A Town Without Seasons Review: Kisetsu no Nai Machi (季節のない街) has been adapted from the Japanese novel of the same name by Yamamoto Shugoro. It stars Sosuke Ikematsu as Hansuke or Shinsuke Tanaka, Taiga Nakano as Tatsuya and Daichi Watanabe as Okabe in the lead roles. Toko Miura, Gaku Hamada, Megumi, Ryo Iwamatsu and others can be seen in pivotal supporting roles. Created by Kankuro Kudo, the slice of life Japanese miniseries premiered on Disney+ Hotstar on August 9, 2023.

Comprising 10 episodes, each with a runtime under the 30-minutes mark, the series is now streaming with English subtitles on the OTT platform.

Kisetsu no Nai Machi Review Does Not Contain Spoilers

A Town Without Seasons Review: Discussion

Japanese slice of life stories set in the countryside exude an unspoken charm, boasting their stillness and calm demeanour. Kisetsu no Nai Machi falls in the same category. Such shows almost seem to have been released out of time when compared to the rushed and over the top releases that come out in the contemporary modern times. With the advancement in tech and computer savvy ways to enhance the visuals of what movies or shows look like, such naturalistic details onscreen feel to be out of place, and are for the same reason what most of us crave for.

Sticking close to the ground and the relationships so developed through the several character introductions, Kankuro Kudo’s adaptation is a chill, laid-back and slow exploration of how a community of quirky residents of a Temporary Housing Settlement find a home together, and in each other. Sosuke’s Hansuke finds abode in this settlement as well, but his ultimate purpose in living there seems to be different than that of the survivors of “The What” disaster, 12 years post the catastrophe. He’s introduced as a spy who’s been offered the job to report new findings related to the lives of those living in these temporary dwellings.

Along with his cat Tora, he moves in to the place, and though he too shares the same trauma of the old disaster’s aftermath having lost his entire family to it, he stays aloof and indifferent to the others in this housing community. As time passes by, he grows attached to these people, especially Tatsuya and Okabe, who become his close friends. And it doesn’t take him long to finally realise that he’s but a pawn in the larger politics of erasing the settlement’s existence.

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Since the storyline is fully situated in the countryside, each episode of the series unravels the life of a different character living at the temporary housing settlement and how they’re keeping up with the bare resources in hand. In the extended context of the situation, a power struggle between different socio-economic classes is at play wherein the political higher-ups are devising newer construction plans to replace the old dilapidated space that’s become a home to the disaster’s survivors for all these ears. Moreover, the old tragedy itself is only referred to as the “Nani” or “The What” disaster, thus generalising the after-image of such calamities having displaced many families through the ages.

This background keeps the narrative compact and situates its characters within it so that the story itself doesn’t run off on a tangent. However, the overarching plot line only figures into the set up later on. Until then, the series’ direction is majorly consumed by the characters, their personalities and how their being together further defined the interactions and dynamics so built in the process. Just as the title suggests, A Town Without Seasons stays still in terms of the motion detected. It doesn’t create any larger than life imageries or scenarios that make you as a viewer widen your eyes, in attempts to flatter or impress you.

The Japanese TV show has no interest in catering to those yearning for bigger movements and actions to stay glued to a story. It continues moving at its own sweet pace, hearing in on the conversations of the close-knit cast onboard. This very calm demeanour of the progression can be likened to the wholesome goodness of a lullaby, much like Rikiya Imaizumi’s Call Me Chihiro, but it’s not as existential as the mentioned movie, rather just a lighthearted account that takes quite some time to grow on you.

Since the visuals of the series stay glued to a natural gravity and vision, there are no grand interventions that will catch you off guard, and in that way, the show offers a sense of security and stability, as is also needed by the residents in question. Once that stability is endangered, the final showdown is possibly the only time when we encounter a colossal shift in the tone, which then shapes up into comical and situational chaos unlike the rest of the episodes walking at their leisurely pace.

Final Thoughts

One of my favourite instances from the series was how the basic introduction of Hansuke’s cat Tora is eventually personified into something bigger, ascribing it with an anthropomorphic figure and voice. This shift shapes up into being the leading constant means of comedy in the show, and the regular transitioning between the human and cat figures further helps lighten up the story’s mood.

Overall, Kisetsu no Nai Machi is a light TV series that may not be everyone’s cup of tea owing to its gradual tempo. Therefore, if you’re planning to tune into this series next, you should first consider your watching preferences. If you pine for serene narratives to shut out the world, then only you should go ahead with this one.

All 10 episodes of the Japanese series, A Town Without Seasons, are now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

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