Title: Umi ni nemuru daiyamondo / 海に眠るダイヤモンド
Rating: 9 / 10
Recommended for:
Those who like fictional stories with an actual historical setting and some suspense elements and are fans of the cast especially Kamiki Ryuunosuke
SPOILERS AHEAD, PROCEED WITH CAUTION~
Liked:
- Right from the start, this drama impressed me with its production quality in many ways. Be it the story which showcased the different types of love among the characters (romantic, family, friendship, comrades), the cinematography that resembled the quality you would see in movies or OTT productions or replicating the sights of Hashima through filming at various places and piecing everything seamlessly despite the island being in ruins now and not open to public access, it was evident that so much effort was put in to produce this drama. I also liked the fact that the story managed to address the questions that popped up over the course of the entire season and wrapped up everything nicely rather than try to keep things open-ended and suggest that there might be a sequel.
The two biggest surprises to me were probably Sawadaaji's true identity as well as who Reo was. Honestly speaking, while Sawadaaji being Makoto was thrown up as a possibility on social media before, Reo being unrelated to anyone from Hashima and not resembling Teppei at all (it was just Asako's imagination projecting Reo's looks on Teppei) was very surprising and there were no clues prior to the revelation that could have allowed viewers to guess this.
- The scriptwriter was adept in weaving together so much detail which may not seem important at first but were evidently important when it came to describing the interpersonal relationships of the characters. For example, in the case of Teppei and Asako, while it is sad and regrettable that Teppei never got to tell Asako personally what happened to him and how much he loved her, the fact that he was able to convey his feelings for her in an indirect way by leaving behind the things which mattered most to her and protecting her happiness from afar were probably the best proof of his deep and long-lasting love for her. By leaving behind the blue giaman flower vase which he made for Asako for the purpose of proposing to her (notice how Asako always wore blue clothes when she spent time with Teppei and the sea blue-coloured bottle he had given to her which she treasured and used it as a vase for her flowers given by Teppei), this diamond that he made for her would be forever sealed in Hashima which resonates with the title of the drama i.e. the diamond which sleeps in the sea. He also remembered how much she desired to have a field of cosmos on the rooftop of her house so he went ahead to do the same at the yard of his house which faces Hashima.
Although one may wonder why he couldn't have reached out to Asako after he was no longer on the run, Teppei knew very well that his re-appearance wouldn't have changed their fates because Asako was already married with kids and had a new life of her own. Rather than disturb and disrupt her life as well as her family's, Teppei stayed away without the intention to let Asako know what happened to him and would rather let her bear a grudge against him for leaving without a word. One can only imagine how painful it must be for him to be on his own for decades, wander around different parts of Japan and not being able to be with his love and family. Moreover, he was not able to stay in Hashima until its final days so that must have been a lot to bear.
Likewise for Kensho and Yuriko, that proposal scene was such a classic and touching and their bond as a couple was so beautiful to watch. On the other hand, although Shinpei and Rina's happiness was short-lived, I thought that the process right up till their marriage was built-up nicely to contrast against the tragic fate that awaited them later.
- The characters featured in the story were endearing and memorable in their own ways so it would be hard for me to pick favourites among them. However, Kamiki Ryuunosuke definitely deserves special mention for being able to portray Teppei and Reo in so vastly distinct ways that it was impossible to mix them up with each other. Towards the end when Teppei was shown escaping to various locations in Japan to avoid those people after him and Rina, he showed a much jaded and worn out Teppei that was so different from the energetic and enthusiastic version back in Hashima. When Reo appeared in 2024, this felt yet like another version of Kamiki in the same story so hats off to him for being so versatile in his acting.
Disliked:
- While the fact that Reo was unrelated to Hashima and Teppei wasn't a bad idea, I did feel that it was a bit anti-climatic and the reason that Asako gave for reaching out to Reo didn't come across as very convincing to me. As such, I thought that if Reo had some link to Hashima or there was a more compelling reason to "choose" him, I might have liked this development better.
- Although I understand that the story was largely from Asako's perspective, it was also regrettable that her friends and family were all gone so there was nobody else to corroborate her story. I would be really interested to know more about Kensho and Yuriko's life post-Hashima and Teppei's perspective and what happened especially in his late years. That I felt was a huge missing piece of the puzzle for me personally to make this story more complete.
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