Turning a masterpiece into mediocrity
Kaibutsu is guilty of the most egregious sin a remake could commit, it's bad but not bad enough for a hate watch. It's simply a mediocre crime drama, that uses dry storytelling to mask the way it relies on sensationalism. It's dime a dozen in the world of J-drama mysteries.It's too sad to list all the wonderful qualities of the outstanding original K-drama Goemul/Beyond Evil that weren't utilised in Kaibutsu so let's just focus on the positives. Yasuda Ken creates instantly likeable male lead who is easy to root for; he isn't overacting at all, it's just that the male lead is one of the two characters allowed to emote in the drama (otherwise we might forget that we are watching a Gritty Crime TV™). The other emoting character (Tadokoro, not the second male lead) is charming as well. The OST is really well-made, and the production design is fun if your watched the original (J-dramas and K-dramas portray creepy basements very differently). It has to be said that Kaibutsu does realistic costuming much better, as in unkempt characters do have unwashed hair and ragged clothes unlike Beyond Evil where "unkempt-coding" is used instead.
Sometimes the story is so strong, it shines even through a bad retelling. That's why the episodes of Kaibutsu focused on the plot reveals still manage to be gripping and compelling. But the original is so much more than a who-dun-it with a couple of shocking twists, existence of Kaibutsu all but boggles the mind.
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