Kujira Mama faints.

Hello @FGB, I’m glad to see you back. I hope the certificate errors have been sorted out. I’m still trying to find out if I can get all email notifications for threads that I subscribed to. The ‘new’ WordPress does not seem to be giving me the Subscribe option like before.

On hindsight, I find it sweet of the writer, Chi Mama, to do something unpopular, so as to be helpful. She knew that Master and Kujira would not like her taking over the bar, but she did so anyway to major disapproval, so that Kujira would get well faster and come back to take her place.

I thought it was a pity that Jilba had kicked the boy Shirahama out just because he had come after seeing her brother-in-law. Given the chance, she would have found that he, too was ‘homeless’ since he did not belong in Japan or in Brazil.

SPOILER

SPOILER

It gets resolved in a convoluted cycle of life where a new Jilba in the shape and form of Arata welcomes him into the bar and hopefully into her life.

Dear @GB, elaborating more on Gotaro and Jilba, it makes me remember a tale by Jorge Luis Borges. It is in “Ficciones” [Fictions] and “Sur” [South]. It is called “Tres Versiones de Judas” [Three version of Judas].

POTENTIAL BLASPHEMOUS ALERT:

Borges, as in several of his tales, refers to a fictional book by a fictional Swedish author (Borges loved Enmanuel Swedenborg’s ideas with a passion). The three books are increasingly more deep in its description of Judas the Iscariot role in Salvation:

Through the Sacrifice of Christ all the Humanity is saved, but the plan had to be set in motion by someone. The material author, Judas, is also divine: he represent us Sinners by being the lowest one, for he perpetrated a crime that had no redemption – a thief must be courageous at least to accept his possible demise when Judas just abused Lord Jesus’ trust. It could be said that as some people mortify their bodies to make themselves worthy of Heaven, Judas mortified his spirit by backstabbing Lord Jesus. And unlike Lord Jesus that had to suffer an evening, Judas has passed into posterity as the worst scum ever. A broken man hanging at the end of a rope, his thirty useless silver coins.

By Judas even the worst part of Humanity is redeemed.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

You could say that “Old Jack & Rose” was Jilba’s way to cope with tragedies on a national and personal scales. But without Gotaro’s backstabbing Jilba would had been just an anonymous housewife.

“Jilba Mama’s life was beyond my imagination”. It could apply to anyone, even ourselves. That is why being open and kind is generally the best approach.

@FGB, I will get back to you in more detail later.

My one quick thought is that God can even make good come out of evil, as He did with the horrific death of His Son. And I have heard another version of the role of Judas Iscariot. 😜😄

EPISODE 7
Hikaru and Arata’s conversation: she could not understand what her brother was going through… but could get a peek view on his bottled grief when he yelled at her.

Hikaru could find a way through all the mess he went through in 2011, while Arata had to stumble upon an answer to her stagnation. That is why she can’t beat him 😉

@PM3!!! Love Youuuuuuu!, Hope to catch your attention in another watch later, when my PC problems are solved.

BTW, do you have a genre that could attract you?. Would love to have you and @GB again as in “Shitsuren Meshi”!.

Loved how Hikaru’s wife and son feigned their retirement of the showdown yet stayed behind the door to get the juicy story complete.

Overemotional mother playing with the head of the Akabeko Cow. Sagely advice from the father: instead of worrying about the appearances, let your ADULT child to search her own path. Much like the decision Mika had to take earlier.

That little conversation Master and Kujira Mama have, reveals how pleased they are about Arara going full-time. It is not only her lovely usefulness but also knowing there is a new generation to hand over the institution (the bar). She has not seen true Hell, and Master doesn’t know if she have the will or the commitment of someone that knows how hard things can be without places to get help, sanctuary or even a little bit of relief.

Arata’s mom is still angry yet she will never cease to do her best for her happiness, well-being and growth 🫡

She maybe mad yet prepared her Futton and let it dry in the sun. Those little details that shows how much she cares.

@GB, do you remember when I told you that Jilba was not the only Lovely Ghost 👻 ?. Here is another one 😉

Grandma asks Arata for understanding on her mom. She tells that she is opinionated, caring… and lazy 😹😹😹

In all truth, Arata does not remember how her life was in her hometown anymore. In synthesis Grandma asks for understanding and forgiveness. She will be always on her side because she loves and trusts Arata.

🥰 👻

Sumire having her first love in her late 30’s early 40’s is a sight to enjoy. I remember a 60’s Spanish movie comparing having the first love later in life with having measles: innocuous when young but dangerous if immunity is not acquired early in life for adults. Let’s se🥹

Both Shirahama and Arata pondering on the belonging dilemma. The shots makes me think hunk that Arara has her answer already 🥳

I forgot to continue with the thought on the belonging dilemma. Where we belong does not depend on how long a time we spend there but on the people to whom we want to attach ourselves. Shirahama had no one he felt attached to, in Japan. Mika retained her attachment to her mother and could return home and was happy. Sumire, as you rightly pointed out, had no family and so attached herself to her work. Arata had derived energy and a sense of purpose from the ladies at the bar, and had automatically attached herself to them. Hence the bar was her home.

It’s left open but we hope that Shirahama will become more attached to Arata and find his home with her. It was a good indication that this is likely, when he decided to give her the book that bridged her life with the lives of those like Jilba, and to an extent to a life like his.

Dear @GB, sorry. I have been in a hard mentals space this last month. I am a little better but as we say here “la procesión va por dentro” [funerary procession goes inside]. Nothing too worrisome, I just had to survive on 85 USD in November when usually my budget is around 140-160 USD.

I am a little better yet still shook. Lately I am getting why depauperate folks gets drunk or gamble in a race to get at least a little bit of pleasure to release the horrible feelings of being stuck, also to try to regain a little bit of agency -not control- over their lives.

Thankfully I have curiosity, good books, art (still learning to draw), my flutes, YouTube (mostly Geopolitics, Japanese culture, occasionally some documentaries and guitar playing). Also Dramas and this Blog.

I haven’t forgotten you nor this Post. It is just than when overwhelmed the best thing is to do your best to keep levelheaded and keep some normalcy (avoid getting overwhelmed).

Starting Episode 8!

@FGB, I’m sorry you are facing serious worries. I believe many of us are feeling the pinch in many ways. My mother-in-law is back from hospital and so there’s the hospital bill to settle and new specialsed ‘furniture’ that she’ll need which comes to a hefty sum. I’ve been avoiding some social media too to avoid stress.

Dear @GB and @PM3. I don’t know if it is having a good soul or not, is simply being a human exposed to a human life with its ups and downs and all that comes between. It can harden you (yet being steeled and prepared can be a good way to grow up from harsh realities) or make you kinder. I choose to try to be the best of both approachs.

You are never alone. You will find that in these kind of situations you will resonate with a lot of people, sometimes the ones you least expect to.

If Suffering is the basic state of all living beings then Solidarity and Compassion is a must.

Makoto really cares about the well-being of Arata. Love that dynamic where he has to say something using a rulebook but when he goes to the Old Jack & Rose he can express himself more freely. A facade and a true self (Tatemae vs. Honne).

Arata has not understood all the implications of her decision yet still had the courage to do something for herself. Good for her!!!

@FGB, I like that Show chose to make Makoto a pretty substantial side character and a sympathetic one, at that. If we had only Arata’s perspective, we would have been like her family who wanted to beat Makoto to bits. What he did was wrong, but at least he is not a meanie, and he did do his job as a supervisor well (he even joined in working alongside the team members) and in his private capacity, he checks that Arata is well prepared to quite her steady-income job.

What I really liked about the Makoto arc is that he did regret his bad treatment of Arata, he was as fair as he could be in trying to have her keep her job, and his arc gave Arata the closure she needed.

She really was in a bad place of resentment and self-loathing in Ep 1, but by the end of the series, she has forgiven Makoto, has no regrets over losing him, actually wishes him well and even considers him a friend of sorts. Seeing him as a hen-pecked husband and struggling team leader, she can empathise and even support him. Her healing is quite complete and self-esteem reclaimed.

It began because the people of Old Jack & Rose valued her, when she least valued herself.

Dear @GB, Happy 2024 for you and all your Family!!!.

Will keep posting here. Decided to get back a little bit to Episode 7 to get a little context before going to Episode 8.

Hope you are well,

FGB

About Arata and her dad talking after the fallout, he encourages her to live as healthily and as happily as possible. As St. Augustine said, “Love and do whatever you want”, meaning: do everything with love.

About Hikuko and her star-crossed love for her step-brother it made me remember a quote by Gabriel García Márques, “the worst way to miss someone is sitting beside her(him) and knowing you will never have her(him)”.

35:02 Snow men, a large one and a smaller besides it. Their “heart to heart” was successful and both Arata and her dad deeply understood each other.

Dear @GB, will be offline from Friday onwards for a little while. Nothing to worry.

@FGB, your comment about Kikuko made me feel like I have hardly a sentimental bone in my body (at times). I’m probably more a pragmatist. My thought is: “Don’t waste time pining after the one you can never have.”

One should meet lots of people and likely find another lovely soul to spend life with, … make memories with others.

I feel that Kikuko did at least make more of her life by working at Old Jack & Rose, but it would have been good if she was not alone for all her decades. Show never says if she ever got married but I get the impression that she never did.

I don’t actually feel that keeping the light alive for just the 1 first love or the 1 long-ago love is all that romantic. One might be wasting one’s potential and the opportunities for happiness in many other places.

Probably the reason I didn’t mind it in ‘First Love: Hatsukoi’ is because the individuals of the OTP did not just pine away when they were separated and when getting together was ‘impossible’ but they continued with others in their lives. When the way was opened up for them both to be together, it was that much more satisfying that they’d never ‘wasted’ their time in between.

PS: I don’t think you are unromantic, it is only that you are fulfilled. You have a great husband, great children and excellent grandchildren.

You have lived your fair share and have the good sense of loving what you have instead of pining for what you didn’t have (a sadly common experience and relationship-shattering malaise for lost souls).

Life IS a challenge 😉 . We all face problems yet in some ways they keep us grounded. I used to be more sentimental and life has shown me some hard truths… which is OK. Not happy about all of that, just hope a little bit wiser.

Since I have seen my fair share from time to time I can advice, even help someone sometimes. Usually the people I try to protect don’t follow my advice and find themselves in dire straits… and that’s OK. I can’t even help them find all the pieces back but sometimes my perspective can help them to construe their experiences in a more wholesome (or at least less traumatic) way. Sometimes they surprise me and pull it through in ways my imagination could not even grasp after the event and I have to laugh, learn that I do NOT have all the answers (in such cases not even a fraction of the questions!) and that is even better.

Sometimes I even learn something new!

I really don’t know. That is also part of Life.

Eri has good intentions, but she is the worst of matchs for what Sumire is going through not finding Isurugi. A good warning about being able to watch and know ourselves properly. It is hilarious yet heartbreaking watching a proxy of our experiences and the way we construct them limit our worldview.

Arata while giving her uniform to Makoto, “I am glad I met you here. If not I could have held a grudge with you forever”. SHe finally saw him as the cowardly yet caring person he was. Not an angel as she saw him while in love, not a monster after he left her, just a human being doing his best to survive while looking for happiness. Just like her.

Loved the conversation between Kujira and Sumire. Sometimes a different perspective can make all the difference in the world. Also the transmission of Hope: from Jilba to Kujira, then from Kujira to Sumire all those years later for Love is atemporal.

Over a month later: Even other patrons don’t know Isurugi all too much. A lonely soul like Sumire.

Sumire getting that her relationship began as a mistake and that she is Arara’s unsuspecting seconds. Definitely Eri is a bad match given her bad experiences.

Hi there @FGB… just letting you know that I popped by to read you!

About what your Professor said…
My take on it is that God has a Plan for all creation to be united with Him in fullness of life and joy. This does not mean that life will just be easy, in fact we realise that we need to travel the path of the narrow gate which will have its obstacles, but the destination is sure. Unfortunately, ever so often, we let our egos take over and we think we can be gods to determine our own paths…usually the easier ones. The easier paths are like building a house on sand. When the storms come the house will be ruined.

When we can come back to accepting that the will of God for our happiness is the one that will guarantee lasting joy, we start back on the right path again. The interesting thing is that God chooses to have us work together with Him in His plan. We keep veering off the path, but He patiently waits and helps when we ask for it. 🙂

The Mama Wars XD XD XD XD love the pettiness even in old age, both Mamas are like toddlers.

The conversation between Chibi Mama and Arara is interesting, how Chi thinks that they had it so rough that in their effort to make their children’s lives more easy they ended overprotecting and domesticating them.

Definitely Arara has a lot of wisdom fountains to nurture herself. As do we!.

The last advice asking Arara to be bolder in order to achieve what she wants (it is my understanding of their conversation) was beautifully done. Celebrate the people that has come before us is a duty, and should be a happy one!!!. At the end of the day we are beings made of stories.

Will go to sleep soon!. Found the song Master is referring to with Spanish lyrics. Funny how the author paints a story by making a succession of images,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grUz7u3NPVY

While the Western counterpart (as a girl selling flowers – violets in this case) is “Violetas Imperiales” (Imperial Violets), here sung in Spanish by Roberto Alagna:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMSPAbQOJLU

He tells a more conventional story from the point of view of the lovestruck singer. It is a stream of thought.

Beautiful storytelling on Kujira Mama’s background. Show – don’t tell – the subtle parts of the story. Viewer has the imagination and intelligence to fill the gaps.

This is why I tend to gravitate to Japanese storytelling.

Just by watching the spirit form of Kujira playing with the pearl necklace and letting them drop without a hint of love insinuates that she had to prostitute herself.

Would not comment on the falling flowers, the blood or the oh so many petals lying around out of respect of you as a Lady.

Loved when she finally encountered Jilba. Treat people like human beings, you find a good person behind… treat a person like a subhuman thing you get a feral response.

Loved Kujira’s resilience. Also made me sad to learn that the part of her that had to do all those harsh things to survive ended up bottled inside herself all her life, like a curse.

Also I concur with Arara. Even the lowest dog has the God-given right to defend itself with all its might.

Everyone in the bar talks on how much Arara resembles the late Jilba. In some ways this is Kujira Mama finally confessing to her dear late mentor.

Arara and Kujira crying. Arara finally starting to understand all the miseries her forefathers had to endure. A very visceral scene.

A lifetime of holding back the tears and heartbreak. Arara fears that Kujira Mama’s pain might come back even stronger, my guess is it will not. There are widespread tragedies that begets personal tragedies, you can talk about the former, the later sink in your heart where they get trapped and can even become trauma.

Also, Kujira Mama finally opening her eyes to confront the innocent rose that has been a haunting symbol of her misery tells me that she is afraid to see things for what they are, devoid of the content she imposes on them.

Arara being comfortable with Jilba’s ghost. People are always way more complex than we credit them for.

The teatrical treatment was very well done. I have no doubts that Ms. Kusabue (Kujira Mama) has a solid teatrical background (looked it up, she has at the very least three roles under her belt).

Chibi Mama confiding that her taking the Old Jack & Rose was a ruse to get Kujira Mama up her arse and recover soon. That is what a person with a deep understanding would do knowing her friend.

For tough love is still love 😉

Episode 10 starts with Arara’s Birthday that sadly becomes the opportunity to tell all the girls that Old Jack & Rose might need to close due to failing finances.

For Arara it must been a shock the possibility to lose her newfound haven, but for the rest of the girls it must have been devastating news as they had invested their whole lives since youth to the bar and its philosophy.

For Master and Kujira must have felt horrible to lose what they had fought for since the postwar era. Doubly traumatic to have to make the decision and triply traumatic to have to break the news to people they have worked since forever.

Love how the two men feel so helpless that they follow the ladies’ leads in the giving birth sequence. They might not understand it but they are ready to go far and beyond for Sumire.

Nothing more can be asked from them 😀

Loved the small exchange between Arata and Mika about Sumire. They could be at the opposite extremes of the Earth yet they are together.

Such a beautiful, show don’t tell definition of friendship and solidarity.

Arara and Master’s exchange: he asks for her to put the bracelet he gave to Jilba in her family grave as he always wanted to visit her hometown.

He had a family with another woman (Maika being her granddaughter is literal the living proof) yet his love and gratitude for Jilba Mama stayed steadfast and pure as the family she eventually became.

Him wanting to know the place she lived and loved was a way to connect with her friend even further.

*****
Remembers me a beautiful subplot in Ray Bradbury’s “Dandelion Wine”, the very personal account of his imagination running wild as a child in his hometown in 1928. It reads like Science Fiction while being totally anchored in the technology available at that time.

The subplot is about an 80 year old lady being frequented by a young 20 year old man. They talk about all sort of things, but mainly she was a great traveler in her day. Her then friend turned into fiancee could not make her settle down and died before they could marry, so she never married. This young man’s mannerisms remembers her a lot of her departed love.

She talks him about all the places she visited like if she were touring it. He loves and listens intently.

One day they meet and he asks for a walkthrough of their hometown. She remembers splashing her feet in the nearby creek yet this time is different: every part of the walkthrough is from a place they both know and love, so they (his childhood self as well as her childhood self) go through all what the town has to offer in the 1860’s, they visit the railway station and get the thrill of riding a steam locomotive for the first time and so on.

That was their longest conversation. She knows her time is coming and asks him to die young so in the 1990’s a young couple could meet in an ice cream shop and ask both of them for a lemon and real vanilla cone (her former love and her favourite), both laugh at the odd choice of flavours and start chatting.

She dies soon and he goes to an ice cream shop to ask for a lemon and royal vanilla ice cream.

Some loves can’t be born in this world yet the longing lingers.
*****

Finally when Arata asks him to go with all the girls to Jilba’s hometown in pilgrimage he corrects her.

He can’t fly. He is afraid of heights.

He is well aware of his limitations. A wise man indeed.

If I remember correctly she getting down the train at her hometown stop, reuniting with her brother and he feeling sorry for her asking if she is OK is where the show started back in episode 1.

But now we have context.

Loving family accepting her back.

Her feeling that she arrived to the mainstream life. His father answering her that both her and her brother’s name put together means a piercing light that cuts forward is his way to encourage her.

Shirahama-san finding out on the whereabouts of Jilba’s brother in law. While she found a new hope and a new place he descended into despair. As the Greek gates of Hell announced, beyond that point abandon any hope. Yet he couldn’t muster the courage to let go going back to a triumphant Japan. It was the lie – maybe hope – that kept him going.

He missed his homeland more than any.

And that love consumed his life.

What a waste.

Then we learn that there were more siblings and while they despised what Gataro had done they couldn’t let him alone.

Arara decides to take the mantle as the new Mama.

She was reborn by the bar and its culture. Her scratch ticket became a ticket for a better life. Now it was her time to face the music and make its culture survive. For Love wants to spread and growth. Love is being steadfast and responsible.

Several years later Sumire and her family is well, Mika has a dog she loves, and in Kujira Mamam’s Birthday finally Arata’s Family comes over to the Old Jack & Rose that Arara’s now regents.

@FGB, how poignant! What a wonderful, heartfelt sharing of your enjoyment of this show! I feel I’ve missed so much when I read you.

Well you do not need to let it go… rewatch and rewatch, as I do! LOL 🙂

Thank you for sharing your journey with this sweet show. I enjoyed it all the more with your thoughts surrounding it.

BTW the beauty of sharing thoughts is that we both enrich each other with our points of view.

As it usually happens in real life, it is open to interpretation. Some readings can be more insightful and useful than others, though 😉

So does your perspectives, my dear @GB. You see both Principles and Values in the fictional characters you find, so you use them as secondhand experiences of what to do vs. what not to do.

A wise way to approach storytelling. As learning experiences for its lessons to be incorporated into decision-making.

It enriches you. Your kind of viewing is why Fiction as a genre is so useful and relevant.

Hope you and your loved ones are OK!!!

BTW, had problems with my Modem (poor thing was 18 YO and finally it gave the Ghost… Wireless Router is brand new!!!) so had to buy a secondhand one as this one is old technology. Sorry for being disconnected!