# Review of Japan Sinks: 2020 See Also: [[Anime]], [[TV Reviews]] I watched *Japan Sinks: 2020* today. It's a truly adult anime. At first, it seemed a little trite and predictable. But when the first of a series of earthquakes hit, it suddenly went down a very unpredictable path. They really took advantage of the anime style to make the destruction stark and jarring. It's a story about a family who tries to survive the aftermath of a series of earthquakes that literally sink the entire country of Japan. The show kills off almost all its major characters without giving any sense of who, if any of them, will survive or who the story is really about. So, while getting kicked in the guts over and over again by the truly senseless tragedies that occur one after the other, no particular character draws one's attention more than any other. So while each death is tragic, there always remains a possibility of survival for the others. The social commentary was a bit confusing. The various examples of humanity that the family runs across in their journey to safety are all crazy, or malevolent, or just amoral. Yet, at the end, there is a long and quite well-constructed tribute to the beauty of the country and the honour and fortitude of its people. Seems like a mixed message to me. Or a sudden change of heart by the producers. It was also weird to see the producers' sense of family life in Japan; it was jarringly politically incorrect - and very refreshing compared to the swill being circulated on North American TV.