# Quartet (2017)

> Four middle-aged musicians form a chamber quartet and move in together in winter Karuizawa, where a hidden secret tests their bond.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/61148

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 10
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, music
- Network: TBS
- Cast: Takako Matsu, Hikari Mitsushima, Issey Takahashi, Ryuhei Matsuda, Riho Yoshioka, Takeshi Tomizawa, Akiko Yagi, Mummy-D
- TMDB rating: 7.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6287398/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: gentle, wistful, melancholic, warm, bittersweet

## Synopsis

Quartet (2017) is a Japanese prime-time drama series created for TBS and set in contemporary Japan. Maki Maki (Takako Matsu), Suzume Sebuki (Hikari Mitsushima), Yutaka Iemori (Issey Takahashi) and Tsukasa Beppu (Ryuhei Matsuda) are four musicians who happen to meet and form a quartet. They begin living together in the snowy mountain town of Karuizawa during the winter, sharing meals, rehearsals and the small frictions of close domestic life. The engine of the series is the slow accumulation of intimacy between adults who came to music at different points in their lives and are now reassessing what they want from their careers and their relationships. Each episode moves at a measured pace, letting ordinary routines carry emotional weight while a larger hidden secret hangs over the household and gradually surfaces. The ten-episode season is a single continuing story rather than a case-of-the-week format. Its tone is gentle, wistful and melancholic, with warmth and humor threaded through its quiet observation of friendship and cohabitation. Fans of Nodame Cantabile, Little Forest and Terrace House will find resonance in its musical setting, its domestic intimacy and its bittersweet view of chosen family.

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