Shiyan Pin Jiating: Season 1/ Episode 1 “Family” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)
This weird little family comedy, which hints at a sad, if not outright traumatic past, really shouldn’t be as hard to find as it is. Network N/A Creator Yanai Director(s) ? Writer(s) ? Air Date 4/9/2018 The Introduction Tanis, the youngest of 5 siblings, with his parents being locked up, has become the pseudo-adult of…
This weird little family comedy, which hints at a sad, if not outright traumatic past, really shouldn’t be as hard to find as it is.
| Network | |
| N/A | |
| Creator | Yanai |
| Director(s) | ? |
| Writer(s) | ? |
| Air Date | 4/9/2018 |
The Introduction
Tanis, the youngest of 5 siblings, with his parents being locked up, has become the pseudo-adult of the family. After all, it was what he was trained to be. As his parents experimented on his 4 older siblings, sometimes the type of experiments which caused deafening scream level pain, he was given a normal childhood. Making it so, after his parents arrest, and the facility they were raised in seemingly being destroyed, now this fantasy of normalcy is all he wants.
However, when your brother, Snow, turns into a dog, sometimes out of his control; your oldest sister Ashisu seemingly is a human plant; your second oldest sister, Aisuri, is a human black widow, and youngest older sister, Suishi, can read minds; what is normalcy? Can it even be obtained? Or, as Aisuri pushes out there, is that even something the family as a whole wants?
Highlights
It Has The Potential To Address The Horror While Presenting The Fact That Life Goes On
I’m not going to pretend the premiere was purely laying down the foundation and hinting at things which could hook you later on. However, trying to be optimistic, we may have something here. Tanis, being the normal one, means he has to introduce the concept to his siblings whose normalcy was day in and day out being tested on and modified. Some of which, like most of the family, it wasn’t perhaps the most horrible experience. Uncomfortable for sure, but manageable. But, in the case of Aisuri, assuming the scream scene we saw for a hot second was her, her relationship with their parents could be totally different.
And that is the thing I want and hope gets explored. Each one’s different view of their parents, as well as each other, and the complication of now living amongst the general population. Much less, coming to a point where they can’t fully rely on Tanis for everything. Be it because they want independence or because he doesn’t want to be the youngest person in the house assuming the role of the parent.
First Impression: Positive (Watch This)
With low-key comedy, a sort of slice of life element, and some added sci-fi to boot, Shiyan Pin Jiating could really be something. Yet, there is a reason premieres have “First Impression” for the rating. While the show could explore the difficulty to adjusting to life outside the research facility, especially for the oldest two who seem of age to be on their own, in school, or working, who knows if it may go in that direction? We can only wait and see.
