Review of Seinaru Kaibutsutachi Ep 8 (Final)

At the end of eight episodes, my biggest question was this: why did everyone go through all this for everything to end as nothing more than a big joke? If you've read my reviews for the past seven episodes, you would have known how much I was expecting the finale to round up everything nicely in order not to waste the momentum that was built up over two months or so. The direction where the story was headed for just seemed too abrupt and silly even though I had been guessing that things would end somewhat "mildly" when certain developments came out e.g. Mie's baby not being related to Toshio and Keiko in any way. What a pity because it's been sometime since I got so keen on a drama and followed it closely enough to write reviews for each episode!

As Shiba operated on Itokawa without permission, he is brought away from Okubo Memorial Hospital by the police before he can question Kasugai further on Mie's death. Even though Shiba is expecting to be officially arrested or charged for what he did, he is surprised that Toshio got him out of the police station. However, this gesture comes with an obvious threat to Shiba who is told to stop meddling in this matter and not to appear in front of interested parties anymore. Although Shiba is obviously keen on pursuing the matter further, I think his near brush with the law made him consider for a brief second if he should give up his career and continue fighting those who are in the surrogate pregnancy scam. However, when he is asked by Honma to get the latter's son back, Shiba thinks of a way to help Honma.

On the other hand, Kasugai reveals to Keiko how she came to find out about Mie's lies and that she had killed Mie intentionally. Keiko is obviously shaken by this revelation but I think her obsession with having a child, securing her position in the Hyuga family with a heir and not wanting to lose what she's gained makes her lose her senses. Not only does she try to get Kasugai to stop associating with her (for fear of being implicated), she also hatches a plan to go overseas with the baby so that nobody can do anything to her or take the baby away from her. Kasugai is of course aghast to see how much Keiko has changed and blames herself for being part of the reason why this has happened.

Then comes the big "climax" scene when Shiba makes use of an uncanny coincidence to try to bring the baby to Honma. Well, it's very cliche in a sense because all of a sudden, the masterminds behind this whole scam come to their senses after what happened. I won't go into details on what exactly happened but frankly speaking, it's very predictable. At the ending, we have people going about their lives as if nothing really happened.

Well, this is where I think the story wasn't done too satisfactorily. I know surrogate pregnancies may be a taboo and sensational topic to do a drama on but since you've already started it, why not go all the way? True, Mie's betrayal may have spiced things up in the sense that everyone realises that they were taken on a ride to nowhere but this also works against the drama in the sense because it's extremly difficult to wrap up something which is a hoax after all. There wasn't any surrogate pregnancy to begin with, the child didn't belong to the couple who hatched the scheme, the murderer wasn't punished in any way and there were many questions waiting to be answered. What's up with Yoko and her brother? Did they suddenly decide to start blackmailing or cheating people one fine day? Why would she do his bidding anyway? How did she manage to get all that money? What did Shiba gain at the end after going through so much? He was treated to a rollercoaster ride of betrayal and lies and in actual fact, doing so much for nothing. That's why I think if the whole scam was built upon a non-existent crime, the ending really should have a stronger way of conveying the message of how the parties involved were affected rather than show them as if nothing has happened before.

Other than my grouses with the ending, I think the acting was generally of a high standard. Okada Masaki did feel overshadowed by most of his cast members but that's to be expected because he's lacking in experience comparatively and Shiba is not such an easy role to play after all. Moreover, it would take really strong acting skills in order for him to hold his own across Nakatani Miki who really shows how obsessed Kasugai can be and the two different faces she has. Talking about obsession, the key characters all have their own reasons to be obsessed e.g. Keiko over status, standing and the need to be a mother. In fact, obsession over what they desire or aim to achieve is the reason why the whole fiasco came about in the first place. Kato Ai was credible as the half-crazy Keiko who turned rather obnoxious later while Hasegawa Hiroki seemed a bit under-utilised in this drama. Kohinata Fumio was pretty much his usual self i.e. the reliable supporting actor while Oomasa Aya came across as a bit boring at times. Too bad her character wasn't developed further. Watanabe Ikkei was interesting as the inquisitive Itokawa but once he gave the information about how Kasugai was involved in Mie's death, he somehow slipped into oblivion after that. Suzuki An was actually quite good in showing the various faces of Mie e.g. pure and innocent as a kindergarten teacher, scheming when she tries to pass off her own child as Keiko and Toshio's, irritating when she tried to emphasize to Keiko how the child was hers because she was the one carrying it and of course, the flashback scenes of her and Honma where she showed the gentleness of a woman in love. Too bad her involvement in the drama was limited and ended right when Mie died.

As for the BGM and theme song, I think the BGM fitted nicely with the story's developments and helped a lot in making the whole atmosphere more tense when the important scenes took place. As for the theme song, the mood coincided with the drama's theme that we were looking at a bunch of "holy monsters" abusing their sacred positions to fulfill their personal desires. On its own, the music might not leave a strong impression on me but on the whole, I think the drama and music go hand in hand to complement each other.

And my ratings for this drama...
Story: 7.5 out of 10 (This would have been higher if not for the half-baked ending which was in a hurry to round things up)
Acting: 8.5 out of 10 (Like I said above, Nakatani Miki and Suzuki An are the ones to look out for. Okada Masaki just needs more practice and experience to do better in future)
Theme song: 8 out of 10 (Fr the reason that it's suitable for the drama and complements it well)
Visual effects / Scenery: 7 out of 10 (Much of the action was indoors but there were a few location shoots which looked quite nice)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 8 out of 10 (The intensity between Kasugai and Shiba was a bit lacking because Nakatani overpowered Okada in many ways but the rest of the cast had some interesting sparks e.g. Nakatani vs. Hasegawa Hiroki, Nakatani vs. Suzuki An and Nakatani vs. Kato Ai. Any wonder why Nakatani is included in all three pairs I mentioned? :-P)

Total: 39 out of 50

Review of Seinaru Kaibutsutachi Ep 7

After getting to know from Honma that Mie had a rare blood type, Shiba wonders if Mie's death had to do with the fact that she got a wrong blood transfusion by mistake. However, Kasugai's denial only serves to make Shiba more intent on finding out the truth. To that, Kasugai responds by saying that Shiba's persistence is only to make himself feel better since he would feel better if it is found out that Mie's death wasn't due to his inexperience but rather some uncontrollable factor. Although it appears that Kasugai is not shaken by the exchange, she does feel that Shiba poses an increasing threat to those involved in the scam since he's getting closer to the truth. As such, Kasugai makes use of Okubo to tell Keirin University Hospital about Shiba's surgical error which results in him being suspended indefinitely.

Shiba resolves to find out the truth regardless of whether he can still be a doctor. Touched by his sincerity, Yoko steals a sample of Mie's blood from the hospital and delivers it to Shiba. He then goes to Mizuhara for help to test the blood type. Unknown to them, Kasugai happens to see Mizuhara behaving suspiciously and finds out about what is going on. Mizuhara passes the test results to Shiba who's surprised to know that Mie has the Bombay blood type which would give a result of O+ if the simple test kit is used. That coincides with Yoko's story about how she was certain that Mie's blood type is definitely O+. The complication is, someone with the rare Bombay blood type cannot receive blood transfusions from anyone other than those with the same blood type. As a result, Shiba suspects that Kasugai deliberately killed Mie because Mie only developed complications towards the end of the surgery after Kasugai connected a new bag of blood to her!

Shiba goes to look for Itokawa and finds out that he had seen Kasugai swopping the labels on the pre-prepared blood packs belonging to Mie with those in the hospital. This strengthens his belief that Kasugai had a hand in Mie's death and he wants to confront her about this. Shiba then asks to take part in Itokawa's surgery even though he's no longer a doctor in the hospital but Mizuhara lets him have his way. Although Okubo sees what happens and wants to stop them, Kasugai stops him. When Shiba confronts Kasugai with his findings, the latter feigns ignorance but it is obvious that Shiba has hit the nail right on its head. However, before Shiba can do anything else, he is taken away by the police called in by Okubo for operating on Itokawa without permission

At the same time, tension rises in the Hyuga household as Keiko and her mother-in-law become enemies. The mother-in-law finds out the truth about the surrogate pregnancy from Toshio's ex-wife and questions Keiko about it. However, unexpectedly, Keiko admits to everything easily and insists that they had to do it to maintain the family line. In another surprising turn of events, this somehow makes her mother-in-law impressed with Keiko's convictions in thinking of the Hyuga family's interests and she even fires Toshio's ex-wife from the company in order to stop her from talking about this.

I don't know what's the bigger surprise in this episode. The fact that Kasugai killed Mie on purpose? The thing is, what was the motive? Or Keiko's mother-in-law doing an about-turn and forgiving her about the surrogate mother scam so easily? Makes me wonder how warped her values are as demonstrated through her insistence to do everything for the sake of the Hyuga family. I think I was more surprised by the latter though because I was half-expecting the mother-in-law to blow up at Keiko for engineering this scam but that was a smart move by the scriptwriter. As for Kasugai's involvement in Mie's death, I think it was pretty obvious she had a part to play but as for why and when she decided to do it, I think the answers will only be out by next week.

Frankly speaking, by this point in time, viewers already know that there isn't a surrogate mother scam after all because Mie gave birth to her own child. As such, it will be anyone's guess what happens to everyone at the end because I don't really think that anyone can be held responsible for coming up with the scam but heads may roll for Mie's death.

It has always been my concern that whenever I see a drama which impresses me throughout the entire season, there is a high chance that its ending will fall flat. I hope this drama will buck the trend though.

Review of Seinaru Kaibutsutachi Ep 6

The biggest change from this episode onwards is that the narrator becomes Kasugai instead of Shiba. As such, the narration is taken from her viewpoint i.e. how she views Shiba's efforts in uncovering the truth compared to the "monsters" attempting to cover it up.

Shiba finds out that the address supposedly belonging to Mie's family was a hoax after all and happens to meet Yoko's brother Hirai Kunio at the police post. Kunio introduces himself and even mentions to Shiba that he had been following Yoko to find out what is going on with her much to Shiba's surprise. When Kunio offers to help Shiba with his search, the latter decides against revealing the details as he feels that something is not quite right with Kunio.

As a result of financial backing from Hyuga, Okubo starts to order advanced medical equipment and spends money on improving things in the hospital much to everyone's amazement. When Shiba approaches Okubo about what he has found out, Okubo stops him from investigating further since it may cause unhappiness with Mie's family. Soon after, Shiba finds himself being sent back to the university hospital in an attempt to stop him from investigating further and can't operate on Itokawa. At the same time, Yoko finds out that her brother approached Shiba and in an attempt to protect him (not sure from what yet), she initiates a breakup. However, Kunio doesn't want to back off and seems to be keen on continuing what he's doing in order to get money.

Meanwhile, Keiko's status in the Hyuga family is elevated as a result of her son (well, Mie's son) Kei. Her mother-in-law even slaps Kimiyo, Toshio's ex-wife for insinuating that Kei isn't Toshio's and Keiko's child which makes Keiko smirk with pride. However, this new-found confidence also causes conflict between Keiko and her mother-in-law because Keiko is no longer a pushover like before. Keiko's newfound assertiveness even causes her to flare up at her mother-in-law for attempting to take Kei away from her which would have been unthinkable in the past.

Shiba finds out that Toshio was the one who took away Kei from the hospital and goes to look for him at his company. However, Toshio denies having any knowledge of this while his mother is suspicious after hearing what Shiba said. When Shiba goes back to the university hospital, he chances upon Keiko's medical records in Prof Shiono's office and finds out that she could never have given birth to Kei because her womb was removed during her miscarriage!

In an attempt to find out the truth, Shiba gatecrashes the party held by Toshio and Keiko which makes Toshio very uneasy. Keiko doesn't realise that Shiba is investigating the birth of Kei and even smiles heartily at him. Before Shiba can probe further, he is brought to another room by Kasugai and she reveals the truth to him. Just when Shiba has sort of come to terms with what Kasugai told him because he knows that Kei will be in good hands in the Hyuga family, he arranges to meet Mie's ex-lover Honma at her grave and finds out that Mie has a rare blood type which is usually not available at hospitals. This leads Shiba to suspect that Mie's death might not have due to his lack of inexperience in the operation but rather she was murdered!

Just as I thought that it will be a straightforward search for the truth which the viewers already know, it turns out that there is more than meets the eye. This episode not only gives us more information about Mie's past but also provides an useful clue in finding out what really caused her death. If the blood transfusion Mie received was indeed tampered with (most likely by Kasugai), does this mean she had the intention of killing Mie so that Mie wouldn't cause any trouble for Keiko? That's the only logical explanation I can think of at the moment since Kasugai loves Keiko that much and may be prepared to go the distance for her sister. Besides, she was the one who brought the blood packs into the operating room after switching the blood type stickers so it doesn't seem like anyone can tamper with the blood given to Mie.

Keiko's assertiveness isn't that surprising after all since she went through so much to get Kei. Of course, she would want to stop her mother-in-law from bullying her like in the past now that she has Kei as a bargaining chip. However, this definitely rubs her mother-in-law the wrong way and I won't be surprised if she sets out to find out what is going on now that her suspicions are aroused.

Looks like the truth is going to get uglier as we approach the end since Mie's death is likely not to be an accident. The "monsters" involved would probably come to no good end but I think Shiba won't be necessarily happier when that happens. It's most likely going to be a lose-lose situation by the time everything gets out into the open.

Review of Seinaru Kaibutsutachi Ep 5

This episode simply flew by because there were so many things happening in just 45 minutes. Some of my guesses went the other way while some were partially correct. It was exciting to see how the pieces of the puzzle fell into place and how some seemingly impossible things could be achieved. Ep 5 also marks the end of the first arc which can be summarised as how the surrogate pregnancy scheme was hatched and executed. Now that the baby is born, it looks like the theme of the second half of this drama will be how the key players fight to keep the truth from being exposed.

Following Mie's fall from the staircase, Keiko panics and calls her sister for help since she cannot reach Toshio nor the gynae. Kasugai then instructs Keiko to drive Mie to Okubo Hospital and drop her off before escaping from the scene. This actually provides answers to two questions: why Mie didn't give birth with the help of that gynae who Toshio bribed and who was the one who drove Mie to the hospital. In the first episode, Kasugai had been standing beside the window for a reason. She was waiting for Keiko drop off Mie and drive away. As soon as that happens, Kasugai scurries to get help in order for Mie to be able to give birth at Okubo Hospital. As fate would have it, Shiba and Yoko are both on duty so my guess that Shiba was tricked into delivering the baby was only half correct. Shiba didn't know what was going on but he certainly wasn't forced to treat Mie. As a doctor, he had to do so and of course, Kasugai did play some tricks to make it happen.

As the hospital does not have any gynae who can handle the Caesaran operation, Shiba is reluctant to take this on especially since he has not done this before. However, Kasugai manages to persuade Shiba to do it because there aren't any hospitals which would accept Mie and it would be dangerous for her to be transferred to somewhere else. Now, that's something I think which might be easily found to be untrue since I doubt Kasugai really checked with other hospitals to accept Mie. Anyway, Shiba trusts Kasugai so much that he's more than willing to listen to what she says. It will probably hurt even more at the end when he finds out that Kasugai plays such a huge role in the scam and isn't as noble as he thinks. One other thing which should be a potential key factor in determining when the surrogate mother scam comes to live and how it is exposed will be Itokawa. He happens to overhear Kasugai's conversation with Toshio on the phone so it will be soon before he realises what is going on. The thing is, will he be drawn into the scheme as an accomplice or be the one who helps Shiba to expose the ugly truth? It's quite difficult to tell because Itokawa does seem to like Shiba but if he is indeed in financial difficulty like what the last episode implied, he might just sell his conscience for money.

Although the baby is born successfully, Mie suddenly develops contradictions and dies. This is a crushing blow to Shiba and he starts to doubt whether he did anything wrong to cause Mie's death. On the other hand, Kasugai is busy making arrangements to make sure nobody suspects a thing about Mie's case so this is when her "intelligence" comes into play. Frankly speaking, I was doubting how they could pass on Mie's baby to Toshio and Keiko given that Mie came in as an unidentified patient. To think that the scriptwriter managed to make it work with the inclusion of a few missing puzzle pieces!

True to what I guessed previously, Okubo and Yoko would be pulled into the scam sooner or later. What I didn't expect was that it was done as a form of salvaging the critical situation rather than being a planned move. Of course, from the opening scene in Ep 1, it was already evident that Okubo would have to be bought over so that Mie could deliver the baby at his hospital. I didn't really see how Yoko would fit into the picture prior to this episode. In Yoko's case, Kasugai knew that Yoko has been receiving money on the sly from patients so the latter has no choice but to do her bidding. Yoko probably won't be as persistent in finding out the truth like Shiba but at least there's one more person to hide the secret and assist in stopping Shiba from probing further. As for Okubo, the reason why he hopped onto the train of accomplices ultimately boils down to money. With Toshio's backing, his hospital can be saved from financial ruin so there's no way he would reject such a tempting proposal.

Even with these people being bribed to turn a blind eye to things, there is still the difficulty of how the baby could be taken away from the hospital without anyone suspecting anything. I think the timing of taking away Mie's body and the baby was calculated in such a way that Shiba wouldn't be around to question anything but it just so happens (coincidences only happen in dramaland, we all know that the scriptwriter deliberately planned for this so that there will be more clues for Shiba later to piece the story together) that he catches a glimpse of Toshio. True, he may not have met Toshio formally (Shiba probably couldn't remember Toshio and Keiko when she was sent to the university hospital after suffering a miscarriage) but his suspicions would definitely be aroused when he finds out that Toshio is Keiko's husband so why would Toshio be Mie's family and take away the baby? And I was thinking that it is extremely dumb of Toshio to turn back while in the cab. Shiba could have managed to take a good look at his face when that happened.

We still have half the run to go so it doesn't mean that the story ends with Mie's death. Of course, Shiba's guilt in being inexperienced and indirectly causing Mie's death will prompt him to find out the truth despite people around him trying to stop this. Itokawa's presence may also serve to be a key factor on how fast Shiba gets to know the bottom of things. Itokawa has also dropped a hint to Shiba that he isn't responsible for Mie's death so this would be a sign to the latter that Itokawa knows something. As for where his loyalty lies, it's really not easy to tell. When Shiba traces the address given to the hospital, he finds out that it's fake so this will be another key warning sign to him that things aren't that simple after all.

We also have two other subplots i.e. Yoko's acquaintance (or rather family member since they share the same surname) meeting Shiba for the first time and the appearance of someone who has come looking for Mie. The masterminds in this scam did not foresee this happening for sure because they chose Mie simply due to the fact that she doesn't have friends nor family so nobody would be looking for Mie when she was staying at Keiko's house during the pregnancy. Now that someone has come looking for her, that should be another sign of trouble as people start to trace Mie's whereabouts. It's probably going to be a tall order because Mie's cremation was done without her photo and I doubt that Kasugai or Toshio put down Mie's real name as the deceased people. Makes me wonder how Shiba is going to make the link between the dead mother with Mie.

To put it bluntly, Mie's death actually turns out to be a better outcome for some of the people in the scam. First of all, Keiko would benefit because she wouldn't have to rack her brains on how to prevent Mie from taking off with the child and be on tenterhooks all day long. For Toshio, he wouldn't have to worry about Mie revealing their affair to Keiko and in turn exposing the fact that the child isn't Keiko's. Even for Kasugai, it would be easier to handle things since she wouldn't have to help Keiko deal with Mie after their aim was achieved. However, if she had not died, would it mean that Shiba wouldn't try to investigate why Mie had to come to Okubo Hospital to give birth? If she had not died, would that man looking for Mie appear after all?

As we move to the second half of the story, the focus would be on how to keep the pack of lies under wraps. It will definitely be a series of near-misses and harrowing scares for the "holy monsters" as they try to make sure nobody finds out the truth. I'm actually looking forward to the final showdown between Shiba and Kasugai as he confronts her about her role in the scam and how she will justify her actions so I can't wait for Shiba to get to the truth soon.

At the same time, I also hope that the drama won't end too early (i.e. number of episodes being cut due to low ratings). When you look at this drama's official BBS, a lot of people mention recording the show and watching it later or catching the repeat telecast. This goes to show that the actual ratings on the first screening seems to be underestimating the reach of this drama (well, not just for this drama definitely). It's also quite worrying especially when this drama only has one competitor in the same timeslot i.e. Saikou no Jinsei no Owarikata. Some people have complained that this is a half-baked medical drama but frankly speaking, this was never touted as one like Iryu or Kyuumei Byoto 24 Ji. TV Asahi markets this as a medical suspense drama so for those who were looking for something like Iryu, they would have stopped watching this long ago. As a suspense drama, I think it's doing quite well in terms of the storyline and acting but I have to admit, Okada Masaki is really overshadowed by the veterans around him. He needs to build up a stronger screen presence in the second arc of the story or risk being a lead character who people can't really remember him for anything.

Review of Seinaru Kaibutsutachi Ep 4

Mie is putting up an obvious defiance against Keiko as shown by her behaviour in the opening scene. Keiko's mother-in-law sends a helper over to pass a gift to Keiko for her unborn grandchild when the helper hears Mie's laughter from the second floor. Mie is watching a comedic performance on TV and seems to be making such sounds on purpose so as to make things difficult for Keiko. In addition, Mie keeps reminding Keiko that she is the one carrying the baby even though the latter emphasizes that Mie is carrying Keiko's and Toshio's child. By now, Keiko should finally realise that Mie isn't going to do her bidding without putting up a resistance. There will be a time when Keiko will find it unbearable and Mie's existence will threaten the success of the surrogate mother scam so it's anybody's guess what she will do to ensure that Mie doesn't stand in her way.

Coupled with troubles with Mie, Keiko also has to put up a front in public. During an event at the Hyuga Group's kindergarten, Keiko suddenly finds the cushion she tied to her stomach slipping downwards in front of two kids. If not for Toshio's quick thinking, she would have been exposed for faking the pregnancy. Those two kids who saw what happened were so shocked that their jaws were practically going to drop. To be frank, this development seemed funny on one hand but was also harrowing for Keiko and Toshio on the other.

Meanwhile, Itokawa seems to be suffering from something more serious but is reluctant to undergo further tests. Actually, his spreading of rumours about the hospital's operations is making the staff lose their patience with him and I suppose they would be really keen to see him leave the hospital soon. If it so happens that Itokawa has something more serious going on in his body, he might have to be transferred elsewhere to receive medical care. I don't foresee him going anywhere soon since he's definitely going to dig for more information and threaten a person or two along the way before the surrogate mother scam erupts. In the later part of the episode, more is revealed about Itokawa as one who failed in business, no longer has a family and keeps coming to the hospital because that's the only place he can be at.

Kasugai goes to Keiko's place to draw blood from Mie in preparation for the childbirth in case she needs a transfusion at that time. And this is where we can observe the group dynamics. At first, Kasugai is really dismissive of Keiko's claims that Mie's actions are freaking her out but then what happens at the dinner table makes Kasugai take notice of what's going on. As Keiko tries to be protective of her child and Mie deliberately goes against her, Toshio seems to be under Mie's influence or rather Mie seems to have something on Toshio which makes him do her bidding. Toshio tells Keiko to relax and takes Mie's side but I don't think Keiko is shrewd enough to sense the link between her husband and Mie.

Looks like the bridge between Okubo and Toshio is finally established, although the first encounter isn't pleasant for Okubo. Toshio sort of gives a dressing down to Okubo, saying that to protect the legacy of his predecessor i.e. parents, pride and lofty ambitions are most important. In other words, Toshio's belittling Okubo for getting so desperate to talk him into investing in the hospital the moment they meet. I'm thinking that the tables may be turned slightly in Okubo's favour when the gynae Toshio has engaged falls out with them for one reason or another. In any case, it is highly probable that Okubo will benefit from the scam and save his hospital (at least before the scandal breaks).

Shiba finally realises why his friend Takeuchi asked about Yoko. Turns out that Takeuchi is Yoko's ex and she had tried to borrow JPY 2m from him but to no avail. Although Shiba wants to know why she needs the money, he's not one who pursues it directly but it sure will be a nagging concern for him. At the same time, seems like the guy blackmailing Yoko or rather the reason why she needs money goes to Shiba's father's shop as a customer but it isn't clear if he's already aware of Shiba and Yoko being an item or he just happened to be there. Anyway, at least now we know he's a policeman (or so he claims). Even though Shiba asks Yoko about the loan of JPY 2m later, she refuses to tell him the reason. And from the fact that Yoko also takes money from a female patient and promises the "best" medical care with this payment, I think it's hard to believe that she's as angelic as it seems or really has no choice in doing this.

Besides the scare that Keiko had in front of the kindergarten kids, there are more near-misses in this episode.

Keiko's mother-in-law comes visiting with Toshio's son and ex-wife unannounced. Keiko is literally on tenterhooks as she tries hard to suppress her anxiety at them finding out about Mie. However, Shosuke (Toshio's son) spots Mie and tells Keiko's mother-in-law. On the surface, she tells Shosuke not to divulge this to anyone but I think she is probably starting to suspect something.

The second crisis (well, not yet a full-blown one) is when Shiba meets Keiko face-to-face and knows about her identity as Kasugai's sister. Keiko and Kasugai may not know it but Shiba has seen Keiko being sent to the university hospital when she suffered a miscarriage and I vaguely remember that he and his friend were commenting that Keiko's womb might be removed. If Shiba remembers this and suspects why Keiko is pregnant now, that will be a big problem for those in the surrogate mother scam.

There is also more reason for Mie to be extra protective of the baby she is carrying. During the visit by Keiko's mother-in-law, I think she sensed that Keiko seems more obsessed with maintaining her position in the Hyuga family rather than wanting to have Toshio's child as what she had claimed. That's why Keiko is wary of leaving Mie alone and gets Kasugai to keep an eye on her. True to what Keiko suspects, Mie runs away but is soon caught by Kasugai who is so smart to even fish out the truth i.e. the child that Mie is carrying was the result of her affair with Toshio and not Keiko's and Toshio's child! As how they started, Toshio was the one who took the initiative and it was before Keiko came up with the idea of a surrogate mother. Apparently, Toshio was the one who told Mie to pass off their baby as that of his and Keiko's when he accepted Keiko's proposal. It was the easy way out for him because Mie refused to abort his child at that time.

I don't know what Kasugai did but she manages to get Mie back to the Hyuga residence. Even when confronted by Kasugai, Toshio shamelessly taunts her to tell Keiko the truth, knowing very well that this will deal her a double blow i.e. her husband's infidelity and the child she has been eagerly anticipating is not hers. Of course, Kasugai wouldn't want to do anything to hurt her sister so she tells Toshio to make sure the truth wouldn't be known. Talking of coincidences, Okubo happens to see Toshio and Kasugai leaving the same place after their confrontation so this piece of information might figure in why Toshio will finance Okubo's hospital at the end.

Mie turns out to be still harbouring plans to escape from the Hyuga residence but in her haste to run, she falls down from the staircase. Isn't it too early for her to give birth when the drama isn't only at the halfway point? And the next episode's trailer shows Keiko and Toshio holding a baby? Then that means there will be another surrogate pregnancy in the later half of the story?

The trailer also shows Shiba possibly being part of a malpractice case and that Kasugai has all along been aware of what Yoko is doing. Wow, more showdowns next week! Last episode was a bit slow for me but I think this episode really picked up the pace and got very exciting.

Nakatani Miki and Hasegawa Hiroki were very good in that intense confrontation scene. If Toshio thought that Kasugai would have no choice but to become an accomplice in hiding things from Keiko, he would only be half correct. Kasugai had the last word after all and pointed out that Toshio would have to bear the sin of lying forever. Great acting there from the two of them!

Similarly, when Kasugai was fishing out the truth from Mie, that was also a good scene from Nakatani and Suzuki An. For a moment, I also thought that the teddy bear contained a wire tap but it turns out that Kasugai was bluffing Mie. That was such a genius move from Kasugai!

Okada Masaki seems to be more at ease with his role now but Shiba is still lacking in emotional development as compared to the other characters who have undergone upheavals in their characters' emotions. The only significant change would be that he has nagging thoughts about Yoko but is still trusting her. I'm hoping for him to show different sides to Shiba rather than continuing to be the good young doctor. Looks like the next episode will offer some potential for change.

Review of Seinaru Kaibutsutachi Episode 3

Things are heating up, literally. Although this episode did feel a bit slow at times especially when it featured the side story of Shiba seeing patients in the hospital, I think the introduction of such side plots could be due to the scriptwriter's intention to show a contrast between the main story's key players' idea of what it means to be parents and the "holy" side of motherhood. As Shiba's ideals get more and more detached from what's happening around him without his knowledge, the impact would probably be greater by the time he knows what's going on.

In this particular episode, Shiba encounters a mother-to-be who finally gets pregnant after a long time of trying. Unfortunately, she is down with cancer and has to choose between starting treatment now and later. If it's the former, her baby would not live and if it's later, she would lose her life. It's a no-brainer that the mother would definitely choose her baby's survival over hers while the husband objects. Although she loses her voice as a result, at least she's around to hold her child. Seeing this, Shiba starts to get this idea that mothers can sacrifice anything for their children. I'm starting to wonder how he will react when he realises that the people around him who all appear so kind with lofty ideals about taking care of patients aren't that selfless after all.

In the main story arc, Mie is finally confirmed to be pregnant with Toshio and Keiko's child. Although Mie had claimed that she wanted to help Keiko realise her dream of being a mother, the fact that she strongly objected to Kasugai's request to sign a contract giving up all rights to the child after giving birth is something that should ring an alarm bell in the heads of everyone. I don't think Keiko realised that there was something not quite right with Mie but Kasugai seems to have picked up something from this test. Nonetheless, Kasugai "reminds" or rather threatens Mie by saying that it's worse to betray someone than to kill him i.e. if she dares to go back on her word of giving up the child to Keiko, Mie will not be able to get away with it as well.

One unexpected development (at least to me) was to see Shiba and Yoko get together. I knew they were supposed to be together at some point in time but that's kinda fast. And when Shiba's ex-colleague asks him about Yoko, this naive guy still doesn't know that he should be wary of Yoko. There should be something suspicious as to why Yoko left the university hospital and being evasive when asked about her family background. At this point, I'm guessing that someone in her family, maybe a brother or even an ex-boyfriend is extorting money from her so that's why she's getting money from other men. Yoko didn't seem to appear in the opening scene of the first episode so I'm guessing that Shiba might have known the truth before Mie's delivery so Yoko might have left the hospital by then. I just hope that Shiba wouldn't accept the truth so readily and at least flare up at Yoko for lying. Otherwise, he'll just appear as a meek fellow who accepts the nonsense people give him without making any noise.

As Mie's pregnancy progresses, Keiko starts to imagine that the baby is growing inside her and pretends that her tastes have changed and even stuffs a cushion into her clothes to appear pregnant. Seeing how his wife has become obsessed with the idea of motherhood, Toshio's feelings seem to have changed a bit. Actually, I'm not even convinced that he married her out of love. More like, she was pregnant and he had no choice but to take up responsibility. I just feel that Toshio is just riding along to fulfill Keiko's dream but the truth is, he probably doesn't care whether they have a child. When Mie starts to act strangely and Keiko finally realises that Mie seems to be thinking of the child as hers only, the trust relationship between Mie and Keiko (or rather Keiko's blind faith in Mie's loyalty) seems to be crumbling.

Right from episode 1, Mie appeared to have an interest in Toshio but I don't think she was thinking of beginning any relationship with him at that stage. However, when Keiko came to look for her to be the surrogate mother, I am tempted to think that other than the reason of wanting to bear a child herself (on the surface claiming it to be for Keiko's sake), the fact that Toshio will be the father of the child just lends more credibility to why Mie would accept such a proposal. The idea of bearing the child of the man you love would be too tempting for Mie. I'm starting to think though, what if the child in Mie's womb isn't Keiko's and Toshio's? Did Mie and Toshio do something before the implantation procedure? Or were Keiko's eggs switched with Mie's? If it so happens that the child isn't Keiko's after all, how will Keiko react to this and ensure that she has a baby at the end of the story? Looks like there will be more twists and turns before we get to the conclusion.

I think it's predictable from the first episode's opening scene that the key players succeeded in getting Mie to carry the baby to full term. However, why did they dump her outside the Okubo hospital? Wasn't a gynae who received money from Toshio in charge of Mie? Something must have gone wrong with that gynae so they switched to the hospital with Kasugai lending a helping hand. It's only episode 3 but there are quite a lot of complications to contend. Wonder how low these "holy" monsters will stoop to in order to achieve their aims? Omoshiroi ne~ ^__^

Review of Seinaru Kaibutsutachi Ep 2

With more and more people jumping into this scam, will it lead to a situation at the end where Shiba finds himself to be the only one clueless about the entire fiasco? I'm starting to think that this might be very likely especially as more and more people get pulled in partly out of pity for Keiko's inability to bear her own child but also for their personal agendas.

Again, spoiler alert here! Please do not read the following if you wish to watch this episode first and do not want to know what has happened.

Frankly speaking, episode 2 wasn't as exciting as I would have liked it because the side story about Shiba taking pains to treat a potential appendix cancer patient was kinda longwinded. I could see where it was going especially since the only purpose it served seemed to be emphasizing how devoted he was to making sure every patient gets the best treatment from him. However, the lofty aspirations Shiba has might make it even more difficult to accept the web of deceit around him since he trusts everyone so much. In his monologue at the end of the episode, he keeps repeating the line that a woman has many faces. The biggest surprise for him would definitely be knowing how much Kasugai did in order to make it possible for Keiko to have a child born by a surrogate mother.

As for the main story, the new "participants" to the scam are Toshio and Mie. They are two key players in the whole scam because without the sperm from Toshio and Mie's uterus, Keiko can't do anything. Even though Toshio was reluctant to agree to this idea from the start, Kasugai knew very well that he was scared to fall from grace in case this surrogate pregnancy became known to the public. As a result, Kasugai promised to take the blame if things go wrong and even stressed that she found the perfect "environment" for everything to go smoothly without any detection. This could have meant Mie because she is someone without kin in this world (no one would question why she suddenly became pregnant or even stand up for her if things go wrong) and her deep admiration for Keiko makes it almost impossible for her to betray the latter. However, it looks likely that Mie might not really react as per what these people are thinking. As Mie grows more attached to the baby she's carrying and there are some hints that she has something going on for Toshio, she will be a potential cause of trouble if she doesn't follow what they want her to do. From the next episode's trailer, we can already see that Mie seems kinda reluctant to sign the papers asking her to give up parentage rights to the baby. It will only be a matter of time before she starts to show some signs of defiance or straying from the arranged path.

Frankly speaking, I was wondering why Kasugai wouldn't be able or wouldn't want to bear Keiko's child personally before I watched this episode. Now it all makes sense because Kasugai herself had an abortion so she had her uterus removed. And she knows the pain of not being able to have your own child so she was spurred to help Keiko. The next questions are, who was the father of that child, why did she give up that child and what reason made her steer clear of relationships after that? We'll probably know the answer at a later stage and I hope that the scriptwriter doesn't forget about answering them.

As things progress, you can get the obsession levels going up for some people. Keiko seems to have lost it at times when you see her fussing over Mie and asking to hear her tummy even though the pregnancy hasn't been certified. Wait till she gets more crazy when the pregnancy progresses to a later stage. Kasugai's constant goading of Toshio to get involved also shows how invested she is in the entire thing. It isn't about Keiko anymore, it also has to do her personal goal of having someone related by blood to herself.

On Shiba's side, his budding relationship with Hirai looks set to be another source of disappointment for him in time to come. Hirai's attempts at seducing him seem as if she was ordered to do so for the sake of something but I don't think Shiba did sleep with her YET. Maybe later or maybe not after all. And Hirai's act of receiving money from patients seem to be driven by her boyfriend or someone who is romantically linked to her extorting money from her so it remains to be seen if this lack of money will drive her to desperation and join Keiko & Co.

On the whole, episode 2's main purpose is to set the key players into position so the next episode looks set to be one which pulls in more bit players, throws up more questions into the air about the integrity of some characters or even shows a couple of conflicts here and there for people who are already involved.

Just to digress a bit, doesn't Okada Masaki look a bit like the younger version of Kashiwabara Takashi from certain angles? I didn't use to think of him this way but this episode made me draw the link for the first time. Not that it matters or affects me in any way though but just amused at how people who didn't look alike in the same now seem similar in one way or another.

Till the next episode then!

Review of Seinaru Kaibutsutachi Ep 1

There are two main reasons why this offering from the current winter season catches my eye. First of all, medical dramas with an investigative/suspense twist are my cup of tea. As the title suggests, we are looking at a bunch of "monsters" in this drama who seem to be embarking on some sacred mission but something is not quite right about this undertaking. It still remains to be seen who are the real "evil" monsters in this drama but at least from the first episode, we are seeing some clues as to who might be potential monsters and why they might be motivated to become one.

Secondly, the cast lineup is made up of quite a number of my favourite actors like Nakatani Miki, Katsumura Masanobu, Kohinata Fumio, Kato Ai, Hasegawa Hiroki, Suzuki An. As for the lead actor Okada Masaki, I've seen him in a number of dramas and movies so far and quite like his acting but his babyface is always a concern when it comes to him taking on more serious or older characters. This character looks like something which can be a potential hit for him so I'm hoping that he can make full use of the opportunity.

Having said all that, let me introduce the characters first before giving a summary of what happened in the first episode:

Shiba Kengo (Okada Masaki)
Kasugai Yuka (Nakatani Miki)
Hyuga Keiko (Kato Ai)
Hyuga Toshio (Hasegawa Hiroki)
Arima Mie (Suzuki An)
Itokawa Yojiro (Watanabe Ikkei)
Mizuhara Ryoji (Katsumura Masanobu)
Okubo Shiro (Kohinata Fumio)
Hirai Yoko (Oomasa Aya)
Shiba Sogo (Hirata Mitsuru)

SPOILERS ALERT!!

One rainy night at Okubo Memorial Hospital, a pregnant woman is sent to the entrance of the hospital even though she has no scheduled appointment for delivery. Shiba Kengo, the doctor on duty that night, decides to do a Ceasarean because of complications with the mother's condition. However, soon after a baby boy is born, the mother dies. Unknown to Shiba, this incident isn't a coincidence but a culmination of various arrangements and happenings...

The story reverses back to 1 year ago when Shiba was told to transfer to Okubo which was facing financial difficulties. At the same time, Hyuga Keiko who is pregnant, is holding her wedding to Hyuga Toshio, the rich owner of an educational business but feels unwell during the ceremony. Suddenly, she collapses in a pool of blood and is sent to the university hospital where Shiba works at...

Although Shiba is reluctant and not so enthusiastic about his new workplace, he starts to discover that there is satisfaction and value in being a hands-on doctor who saves lives, thanks to the calm and capable chief nurse Kasugai Yuka. He also gets advice and information about his co-workers from a patient Itokawa who's been hospitalised for some time.

One night, a boy who suffers from peritonitis is admitted for an emergency operation but Shiba is apprehensive about taking this on because he has no experience. With "encouragement" from Kasugai, Shiba manages to complete the operation successfully.

Keiko visits Kasugai and it is revealed that they are sisters who grew up in an orphanage. Keiko pleads with Kasugai to be her surrogate mother as she can no longer give birth to her own child following the removal of her uterus. However, Kasugai reminds Keiko that surrogate births are forbidden in Japan and doesn't agree to it. Nonetheless, Keiko doesn't want to give up while Kasugai is shaken by Keiko's desperation.　

When Kasugai goes to visit Keiko at her place, seeing how Keiko is treated by her mother-in-law shakes her resolve in doing what's right. In addition, after hearing Shiba's story of his mother risking her life to give birth to him and seeing how a mother disregards the well-being of her child, Kasugai finally decides to help Keiko who wants a child but can't do it herself. On the other hand, Shiba is unknowingly drawn into this whole fiasco without knowing what is going on...

The first episode's pace is relatively fast and sets out to introduce the characters to us and show the main motive for turning the characters into monsters. What is at stake here will be the surrogate pregnancy initiated by Keiko. However, it is not something as easy as getting someone to bear the child for her. Doctors aren't supposed to help with delivering babies from surrogate mothers. I can see that is why Shiba will be drawn into this mess because the people involved will need someone who's oblivious to what's going on in order for this to work. Just from the first scene alone, you can see some suspicious acts by Kasugai which all made sense by the time you finish watching the first episode:

- Kasugai was standing by the window and looking at the entrance before the pregnant woman was sent to the hospital's entrance. She didn't rush out immediately to find out what was going on and waited till the person who sent the woman had left before raising the alarm.
- Kasugai was being rather insistent that Shiba should do the Ceasarean at Okubo rather than sending the pregnant woman to another hospital.

Kasugai couldn't risk letting others know that the woman was sent to Okubo on purpose so she was aware beforehand that the woman was coming. In short, she's part of the surrogate pregnancy scam. Initially, she still stuck to her morals as a medical professional but when she saw her own sister was suffering due to the inability to produce a heir, she just went straight into this crazy idea for Keiko's sake. To be frank, if you have seen the 2nd episode's trailer, it should strike you that Kasugai seems to have lost her usual rational side now that she's decided to go all out to help Keiko.

Keiko's insistence on bearing a child for her husband didn't strike me as solely pure love for her own children but rather, it was also prompted by the fact that her in-laws and her husband's ex-wife were hurling sarcasm at her while maintaining this nice facade. She needs a child to cement her position in the family although I think her husband Toshio doesn't seem to like kids that much and I get the feeling that he's not too concerned that Keiko can't get pregnant although he says that he loves her more than children.

From the trailer, it looks like the surrogate mother isn't going to be Kasugai after all but rather Arima Mie, a teacher who works in the Hyuga family's kindergarten. Since the opening scene already showed Kasugai as one of those who helped in the delivery of the baby, this would have ruled her out. It remains to be seen how they manage to convince Mie to undertake this crucial role of being the surrogate mother.

Another person who looks likely to be involved in this would be the hospital's owner i.e. Okubo. He is at his wits' end due to the hospital's bad financial position but I think his chance meeting with Hyuga Toshio would probably mean something later. If he's desperate enough for money to save his hospital, he would probably agree to letting the surrogate mother give birth in his hospital.

It does look like Shiba will be in the hot soup for helping to deliver the baby boy. There may be legal repercussions even though he is totally unaware of the scam but I think his emotional outburst or change in his mindset after the whole episode is exposed might be something more interesting to look out for as we progress further in this drama. The fate of these "monsters" would also be worth checking out. On the whole, I think the first episode did pretty well in igniting my interest so I should be following this for a while or even till the end if it turns out to be very engaging.

Preview of Seinaru Kaibutsutachi (The Sacred Monsters) 聖なる怪物たち

Title: Seinaru Kaibutsutachi (The Sacred Monsters) 聖なる怪物たち
Official website: here
Broadcast by: TV Asahi
Timeslot: Thursdays, 9pm
O.A. Start Date: 19 Jan 2012
Theme Song: Away Maria by Katherine Jenkins
Original Novel by: Kawahara Ren
Cast: Okada Masaki, Nakatani Miki, Hasegawa Hiroki, Kato Ai, Watanabe Ikkei, Oomasa Aya, Tominaga Saori, Suzuki An, Katsumura Masanobu, Kohinata Fumio, Fujiyoshi Kumiko, Hirata Mitsuru