Rating: 7.5 / 10
Recommended for:
Those who want to watch a journalism-themed suspense story with solid acting from the cast and/or are fans of Tamaki Hiroshi and Matsuda Genta
POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD!
Liked:
- Unlike many suspense stories which would only talk about the lead character's past or back story towards the end, this drama was unconventional in showing Ippongi Tooru's (Tamaki Hiroshi) painful past right from the first episode. It took a lot of guesswork out of the plot and allowed the viewers to concentrate fully on the current case which I would say was a pretty daring approach since they wouldn't be able to depend on dangling his back story as a bait to keep viewers hanging on till the end. However, his back story wasn't just an afterthought but rather a key piece of the puzzle which led to the resolution of the current case. In terms of story planning, I felt that this drama had a very different but interesting approach which was quite refreshing.
- The current case was presented in an engaging way that provided enough twists and turns to mess with the minds of the viewers. However, since the drama was only 5 episodes long, the good thing with this was that this state of confusion only lasted for 2.5 episodes at most since the clues started being dropped from episode 3. This approach also allowed viewers to have enough time to do some detective guesswork on their own rather than have the truth and resolution shoved into the face in a rushed manner towards the end.
- Fans of Tamaki Hiroshi would be in for a treat because he looked really good with the moustache and gruffy image as Ippongi Tooru. Hard to believe that this same guy played Chiaki-senpai in "Nodame Cantabile" so this was a great reflection of his acting versatility. This was definitely one of the better performances which I enjoyed from him.
Another surprise package came in the form of Matsuda Genta. This was probably the first time I saw his acting (the snippets from "Tokyo Tower" wouldn't count though) and I was impressed with how he handled the transition of his character Yoichiro over the course of the story. Again, this was a bit hard to reconcile with the somewhat "wild" impression I had of him through the "Tokyo Tower" clips. This guy does look pretty promising if he could play Yoichiro like this at the age of 22 or 23. I wonder if I am the only one though - I feel that he has a similar vibe like Kikuchi Fuuma who usually has a cheeky and funny image but turns out very differently when he's acting?
Disliked:
- While the story largely made sense and the motive of the culprit was understandable, I couldn't help but feel that some things happened too coincidentally that it didn't feel logical. And there were so many irregularities and things which shouldn't have happened such as touching evidence with bare hands (where are the gloves?!), almost the whole newsroom crowding around one copy of the culprit's letter (you do know that you can make photocopies, right?) or that there seemed to be no repercussions for reporters who write articles or the media which issues reports that turn out to be based on untruths or a misunderstanding. Then again, if you can keep in mind that this is fiction in dramaland, this might be a lot more palatable if you can "close one eye" to such things.
- The drama's length is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it helped to keep the pace of the story at a speedy level without being too draggy but it also limited the impact and depth of the emotional scenes. For example, the showdown between the culprit and Ippongi felt like a hurried confession from the culprit with hardly any emotions. While I understood this to be the culprit having accepted his fate and that he knew he would be arrested soon, the earlier part of his confession felt so bland until he got to the emotional part.
Likewise, when Ippongi went to see the son he never knew he had, I felt like I had just gotten into his emotional state and before you knew it, the scene ended abruptly. For important scenes like this, it would have been better if the scene lingered on a bit longer so viewers to feel what the characters were going through rather than disrupt the emotions so quickly. That, I felt was a pity because it would have made the viewers empathise more with the characters and lead to a deeper reflection of the issues and questions posed to us through this story.
- The significance of the title - while I appreciate it being explained, the answer may not go down well with everyone. I was expecting this to be more related to Ippongi but it was actually from the culprit's perspective. It did feel somewhat anti-climatic when I saw this and I wondered if that was all to it. However, if you look at it from a different perspective, an answer is still better than being kept in the dark till the end and beyond. Whether you like or accept the answer is another question though.
