‘Did Someone Happen to Mention Me?’: The comedy and horror of being forgotten

Netflix’s “Did Someone Happen to Mention Me?” isn’t just about one thing: It’s a love letter to filmmaking, a take on “King Lear,” a poignant exploration of father-child relationships and a showcase for its star, Koji Yakusho, all set in motion by a seemingly anti-vaccine premise.

A second pandemic results in a lockdown in Japan, so when Yakusho’s Gen Takasegawa can finally return to Tokyo after a successful run as King Lear at London’s Globe Theatre, he finds that his two ex-wives, his children, his fans and the world have forgotten him — because the vaccine against the virus causes amnesia.

Within the first few episodes, he’s shouting at a line of people waiting for the vaccine not to get jabbed — an off-color plot point at a time when pseudoscience is rampant. Strangely, the show never pits the people who chose to get vaccinated against those who didn’t, even though that is the fundamental tension for Gen. It tries to stay entirely apolitical and never references any ongoing discourse around vaccination.

Instead, the show mostly leaves the mechanics of its premise in the dust, preferring to platform the myriad talents of its star.

“Did Someone Happen to Mention Me?” cycles through several riches-to-rags arcs for Gen as he rebuilds his life and career, adopting the everyman name Taku Tanaka and working at a sentō (public bath). Buoyed by his co-worker Tetsu Okamoto (Kento Kaku), who also moonlights as a playwright, Taku starts working as an extra on TV and film sets.

Meanwhile, Taku bonds anew with his daughter Ema (Yuumi Kawai), who works in a maid cafe, and tries to repair his relationships with other loved ones who don’t remember him.

A Shakespeare fan will spot and likely enjoy the thematic similarities to “King Lear,” which is experiencing renewed popularity in Japan. The play, which centers on the vulnerability of growing old, being forgotten, and the paranoia that comes with it, is understandably resonant in one of the world’s most rapidly aging societies, and those same fears, wants and regrets are explored in “Did Someone Happen to Mention Me?”

There is a scene where Taku pretends to be a yakuza boss to threaten the high-powered man stalking Ema, only for his threats to turn into a tearful plea and lament over his failings as a father.

Though everyone has forgotten Gen, he tries to establish relationship anew with his daughter, Ema, and other loved ones. | KIMUFOTO / COURTESY OF NETFLIX

Yakusho doesn’t overshadow the supporting cast, though. In the same scene, Ema stands up for herself in an impassioned speech, which Kawai delivers with a deftness that skirts melodrama. Even Kaku’s comic relief has a thread of earnestness that makes him more of a sidekick than a punching bag.

The rest of the cast, including Hayato Isomura, Kenichi Matsuyama and Noriko Eguchi, hold their own and their scenes never feel like plot fodder. They offer enough depth to their characters to transcend the two-dimensional archetypes of wife, friend or anyone else defined solely by their relationship to Yakusho’s lead.

The 10th and final episode is a tongue-in-cheek black-box stage-play version of the nine that preceded it. It would be easy for this to feel tedious and self-serving. Instead, it’s not only emotionally satisfying but also genuinely funny.

“Did Someone Happen to Mention Me?” is available to stream on Netflix.