Are You Ok? (2016)

Coming to terms with betrayal

Contrary to the impression given by the poster, this is not a horror drama! I am always so surprised when people whose job is visual and in the media, come up with such a horrible poster! The synopsis above is from the official site ( http://areyouok.jp/en/ ) and is just as incomprehensible and misleading! There are no clouds and nobody's getting married: it is just a birthday party! Basically, this short drama has been really badly promoted!

It is a story of Mikako, who shut herself up after discovering that her boyfriend and her best friend have been seeing each other for a year with all of their friends knowing it but no one telling her. This is an interactive drama: you are given choices to make for Mikako: does she leave the house or not and what does she do afterwards. The story is quite interesting: the choices she has to make all lead to a happy ending for her: she accepts the facts and decides to move on, stronger!

The concept is original and the story is well written. Actually, I wished it was longer! The playlist on youtube lets you watch all episodes without needing to choose!

The acting is surprisingly good. The cinematography is rather grey/blue depressing which they used for the poster! When she leaves the house, the colours change and the song's lyrics have a significant impact on Mikako's feelings: after dealing with the problem, she's OK now!

The web series has been made to promote a song "Are You OK?" by the girl band FAKY.

FAKY is a five-person Japanese girl group that debuted in 2013 under Avex's Rhythm Zone record label. The group has gone through two reformations and currently consists of Lil' Fang, Mikako, Hina, Akina, and Taki. The group name was derived from the word "fake" to challenge themselves to bring something "real" to the Japanese music scene. Their name also stands for "Five Ass Kicking Youngsters" and "FAntastic toKYo". The group defines themselves as a "Next Generation Girls Union" and tends to take musical inspiration from outside of Japan while incorporating Japanese culture and fashion.

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