This article is a record and reflection on life in March 2023.
🎬 Books, Movies, and Music of the Month#
- Currently reading: Novel | "Demian" | ★★★★★
- Currently reading: Novel | "The Young Babylon" | ★★★★★
- Currently reading: Literature | "History of Western Literature" | ★★★★☆
- Finished watching: Japanese drama | "Restart Life" | ★★★★★★
- Finished watching: Korean drama | "Dark Glory" | ★★★★★
- Finished watching: American TV series | "The Last Survivor" | ★★★★★
- Finished watching: Movie | "Love Letter" | ★★★★★
- Finished watching: Movie | "Wishing You Safety" | ★★★★☆
- Currently watching: Anime | "Fullmetal Alchemist FA" | ★★★★★
I didn't play games much this March, I spent my weekends watching dramas, from "The Last Survivor" to "Dark Glory," and then "Restart Life." Let's talk about them one by one, starting with the best one in my mind, "Restart Life."
Giving "Restart Life" only five stars is not enough to describe how amazing it is, so this time I gave it an unprecedented six stars! Although it's only March, I think "Restart Life" is already the best drama of the year. The protagonist, Asami, dies unexpectedly and learns that she will be reincarnated as a giant anteater in her next life. In order to be reborn as a human, she needs to restart her life and accumulate good deeds. This rebirth drama truly achieves a "fresh and unique" feeling, so let me talk about its advantages!
First, a delicate sense of reality
The beginning of the drama shows Asami's first life, and for the first forty minutes, it is filled with trivial and boring daily matters, such as discussing whether to say "welcome" at the city office, not preparing a birthday cake for a friend, wondering what the waiter is thinking, and analyzing where her father hides his secret money. The story is filled with a large amount of dialogue, presenting every detail of the protagonist's daily life, seemingly "useless chatter" or "boring thoughts," as if forgetting about the "rebirth" itself. The first episode made me feel plain and even a bit bored. But this delicate script, the characters' ramblings about daily life, and their unique details create a sense of reality, gradually making the audience empathize with them and consider their fate as their own.
By the third round, I felt like I saw my own shadow. Although I am busy with work every day and work late into the night, I have friends who come to see me in the middle of the night, which makes me feel happy.
By the fourth round, the drama becomes more filled with bitter reality. If you are reborn many times and become distant from your best friend and close family, what is the meaning of being human in the next life? After a hundred years of reincarnation, what Asami misses the most is the distant afternoon when they exchanged stickers in their childhood, and it is the same for the audience.
Breaking through the emotional inertia of the text and capturing the characters' subtle thoughts, this sense of reality reveals delicate emotions, making me unknowingly see them as real friends.
Second, treating each character with fairness, without mocking any values
Here, I want to talk about the supporting character, Xiao Fu. He has always had high expectations for his musical talent, but his career has not gone well, leading to a divorce. After the divorce, he works as a waiter at a KTV, which may seem pitiful, but the script always implies that no one has the right to judge or pity his life. Camus once said, "We must imagine Sisyphus happy."
In the second round, Asami considered changing Xiao Fu's life trajectory to make it "better," but in the end, she didn't do it. Many years later, when she talked to Xiao Fu at the KTV, she confirmed that he was satisfied with his current life and saw his happy smile, which relieved Asami of her decision.
Ordinary doesn't mean mediocre, because if a person's life is ordinary, they can at least live in a way they accept. But if a person's life is mediocre, they will end up living a life they hate. Xiao Fu is an ordinary worker, but he is at least living happily and working hard.
This brings us to the warmer and stronger core of the drama—being alive is not happiness, happiness is being alive.
Third, a warmer and more powerful core
This drama shows us the true face of life, but it also has something richer, simpler, and more powerful.
Good works are like this too. They are not meant to make the audience relive reality, but to create something from reality and convey a stronger emotion to the audience.
Many works nowadays are filled with arrogance and mockery towards characters and even the audience, distorted fashion creates hypocrisy. They treat everything natural in the world, whether it's material, emotional, or ethical, as enemies to be cut off, abandoned, and destroyed. They believe that the more thoroughly they cut off, the more noble their souls become, but this can only lead to the absurdity between the work and the real world. The senseless destruction of the body, natural human nature, and human emotions cannot create aesthetic pleasure, and the joy of obtaining the blessings of the gods is also a kind of distorted psychological pathology.
But in this world, people do not exist only as individuals, they are also unique and special individuals, always a crucial and wonderful point where the myriad phenomena of the world intersect, full of irreproducible coincidences.
As stated in "Nichijou": Every daily life we go through is a series of small miracles.
And all we have to do is experience the capriciousness of those emotions, to capture freedom and explore human nature.
In the midst of these ordinary daily lives, "Restart Life" tells a non-preachy story with a kind-hearted tone, winning applause. It acknowledges the limited power of individuals, even if they can reload and start over, they can only make a little progress each time. But we can still make our lives shine through small efforts.
Of course, my favorite part is the warmest ending of this story. Seeing the end, I feel like time has stopped and everyone has returned. After a hundred years of twists and turns, I finally keep the best people around me. ——Instead of becoming a person alone, it is better to become a pigeon together!
PS: The atmosphere within the production team is also full of love, the extra episode is worth watching!
In addition to "Restart Life," the movies and dramas I finished watching this month, "The Last Survivor" and "Dark Glory," are also top-notch works. Both have unconventional endings (successful revenge, no forgiveness for the perpetrator, no intervention of "justice"), and overall, they are very satisfying.
"The Last Survivor" faithfully adapts the original work, but adds slight adjustments and skips some battle scenes to avoid the drama becoming a straightforward road movie like the game. The original work is already a masterpiece, so a drama that is faithful to the original is great as well, and the performances of the actors are also amazing. The acting of Joel and Ellie is stunning.
Compared to its revenge plot, what I like more about "Dark Glory" is its cinematography. For example, many bullying scenes in the drama are interspersed with a first-person perspective, enhancing the audience's sense of immersion and empathy, making the revenge in the later part more satisfying. The contrast between light and dark in the room when the female lead reveals her scars under the moonlight, and the changing scenery of the four seasons of the banyan tree, are all beautiful shots in the drama. In addition, some of the sound effects used in the drama are also very good and worth pondering.
🌺 Moments of Life this Month#
🏸: I started playing badminton this month. Since the outbreak of the pandemic at the end of last year, I haven't played it. Now I have picked up this sport again and met interesting people through it, which is a fortunate thing.
🚴🏻: I started riding a bicycle to work this month. It takes less time than driving, and I can save a lot of parking fees every day. By the way, riding an electric-assisted bicycle on the road feels like cheating.
👩🏻🍳: I learned to cook under the guidance of Chef B. I have learned to cook simple dishes like chicken thighs in a rice cooker, blanched shrimp, and stir-fried lettuce. (I won't post pictures, as long as it's edible.)
🦆: One afternoon on a weekend, I spent the whole afternoon by the river near my home, emptying my mind and watching how the egrets catch fish. I observed the shape of the flowing water and felt time flowing through my fingertips. Suddenly, for a moment, I seemed to understand the joy of fishing.
👨💻: I was confused about my work content, so one Sunday, I had dinner with Senior B and had a chat. After he pointed me in the right direction, everything became clear. I realized that I was too focused on the present and immediate benefits, which caused my confusion. So, after I went home, I made a plan for my career goals for the next seven years. I will follow this plan step by step and steadily move forward, eventually reaching the summit. By the way, that afternoon, I went with a friend to test drive the Avita car. The staff who accompanied us left a deep impression on me. Although he was born in the 2000s, he was very serious, responsible, and passionate about his work. He also told me that when it comes to work, you should do it with passion and humility, without thinking about anything else. By doing things beautifully, good results will naturally follow.
⛺️: We had a team building activity at the foot of Wutong Mountain, camping. Although there was heavy traffic, having a convertible car was useful in the mountains. By the way, the bonfire party had a great atmosphere.
In summary, I had a happy, fulfilling, and satisfying March. It was the most satisfying March since I started working. I hope April will be a beautiful and abundant month, a month of love at first sight, and a month filled with the feeling of spring. 💐
