The Days Review: Netflix’s latest release is a Japanese thriller directed by Masaki Nishiura (Code Blue) and Hideo Nakata (Ring). The writer for this miniseries is Jun Masumoto (Code Blue, Shiroi Kyoto, Hadashi no Gen), who also has developed and produced it. The production company includes Warner Bros Film and Lyonesse.
The cast for this miniseries features Koji Yakusho as Masao Yoshida (this is a real-life person who worked as the plant manager at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011 during the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan), Yutaka Takenouchi as the Shift Supervisor, Fumiyo Kohinata as the Prime Minister and Kaoru Kobayashi as the Operator. The other cast members are Takuma Otoo, Ken Mitsuishi, Kenichi Endo, Yuriko Ishida and others.
– Netflix’s The Days Review Does Not Contain Any Spoilers –
The Days Review: Bringing Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant Disaster to the Reel World
Films and series based on disasters are not rare. What is rare is their ability to use the story both from a technical point of view as well as a human point of view. HBO’s Chernobyl is what comes to everyone’s mind when you think of a series that retells a disaster so huge with such intricate details that it is devasting, tragic and undoubtedly one of the best shows to be ever made. It is the bar that makes or breaks the evaluation of other disaster-oriented series. Netflix’s The Days seems to understand that just right.
The latest miniseries has eight episodes but, is told over the time period of seven days. It recounts one of the most powerful earthquakes recorded in human history and, how it went on to affect a nuclear plant, which created one of the biggest historic and scientific tragedies after the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster.
The Days are about the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster that was caused due to the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami that occurred on March 11, 2011. It is more commonly known as the Great East Japan Earthquake. The earthquake was the trigger point of the nuclear plant disaster and, that is what is depicted in this Netflix series along with what went on in the Nuclear Power Plant as the crisis set in.
The story is told from several viewpoints such as the Tokyo Electric Power Company employees, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant employees and others. However, it is Koji Yakusho’s Yoshida, who was the first respondent and main character leading most of the operation who lets us in their headspace to understand the panic and pressure as the nuclear plant disaster set in. Fumiyo Kohinata who played the Japanese Prime Minister during that time is also an important character who lets the story unfold.
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As hot and happening as The Days is, the Netflix series is both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time generating a mixed feelings. There is clear inspiration from the way HBO’s Chernobyl is made, which really elevates the show from a technical standpoint. The horrors are real, the deception of tragedy hard to digest and the makers have made sure they get almost everything right.
However, what is amiss is how the narrative flows and obstructs us to form a human connection with the characters. It lets us in just enough but, not completely. It is amiss because the tragedy hits us but, the tragic characters restrained by something they have no control don’t.
That is not to say that the show does not shine or stand out because it truly does. It educates you and helps you know the incidents that occurred during the earthquake and nuclear disaster most intricately. It gives you things to hold onto while watching it but, the question of how long you will be able to hold onto is, of course, in your hands.
The Days: Final Verdict
Overall, The Days is a fine watch. It is brilliantly made and brings to your screen something that one has never seen before. It has its own flaws but, not everything can be as incredible as Chernobyl, right? The best part is that it is close enough in the depiction of horrors and happenings that any viewer would appreciate.
You can watch all episodes of The Days, now streaming on Netflix.
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The first episode was ok things happening it felt exciting, the half of second episode its starting the downtour, politic acts and alot of talking and lies to the press people, nothing like the first eps,
Then it is people fighing and screaming about who goes down there and turn the walve, they do comes up with an solution, but the fucking goverment need too approve it and sign stuff,
Sorry nothing for me to see here,its becomes just boring,
My score: 2.0 of 5 if the rest of the show was a bit better like the first one it could get highter score, i have zero patients for alot of talking and nothing happening, im halfway of episode 5 IM BORED TO DEATH.
I work in the nuclear industry as a radiation protection engineer. Watched this in Japanese with subtitles in my native English and I recommend that mode (or whatever your native language may be) to truly capture the director/actor interpretations of events. This series was WAY more realistic (technically) than Chernobyl (which was overly dramatic/cinematic). Almost like a documentary, but with good acting and storytelling. I could not find any real technical flaws/exaggerations in my area of expertise, based on briefings I have received on this accident over the years. Yes, some viewers may have been bored after the first couple of episodes, but those folks may not understand that a LOT of what happens in a “slow-motion” disaster that unfolds over 7 days (168 hours) is literally slow-motion, with bursts of manic activity and uncertainty/critical decision sprinkled in between… Just put yourselves in a “first responder” frame of mind, and imagine not being able to sleep for 80 hours straight! I did it once, just waiting for another shoe to drop, until I had to get some sleep due to sheer exhaustion. All you are being asked to do with this series is to be patient for the 8 hours in which these 168 hours were compressed 🙂