Review of TRICK SP (2005)

Ratings: 24.7%

TRICK is one of my favourite drama series which combines humour and suspense plus a very entertaining combination of Abe Hiroshi and Nakama Yukie. This can be said to be one of the most memorable roles for both of them as it was the very first time that I came to realise that they can take on comical characters and changed the impressions I had of them. Especially for Nakama who had been restricted to supporting roles before this, it made me look at her from a different light and see her as a capable actress.

Talking about this new SP which comes after 3 full length series and one movie, I can say that it maintains the usual standard of its predecessors. The chemistry between Ueda and Yamada is very much alive and the story is as engaging as ever. Basically, the SP starts with Yamada being an unpopular magician as ever while Ueda is on a TV programme to prove the authenticity of fortune-telling by a woman named Midorikawa Shoko. Someone dies as a result of her forecast which leads Ueda to bring Yamada along for a trip to Midorikawa's place with three other professors who appeared on the programme so as to expose Midorikawa's tricks. However, the professors die one after another according to her forecasts. And the usual drill is that the Ueda-Yamada duo will expose Midorikawa's tricks. I won't go into further details so as not to spoil the story for those who have not seen it.

The highlight of the story is still Ueda and Yamada as they keep bickering and Ueda tries to take the credit of Yamada's investigations for himself which makes her exasperated. Although Yabe, the police officer and Yamada's mother also appear in this SP, their airtime is especially limited so we can probably expect to see more of them in the upcoming movie. By the way, did I mention before that I disliked the partner of Yabe in Trick 3 who was boasting about himself being on the elite path? That guy really gets on my nerves and the new partner of Yabe in this SP did not get into my good books either. I still prefer the blonde guy who was constantly bullied by Yabe since they had much better chemistry as compared to the newcomers.

At the end of the SP, there is a small clip about the movie which will be shown in June next year. However, it is not clear yet whether the story will have any linkage to this SP. Well, I was hoping for more developments in Ueda and Yamada's relationship from the end of Trick 3 but I was disappointed to see none.

Oh, before I forget, it seems that this Trick SP is incomplete. What I mean by this is that at the very end of the SP, there is an advertisement showing some NG scenes plus comments that 41 minutes of the actual Trick SP was edited from the final broadcast we saw. As such, the missing portion will be included in the DVD entitled the REAL TRICK SP but they have not decided on the release date. This seems like a deliberate gimmick to attract the fans' attention and I admit that I have fallen prey to this. I might just buy the DVD if it is released but that could be more than 6 months later if they want to synchronise it with the movie's screening or DVD release. Otherwise, we should probably get to see it before the movie is shown in June.

If you are a Trick fan, this is a must-watch after the end of the third series 2 years ago. Even if you are not, this is probably good as an entry into the TRICK series since the story can be viewed on its own but you may wonder why the two even got to know each other in the first place.