A 2022 melodrama jdrama where a chance run-in between a young woman and the man who loved her and dumped her in High School will probably change both their lives.

Country: Japan 
Local Title: silent
Year Released: 2022 
Number of Episodes: 10
Genre: Melodrama

Main Actors:

Kawaguchi Haruna: Aoba Tsumugi
Meguro Ren: Sakura Sou
Suzuka Ouji: Togawa Minato

Pre-Recap Thoughts:

When I saw the poster for this and looked up the synopsis I knew I had to give it a try, partially for personal reasons. I was born with only about half of “normal” hearing, which is something I almost never see in stories. Characters are either deaf or lose their hearing at some point, and this show seems to be in the latter category.

While I’d love to someday see something more closely mirroring my own experience, I’m also interested to see any kind of character with a “non-typical” sensory/physical experience. There aren’t enough of those stories, and too often the characters are “healed” by the end in ways that aren’t realistic (I’m not talking about cochlear implants). From what I’ve seen with Japanese dramas at least, they haven’t gone this route.

There are some things about this story set-up that are definitely not my usual taste, so it’ll be interesting to watch this one. I’m excited!

Recap and Thoughts:

Final-Watch Thoughts:

One of my favorite dramas of the year.

The show was not flawless. The main female lead character was underwritten and some of the side characters seemed to exist just so that others could talk to them. These things are disappointing but do not get anywhere close to ruining the drama for me.

Because not only is it a favorite drama, it’s one of my favorite depictions of hearing, hearing loss, and deafness. The show was really, at its core, about communication. Characters talked, signed, wrote letters, wrote on post-its, shared music, and communicated in so many different ways as they tried to understand one another. Miscommunication was never an issue, it was always about understanding and trying to understand better.

The show was intense and thoughtful and not something that I recommend anyone binge, although I’m sure some people will. While it didn’t have any huge surprises, it took a slow and thoughtful journey through the various characters and lives. The show moved the characters forward while still looking back to show everything that had come before, revealing delicious layers of the characters. While there is romance at the core, the show is much more of a slice-of-life drama about larger themes and people.

So yeah, I recommend it.