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 "title": "Modern Love Tokyo",
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 "excerpt": "Modern Love Tokyo (モダンラブ・東京～さまざまな愛の形～) is a 2022 Japanese Prime Video anthology, a seven-episode adaptation of the NYT Modern Love column, with six directors including Kiyoshi Kurosawa and an anime finale by Naoko Yamada.",
 "snippet": "Modern Love Tokyo (モダンラブ・東京～さまざまな愛の形～) is a 2022 Japanese Prime Video anthology, a seven-episode adaptation of the NYT Modern Love column, with six directors including Kiyoshi Kurosawa and an anime finale by Naoko Yamada.",
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 "markdown": "# Modern Love Tokyo\n\n**Modern Love Tokyo** (モダンラブ・東京～さまざまな愛の形～, *Modan Rabu Tokyo: Samazama na Ai no Katachi*) is a Japanese romantic anthology television series, the Japanese adaptation of Prime Video's anthology series *Modern Love*, which itself draws on the New York Times column of the same name.<sup>[1](https://mubi.com/en/us/films/modern-love-tokyo)</sup> Its seven episodes premiered worldwide on Prime Video on October 21, 2022, each telling a self-contained story about a different form of love set in Tokyo.<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/modern_love_tokyo)</sup>\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Native title | モダンラブ・東京～さまざまな愛の形～ (*Samazama na Ai no Katachi*, \"Various Forms of Love\")<sup>[3](https://www.justwatch.com/ph/tv-show/modern-love-tokyo)</sup> |\n| Format | Seven self-contained anthology episodes of roughly 38 to 39 minutes each<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/modern_love_tokyo)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/64269/modern-love-tokyo)</sup> |\n| Premiere | October 21, 2022, worldwide on Prime Video<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/modern_love_tokyo)</sup> |\n| Directors | Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Naoko Ogigami, Ryuichi Hiroki, Nobuhiro Yamashita, Naoko Yamada, and Atsuko Hirayanagi<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/modern_love_tokyo)</sup> |\n| Animated finale | Episode 7, \"He's Playing Our Song,\" is an anime episode directed by Naoko Yamada, director of Kyoto Animation's *K-ON!*<sup>[5](https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2022/7/28/amazon-original-series-modern-love-tokyo-includes-k-on-director-naoko-yamadas-anime-episode)</sup> |\n| Audience rating | 6.7/10 on IMDb from about 400 users<sup>[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19265146)</sup> |\n| Availability | Streaming on Amazon Prime Video by subscription<sup>[3](https://www.justwatch.com/ph/tv-show/modern-love-tokyo)</sup> |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and structure\n\nLike its American parent series, each episode adapts a personal essay from the New York Times column \"Modern Love\" into a roughly half-hour drama, and the Tokyo version adapts different stories from those used in the original to make them more familiar to Japanese viewers.<sup>[7](https://www.thehandbook.com/modern-love-tokyo-takes-smash-rom-com-series-international/)</sup> The seven episodes depict various forms of love, from love almost forgotten, to love between mothers and sons, to love that transcends borders.<sup>[3](https://www.justwatch.com/ph/tv-show/modern-love-tokyo)</sup> Themes across the season include parenthood, infidelity, romance, divorce, aging, and dating.<sup>[8](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/modern-love-tokyo)</sup>\n\nThe season's synopsis gives two examples: a working mother's journey toward understanding what loving a child really means, and a hard-edged journalist making an unexpected emotional connection.<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/modern_love_tokyo)</sup> Episode 3, \"How My Worst Date Ever Became My Best,\" follows Natsuko, divorced for several years, who reluctantly meets a man from a dating app and gradually warms into a lively conversation.<sup>[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/modern_love_tokyo/s01)</sup> Episode 6, \"He Saved His Last Lesson for Me,\" centers on Emma, a UK-born woman in Los Angeles teaching English online, whose Japanese student Mamoru asks her the question \"What is love?\"<sup>[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/modern_love_tokyo/s01)</sup>\n\n### The animated finale\n\nThe seventh and final episode, \"He's Playing Our Song\" (Japanese title \"Kare ga Kanaderu Futari no Shirabe\"), is an anime episode directed by Naoko Yamada, known for directing [Kyoto Animation](https://www.edgepedia.org/kyoto-animation)'s *K-ON!*.<sup>[5](https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2022/7/28/amazon-original-series-modern-love-tokyo-includes-k-on-director-naoko-yamadas-anime-episode)</sup> In the story, Tamami (Hana Kuroki) is stuck in her job and life until a song from her youth sends her mind back 15 years, to high school, where the reserved Tamami met Rin (Masataka Kubota), who played the piano, and the two connected through their shared love of music.<sup>[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/64269/modern-love-tokyo)</sup> The episode's music draws on the 1979 song \"You May Dream\" by the Japanese rock band Sheena and the Rokkets.<sup>[10](https://hollywoodprogressive.com/television/modern-love-tokyo)</sup>\n\n## Production and direction\n\nThe series was produced as an Amazon Original with six leading Japanese film directors, each directing episodes set in Tokyo.<sup>[11](https://www.prisma.de/streaming/Modern-Love-Tokyo-sOv3QrPe0)</sup> The credited directors are [Kiyoshi Kurosawa](https://www.edgepedia.org/kiyoshi-kurosawa), Naoko Ogigami, Ryuichi Hiroki, Nobuhiro Yamashita, Naoko Yamada, and Atsuko Hirayanagi.<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/modern_love_tokyo)</sup> The cast includes Asami Mizukawa, Sôsuke Ikematsu, Atsuko Maeda, Ryô Narita, Nana Eijura, and, in the episode featuring a British woman living abroad, [Naomi Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/naomi-scott) as Emma.<sup>[3](https://www.justwatch.com/ph/tv-show/modern-love-tokyo)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/modern_love_tokyo)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[8](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/modern-love-tokyo)</sup> The cast is predominantly Japanese and of various ages, one episode features LGBTQ+ characters prominently, and the series is available subtitled and dubbed in English.<sup>[8](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/modern-love-tokyo)</sup>\n\n## Place in the Modern Love franchise\n\nThe American *Modern Love*, developed by [John Carney](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-carney-director), ran for two seasons on Prime Video between 2019 and 2021.<sup>[12](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/37120/modern-love)</sup> In 2022 Amazon expanded the franchise with localized versions, adding *Modern Love Tokyo*, *Modern Love Mumbai*, and *[Modern Love Hyderabad](https://www.edgepedia.org/modern-love-hyderabad)*; a Dutch adaptation, *Modern Love Amsterdam*, followed the same year.<sup>[13](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/13548565251409847?download=true)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[7](https://www.thehandbook.com/modern-love-tokyo-takes-smash-rom-com-series-international/)</sup> TVmaze lists *Modern Love Tokyo* as a foreign remake of the parent show, with its status recorded as \"to be determined\" rather than confirmed for a second season.<sup>[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/64269/modern-love-tokyo)</sup>\n\n## Reception\n\nThe series holds a 6.7/10 rating on IMDb from about 400 users, with individual episode scores ranging from 6.4 to 7.4; the two highest-rated episodes are the anime finale (7.4) and episodes 3 and 6 (7.2 each).<sup>[14](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19265146/ratings/)</sup> Rotten Tomatoes lists only one critic review for the season, from Radhika Menon of Decider, who wrote that despite some room for growth in cultural specificity, the anthology series continues to center on the beauty of love in all of its forms.<sup>[9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/modern_love_tokyo/s01)</sup> The Compare TV review team gave it 4 out of 5, calling it a beautifully crafted anthology while noting that some episodes feel flat and the pacing uneven.<sup>[15](https://www.comparetv.com.au/streaming-tv/modern-love-tokyo-show-live-stream-australia/)</sup> Common Sense Media described it as a compilation of very human stories showing how love can be both complicated and simple at the same time, and rated it appropriate for ages 13 and up.<sup>[8](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/modern-love-tokyo)</sup>\n\n## References\n\n1. [Modern Love Tokyo (2022), MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/us/films/modern-love-tokyo)\n2. [Modern Love Tokyo, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/modern_love_tokyo)\n3. [Modern Love Tokyo, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/ph/tv-show/modern-love-tokyo)\n4. [Modern Love Tokyo, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/64269/modern-love-tokyo)\n5. [Amazon Original Series \"Modern Love: Tokyo\" Includes K-ON! Director Naoko Yamada's Anime Episode, Crunchyroll News](https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2022/7/28/amazon-original-series-modern-love-tokyo-includes-k-on-director-naoko-yamadas-anime-episode)\n6. [Modern Love Tokyo (TV Series 2022– ) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19265146)\n7. [Modern Love Tokyo Takes Smash Rom-Com Series International, The Handbook](https://www.thehandbook.com/modern-love-tokyo-takes-smash-rom-com-series-international/)\n8. [Modern Love Tokyo: Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/modern-love-tokyo)\n9. [Modern Love Tokyo: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/modern_love_tokyo/s01)\n10. [Amazon's \"Modern Love Tokyo\", Hollywood Progressive](https://hollywoodprogressive.com/television/modern-love-tokyo)\n11. [Modern Love Tokyo (2022), Prisma](https://www.prisma.de/streaming/Modern-Love-Tokyo-sOv3QrPe0)\n12. [Modern Love, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/37120/modern-love)\n13. [Between grammars of transnationalism and hyper-localisation, Sage Journals](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/13548565251409847?download=true)\n14. [Modern Love Tokyo (TV Series 2022– ) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19265146/ratings/)\n15. [Modern Love Tokyo streaming in Australia, Compare TV](https://www.comparetv.com.au/streaming-tv/modern-love-tokyo-show-live-stream-australia/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › Japanese contemporary drama*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n",
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 "speakable": "Modern Love Tokyo is a 2022 Japanese Prime Video anthology, a seven-episode adaptation of the NYT Modern Love column, with six directors including Kiyoshi Kurosawa and an anime finale by Naoko Yamada."
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