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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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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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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