When I first heard that NHK was airing a show called “The Mating Game,” I assumed it was the national broadcaster’s answer to “Terrace House” — a beautifully shot voyeuristic look into the lives of young couples.
And in many ways I was right, except that, in “The Mating Game,” the human subjects have been replaced with infinitely more interesting specimens from the animal world.
Co-produced with Silverback Films, the U.K.-based studio behind David Attenborough’s “Planet Earth” series, “The Mating Game” (“Koi Suru Ikimono-tachi no Chosen,” in Japanese) follows the intricate, elegant and frequently deceptive courting rituals of 80 species in 22 different countries. It is also the first natural history series to be shot entirely in 8K.