Quick Review #126: Tengoku to Jigoku ~ Saiko na futari ~ - Winter 2021

Title: Tengoku to Jigoku ~ Saiko na futari ~ / 天国と地獄～サイコな２人～　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Rating: 8 / 10

Recommended for: 

For those who want to watch a soul-switching suspense story with great acting from Ayase Haruka and Takahashi Issei

* Potential spoilers ahead!

Liked:

- While I am not a fan of stories involving switched souls especially when it involves a man and a woman, I thought that it was smart for the story not to focus too long on the inconveniences and trouble experienced due the characters' souls changing to a body of the opposite gender. This subplot may have created some comical relief here and there but I didn't want to see the drama become a half-baked comedy so it was great to see that the story didn't deviate too much from the main plot of investigating the serial murders.

- Although I must say that the truth behind the serial murders was somewhat obvious i.e. Hidaka (Takahashi) couldn't have been the culprit, I felt that the rationale/motive behind the murders was actually rather interesting and meaningful. And the fact that this was in sync with the title beyond the circumstances which the lead characters were in i.e. Hidaka and Azuma's fates were decided just due to a 15-min difference in birth order, I thought that it was a nice round-up to the concept of heaven vs. hell.

- Ayase and Takahashi delivered great performances albeit in slightly different manners. I felt that Ayase was probably more outstanding in terms of showing the transformation in a more physical and visible manner while Takahashi absolutely nailed it in terms of subtle mannerisms and facial expressions especially when it came to the more emotional scenes. Fans of Ayase would be very pleased to see her looking really gorgeous after the body-switch because her original setting as Mochizuki was supposed to be someone who didn't pay much attention to dolling up. And Takahashi did look quite good in this drama - a welcome deviation from the recent roles I saw him which tend to "cover up" his good looks.

Disliked: 

- The use of Beethoven's "Symphony No.5" as the BGM got on my nerves a fair bit. Sometimes, when the vibe of a scene was comparatively serious, the entry of this piece at such junctures was a big distraction and sort of weakened the atmosphere build-up as a result. In addition, the opening title segment was simply too drawn-out so I had to skip this part in every episode.

- As a suspense story, I thought that the complexity of the case could be further improved. Right from the start, the use of Sakoda Takaya to play Azuma already suggested that this character couldn't be an insignificant one so it was a dead giveaway on the importance of this role.