Review of Glass Heart / グラスハート

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

My usual intro for this blog, and for the scheduled posts up until I received the wonderful news, has been that I spent a solid chunk of 2025 unemployed. Definitely one of the worst times to be unemployed, as the labor market and hiring practices of companies hasn’t been great since the new US president took office. I call him he-who-shall-not-be-named.

Anyways, I got a job offer. In the time where I was unemployed, I was spending a lot of time in-between job applications watching shows and movies, reading books, and writing as much as I could. I kind of knew that I was never going to get this opportunity again in my life to have such flexibility, as well as being homebound outside of traveling to places with good public transport.

When I got the job offer I crammed a lot of shows and movies in before I no longer had the time to watch them as freely as I have been. During this time I was specifically watching a lot of Japanese dramas, which is why around November and October I’m going to have an influx of reviews for those shows.

I wanted to watch Glass Heart as soon as I read the synopsis, and because of the fact that Satoh Takeru is in it. I thought he did a great job in First Love and was curious to see him in this kind of role. Back in the day, too, I was a big fan and active in the Japanese rock scene.

One of my fondest college memories was camping out in the line for One Ok Rock in New York City just so I could be in the front and by Toru Yamashita. I remember that night and how much fun I had, so when I saw some of my favorite artists were also involved in the soundtrack of this series, I knew I was down for watching it.

And oh man: I binged watched all of this in two days. It was that good to me. Let’s get into the review though before I start spoiling too much of my review.

A struggling drummer finds herself in a passionate singer’s new band, but now without their own issues as they navigate the Japanese music industry.

To preface this part of the review: I have never read the original material this is based around, but after watching the show I did find out that this does diverge from the plot of the original novel. I will not really be discussing that in my review, as I have no idea how to confirm whether that is true or not. You’ll need to do further research or determine that yourself (or with another reviewer familiar with it).

Anyways: the female lead and main character of this movie is Akane Saijo. She’s depicted as a college student at the start of the series, and she’s very talented at her chosen instrument: the drums. While she’s technically good at what she does, she’s often told she lacks the soul and spirit needed to make her performances good.

When she’s purposely excluded from her band, it kickstarts her journey when she crosses paths with Naoki Fujitani. There’s an encounter between them prior to the events of the series when they both start playing in the rain at a festival—her in the distance, and him on the stage alone during a downpour.

But in the present day, Akane and Naoki cross paths and he recognizes her talent. He’s a bit of a musical genius himself, as his lyrics are raw and honest, moving people to tears across Japan. He’s also written songs for a somewhat popular Japanese singer, although he hasn’t received the songwriting credits—someone else takes them instead. More on this plot point later in the series though.

It’s Naoki who’s the glue for their new band, which becomes known as Tenblank. With Sho and Sakamoto, the other two in the band, they’re geared up to take Japan by storm with their combined music genius. There are several obstacles emerging throughout the course of the series, but with the right confidence and moves they can avoid major roadblocks to their success.

There are several subplots throughout this show, including a love triangle involving Akane. The love triangle isn’t overwhelming, nor the romance, as the focus is more on the characters and their musical journey. There are some flaws in the plot, especially considering how the romance develops between Akane, Naoki, and Kazushi, but I was fine overlooking that in favor of the performances.

The electricity in this show is in the music, and that’s where Satoh especially lights up on the screen. Everyone does a good job and is very convincing in their roles, which I was deeply impressed by. The soundtrack is also fantastic, and I recognized a lot of the musicians involved with writing these songs, as they’re inolved in Japanese rock.

Something really interesting about this series though is that the actors did genuinely learn how to sing and perform with the instruments. None of this is dubbed by musicians or other actors; I was watching videos with them actually performing on stage as Tenblank and actually doing well.

Overall Thoughts

Y’all, I adored this show. Yes, it has its flaws, but the way it is bursting with art and depictions of creativity really connected to me. It was inspiring to see these characters fight for their art to be heard and perform on stage with all of their hearts. I could also connect to the female lead and her struggle, although it was interesting to see her call Naoki sensei and then end up with him romantically.

I’ve also been listening to the soundtrack to this drama casually when I’m out and about, or driving to work. Every episode includes a different song and the soundtrack compiles all of the Tenblank songs. I want to hunt down a clip or audio files of the other band and the female singer performing their songs as well, as I liked those a lot too.

All of this is to say: if you’re interested in this show give it a chance. I think you’ll either not like it or adore it to the end of the earth. I dare to say this is one of the best shows I’ve watched recently, especially when it comes to the ones emerging from East Asia. A lot of East Asian dramas are cookie cutter, but this was so unique and a vibrant story that I really could get with.

So go watch it if the vibe is right! I think you might enjoy this one a lot if you have similar taste.

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