Title: 11-moji no Satsujin (Murder of 11 characters)Original novel by: Higashino Keigo
Rating: 16.0%
Characters:
Yuuki Rikako (Nagasaku Hiromi)
Hagio Fuyuko (Hoshino Mari)
Kanai Saburo (Harada Ryuuji)
Kawazu Masayuki (Hasegawa Tomoharu)
Shinohara Koichi (Majima Hidekazu)
Sakagami Yutaka (Asari Yousuke)
Yamamori Yumi (Hinata Nanami)
Harumura Shizuko (Adachi Yumi)
Yamamori Takuya (Ishiguro Ken)
Yuuki Rikako, a female suspense novel writer, is told by her boyfriend Kawazu Masayuki that he feels like his life is in danger. However, she doesn't think much of it since Kawazu doesn't go into details on exactly why he feels this way. The two had been introduced to each other by Hagio Fuyuko, an editor at a publishing house who is a big fan and supporter of Yuuki despite her not being able to write anything for the past three years.
Kawazu is later found dead in a river but the police are unable to tell whether he fell in by mistake, committed suicide or was murdered. Remembering Kawazu's words about his life being in danger, Yuuki sets out to find the truth behind her boyfriend's death. She gradually finds that Kawazu's death could have been linked to a boat trip one year ago and is aghast to find that every person she has met so far while investigating the matter ends up murdered one after another...
Among the three stories in this Higashino Keigo drama SP series, I like this the most. With each death that occurs in the story, it actually reduces the number of suspects. You would be surprised that someone who you have suspected turns out to be the victim later so it's actually quite challenging to guess who might be the true killer. I won't go into too many details here but there's a huge decoy towards the end which makes it difficult to guess how the ending might be like. In addition, if you've seen the other two SPs as well, this is the one which has the most positive vibe at the end with Yuuki finally being able to start writing again. Compared to how dark the material may seem, the ending rounds up everything nicely so I feel more satisfied with this story.
Nagasaku Hiromi, as usual, puts up a good performance and she is looking even better than before. Likewise for Hoshino Mari, it's nice to see her again in a pretty significant role and her chemistry with Nagasaku was pretty good. However, the biggest surprise for me was to see Adachi Yumi again. I remember those days when she was still a little kid in Ienakiko and when you look at her now, the main difference is that she has matured, not just physically but also appearance-wise. It's still the same familiar face but the vibe she gives out now is very much different. Same goes for Harada Ryuuji who doesn't really look like he has aged...I think the last drama I saw him in was Ooku? I did a check on his past works in recent years but quite a number of them were actually guest appearances, not regular cast members. No wonder I have this impression that he's not appearing in many dramas these days. When you look at the cast lineup, there's a bit of nostalgia in the air because you get to see actors/actresses who aren't that active in the drama scene coming together in this SP.
And my ratings for this drama...
Story: 9 out of 10 (Sound story structure with a rather complete and positive ending)
Acting: 8 out of 10 (Good acting from the key characters in general)
Theme song: 5 out of 10 (There is only a song at the credits roll which sounded OK to me but the BGM didn't leave much of an impression)
Visual effects / Scenery: 6 out of 10 (The only so-called scenery would probably be at the island but I think it's a nice change for me at least to see more vibrant colours after Shokuzai's muted colour scheme.)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 8 out of 10 (Nagasaku vs. Hoshino are quite good but I think another pair worth mentioning will be Nagasaku's scenes with Ishiguro Ken. If you have watched this, you would know what I mean.)
Total: 36 out of 50
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