As far as I can remember, Shokuzai has one of the better drama finales I've seen in recent years. The drama started with a bang (thanks to the fast-paced storytelling and stellar performances from Koizumi Kyoko, Aoi Yu and Moriyama Mirai), got a little sluggish in the middle but still managed to end on a high note. Before I get to the review of the entire drama, let me recap the story in the finale first. If you do not wish to know the developments before watching the drama, please skip this post.Asako gets a clue from Yuka about the identity of the killer and is preparing to look for him. Her husband Toshiro senses that she is up to something and tries to persuade her to give things up but Asako doesn't pay heed to the warning. This is actually the first time Toshiro appears in the drama and we see how he reacted to Emily's untimely death 15 years back. Compared to Asako's deep grief and bitterness, Toshiro appeared relatively unaffected because he could still handle work matters weeks after Emily's murder. I don't think it's because he didn't love Emily as much as Asako but rather, being someone who manages a company and the head of the family, he probably didn't have the luxury like Asako to grieve openly and for a prolonged period. You can see that he still misses Emily when he remarked that their son (born after Emily's death) will be at his late sister's age soon. He knows Asako is still being badly affected by Emily's murder and I think he knows very well that she is hunting for the killer. Although he doesn't think that it is good to continue being affected by the past, he still lets Asako have her way because he knows that only getting the killer nabbed will bring closure for his wife.
Using that clue which Yuka gave her, Asako sets off to look for Aoki Hiroaki (Kagawa Teruyuki), the principal of a free-school and it turns out this man is actually her ex-lover Nanjo Hiroaki! Nanjo changed his surname to Aoki because he married into his wife's family and set up the free school for kids who couldn't adapt to the regular school system in Yamanashi Prefecture. I think Asako could have already guessed Aoki's true identity before seeing him because she was wary of being seen by him. Nonetheless, the reunion of these two was really exciting to watch, thanks to Koizumi's and Kagawa's great acting. I won't go into details on what exactly transpired between them in the past (way before Emily was killed) but I'll go straight to their final showdown.
Actually, once Nanjo appeared in the story, it was already confirmed that he was Emily's killer. However, he didn't set out to kill her just to get back at Asako in the first place. An uncanny series of coincidences led Nanjo to find out what Asako did long ago and he just wanted to hurt Emily in one way or another to get back at Asako. That means Nanjo had no intention of raping or killing Emily in the first place but at the time of the crime, something went off in his mind and he went to the extreme. Frankly speaking, I didn't realise that Emily was sexually assaulted at the time of the murder and it was only until this episode when I found out what happened. Asako didn't understand why Nanjo could be so cruel to Emily and was expecting to see his remorse when she revealed that Emily was Nanjo's daughter (he had raped Asako before she got married to Toshiro). However, Nanjo didn't react in the way she wanted and frankly speaking, it was rather sickening to hear what he had to say about raping and killing Emily.
In the end, Nanjo chose to kill himself as a final present to Asako and in a way, it's an atonement towards what he did. However, I don't think he was really fearless as he appeared because he crouched down before the train hit him. When Asako was brought back to the police station, she insisted that she pushed Nanjo onto the tracks but the police found that she was innocent and released her. As Asako walks away aimlessly from the police station, she realises that she no longer has an aim in life and that she doesn't know what to do to make it up to Emily...
If we want to discuss who should bear the most responsibility for Emily's death and the subsequent tragedies which happened to Emily's friends, Asako would appear to be the one. Asako's obsessive love for Nanjo in the past spurred her to do the wrong thing and in turn, Nanjo's hatred for Asako made him do the worst thing possible to Emily. If Asako didn't threaten Emily's friends to make appropriate "amends" towards Emily, would that have spared Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuka from the misery they suffered 15 years later? However, for her part in causing everything which happened, her fate at the end of the drama does make people sympathise with her to a certain extent. She wouldn't have known in advance that her actions would cause so much pain to the people around her. It might not have hurt as much if Asako did suffer retribution for what she did. However, unrelated people took the brunt for her and in the end, she has to pay with losing her purpose in life, not knowing what she can do to make amends to Emily and the burden of causing four girls and Nanjo's lives to be affected adversely by her obsessive nature.
Shokuzai succeeds as an emotionally-charged story because of three main reasons i.e. the story, acting and atmosphere. Although I had some complaints about Ep 2 and 3 i.e. Maki and Akiko's arcs, I think the quality of the drama in general is very good. Especially in the last episode, it was filled with lots of tension as you see the truth unraveling. I have been disappointed many times when the finale spoiled good dramas so it was a relief that Shokuzai surprised me in a good way.
Acting-wise, Koizumi Kyoko takes the cake for potraying Asako so well as a grieving mother who has an unknown side and past. At times, you think that she has really lost it but sometimes, Asako appears so lucid and normal (especially when she's with her husband and son) that you think she is playing two different persons. Kagawa Teruyuki only appeared for one episode but is such a joy to watch with his potrayal of the twisted Nanjo. Well, Nanjo wasn't like this but he sort of went crazy after discovering what Asako did so it gave me the creeps especially when he faced off with Asako during their reunion and during the climax scene when he responded to the revelation that Emily was his daughter. As for the four ladies who potrayed the grown-up versions of Emily's friends, it is really difficult to judge them because their stories placed different restrictions on their characters so Ando Sakura and Koike Eiko appeared a bit weaker to me because their stories didn't mesh as well as Aoi Yu's or Ikewaki Chizuru's episodes with the main storyline of making amends to Emily for not remembering the killer. Especially for Ando who had to emphasize Akiko's plain appearance and character, she didn't stand out as much as the rest because she had to divide her screen time between appearing normal and looking like she was hallucinating. We also have to look at their "partners" in their stories. Aoi had Moriyama Mirai play her weirdo husband which gave Sae's story added impact while the rest didn't have someone like this. Kase Ryo was impressive but he didn't have much time to show what he could do. Personally, I like Aoi's story the best but I also think Ikewaki did pretty well albeit the story being a bit more predictable than the first episode.
As mentioned before, the toned-down colour contrast helped a lot in making the story more engaging. It seems to represent how the main characters' lives have lost their colour ever since Emily's death and sets the stage for the tragedies that unfolded. If you look at Asako's final scene, it was so misty and gloomy that the only way for her seemed to be death. Of course, we wouldn't know Asako's fate through the drama but the setting did boost the impact of Asako's despair being relayed to the viewers.
If you are one who doesn't like emotionally-heavy dramas, this may be a bit difficult to stomach but if you are prepared to give it a try, you should feel satisfied by the end of it.
And my ratings for this drama...
Story: 8.5 out of 10 (I would have given it a perfect 10 if not for the sluggish pace in the middle of its run)
Acting: 9 out of 10 (Good acting from the key characters in general)
Theme song: 7 out of 10 (There's no theme song but I think the BGM was quite good in building up the suspense)
Visual effects / Scenery: 7.5 out of 10 (It may be a bit uncomfortable to see the muted colour scheme but it lends credit to the story and builds up the heavy atmosphere. Some of the scenes at Yamanashi e.g. when Asako and Nanjo talked in the forest looked quite nice)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 8 out of 10 (This is for three pairs of actors - Aoi Yu vs. Moriyama Mirai, Koizumi Kyoko vs. Ikewaki Chizuru and of course Koizumi vs. Kagawa Teruyuki)
Total: 40 out of 50
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