Ever since “Shtisel,” the superb Israeli series, I’ve been looking for a show that also “reckons with love, loss, and the doldrums of daily life.” It’s hard to pull off, hence the glut of science fiction series, detective shows, and broad comedies. The British series “Trying,” about a young couple wanting to start a family, is charming, with some excellent characters, but it doesn’t reach the artistic heights of “Shtisel.”
Last night, we watched the seventh and final episode of “Asura,” which struck me as a kind of Japanese “Shtisel.” The main characters are women rather than men – four grown sisters – but the show has the same slow pacing, the intermittent drama, the quiet humor, the illumination of the universal in an alien world. Just as with “Shtisel,” we were sorry to see it end.
