5 international shows worth watching, from Kafka to a human Kaiju
The long-awaited U.S. premiere of a new season of the German hit “Babylon Berlin” was the big news in international TV series this week. But interesting shows from other countries are arriving almost daily. Here are five recent series to check out.
‘All these I will give you’
This six-episode miniseries on MHz Choice is a lot like a British country house mystery, except it’s French. So the matriarch of the aristocratic family visited by murder is even colder and more controlling, her unruly second son is an even worse cokehead, and the food looks edible. Also, everyone looks better than they would in a British series, especially the artisanally sloppy husband (David Kammenos) of the suspiciously deceased eldest son, who the husband kept a secret from his family and the family kept a secret from his husband. (To stir the cultural pot even further, the series is based on a novel set in Galicia by Dolores Redondo, the popular Spanish mystery writer.)
Viewers tired of the alternate or dreary contrivances of most modern American thriller miniseries may appreciate the straightforward traditionalism of “All This I Will Give to You,” which has enough narrative heft to overcome the usual bouts of melodrama that come loose when the mystery is nearing resolution. Kammenos’ Manuel, shocked by the discovery of his husband’s hidden life and disgusted by his new in-laws, is a prickly, nervous, holier-than-thou pain in the derriere for more than half the show, which is a nice change . . And the camaraderie that slowly develops between him and a retired police officer with a personal stake in his husband’s death is beautifully depicted.
‘Kafka’
This German miniseries shows that even in an age of consolidation, distinctive shows are still sneaking in through the side door of the streaming business, in this case via ChaiFlickswhich specializes in Jewish-themed content. (The fourth of six episodes premiered this week.) The series takes a metafictional, Wes Anderson-esque approach to the life of writer Franz Kafka (Joel Basman)—it moves back and forth in time and among Kafka’s acquaintances, peeking in for pivotal moments, and characters breaking the fourth wall to amplify or angrily disagree with the narrator’s observations.
Each of the six episodes focuses on a different character from Kafka’s life, showing us what it was like to be the best friend, the lover or the much-scorned father. Stars from Central European culture emerge, some played by actors familiar to American audiences from “Babylon Berlin” (Lars Eidinger as Rilke, Christian Friedel as Franz Werfel, Liv Lisa Fries as Milena Jesenská). Some viewers may feel that peak TV’s dryly comedic approach underplays the seriousness of Kaka’s work and the momentousness of the times in which he lived, but “Kafka” is never less than entertaining.
‘Kaiju No. 8’
If the modern Godzilla and King Kong franchise films are just wearing you out, this lively anime series about a not-so-gigantic monster is a good palate cleanser. The hero, Hibino, is a worker on a kaiju cleanup crew — he and his colleagues do the seriously dirty work of disassembling and disposing of defeated beasts — who dreams of fighting kaiju himself as a member of the Japanese Defense Force. When he mysteriously gains the ability to transform into a humanoid but still powerful monster, the transformation is life-changing in the best and worst ways.
The show, based on a manga and created by animation studio Production I.G. (“Ghost in the Shell”), is a coming-of-age story — the division between Hibino’s competing identities couldn’t be clearer. It’s also a comrades-in-arms drama: an incoming class of Defense Force recruits, including Hibino, goes through training and their first fights together, developing the loyalties and jealousies that will come into play as his secrets are gradually revealed. It’s breezy and paper-thin, in the manner of most anime-industry products, but it’s on the smarter and funnier end of the spectrum. The 12-episode season finale airs Saturday on Crunchyroll.
‘Shoresy’
A spinoff of the Canadian series “Letterkenny,” which ran for 12 seasons, “Shoresy” takes a similar sitcom-as-oddball-art-object approach. The premise echoes that of the gritty hockey comedy “Slap Shot,” but in form it’s an absurdist collage of non sequiturs, inscrutable inside jokes, ritualized repetition, hilariously specific trash talk and bespoke profanity. It celebrates sports clichés in ways that ridicule them; where “Slap Shot” was a cautionary tale about the American celebration of violence, “Shoresy” is an affectionate parody of a Canadian emphasis on indomitability that’s both admirable and absurd.
In season 3, which premiered last week on HuluShoresy (played by show creator Jared Keeso) battles injury, depression and a suspension (inspiring a laser-sharp “Slap Shot” reference) as he tries to lead the semi-pro Sudbury Bulldogs to victory in the national tournament. In its satirical portrayal of the provincial hockey scene — complete with generic news reporting, biting YouTube commentary and the plethora of strikingly attractive women who surround the team in every capacity, including management — the show takes the game very seriously and not at all seriously.
‘Tormentor Takagi-san’
The ‘Teasing Master’ franchise includes the original manga (over 12 million copies in circulation), three seasons of anime, an animated film, a video game, and this live-action series, which premiered in March. on Netflix. (A live-action film was released in Japan last month.) That’s a lot for a story about a high school student and the classmate who inventively, relentlessly, and mercilessly mocks him. He is of course deeply in love with her, but his obsession with getting her back – a project that only leads to repeated humiliation – allows him to ignore those uncomfortable emotions. At least for a few episodes.
“Teasing Master Takagi-san” is, by American standards, slow-burning and simple, even for a show aimed at least partly at younger audiences. But it’s cute — kawaii, in the Japanese idiom — to an almost medicinal degree. You can feel your muscles relax and your arteries unclog as you watch. The young stars, Yuki Kaji as the boy, Nishikata and especially Rie Takahashi as Takagi, play up shyness, mischief and awkward attraction without self-consciousness. Their performances and the show’s quiet affectation don’t vary much over eight episodes, and that (despite some obligatory cliffhanger plots) is the point — it’s not about the buildup, it’s about the wallowing.
