Tokyo Drama Award 2012 prize-giving ceremony

The prize-giving ceremony of the Tokyo Drama Award 2012 was held on 22 October which gives out awards to dramas and actors for their great performances. "Kaseifu no Mita" starring Matsushima Nanako won the best drama serial award among other excellence award winners "Carnation", "Yokai Ningen Bemu", "Legal High", "Soredemo, Ikiteyuku" and "Shokuzai" and also grabbed the best Asian drama award. On the other hand, "Ashita wo akiramenai...Gareki no naka no Shimbunsha ~ Kahoku Shinpo no Ichiban Nagaihi ~" starring Watabe Atsuro won the best drama SP award for its depiction of what happened to Kahoku Shinpo on the day when the March 11 earthquake and tsunami struck the Tohoku region. Other drama SP excellence awards went to "Tonbi", "Suna no Utsuwa", "Blackboard ~ Jidai to tatakkate kyoushi tachi" and "SPEC ~ Sho".

The best leading actor went to Sakai Masato for his performance in "Legal High" and Ono Machiko got the best leading actress award for her role in "Carnation". As for the supporting actor award, it went to Hasegawa Hiroki (Kaseifu no Mita) while An won the supporting actress award for "Yokai Ningen Bemu". The best script award was given to Yukawa Kazuhiko for his work in "Kaseifu no Mita" and the same drama's producer Oohira Futoshi also won the best producer award. The best director award was shared between Kurosawa Kiyoshi (Shokuzai) and Tanaka Kenji (Carnation).

Source: Sanspo

Shokuzai's novel by Minato Kanae

Title: Shokuzai
Author: Minato Kanae
First published on: 15 Jun 2009
Total number of pages: 254
ISBN: 9784488017569
For more details on the novel and to sample the first few pages, please go here.

Review of Shokuzai Ep 5 (Final)

As far as I can remember, Shokuzai has one of the better drama finales I've seen in recent years. The drama started with a bang (thanks to the fast-paced storytelling and stellar performances from Koizumi Kyoko, Aoi Yu and Moriyama Mirai), got a little sluggish in the middle but still managed to end on a high note. Before I get to the review of the entire drama, let me recap the story in the finale first. If you do not wish to know the developments before watching the drama, please skip this post.

Asako gets a clue from Yuka about the identity of the killer and is preparing to look for him. Her husband Toshiro senses that she is up to something and tries to persuade her to give things up but Asako doesn't pay heed to the warning. This is actually the first time Toshiro appears in the drama and we see how he reacted to Emily's untimely death 15 years back. Compared to Asako's deep grief and bitterness, Toshiro appeared relatively unaffected because he could still handle work matters weeks after Emily's murder. I don't think it's because he didn't love Emily as much as Asako but rather, being someone who manages a company and the head of the family, he probably didn't have the luxury like Asako to grieve openly and for a prolonged period. You can see that he still misses Emily when he remarked that their son (born after Emily's death) will be at his late sister's age soon. He knows Asako is still being badly affected by Emily's murder and I think he knows very well that she is hunting for the killer. Although he doesn't think that it is good to continue being affected by the past, he still lets Asako have her way because he knows that only getting the killer nabbed will bring closure for his wife.

Using that clue which Yuka gave her, Asako sets off to look for Aoki Hiroaki (Kagawa Teruyuki), the principal of a free-school and it turns out this man is actually her ex-lover Nanjo Hiroaki! Nanjo changed his surname to Aoki because he married into his wife's family and set up the free school for kids who couldn't adapt to the regular school system in Yamanashi Prefecture. I think Asako could have already guessed Aoki's true identity before seeing him because she was wary of being seen by him. Nonetheless, the reunion of these two was really exciting to watch, thanks to Koizumi's and Kagawa's great acting. I won't go into details on what exactly transpired between them in the past (way before Emily was killed) but I'll go straight to their final showdown.

Actually, once Nanjo appeared in the story, it was already confirmed that he was Emily's killer. However, he didn't set out to kill her just to get back at Asako in the first place. An uncanny series of coincidences led Nanjo to find out what Asako did long ago and he just wanted to hurt Emily in one way or another to get back at Asako. That means Nanjo had no intention of raping or killing Emily in the first place but at the time of the crime, something went off in his mind and he went to the extreme. Frankly speaking, I didn't realise that Emily was sexually assaulted at the time of the murder and it was only until this episode when I found out what happened. Asako didn't understand why Nanjo could be so cruel to Emily and was expecting to see his remorse when she revealed that Emily was Nanjo's daughter (he had raped Asako before she got married to Toshiro). However, Nanjo didn't react in the way she wanted and frankly speaking, it was rather sickening to hear what he had to say about raping and killing Emily.

In the end, Nanjo chose to kill himself as a final present to Asako and in a way, it's an atonement towards what he did. However, I don't think he was really fearless as he appeared because he crouched down before the train hit him. When Asako was brought back to the police station, she insisted that she pushed Nanjo onto the tracks but the police found that she was innocent and released her. As Asako walks away aimlessly from the police station, she realises that she no longer has an aim in life and that she doesn't know what to do to make it up to Emily...

If we want to discuss who should bear the most responsibility for Emily's death and the subsequent tragedies which happened to Emily's friends, Asako would appear to be the one. Asako's obsessive love for Nanjo in the past spurred her to do the wrong thing and in turn, Nanjo's hatred for Asako made him do the worst thing possible to Emily. If Asako didn't threaten Emily's friends to make appropriate "amends" towards Emily, would that have spared Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuka from the misery they suffered 15 years later? However, for her part in causing everything which happened, her fate at the end of the drama does make people sympathise with her to a certain extent. She wouldn't have known in advance that her actions would cause so much pain to the people around her. It might not have hurt as much if Asako did suffer retribution for what she did. However, unrelated people took the brunt for her and in the end, she has to pay with losing her purpose in life, not knowing what she can do to make amends to Emily and the burden of causing four girls and Nanjo's lives to be affected adversely by her obsessive nature.

Shokuzai succeeds as an emotionally-charged story because of three main reasons i.e. the story, acting and atmosphere. Although I had some complaints about Ep 2 and 3 i.e. Maki and Akiko's arcs, I think the quality of the drama in general is very good. Especially in the last episode, it was filled with lots of tension as you see the truth unraveling. I have been disappointed many times when the finale spoiled good dramas so it was a relief that Shokuzai surprised me in a good way.

Acting-wise, Koizumi Kyoko takes the cake for potraying Asako so well as a grieving mother who has an unknown side and past. At times, you think that she has really lost it but sometimes, Asako appears so lucid and normal (especially when she's with her husband and son) that you think she is playing two different persons. Kagawa Teruyuki only appeared for one episode but is such a joy to watch with his potrayal of the twisted Nanjo. Well, Nanjo wasn't like this but he sort of went crazy after discovering what Asako did so it gave me the creeps especially when he faced off with Asako during their reunion and during the climax scene when he responded to the revelation that Emily was his daughter. As for the four ladies who potrayed the grown-up versions of Emily's friends, it is really difficult to judge them because their stories placed different restrictions on their characters so Ando Sakura and Koike Eiko appeared a bit weaker to me because their stories didn't mesh as well as Aoi Yu's or Ikewaki Chizuru's episodes with the main storyline of making amends to Emily for not remembering the killer. Especially for Ando who had to emphasize Akiko's plain appearance and character, she didn't stand out as much as the rest because she had to divide her screen time between appearing normal and looking like she was hallucinating. We also have to look at their "partners" in their stories. Aoi had Moriyama Mirai play her weirdo husband which gave Sae's story added impact while the rest didn't have someone like this. Kase Ryo was impressive but he didn't have much time to show what he could do. Personally, I like Aoi's story the best but I also think Ikewaki did pretty well albeit the story being a bit more predictable than the first episode.

As mentioned before, the toned-down colour contrast helped a lot in making the story more engaging. It seems to represent how the main characters' lives have lost their colour ever since Emily's death and sets the stage for the tragedies that unfolded. If you look at Asako's final scene, it was so misty and gloomy that the only way for her seemed to be death. Of course, we wouldn't know Asako's fate through the drama but the setting did boost the impact of Asako's despair being relayed to the viewers.

If you are one who doesn't like emotionally-heavy dramas, this may be a bit difficult to stomach but if you are prepared to give it a try, you should feel satisfied by the end of it.

And my ratings for this drama...
Story: 8.5 out of 10 (I would have given it a perfect 10 if not for the sluggish pace in the middle of its run)
Acting: 9 out of 10 (Good acting from the key characters in general)
Theme song: 7 out of 10 (There's no theme song but I think the BGM was quite good in building up the suspense)
Visual effects / Scenery: 7.5 out of 10 (It may be a bit uncomfortable to see the muted colour scheme but it lends credit to the story and builds up the heavy atmosphere. Some of the scenes at Yamanashi e.g. when Asako and Nanjo talked in the forest looked quite nice)
Teamwork / Chemistry: 8 out of 10 (This is for three pairs of actors - Aoi Yu vs. Moriyama Mirai, Koizumi Kyoko vs. Ikewaki Chizuru and of course Koizumi vs. Kagawa Teruyuki)

Total: 40 out of 50

Review of Shokuzai Ep 4

The story now shifts to Yuka (Ikewaki Chizuru), the last of the quartet who had been close friends with Emily. At the time of the murder, Yuka had gone to report the case to the police. As a result of this encounter, Yuka started to have an unexplainable infatuation with the policeman she met that day. It could be due to the fact that Yuka was practically ignored at home because her sickly sister Mayu hogged their mother's attention. Whenever Yuka went to the police post to turn in lost items she found, she was basking in the attention and praise the policeman showered on her. However, this did not last as the policeman was transferred to another place.

Compared to her other friends who had been seriously affected by Asako's threatening words, Yuka declared that she wasn't going to do Asako's bidding and would live the way she wants. I don't think that it necessarily means that she's emotionally stronger than the rest. Due to the fact that Yuka had been neglected by her mother at home, she had no choice but to toughen up emotionally or put up a front to show that she wasn't affected at all.

15 years later, Yuka becomes the owner of a florist shop (probably due to financing from a married man Noguchi who seems to be having an affair with her) while her elder sister Mayu is already married to Murakami Keita. Due to the fact that her shop is near her sister's place, Yuka starts to know more about Keita and finds out that he's a policeman. This ignites the dormant infatuation she has always held for policemen and the jealousy towards her sister for having the things she has always wanted. Yuka then seduces Keita and even becomes pregnant with his child. This causes Mayu to collapse from the shock and Keita scurrying to save his marriage. At the same time, Asako sends a letter to Yuka, asking to meet her because she doesn't want her words to have the same undesirable effects on Yuka like how her friends suffered. However, Yuka doesn't go to visit Asako immediately and only does so when she uncovers a clue to Emily's murder.

Frankly speaking, among the four episodes so far, I think Yuka's story is the best in terms of pace and developments. Sae's story took a long time to develop and was bordering on being too draggy at times although I enjoyed it as a whole. Maki's story likewise suffered from a similar problem and the half-hearted ending not talking much about her fate feels like unfinished business to me. Akiko's story left a lot to imagination and we couldn't even be sure whether she was reading too much into the situation or those events did happen. Yuka's story dealt not only with her own feelings of feeling victimised and suffering from the side effects of favouritism (of course, she wasn't the pampered one) but also the dynamics of her relationship with her sister even after they had grown up and how far she was willing to go in order to achieve her aims. I don't think she really likes Keita but his being a policeman and her brother-in-law just made her go all out to snatch him from Mayu.

The title referring to the 10-month pregnancy period seems to be suggesting that Yuka might undergo a change in her character after being a mother. It isn't that significant but I think her stand did soften a bit. She initially wanted Asako to exchange her husband for the clue on the killer but gave it to her readily after Asako sent her to hospital following some complications with her pregnancy. Coupled with the fact that Yuka pushed Keita to his death, it could have meant that she felt that there was no more reason to hold on to the clue and she owed Asako a favour after all.

Now that Asako has a clue to the killer, looks like we are in for a showdown between her and the culprit. It does seem that Emily wasn't kiled due to chance so there should be something linking Asako and that man. If this happens to be true, that means Asako also has a duty to make amends towards Emily for her past actions?

Review of Shokuzai Ep 3

The third story focuses on Takano Akiko, the girl who went to inform Asako about Emily's death. As compared to Sae and Maki, I think Akiko was affected in a different way by the incident. Sae and Maki didn't seem like they were emotionally flawed in any way especially when Maki was potrayed to be a top performer and natural leader in a group. They only changed because of Emily's murder. However, Akiko seemed to have been belittled by her mother since young and therefore appeared to lack self confidence. What happened to Emily only served to reinforce her belief that she didn't deserve to look good and behave like a normal girl but I wouldn't say it changed her fundamentally in the same way Sae and Maki did.

Before Emily's murder, Akiko was pretty much what we would call the plain Jane. She didn't really stand out as a kid in the group of five girls and seemed to be slipping into the background most of the time. However, a turning point came when her aunt bought Akiko a branded dress which made her realise that she could be as cute as her friends and look good just like an ordinary little girl. Unfortunately, Emily's murder destroyed this little flicker of self-confidence. Akiko happened to be wearing this dress on that fateful day and as Asako rushed to the school after being informed by Akiko, the little girl was pushed aside and fell down at the garden of Asako's house. She ended up having a nose bleed which stained her dress so badly that her mother had to throw it away. After hearing her mother's remarks that she should never have worn that dress, Akiko started to have this idea that she is like a bear and should never behave like a girl anymore. I think this could be her own way of punishing herself so that she never enjoys the happiness of leading a normal life.

Something also differentiates Akiko from Sae and Maki who didn't seem particularly close to anyone in their families. Akiko has a brother Koji who dotes on her and she looks up to him. Actually, other than the fact that Akiko copes herself up in her room, is not working and never dresses like a woman in her 20s, she's pretty normal in the family side of things because she goes out to run errands for her mother and holds decent conversations with them. When Koji returns home from Tokyo after getting married to a woman named Haruka who already has a daughter (Wakaba), Akiko starts to change and suspects that something is not quite right.

Well, from this point onwards, if you are not prepared to know what happened at the end, it might be a good idea to skip the review.

Frankly speaking, it was difficult to tell if what happened was Akiko's imagination or that Koji really was up to no good. True, he was seen once in the company of a young girl and that Wakaba appeared resistant to the idea of spending time alone with her stepfather. However, that scene when Koji and Wakaba were playing together on the bed is pretty much open to everyone's interpretation. Maybe they were just having fun in a harmless manner but Akiko's suspicions about Koji had been building up and that scene sort of tipped the balance in her mind. I personally think that it probably feels a bit weird for the stepfather to play like that with his stepdaughter but then Wakaba didn't look like she was being forced or anything. That's why I get the feeling that Akiko would not have over-reacted if she didn't think badly of Koji in the first place. Coupled with her guilt towards not being able to save Emily and her promise to Asako to compensate for her inability to help with the capture of Emily's murderer prompted her to do what she did. Then again, if you think of it in another way, I don't feel that it was entirely for Emily's sake nor Asako's after all. At the very least, Asako wasn't convinced by Akiko's rationale that she killed her brother because she saw him as a threat to Wakaba's well-being. Akiko's argument was that she didn't want Wakaba to end up like Emily but this does sound a bit far-fetched to me.

I think by this point in time, Asako would have some doubts in her mind as to whether her action 15 years ago destroyed the lives of these young girls. One murdered her husband, one lost her career while another killed her own brother. It now remains to be seen how the fourth girl will turn out and it appears that she will finally provide Asako with some answers she needs before we get to the finale episode of finding who the murderer was.

Review of Shokuzai Ep 2

The second episode titled "PTA Rinji Soukai" (PTA Emergency Assembly) features Shinohara Maki (Koike Eiko), the class monitor and model student at the time of Emily's death. As compared to Sae who was badly traumatised by Emily's murder and becoming so jumpy whenever a man came near her, Maki's trauma manifested in a different way. Before the incident, she was the natural leader in the group and even "distributed" duties among her friends after they found Emily dead. However, as she was unable to locate any teacher to seek help before the police arrived, the guilt at not doing anything worthwhile made her lose confidence in her abilities as seen from her withdrawal from things which needed responsibility.

15 years later, Maki becomes a teacher at a primary school but is known for being excessively strict with her students. This causes her to be unpopular and constantly being called up by the vice principal to be lectured about her attitude. One day, Maki chances upon a girl being bullied by other male schoolmates and demands to know what happened. However, this makes her the target of attacks by parents as they want to know why she had to do that to the girl who was bullied. Luckily for Maki, a colleague Tanabe who's popular with the kids, stands up for her.

On the day of Emily's 15th death anniversary, Maki bumps into Asako at Emily's grave and promises Asako that she hasn't forgotten about her promise. Soon after, an incident happens which causes Maki to confront her hidden fears and traumatic past...

Just like the 1st episode, the colour tone in this episode is muted which also reflects how Maki has been living for the past 15 years. Being the leader in the group, Maki could have had a stronger sense of responsibility as compared to the others. This can be seen from the fact that she had run around once to look for teachers in the school but couldn't find anyone. However, she couldn't allow herself to return to the crime scene withouth achieving her goal and ran around for the second time. When Maki saw that the police came before she could do anything, the sense of disappointment in herself appeared to be very strong. As a result, she had avoided responsibility and making decisions because she thinks that she no longer knows what's right and wrong.

At that time when Maki was questioned by the police about Emily's killer, I think she could have faked that she couldn't remember anything because she didn't trust herself anymore. That's why she avoided giving out the information because it could be wrong. However, at the ending scene, Maki seems to have overcome her emotional barrier and decided to come clean with Asako. I don't really think that Maki would have died as a result of that punch from Tanabe so she could have just passed out for a while. Coming to that, I think Tanabe was angry at Maki who walked away from the controversy surrounding her actions relatively unscathed while he had to bear the brunt of the ridicule for his behaviour.

Compared to Asako's cold front when she faced Sae at her wedding, I'm starting to observe some changes in Asako's attitude toward Emily's friends. She seemed really happy to see that Maki came to visit Emily's grave and her expression softened a lot when the scene shifted to her interaction with her son (most likely born after Emily's death). I don't think Asako meant that the girls should pay for Emily's death. She was really furious that the investigation was going nowhere as a result of them being unable to provide any information to the police. However, being a mother herself, she probably wanted them to remember Emily's tragic end and make sure they live their lives in a manner that will satisfy her. Unfortunately, we can see that at least two of the girls have suffered badly because they have been heavily burdened by both Emily's murder and their promise to Asako.

Looks like the third episode is also going to be one emotionally-heavy ride. At least Sae and Maki did lead "normal" lives but the third girl seems to be cooped up at home and behaves oddly. There aren't a lot of leads for Asako to work on in order to trace the killer so it also remains to be seen how the final revelation will be.

Review of Shokuzai Ep 1

WOWOW dramas never fail to amaze me (well, most of the time I would say). The selection of material and actors are what you normally won't see from TV networks such as FujiTV, TBS, NTV or TV Asahi. People hogging the lead roles on the basis of their popularity rather than acting skills are rare here and you are always treated to a visual feast of very exceptional actors in leading and supporting roles. NHK has been churning out very high quality shows as well in recent years but WOWOW has an advantage in challenging very controversial themes since they are not burdened by the tag of national broadcaster.

What attracted me to this drama were two main reasons: the story and Koizumi Kyoko.

The story is based on a novel by Minato Kanae which is written in the same way i.e. different lead characters each time being the narrator just like Kokuhaku, another of her hit novel which was made into a movie starring Matsu Takako. Starting from 15 years ago, we are introduced to this little girl Adachi Emiri who moved to a suburb town due to her father's transfer and becomes close friends with four of her classmates namely Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuka. One day while playing in school, a male stranger approaches the group and asks for someone to accompany him to the stadium to carry out some works there. He selects Emiri from the group and she follows him alone despite her friends volunteering to come along. However, Emiri is killed that evening and the four girls discover her lifeless body in the stadium.

Being the only people who have seen the suspect, the girls cannot recall how the man look like and thus the police make no headway in finding the murderer. One day, Emiri's mother Asako invites the girls to her place on the pretext of celebrating Emiri's birthday and berates the girls for being useless thus causing the police to be unable to find the killer. She demands that the four of them make amends to Emiri in return and makes them promise to do that in their own ways.

As there are only 5 episodes in this drama, the first four will be centered on the lives of these four girls 15 years later i.e. present day. The trauma of Emiri's murder plus the haunting promise they made to Asako creates a tragic spiral of events for each of them as Asako continues to hunt for her daughter's killer.

We begin episode 1 with Sae's story. At the time when the girls found the body, Sae was tasked with staying behind in the stadium to keep watch on Emiri's body. It could be due to this that she seems to be really edgy around men and keeps a distance from them. One day, she is introduced to an eligible bachelor Otsuki Takahiro who decides to accept her for what she is but it turns out that there is more than meets the eye...

I won't go into the details of what exactly is wrong with Takahiro or what happens to Sae at the end because that will spoil the fun of watching. What I can say is that, there is some violence although not explicit and it can be really uncomfortable when it is revealed how Takahiro is really like and how Sae chooses to go along with his requests. Do not be surprised when you see that the colour balance on your screen seems to be less vibrant than usual. It seems to be a deliberate attempt to show the darkness of the theme and how the lives of the leads are like i.e. Sae being constantly in fear, Takahiro having a secret that he can reveal to Sae only and Asako still being consumed by the fury over being unable to catch her daughter's killer. Even the wedding scene seemed very much like a funeral to me with its dark colour mix.

Koizumi Kyoko is great as Asako especially when she appeared as a fashionable and happy mother in the beginning but changed to looking more like a black widow after Emiri's death. It was terrifying to see how she behaved so menacingly in front of the girls as if she wants them to pay the price of her daughter's untimely death. I'm getting the idea that Emiri's death is not coincidental after all since the killer chose Emiri to go with him. It will be worth checking out how Koizumi will potray Asako as the truth is revealed.

Aoi Yu plays Sae and I have to say that she's perfect for the role. Other than the fact that Aoi usually plays those gentle and quiet girls on screen, I think she managed to capture Sae's insecurity and how she grasped at the chance to get out of her current situation and continuing to bear with things even when it was clear that her happiness is just a front for others to see. Her last encounter with Asako as she leaves her apartment in the morning shows a lot of Sae's desperation as she asks Asako if what she has done is enough to make it up to Emiri.

A pleasant surprise would be to see Moriyama Mirai in the role of Takahiro. My impression of him so far has usually been confined to more comical or cheerful types of roles but he totally changed my opinion of him through this single episode. I don't know if he deliberately lost weight for this drama but he looked really gaunt and a bit creepy even though he's supposed to play a high-flying executive who seems to have it all. When you finish watching this episode, you will then realise why this is so. I think he and Aoi had really great chemistry as a couple in this drama (not in the romantic sense though) and it was truly amazing to see how they could handle such complicated characters so well.

One word of caution, if you are looking for fast-moving action, you might be very disappointed. Most of the story developments take their time and there are some scenes where there isn't much dialogue to convey how the characters are feeling. Coupled with the dull colour scheme, there would probably be people who doze off while watching this but I think the storyline and great acting is worth checking out even though I also had the temptation to press the fast-forward button at times.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the rest of the series and finding out the truth to Emiri's death which promises to be a rollercoaster ride for everyone especially Asako. Next episode features Koike Eiko as a teacher and I wonder how her character is affected by Emiri's murder?

Preview of Shokuzai 贖罪 (Atonement)

Title: Shokuzai 贖罪 (Atonement)
Official website: here
Broadcast by: WOWOW
Timeslot: Sundays 10pm
Total number of episodes: 5
O.A. Start Date: 8 Jan 2012
Original novel by: Minato Kanae
Cast: Koizumi Kyoko, Aoi Yu, Koike Eiko, Ando Sakura, Ikewaki Chizuru, Tanaka Tetsushi, Takahashi Hitomi, Moriyama Mirai, Matsumoto Marika, Mizuhashi Kenji, Kase Ryo etc.