The Black Swindler

Better than the previous one

Okay don’t eat me up but I’m from Yama-pi era where everyone was knocked off by his good looks and monotonous acting. The reason I’m giving so many stars are due to the following reasons. (I’m comparing it with the previous one).

Hirano Sho has done a better job at portraying Kurosaki. From the surface you might feel he is less “serious and dark” compared to monotonous Yama-pi, but he has shown the deep emotions every where required. For a high schooler to go through so much pain and trauma, he is trying to move on and get revenge and get people in their right place. Act out fine in front of the world but he has the emotions bottled up somewhere.

The story was written well this time and flowed perfectly and honestly the casting was done way better than the previous one. Miura Tomokazu just did the best job. All the characters were more likeable this time. In 2006 only Horikita Maki was doing a good job trying to be the character and likeable at the same time. And the ending was definitely better than that from 2006. It has a proper closure in a way, that wasn’t there in 2006.

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"I will devour them for you"

Every once in a while, I need a wish fulfillment drama like Kurosagi aka The Black Swindler. Where much like in Leverage, capable people punish and stop swindlers and criminals who often evade prosecution. Kurosaki Koshiro had a strong need for revenge after the deaths of his family members due to a swindler and worked with a powerful man who may or may not have been his enemy to accomplish his goals.

Kurosaki goes by many alias all beginning with Kuro. He is a Black Swindler who devours White Swindlers who prey on the vulnerable and fleece them of their money. He shares his take with Katsuragi, a sweet shop owner and launderer of illicit money. Katsuragi sells Kuro information on swindlers who are drawing the wrong kind of attention. In going after one white swindler, he meets a man much like his father who has lost everything. The man’s daughter, Tsurara, is vehemently against Kuro helping her dad. She is studying to become a lawyer so that one day she can be a prosecutor. Another fly in Kuro’s anointment is detective Kashina, who much like Tsurara is overly enthusiastic, judgmental, and living in a black and white world. Each time Kuro thinks he’s taken down the person who helped destroy his father, he finds a deeper level of swindling deceit.

I like to visit a world where there is someone who gives criminals their comeuppance. Not everyone in The Black Swindler felt the same way. Tsurara and Kashina seemed far more offended by Kuro who brought down swindlers than the actual swindlers themselves. Kashina who banged on about the need for law-and-order beat Kuro just for the heck of it at one time. Pretty sure assault on a citizen was a crime. Then he followed Kuro to Shanghai to prevent him from taking down a Big Bad and somehow managed to find Kuro on a remote street in a city of 25 million people. I have trouble finding my husband when we get separated in the grocery store! Also guessing China would frown on a foreign officer doing business clandestinely on their soil. Kashina and Tusrara with their shouting and breathless earnestness came close to spoiling my viewing experience. What made up for them were the more well written characters. Hirano Sho gave Kuro the emotional depth this single-minded character needed. Miura Tomokazu as the world weary and creative dessert chef Katsuragi was the perfect reluctant father figure and foe. I enjoyed every time Yamamoto Koji came on screen as the enigmatic and humorous Shiraishi. Nakamura Yuri’s character didn’t have much depth as Katsuragi’s assistant, but was skilled enough to take down the bad guys quietly and efficiently.

There were stand alone cases Kuro faced and those that tied back to the swindlers he was hunting. The cases were interesting and Kuro always got his man, even when he was a woman. The solutions may have been over simplified but I didn’t care, it was nice to see the schemers give Kuro a good meal as he devoured them and their ill-gotten gains.

8 January 2025

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Was It The Real Ending?

I don't know what I expected from this drama, however.... it wasn't what I watched. I don't know if this story exceeded or met or fell below any or all expectations that I had, though it did fall in the range of "extraordinary" and "thrilling".

This story was very well cast, at first I wasn't sure if a few cast members were the right choice, though the more I continued to watch, the more I was proven wrong. I haven't watched the first series of "Kurosagi" yet, even though I've planned to, so I'm not entirely sure how this remake matches or creates its own story with the original. The music really added to fueling up anticipation for the next episode so much that I'm still looking forward to more stories of Kurosaki, Yoshikawa, Kashina, and everyone else!

I'm curious about the role of the professor at Yoshikawa-san's college, however; I feel like that part could have been played up a bit more, though I can see why it wasn't toward the end. While there didn't seem to be any cliffhanger, per say, the last episode definitely left me wanting more! I'm glad there wasn't a strong romance side story within this show, I think it would have made the storyline a bit complicated and maybe even a little cheesy.

I really liked watching Hirano Sho's take on his character. Seeing his personality come through and the way he portrayed such strong, intense, scary emotions and roles in each episode was really spectacular. I wonder If this show was tough; emotionally, mentally, or even physically. There are a few parts I wish they drew out longer, or gave more definition too, including a few characters, too.

This show really is one of a kind, keeping in mind I haven't seen the first series that started it all. Watching the cast put their unique spin on each story was fascinating. Though I do have a few questions left, I'm not disappointed with how things turned out, so much as I feel like there should have been more to the story; it sort of felt like, toward the end, that there was a rush on time or something like that. I think this show has great rewatching power, and it is most definitely one of my favorites of Hirano Sho's. I think he was supposed to be something of the "main cast/headliner" for this series, although I don't think that would be fair to the rest of the cast selected; everyone was truly incredible! It was nice to see a new side of Hirano Sho, and a few other actors I like, too.

This story definitely leaves you thinking!

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Two of Three Worth Watching

The Black Swindler (2006)

Kurosagi: The Movie (2008)

Kurosagi (2022)


This Kurosagi series is about a young man (Kurosaki) whose father got swindled or conned pushing him to kill his family and himself. The son survived and thereafter dedicated himself to revenge on all such swindlers. A straight forward vigilante themed story.

Con men who swindle the innocent financially are called white swindlers (Shirosagi). Con artists who swindle romantically for money are called red swindlers (Akasagi). Our main character only cons white (Shiro) and red (Aka) swindlers (Sagi) so we have a strong Robin Hood theme in order to ensure sympathy with the lead who is after all breaking the law.

All three were written by the same screenwriter and one of a few directors is common to all three.

The cast of both The Black Swindler (2006) and the Movie (2008) are the same. The 2022 version is a reboot with all new cast.

I first watched Kurosagi (2022). Generally Japanese productions can be problematic with exaggerated acting styles and seriously obnoxious background music. However, this 2022 version is very watchable and the music not too distracting.

The 2006 TV Show was at first off-putting due to the acting and background music but I was curious how it compares to the 2022 reboot. It’s very similar following main plot twists - mostly - but has several significant changes in subplots. The result is a nicely done resonation between the two. You’ll get more from watching both than either alone.

The screenwriter loves symbolism. Conning someone is called ‘eating’. A main support character, a mentor to Kurosaki in all three, is shown having difficulty at times eating some thing or other. He is of course the master swindler who is guiding Kurosaki after his survival as a young teen.

The Movie (2008) is a clumsy return to first series (2006) and is essentially a long single episode. It doesn’t work so well and is forgettable. It could be the persistent references to the assassination of Julius Caesar and his betrayal by Brutus (whose mother was Servilia Caesar’s love interest over decades so possibly Caesar was real father of Brutus) or the frequent exposition.

Two out of three are worth the time. The third is for curiosity.

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I will devour them

Being fairly new to the world of J-Drama, I have noticed that the plots sometimes have very convenient resolutions or unrealistic scenarios. Some of the scams seem too illogical to be believable. Buying an abandoned building at a high price without even checking the building. Setting up shell companies to launder funds or execute M&A. So you suspend your disbelief for the sake of entertainment. The one guy who saves the series is Sho. I don’t care that he is a pop star. I don’t care that he has 4.7m followers on IG. His acting is so perfect for this role. He plays a 21yo swindler and does so with street cred and panache. His outfits are so fine and he is super easy on the eyes. I hope he continues to choose good scripts for his future shows. It will be a waste if he takes on a lousy script.

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