Saturday, January 24, 2009

Review of Akuma no Temari Uta (Kindaichi Kousuke SP)

Title: Akuma no Temari Uta
O.A. 5 Jan 2009 2100 - 2333
Broadcast by: FujiTV
Original novel by: Yokomizo Seishi
Official website:
here
Ratings: 11.3%

Cast:

Kindaichi Kousuke (Inagaki Goro)
Aochi Kanao (Hiraoka Yuuta)
Oosora Yukari (Yamada Yu)
Aochi Satoko (Shibamoto Yuki)
Houan (Maro Akaji)
Nirei Sakie (Nishina Akiko)
Yokomizo Seishi (Kohinata Fumio)
Onda Ikuzo (Tanihara Shosuke)
Police Chief Tachibana (Shiomi Sansei)
Aochi Rika (Katase Rino)

This is the 5th drama SP in the Kindaichi Kousuke series and the first in two years. Since 2006, this has become a fixture in the New Year lineup with the exception of last year. This time round, Kindaichi gets embroiled in the investigations of two seemingly unrelated cases while he's on a recuperation trip.

A series of murders claiming young girls of the same age happen in Onikobe Village which seem to reflect a prophecy mentioned in a children's song. Although Kindaichi would very much want to rest during his trip, he gets involved in the case and solves it at the end of the day.

Well, there is nothing new about this format in the Kindaichi series. What's interesting is the part when he relates the truth and motive behind the murders each time. And since it's pretty easy to guess the culprit towards the middle of the story by looking at the cast list, this isn't much of a challenge in terms of the suspense aspect. Nonetheless, I have tuned in to this for all the instalments to date.

Inagaki Goro reprises his role as Kindaichi. This time round, he didn't show the signature scene of dandruff falling from his head when he scratched it but still, there are some comical scenes here and there. Well, I think he did OK in this installment but it doesn't seem like he had a lot to show this time. Somehow, the story didn't give him much room to expand the role. A lot of the action was on the actual case itself.

And my ratings for this drama SP...
Story: 7 out of 10 (Maintained usual standard as per previous installments)
Acting: 6.5 out of 10 (Everyone did OK, nobody stood out particularly)
Visual effects / Scenery: 6 out of 10 (The scenery wasn't that special and since a lot of the scenes took place at night, there wasn't much to see)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 7 out of 10 (For Inagaki and Shiomi's combination)

Total score: 26.5 out of 40

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