Review of 252 Seizonsha Ari 252 生存者あり+ Episode Zero

Title: 252 Seizonsha Ari (252 There are survivors) Episode Zero
O.A. Date: 5 December 2008
Timeslot: Friday, 9pm
Shown via: NTV
Cast: Ichihara Hayato, Uehara Takako (SPEED), Abe Tsuyoshi, Ihara Tsuyoshi, Konno Mahiru, Itou Hideaki, Kashii Yui, Yamamoto Tarou, Nukumizu Yoichi, Hakamada Yoshihiko and Uchino Masaaki



Title: 252 Seizonsha Ari
Roadshow date: 6 December 2008
Cast: Itou Hideaki, Uchino Masaaki, Yamada Takayuki, Kimura Yuichi, Kashii Yui, MINJI, Yamamoto Tarou, Sakurai Sachiko, Oomori Ayane, Matsuda Satoshi and Sugimoto Tetta

Review:

As this drama SP was made in conjunction with the release of the movie and shown on the eve of the movie's roadshow, I will be putting the reviews of both the drama SP and the movie together.

The drama SP's setting is 2 years before the movie and has little relation to the plot of the movie. As such, whether you watch the SP before the movie does not make much of a difference. The main cast members are not the same and the focus of the SP is different from the movie. The link between the two would be Itou Hideaki and Uchino Masaaki's roles who happen to be seniors and instructors to the newbies in the SP.

Basically, the SP goes through the training of the hyper rescue team members and the struggles they encounter during the process. Frankly speaking, this reminds me so much of Umizaru. Although the hyper rescue team members' work is not restricted to a certain area unlike Umizaru's focus on sea missions, the nature of the training seems quite similar. In one word, tough. To spice things up, they have a female i.e. Uehara Takako's role aiming to be the 1st female hyper rescue team member and survivors of other disasters coming together to overcome their trauma and fears i.e. Ichihara Hayato and Abe Tsuyoshi. However, I really think that the story is not interesting at all. Maybe it's because of the Umizaru series which have taken away all the novelty in such themes. Maybe it's because of the handling of the story. I just do not like having rash enthusiasm shoved in my face. Ichihara's character was a big eyesore. All that ranting and impetous ways of doing things just puts me off. In addition, I have no idea why they have to wear such tight T-shirts to show off their "well-developed" chest muscles. I am not keen on beefy guys so when I saw how Ichihara was getting agitated and his chest was making its presence felt, literally, it really was repulsive. No offence to him but it's just that this over-acting really gets on my nerves. I was worried that he might get a stroke or something due to this way of acting.

Due to the use of the old formula of youthful rashness causing hiccups and yet everything goes well in the end, the story is simply predictable. Sure, they have a minor earthquake causing some havoc but everything is set to end well. Nobody should die at this juncture as yet or so I assumed right from the start. If someone in the team died, the fellow members might not be able to continue with their work in future. I'm sure that wasn't the purpose the drama SP was supposed to serve, Rather, it was made to be an introductory piece to the foundation of the movie but I really find it hard to see the link.

Of late, there have been lots of movies having prequels or so-called episode zero before the launch of the movie. If the drama SP is going to be a last-minute slipshod piece of work, they might as well not produce it anyway. It's a waste of time and money. It will also backfire by creating negative publicity since people may not see the point of watching the movie if the drama SP turns out to be unsatisfactory.

And my ratings for this drama SP...
Story: 3 out of 10 (Boring, draggy and predictable)
Acting: 4 out of 10 (Bland and overdoing it most of the time)
Theme song: 4 out of 10 (Only the chorus made a small impression but it wasn't impactful at all)
Visual effects / Scenery: 4 out of 10 (Most of the scenes were in training camp and the disaster featured here is small-scale, compared to the movie)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 4 out of 10 (Not much to speak of. Everyone was probably doing their own thing)

Total: 19 out of 50

One little unknown fact is that the script of the movie was actually written by Komori Youichi, a manga artist who created Umizaru. Now you see why I said that these two films are so similar? Even before watching the movie, I was apprehensive about this being a rip-off from Umizaru. Sad to say, this feels like a poorer cousin of Umizaru. True, the scale of the disaster may be larger since it is nature wreaking havoc this time (in Umizaru, most if not all of the incidents were caused by man, rather than nature). However, even if the difficulties presented are seemingly tougher, the handling of the story cannot match Umizaru. And NTV taking this chance to flood FujiTV's HQ in Odaiba in the film just reeks of petty rivalry especially when this film is from NTV and Umizaru is from FujiTV. I was amused at first but after watching the movie, I felt that NTV should have spent more time on refining this film rather than poke fun at their rival with such a gesture.

Itou Hideaki's character quit from the rescue team due to his decision to save his brother first instead of his buddy thus resulting in the latter's death. And he gets caught up in the typhoon-cum-tsunami disaster and has to save the others with his past experience. Unlike Umizaru which focuses a lot on teamwork, this movie feels like a solo hero flick featuring Itou. I was shaking my head when I saw the final scenes. The hero is unscathed despite going through so much?! Somehow, it is not so believable. The supporting characters especially those who were underground with him, felt like passer-bys. They seemed too detached from the story. This whole story was all about Itou Hideaki. Even Uchino Masaaki didn't get a chance to show off his acting skills.

Yamada Takayuki gets on my nerves especially for looking so disinterested in the movie. I do not know why but ever since that scandal, he does not seem to have recovered from that blow to his career. That unkept image and lack of interest in his roles cannot be ignored. Mind you, this movie was made last year and in May this year, he was still sporting that same look in BOSS. Is he going to look like that for the rest of his life? If he doesn't buck up and so something about it, nobody would want to use him in their shows anymore. I certainly do not want to see an actor who is in a daze during a promotion video for his movie and doesn't seem enthusiastic about his work. The more I see him, the angrier I get. It only adds on to the dissatisfaction I feel about this film.

And my ratings for this movie...
Story: 4 out of 10 (Feels like a ripoff of Umizaru)
Acting: 4 out of 10 (While the SP suffers from over-acting, this movie suffers from under-acting i.e. the characters lacked flesh and the acting was superficial)
Theme song: 4 out of 10 (Only the chorus made a small impression but it wasn't impactful at all)
Visual effects / Scenery: 5 out of 10 (On a greater scale as compared to the SP but I've seen better ones)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 4 out of 10 (Not much to speak of. Everyone was probably doing their own thing. Same problem with the SP.)

Total: 21 out of 50