# Japan Sinks: 2020 (2020)

> After catastrophic earthquakes tear Japan apart, one family must press on through a sinking archipelago in search of survival.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/79790

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 10
- Episode runtime: 24 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, science fiction, drama
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Taichi Takeda, Reina Ueda, Tomo Muranaka, Yuko Sasaki, Masaki Terasoma, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Nanako Mori, Kensho Ono
- TMDB rating: 6.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12031040/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: bleak, visceral, tense, melancholic, hopeful

## What critics say

Audiences rated the miniseries as mixed, with its animated disaster spectacle and family survival story drawing some praise and some criticism.

## Synopsis

Japan Sinks: 2020 is a Japanese animated science fiction disaster miniseries that aired on Netflix in 2020 and runs ten episodes of roughly 24 minutes each. Produced by Science SARU, it follows one family whose resolve is tested after catastrophic earthquakes devastate the country. The protagonist Saburō Ōtani (voiced by Taichi Takeda) leads the Mutō family and others, including Ayumu Mutō (voiced by Reina Ueda) and Daniel Zakovic (voiced by George Cockle), as they travel across a landscape that is literally giving way beneath them. Each episode pushes the group further through ruined cities and fractured roads, where every step brings new danger and fresh loss. The engine of the story is simple and relentless: keep moving, keep the family together, and find a way out before the land disappears. Shape and scale are those of a single continuous ten-episode arc rather than standalone stories. The setting is present-day Tokyo and the wider Japanese archipelago, rendered in grim, detailed animation. The tone is bleak and visceral, with moments of quiet human tenderness amid destruction and despair. Fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Attack on Titan and The Last of Us will find resonance in its mix of apocalyptic spectacle and emotional survival drama. Its adaptation roots in a classic Japanese novel give it a literary weight that sets it apart from typical streaming animation.

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