Show Review: Glass Heart (Season 1)

Glass Heart is not perfect, and I still have many questions whose answers I’ll never know. But I don’t want a second season, the end was the perfect end anyone could ask for.

I think some incredibly talented artist made all his life’s work into an album and then died.

Someone discovered that nobody could make a music video that conveys the meaning, strength, and impact of his songs, so they created Glass Heart.

Plot

Akane Saijō (played by Yu Miyazaki) is studying music at university and playing drums for a band. Still, one day her life crashes when her bandmates unceremoniously kick her out right before a gig. Broken and disheartened, she plays her heart out in the rain, when an anonymous pianist suddenly accompanies her.

Three long years later, Akane is still facing rejection after rejection at every audition—until out of the blue, she gets a special invite to join a new band.

Naoki Fujitani (Takeru Satoh), a tortured musical genius, has been held captive by the music that threatens to break out of him (or break him) all his life. His music has hurt people before, but he is determined to leave more listeners healed than scarred. So he finds Sho Takaoka (played by Keita Machida), Kazushi Sakamoto (Jun Shison), and Akane, and together they form TENBLANK, their music resonating in hearts all across Japan.

My thoughts

With how much I love K-dramas, it’s surprising that I’ve never been able to get into J-dramas before now. The closest was Shogun, and I never even finished that. But I stumbled on Glass Heart, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Cinematography

Filmed in a semi-documentary style, every shot is designed to evoke emotion and offer an intimate, behind-the-scenes style look at the lives of the bandmates.

The performance scenes are stunning, but when the same style is used for the quieter scenes, it sometimes feels a little overdone.

The songs

I wouldn’t call myself a rock girlie. At first, the songs sounded chaotic and loud to me. But I discovered that it was part of the story! I thoroughly enjoyed watching TENBLANK find their sound.

There’s always at least one performance per episode, and trust me, it’s the part you’ll be waiting for. By the finale, the music crescendos (literally) into a full-blown concert that doubles as the emotional climax. Honestly, the songs carry the weight of the story far more powerfully than the dialogue ever manages to.

Naoki was single-handedly sealing the Honmoon one mad, aggressive, passionate song at a time. I gotta watch K-Pop Demon Hunters for the third time, sigh.

The story

Based on the light novel by the same name, Glass Heart had plenty of source material. I wished they’d taken time to distil the parts they wanted for TV and develop the story. The narrative sometimes lags behind the music. The dialogue feels flat in places, though thankfully, it picks up pace in the later episodes.

In the end, it’s the music that carries the emotional weight, but honestly, isn’t that what you sign up for with a musical anyway?

Characters

Officially, Akane is framed as the main character, but Naoki’s genius completely eclipses her, and that’s the point. Akane’s presence is overshadowed by Naoki, which mirrors the feelings of all the other characters (and maybe even the audience). It’s a clever narrative move.

This is where I felt most short-changed. I wanted more depth in the relationships, especially between Naoki and Sho, expanding the wider band dynamic. That’s the real heart of TENBLANK, but even though the band spent years together (presumably), we only get small glimpses at their chemistry. I wanted more; that was the heart of the show.

I also enjoyed Naoki’s rivalry with Toya Shinzaki (Masaki Suda), leader of a rival band, OVER CHROME. The tension between them was satisfying to watch, but again, it is short-lived! I wanted more; I wanted to see their new relationship after the big resolution.

The villain was cartoonishly evil, and many side antagonists were underdeveloped. I found myself not caring much about them, sadly.

The actors did their best, but outside Naoki (and maybe Akane), there wasn’t enough story to carry the rest.

Behind the scenes/performances

Netflix Philippines released a behind-the-scenes YouTube video to show how the cast trained. There were no body doubles. Many of the cast had never played an instrument before, but they spent over a year training with professionals, learning to portray these characters believably on camera.

The show ended up producing over 40 original songs, with about 10 performed live in front of an audience of 5,000 extras.

Every performance was real. The dedication was incredible. The authenticity bled into the show, and as a viewer, you can feed off the infectious energy of the crowd.

I wish Netflix had put more effort into marketing the show.

Verdict

Glass Heart is not perfect, and I still have many questions whose answers I’ll never know. But I don’t want a second season, the end was the perfect end anyone could ask for.

I’ve seen mixed reviews on AsianWiki, Reddit, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter), but everyone agrees on one thing: the music will resonate with you, and for this reason alone, I recommend the show.