Japan Sinks: 2020

Anime Review

I usually like the action and drama of apocalyptic stories when they’re done right…but this anime felt like a hot mess of storytelling. Japan Sinks: 2020 is a 10 episode Netflix anime based on a novel that was written in the 1970s. It tells the story of a series of natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.) that hits Japan in the year 2020, and a group of everyday people doing their best to survive. It is an apocalyptic show where a society is crumbling and everything (including the plot) is going in really weird directions.

The main reason I found this series to be a letdown was because it was so confusing. The plot is all over the place, the characters aren’t developed, and there are SO MANY unanswered questions. Often, at the end of an episode, something would happen that would be really confusing. At the beginning of the next episode, the show seems to brush over that confusing thing and continue on as if it didn’t happen. WTF, I have so many questions! Serial TV shows are typically pretty good at doing a minor recap at the beginning of a new episode so that readers aren’t completely lost, but this was nonexistent in Japan Sinks. It doesn’t help that each episode is a roller coaster ride of strange events that don’t seem to connect.

In conclusion…

The overarching theme of this show is about the human spirit’s ability to keep moving, fighting, and rebuilding no matter how horrible and sad the situation might be. So along those lines…maybe this anime is telling us that no matter how confusing or f*cked up things get in an apocalypse, life will keep moving and we have to just keep adapting along with it or else we will die (probably an oversimplification, but there you go). Overall, I would not recommend this show or want to watch it again.