Review of Zenigeba Ep 1

This looks like a drama which I will watch till the end. Matsuyama Kenichi's first drama as the leading man i.e. Sexy Voice and Robo didn't interest me that much and I gave up on it even before the halfway mark. Critical reviews for that drama were quite divided. It's either you like it a lot or hate it to the core. However, the strong storyline of Zenigeba and Matsuyama's acting skills are strong pull factors for me to continue with it till the end of the season. No doubt the theme may be a bit too extreme and twisted for general audiences, I think it's a pretty engaging plot. Come to think of it, Matsuyama seems to have a pretty strong working relationship with NTV. Death Note was produced by them too and Sexy Voice and Robo was also from them.

The story is focused on Gamogori Fuutarou who had a rough childhood and is now subscribed to the belief that money is the most important thing in life. His father, Kenzo (Shiina Kippei) is a good-for-nothing who would leave home for extended periods, only to come back for money and beat up his wife Momoko (Okunuki Kaoru) and son (child version - Saito Ryuusei, the same boy who played Koichi in Ryuusei no Kizuna). The scar across Fuutarou's left eye was caused by his father when Fuutarou was trying to stop the latter from taking money away. Besides being poor, his mother was also sickly and had no money for medicine. In school, Fuutarou was ridiculed for his poverty especially when he had no money to pay for the school lunches. Despite the tough challenges facing him, Fuutarou managed to stay optimistic because of his mother's presence. However, when his mother died as a result of being unable to receive treatment, that was when Fuutarou's values changed drastically. For the sake of money, he decided to go all out without any qualms even if it meant killing people who stood in his way.

From the looks of it, I get the impression that Fuutarou just wanted to make lots of money but he didn't have any specific purpose or aim that he was trying to achieve. It was only when he met Mikuni Midori (Mimura) again that he seemed to have a motive i.e. take revenge for the humiliation that Midori inflicted on him when they were both children. Apparently, the two of them met by chance and Midori invited Fuutarou to her family resort. When Fuutarou saw some delicious snacks offered to him, he decided to take some of them home for the sake of his mother. However, when Midori saw that, she humiliated him and his mother for displaying such behaviour even though she was well aware that Fuutarou only went to that extent because he was poor.

Frankly speaking, I'm quite angry at what Midori did. Just because she was born into a rich family doesn't mean she can look down on people who may not be that privileged. If the money isn't yours to begin with, why do you think you can be haughty? Forgive my language but I'm really upset with people who think they can do anything just because their families are rich. If the money was earned by themselves, then they have the right to be proud of their financial status. Of course, that doesn't mean that they can insult people for being poor. As such, given Midori's treatment of Fuutarou (no matter whether her action was filled with malice), I'm looking forward to see how he will take revenge.

Matsuyama has very few lines in this first episode since he keeps to himself most of the time and rarely speaks to other people. However, when he suddenly smiles towards the end of the episode, it sends a shiver down my spine. I never knew that he could appear so eerie and frightening since his usual image is of the cute and shy young man. That is why I think it is worth checking out this drama to see how Matsuyama shows off his versatility in acting.

I am also anticipating Fuutarou's showdown with his father as well as the detective Ogino (Miyakawa Daisuke) who has been chasing after Fuutarou for the first murder he committed. Well, that first case was more of a manslaughter rather than deliberate and Ogino apparently knew the victim. As such, it will be interesting to see how Ogino catches up with Fuutarou. It appears as if Fuutarou has not seen his father since the night the latter caused his injury. If they meet again one day, I'm sure it will be an intense showdown.

Seeing Miyakawa Daisuke standing together with Suzuki Hiroki reminds me of Team Batista no Eikou. Narumi & Sakai working together?!

I can't wait to see the next episode. Fuutarou getting closer to the Mikuni sisters...does he want to create havoc in the Mikuni family or he just wants to get back at Midori?