Terrace House, the Japanese reality franchise that has built a cult following since arriving on Netflix a couple of years ago, is a surprisingly difficult show to describe.
Your first instinct might be to call it "Japanese Big Brother", but that only holds up insofar as its stars all live together in a big house. There are no challenges, no eliminations, no winners or losers. Housemates are free to stay as long as they like and can leave whenever they want.
The romantic subtext is important - the housemates are generally young, attractive and eager to couple up (the crude Kiwi aphorism "don't screw the crew" clearly doesn't have a Japanese translation). But here it unfolds at such a slow pace that it feels relaxing to watch, about as far from Love Island or Married at First Sight as TV could possibly get.
Despite the barrier of subtitles, it is a genuinely funny show. The missing link in explaining its appeal, weirdly enough, might be Seinfeld. If that was the original "show about nothing", then Terrace House is the reality show about nothing. Its magic lies in the observational way it elevates everyday social interactions to high comedy as much as high drama.
The latest series, Terrace House: Opening New Doors, arrived on Netflix last week in typically low-key fashion. After arriving at the house in the picturesque resort town of Karuizawa, the housemates introduce themselves around the dining table. Later, they go to the supermarket to shop for ingredients and cook dinner. The episode's climax comes when 19-year-old Yuudai shocks his roommates by revealing that he sleeps with two stuffed toy pandas from Ikea.
