Review of Toubousha 逃亡者 (Runaway)

Shown in Summer 2004, TBS, Sundays, 10pm

Cast:

Nagai Tetsuo (Eguchi Yosuke)
Mineshima Ryuji (Abe Hiroshi)
Ozaki Kaoru (Mizuno Miki)
Nagai Junko (Toda Naho)
Onizuka Saki (Nagasawa Masami)
Kunie Masumi (Kato Koji)
Kurusu Keisuke (Harada Yoshio)
Onodera Chiaki (Katahira Nagisa)
Gunji Naomi (Bessho Tetsuya)
Toudou Natsumi (Kurokawa Tomoka)
Igawa Takako (Harada Mieko)

Theme Song: Toki no Fune by Matsu Takako

I have to say that this is one of the best dramas I've seen recently. Frankly speaking, there are a lot of suspense/investigative dramas which lose steam towards the end but Tobousha is very consistent and holds my attention from beginning to end. Just when you thought the truth is out and you know the identity of the killer, a new twist pops up and gets you all confused again. Besides that, fantastic acting from the cast simply makes me stay glued to the screen. If I had more time, I might have finished the drama in one or two days but I took more than 5 days to do that because I was busy with work.

What I found very impressive was the scale of the production where the filming is very Hollywood movie style and not commonly seen in Japanese dramas. Due to the fact that the police had to catch Nagai (Eguchi), there were some scenes where they had many policeman running after him complete with helicopters and police cars. I think hiring those extras would probably jack up the costs quite a bit besides getting a number of big names in the cast. The overall effect is a visual treat and with the compelling story line, it was a joy watching this drama.

Among the cast members, I think Eguchi, Mizuno and Abe have put up a brilliant performance. First of all, Eguchi is very appealing as the runaway who still looks good even while running away from the police and the real killer who wants to make him the scapegoat. One thng I can't comprehend is where he got the sunglasses from. I don't remember anyone giving him that but who cares as long it looks good on him? As usual, he does a fairly good job and even better than what I saw in Kyumei 3. Maybe it has to do with the role, he definitely has more room for development as Nagai Tetsuo.

As for Mizuno Miki, I would never known that she's so "athletic" if not for her role as Ozaki Kaoru. All along, she has always given me the image that she's quite demure, mature and gentle which arises from the roles she's acted in so far. However, Ozaki is quite different from her past roles as Mizuno gets to run like mad on the streets, holds a gun to shoot people, hit people and get whacked at the same time. Seeing her run on the streets shows a different side of Mizuno and she could jolly well aim for action roles in future.

Well, the best in my opinion should be Abe Hiroshi who is sinister, extreme and yet in the end, we see that he's just acting cool to hide his true self. He's a good actor who can take on serious and wacky roles like Trick. I was starting to think that he was getting stuck in comedy roles for a while but thankfully, Tobousha came at the right time to show his strength as a serious actor. Personally, I feel that he's the most outstanding in the cast and you've got to see it for yourself to judge how good he is.

Ratings for the entire season:

1) 16.2%
2) 13.9%
3) 14.6%
4) 13.5%
5) 12.2%
6) 12.7%
7) 12.9%
8) 13.5%
9) 15.5%
10) 15.3%
11) 16.2%

Average: 14.22%