Thoughts about "TOKYO MER ~ Sumidagawa Mission ~" (spoiler alert!)

This drama SP is clearly meant as a bridge between the series and the upcoming movie and of course, a PR tool to boost awareness and interest in "TOKYO MER" as a whole. As such, it is only 69 minutes long unlike the usual 2-hr SPs.

For those who have never watched the drama series or need a refresher on what happened in the past, the beginning of this SP spends a good 10 to 15 mins introducing the key characters and some highlights. It's not too draggy and moves along fast enough so as not to bore the existing viewers but I think that it may be too brief for those who have no prior knowledge about this title.

To summarise, here are the key developments and revelations in this SP:

* The SP takes place 6 months after TOKYO MER is finally recognised as a permanent fixture directly managed by the Tokyo Governor. Otowa (Kaku Kento) has to go back to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan and resume his position as a bureaucrat in order to roll out the same initiative nationwide but of course in an enhanced manner compared to now.

* Due to his impending departure, Kitami (Suzuki Ryohei) has to finalise the choice of the second doctor in TOKYO MER. Much as everyone else thinks that Tsurumaki (Nakajo Ayami) is the natural successor to take up this post, she herself is unsure if she can ever be as good as Otowa and cannot make up her mind if she should give up her dream of being a cardiovascular surgeon should she decide to become a permanent member of TOKYO MER. Kitami himself wants to leave that decision to Tsurumaki even though the rest of the team hopes that he will retain her.

* And the bad guys who just haven't given up on disbanding TOKYO MER are at it again. The ministry sends Aoto (Ito Atsushi), known for being good at nothing, to the team with the hope that he would fumble and make a mistake which can be used as an excuse to end TOKYO MER. And the new Minister of Health is clearly worse than his predecessor with no ethics and morals other than to serve his interests. And true to expectations, Aoto is clearly not up to it as a doctor on the frontline.

* At this point in time, Kitami and Takanawa (Naka Riisa) haven't reconciled. However, at the end of the SP which is 18 months after the Sumidagawa incident, they had already gotten married. In the movie trailer shown, Takanawa is already pregnant. Looks like the movie will show how the proposal went but all you get in the SP is Kitami practising his proposal lines with Otowa.

* The biggest surprise goes to....Kamoi (An) who is heading the YOKOHAMA MER, is supposedly Otowa's ex-girlfriend and he was the one who invited her back to Japan to head the team! Now this is a pretty interesting combination but whether they will touch on this part in the movie is a question mark.

Regarding the SP as a whole, I must admit that I wasn't expecting much in the first place especially since the SP is this short. However, the Sumidagawa incident was in line with the usual TOKYO MER style - speedy, exciting and mind-boggling (because of the tons of medical jargon in the fast dialogue). Although the part of whether people risk their lives to this extent while saving others is quite unbelievable and questionable, you might be still able to get through the drama if you can choose to be less practical and ignore the logic gaps along the way.

Considering that the drama series was only released on Disney+, I think the chances of the movie version ending up on a platform rather than Disney+ are slim. There may be a likelihood that the movie gets shown exclusively on Disney+ but it may not appear so soon especially if the movie does well in the box office. It's definitely more lucrative to have people pay for per view in the cinema rather than multiple people paying for one view on a streaming platform.