In preparation for an upcoming trip to Japan we’ve been watching the Japanese reality show Terrace House. We’re part way through the first Netflix series: Boys × Girls in the City.
It is the most ‘real’ reality television that I’ve seen. The show puts three young men and three young women together in a house and films what happens. The cameras don’t follow them everywhere; there’s no framework of competition. Each housemate can pursue whatever goals suit them and leave whenever they choose. In practice though housemates are largely there to find a romantic partner so competition emerges as housemates vie for affections.
The drama that results is subtle, resting on say the wording of a rejection and the coverup of hurt, deeply unlike the sensational and confected disputes of American shows.
This is not to deny the influence of producers who clearly choose housemates to appeal to each other and the audience. So far the house has had three models (two of them also aspiring actors), a dancer, a hat designer and a hairdresser. Two others to appear, both muscular men, are a university baseball player and an apprentice firefighter from Hawaii.
The studio observers are hilariously normal, providing a necessary part of the entertainment and as well a bridge for older viewers. It can be hard sometimes to tell what is normal for the Japanese and what is idiosyncratic to a particular housemate so it is also cathartic to hear an indignant, ‘what an idiot!’, from the studio, confirming our own judgements.
It’s also notable that explicit interaction with fans seems quite high; there is nothing like the media blackout in Big Brother. The housemates watch the show each week, presumably seeing the criticism of the studio observers. Not to mention they can also see and react to the audience on social media.
The show is, in a word, wholesome and for that reason, deeply endearing. I only wonder if it would retain its appeal for me if it was in English.