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Oh Terrace House. You make me so happy and carefree I feel like I could skip around like a school girl. And I’m not the only one who feels this way after indulging in a quick binge of the Japanese reality show.
Listen to this quick 20-minute gab with me and Tony, aka Crazy for Comic Con and creator of the fabulous Hero Within fashion line. Fabulous isn’t a word I use in my daily life. This line is designer level fandom gear. It simultaneously lets you flaunt your fandom while being subtle enough for your office. Check them out on Instagram!
So what’s Terrace House?
Imagine if the Real World starred 6 incredibly polite Japanese people. These three guys and three girls ate breakfast and dinner together in their beautiful modern regularly. The only drama comes about when the members start to worry one of their housemates isn’t fulfilling his or her potential.
It’s also incredibly boring at times, yet that’s what makes it fantastic.
Is it a dating show?
No, yet… the first questions members ask one another upon meeting are: What’s your name? How old are you? And typu deska? What’s your type? Almost every member is single and looking. Many members go out at least on a few dates, but some become couples.
The entire culture of dating in Japan FASCINATES me. I wrote a quick post about it here. It’s a good intro to how dating works on the show too if you find yourself confused about why everything is so earnest.
Revolving Cast of Characters
What’s different about this reality show trope of people living together is that the cast changes regularly. It’s a feature, not a bug. Members tend to come to the house with goals in mind: a performance, a final school project, a business launch, and more. Once they complete that goal they move on and a new member of the same sex moves in.
This keeps the show fresh and allows us to meet all sorts of Japanese people. Especially as each version on Netflix is set in a different location.
Season 1 was set in Tokyo and is my favorite so far. The members were diverse, the house was gorgeous, the city was beautiful. Hawaii was the setting for season 2, so far my least favorite. It just didn’t feel like a Japanese show to me. There were so many haifus (half-Japanese people) that it became a bit too American for me at times.
This third season that’s running now is set in a mountain town in Japan. So far it’s a bit more dramatic than I’d like for Terrace House. It’s also my first time where I’m watching it as it’s being released so I have to wait for new installments.
What’s fascinating is that the members themselves can watch their episodes soon after they air. That’s really trippy! And lends to a lot of self-awareness, I think.
There are no games or cash prizes like other reality shows. From what I can tell, there are no producers trying to make things happen either. It’s just a genuine slice of life show.
Meet My Favorite Japanese people
No not the cast! The commentators. You can’t love just one commentator because they work as a team. They all bounce off of one another and make me cackle with laughter. The 6 commentators watch the show together and then take breaks to discuss. Rather than waiting for the commentary in an after show, the show takes a break for us to watch the commentators discuss. It’s during these sections that I learn the most about Japanese culture and language.
Bonus: If you are fluent in Japanese, you can change the audio track to the commentators and hear them throughout the entire episode, not just during their breaks. I wish I could be at that level!
Don’t know Japanese? Don’t worry!
You’ll learn a lot. I did! When you watch the show and then have the commentator breaks recap what just happened you’ll start to pick up many words. I made a list of about 17 words I was able to pick up after two seasons. It was also interesting to see how Tokyo and Hawaii had different styles.
Quick tip: If you commute on the subway or bus, this is the perfect show to watch. With Netflix’s download feature you can download 2-3 eps that will make your commute fly by.
If you have a shorter commute or drive, make time! There’s no dubbing and if you are capable of reading, you should really enjoy the ability to hear another language spoken. It is so worth it. Trust us.
Sugoyi or kimoi? What do you think of Terrace House?
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