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Perfect Crime.
Well, well, well. This is one to watch, if you want to play a thrilling guessing game and figure out the modus operandi of the perpetrator.Sai consists of a series of seemingly unrelated deaths taking place over different prefectures/regions... all that are done by one man.
Until Domoto-san, the detective daughter of a famous criminal profiler, finds a common link among them.
What makes this drama a standout from the rest is that the serial killer knew how to choose his victims. He probed their emotions, explored the misery of the people around them, settling on ambiguous targets which prompt lazy detectives to arrive to an immediate conclusion. I could figure out how he chose the targets or the people around them.
It was thrilling to figure out how his mind worked, but this doesn't stop just at that. As the drama draws to a close, his tactics change. Very understandably. You'll have to watch the drama to know why.
While Domoto-san is definitely the star detective, inspite of limited screentime for the first four episodes, it was Iida-san who stole the scene. For someone who exhibits casual arrogance and resorts to shallow conclusions, he had a kind heart and was suprisingly, very, very sharp. Too sharp, perhaps.
The drama had very minimal background music and cinematography that was on point and attempted to capture the essence of the scene.
I was disappointed on how abruptly it was all over, as it ends on both despair and hope. It definitely needed another season for a neat denouement, but I'm satisfied for now. [Many thanks to HPriest for the fansubs.]
I'm just happy that somewhere, Domoto-san's curiosity is alive and kicking.
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This review may contain spoilers
A Different Kind of Thriller
This is basically a serial killer thriller but with a pretty interesting reversal of the usual formula.Normally....these kinds of dramas are about detectives trying to catch the killer while we follow along as they slowly piece together the clues. Here....we don't really get that. We follow the victims first and the one constant connecting all of them is the serial killer. We are not really watching the aftermath of the murders either. It's more like the beforemath lol. We see these people living their lives, getting to know them and whatever is going on with them, and then suddenly... he strikes.
And that honestly got me. The drama does a really good job of making you think you are watching some ordinary life drama getting invested in someone is story and then BAM. The guy appears and everything goes to hell. You already know you are watching a thriller but the way it hides the actual threat until he appears makes the whole thing work.
And I HAVE to talk about the music when the bodies are discovered. Good fucking god. It was genuinely nightmare-inducing. There is something about the music kicking in at that exact moment that makes the whole scene so much worse. Sometimes you do not even need to see much. The music alone tells you that something is very.... very wrong.
I also really liked the length of this. It does not feel like the story is being stretched out just because it can. Everything feels pretty contained, and honestly.... dramas like this really benefit from that. Quality over quantity.
Major spoilers ahead.
What I found most interesting is that by the end, we're still left wondering....is he even real?
Because almost all of the deaths can be explained as suicide or accidents. There is not really any physical evidence pointing to murder.... which is why most of the detectives don't see these cases as connected at all. There is one detective who becomes convinced that there is actually a killer behind them....but even she has very little concrete evidence to work with.
And this is where the drama gets really interesting because we are obviously shown the killer. We see him interact with the victims. We see the connections between him and these deaths. So as an audience we are naturally going to believe that what we are being shown actually happened. But the drama keeps leaving just enough room for another explanation.....we do not see him kill.
Maybe all these connections really are coincidences. Maybe the detective is seeing patterns because she believes there has to be a connection between the cases. And because almost every death can technically be explained without a murderer being involved....you can't completely dismiss that possibility either.
Except for the hair cutting.
That is probably the strongest piece of evidence that something really is going on. It is such a specific and bizarre detail that keeps connecting these cases and it is much harder to just brush it off as coincidence.
And then there is the final murder..... where the guy is deliberately choked. There is no suicide or accident explanation to hide behind this time. Someone actually killed him.
So by the end I think the question shifts from "is this guy even real?" to "okay, if he is real... what the hell is he?"
Because the way he appears with different identity, appearence and disappears, the way he seems to be able to show up anywhere, and how effortlessly he kills people makes the supernatural explanation feel weirdly plausible. I know that sounds completely far fetched lol....... but the drama does such a good job of making him feel almost unnatural that I genuinely would not be shocked if there was something more to him than just being some random serial killer.
And honestly a huge part of why that works is Kagawa Teruyuki's performance.
He creeped the fuck out of me.
The man barely has to do anything. There is this one particular thing he does with ...each victim... exactly once. He just stares at them. And not a normal stare either. He holds it for this ridiculously uncomfortable amount of time, without saying anything, until the silence itself starts feeling threatening.
And once you have seen him do it with one victim,....you immediately recognise it when it happens again. The second he starts that stare....you are just sitting there thinking, "oh no".
You know something is coming. It is almost like a little ritual that tells you this person's time is up.
That is what made him so creepy to me. He doesn't need to constantly act threatening or go around looking like a psychopath. Sometimes he is just standing there....looking at someone, and somehow that is enough.
I also thought all the supporting actors were great. The drama relies pretty heavily on us buying into these people's lives before everything goes wrong, and they all did a good job of making their individual stories feel convincing enough that the murders actually hit.
Overall, I really liked this. I like that even after everything, the drama doesn't completely hand you an answer and walk away.
And that fucking music when the bodies are found is going to stay in my head for a while.
8.5/10. Highly recommended.
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2025 must-watch
It’s been a while guys since I’ve watched a WOWOW drama and watching Sai made me realized just how much I miss the quality of their production. From the insanely gorgeous visuals to the hauntingly beautiful scoring the quality of this drama was just so damn good.I think psychological suspense dramas like this are hard to come by recently for me. Teruyuki Kagawa’s character of an elusive force of figure appearing and bringing a certain "disaster" on the lives of six different people was absolutely creepy. And of course we have Anne Nakamura. This could easily have been an extension of her detective role in Yakusuko. I think she suits this type of roles so well.
The idea of creating that link between disaster and crime was really interesting to delve into. And as the show tries to blur the lines between the two, viewers are forced to question the nature of disasters. Is it natural or man-made?
But I think what fascinated me the most with this drama is how it shows the different perception of the people with misfortune. It makes you think about the misfortunes that you may encounter in your daily life. It’s quite frankly scary to think about.
The ending left me with mixed emotions.
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Truly A Journey
This show is a masterpiece beyond words, the level of depth is beautifal beyond measure. I came in thinking it was a totally differient series, but came to love this hundred percent more then the original idea.... I NEED A SEASON 2. THIS SHOW WAS SO INTERESTING TO WATCH AND ENJOY, I also feel i've figured out the character. because there is hints, but very up to you to notice. Please give this a try and find out if you enjoy it the same as me.The music is phenomenal beyond measure and keeps you on your toes, with nice relaxing music, then chilling music.
acting was phenomenal and everyone plays there character incredibly, especially "Him"
all in all, loved this series and had a habit of one episode a day, to truly let the episode sink in... i'm very happy I did this as it let you sink into the world of the character even more and the new "Him" even more. (PS I'm just calling "him" for preference. not a spoiler.
give a watch and make your own decisions. thanks for reading.
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This review may contain spoilers
A Jarring Surreal Journey
This show was visual & oozes atmosphere. I don't know if its the creepy music, moments of silence but you just get a sense of dread and know something horrible is going to happen.I found it interesting how the ML (serial killer) got close to people, he knows how to spot people that are weak / broken and exploits them. He likes to talk about disasters but nothing that happens would have, he INJECTED himself into peoples live to give them the push. I wish you had more back story on how the ML got this way and actually showed a killing. Everything is implied so like the Detectives you question if it really was a horrible accident.
Its too bad this show was only 6 episodes and so far no plans to expand it. Another 4 episodes would've really flehsed this out.
Whats really creepy to me is I imagine there are people like this among us.
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WHOEVER COMPOSED THE SOUNDTRACK IS A GENIUS
WHAT I LIKED- The soundtrack alone is enough to creep me out. It’s very eerie and perfectly complements the dark theme of the series.
- The antagonist is a formidable serial killer.
- The villain is great at acting, or perhaps he really does have multiple personalities.
WHAT I DISLIKED
- Aside from the female detective, every other detective is useless. They don’t use their brains and can’t even be bothered to do their jobs. There are clues, no matter how small, that point to the possibility of serial murders. There is a clear pattern, yet they chose to ignore it and call everything a "coincidence".
- The ending is disappointing and very anticlimactic. There’s no real resolution, they basically just left him free to continue his killing spree.
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High quality production reminiscent of a Kurosawa Kiyoshi film
This is one of the most well-crafted Japanese TV shows I've ever seen, in a completely different world from the tear-jerking sentimentality, cliched plots, cartoonish overacting, and kitchen-sink production quality that we know and love. This seemed more like a high-quality, award-winning independent movie by Kurosawa Kiyoshi. Not only did you get the same sense of cosmic evil lurking in the mundane lives of regular people, the slowness and whispery quietness, the refined photography and sound design, but you also got the familiar actor Kagawa, who is creepiness personified, both in his acting and in his real life.The first three episodes were fantastic. You really get to know the characters and empathize with their problems thanks to the excellent acting, writing, and directing. So when tragedy strikes, it hits you hard. However, the last three episodes had weaker characterization and less engaging situations.
The ending also reminds me of a trademark ambiguous Kurosawa ending. It's philosophical and thought-provoking, but emotionally unsatisfying. I think they could have made better use of the airtime by cutting some of the later victims and instead developing the main ideas a little further. Or it could have been re-edited into a tighter movie.
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This review may contain spoilers
started with an excellent move and seem promising. the cinematography was also excellent, it photographed everything i didnt know i need to see. the music is perfect like a cherry on the cake. the acting of all actors and actresses are amazing. i feel like the lady cop was build to be cool and clever and will solve everything at first, but it turns out her way of thinking is soo slow as a detective who inherits criminology psychologist father's blood. i just cant accept that. after all, i enjoyed the first 5 episodes, but i regret watching the last one. the ending is not like an open one, but just finish nothing. like i watched this and got nothing to tell to myself. Was this review helpful to you?
