* Looks like the drama will introduce the "trainees" under Kazama Kimichika's charge progressively since Ep 1 was Akaso Eiji's solo show. And it seems from Ep 2's synopsis that it's still going to be focused on Akaso's role Urihara so this probably means that fans of Aragaki Yui, Shiraishi Mai & Sometani Shota will have to wait a bit longer. There was a fleeting shot of Kitamura Takumi in the beginning though.
* Going by the looks of this, these trainees may not "overlap" or actually meet one another since Kazama doesn't look like the type to be taking on multiple trainees at the same point in time. If that's really the case, Kitamura's character Toono looks likely to be the last trainee in this drama before Kazama leaves the frontline and heads off to the police academy.
* From the timeline, the point when Urihara started working under Kazama was 47 days before that fateful night with Toono. So if we have to divide this number of days among the 5 trainees, looks like everyone will just be under Kazama for a short period of time only.
* For those who've not seen the two SPs, there should be no issue starting with this drama first since the events in this drama precede that of the SPs. And it may actually help in understanding better how Kazama became who he was in the SPs if you watch this first.
* Although Kazama does seem to be stern and keeps people on their toes in both the SPs and this drama series, there is a slight difference in the Kazamas from these two time periods. The younger Kazama had a hardly noticeable softer side e.g. when he was coaching the kids in kendo (he gave precise instructions but his tone wasn't really harsh nor fierce) and how he deals with Urihara by giving him the flexibility to decide when he should leave the investigation team and return to the police station he came. And that was despite Kazama exposing Urihara for lying instead of doing what Kazama instructed him to do. In the police academy as an instructor, he was a lot more pushy and forceful in his approach and attitude but in the drama, he was firm but still left room for others to decide what was best for them.
* The overall structure of the cases and how they were solved - I think the resolution part paled in comparison to the case developments which were managed like a tight ship and were quite interesting to watch. However, the so-called proof to make the culprits confess to their crimes was somewhat feeble and circumstantial so if the criminals had been stronger to withstand the pressure from the mounting evidence or were more scheming characters, the resolution wouldn't have been possible. As such, I felt that the way the two cases in this episode were concluded was kind of sloppy and underwhelming.
* Kimura maintains his consistency as Kazama as per the SPs but it's too early to tell if he can show a more humane and engaging side of his character. Or the current level is probably to be the peak of Kazama's "softer side". Akaso is doing fine so far but his character is still somewhat predictable at the same time so it remains to be seen how the character Urihara will evolve. The guest stars Uchida Rio & Ichihara Hayato were good in their ways but interestingly, their characters interacted more with Urihara rather than Kazama who stood around like an observer.
* Overall impression is 7 out of 10 with definitely more room for improvement.
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