Come on, that title!
This was very nakedly an eight-episode advertisement for Final Fantasy XIV, an MMORPG that's already been out for a number of years. And yet, it was also this oddly touching story about a young man and his father. The kid - around twenty it seemed, and living at home - notices that his father had been acting super weird and quiet and distant lately. So the kid, remembering how he and his father bonded over playing early Final Fantasy titles on their Famicom all those years ago, sets his old man up with a Final Fantasy XIV account. The kid then stalks his father online in the game, acting as a sort of guardian angel when his dad's low-level character stumbles into trouble. Eventually the kid befriends his own dad, and of course his dad has no idea it's his son until the very end. (Or did a small part of him know all along? (No.))
How delightfully masculine! How deliciously Japanese! The father's too ashamed to open up to his son directly, and the son's too respectful of his father's silence, so instead they reconnect anonymously thanks to the power of the Internet and Final Fantasy - wow!
Like I said, it's nakedly an advertisement for a video game, and the cynic in all of us should absolutely hate this thing just for existing. But it has its charms, against all odds. Certainly nothing anyone needs to check out, but, yes, this is in fact out there on Netflix. Amazing!
Two more things, before I forget. One is that this little series, albeit scripted, is apparently based on a real story. The second is that the kid's avatar is a busty, beautiful, blonde woman. Japan, everyone!
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