Quick Review #23: Elpis - Kibou, arui wa wazawai - (Autumn 2022)

Title: Elpis - Kibou, arui wa wazawai - エルピス―希望、あるいは災い―

Season: Autumn 2022

Broadcast by: Kansai TV

Rating: 6.5 / 10

Recommended for: those who likes to watch David vs. Goliath stories about social injustice and don't mind the lengthy and sometimes mind-boggling and preachy dialogue / fans of the three main cast members i.e. Nagasawa Masami, Maeda Goudon & Suzuki Ryohei

Liked:

- The three main actors. 

Nagasawa Masami showed the emotional changes in Ena very well throughout the whole drama, be it towards work or romance and was really convincing as a TV news announcer in her diction and delivery of her lines. Not to mention, her stylist deserves a commendation for making her look so beautiful even when she was supposedly in the doldrums while trying to be a minimalist.

It's my first time seeing Maeda Goudon and I have to say that I was really surprised at how he was able to maintain a good balance between pulling and pushing. There were times when Takuro came across as really overwhelming (seemed like he was over-acting) but when contrasted with the stage when he was struggling with his past and the frustration in the present, Maeda was able to show a more subdued side in his acting and the changes in Takuro's mind clearly.

Suzuki Ryohei was hot, not just for looking good in suits but also his chemistry with Nagasawa both in the work and romance sense. The two of them were able to deliver such intense scenes with precision and I would have loved to see them together even more.

- The build-up of the false charge case investigation up to Ep 6 looked really promising until...

Disliked: 

- The thing is, this story tried to achieve a lot but fell flat for a number of reasons.

First of all, it may have started as a false charge case investigation aimed at overturning a death sentence. Which actually, I found to be quite engaging at first and managed to write episodic reflections on that. However, it took a rather drastic turn and became more of a personal crusade to overthrow the people in power who were corrupt. Frankly speaking, this kind of story isn't anything new and there have been other works which handled this theme way better than this drama. That's why I got so bored and didn't want to continue writing anything from Ep 7 onwards.

Secondly, it felt that the so-called false charge case theme was just a cover-up for a more targeted criticism of the current legal & political scene in Japan. For example, there were several references in the portrayal of the vice prime minister Daimon in this drama which were mentioned in some articles that he seemed to be modeled after Asou Taro (current vice president of the ruling party and used to be a vice prime minister too). And that the use of Abe Shinzo's image just months after his assassination and the thinly-veiled sarcasm and criticism of the scandals or controversies that happened during his term as the prime minister - that certainly hadn't gone unnoticed. As such, it suggested the lofty aim of trying to help a wrongly-accused guy was merely to conceal the true intentions of the production crew especially the scriptwriter. And because it got really personal, the story seemed to lose its objectivity and became somewhat preachy about what's right towards the end.

Last but not least, because of this sudden change in direction, the false charge case became so redundant and forgotten in the last few episodes to the extent that it was an afterthought in the negotiation to get Ena to change her mind. I was definitely not convinced by Saito's argument made to Ena at the end and it was really illogical the way things ended even though the scriptwriter tried to make it look like there's still hope as long as you don't stop believing. Erm, I'm not sure I would believe that after seeing what happened.

- The under-development of Saito's character. Much as Suzuki Ryohei tried to make Saito as charming and interesting as possible, it felt like the viewers only got to see what's on the surface. What is his motivation for wanting to get power? To change the unfair world? To correct injustices? And how does he actually feel about Ena? Any hidden truths behind the revelation of their dating scandal years ago? Did he ever make use of Ena for his personal gains? So many questions but no answers.

- The under-utilisation of the supporting actors. Seriously, you get someone like Nagayama Eita to play the so-called murderer yet he only appeared once as some shady guy. Is that all he should be showing? And getting Miura Touko to play Cherry but her only intended purpose seems to be the catalyst in getting the main trio to restart the investigation. I thought that was really wasteful as well.