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1Human Specimens
"In nature a repulsive caterpillar turns into a lovely butterfly. But with humans it is the other way around: a lovely butterfly turns into a repulsive caterpillar"A quote by Anthon Chekhov that I don't agree with, but it fits this drama and its characters too well.
How was something so precious, gentle and pure twisted into something this poisonous?...
This was actually quite a deep and complex psychological thriller.
Bizarre, dark, twisted, gruesome and eerie... yet impressive, brilliant, compelling and deeply immersive. The actors all performed their roles perfectly and convincingly.
I didn't see any of these twists coming. In only five episodes, this drama explores the darkness of the human mind layer by layer, letting you see the story through foggy lenses until you realize you were looking at the mask and not the one behind it. The slow pacing didn't make it boring, but instead gave more intensity and space for emotional build up.
It contrasts all of its horrors nicely with the calmness, light and silence of nature. Despite all, the place itself remained unchanged, brimming with life, beauty and vitality.
Besides exploring the reason behind the murders, death and the way it's either feared or glorified - relationship between parents and their children, genes as a factor of how one's personality and destiny are shaped and an odd bond between childhood friends are all integral parts of this story.
There are some questions left unanswered, but it mostly connected the dots and gave the most appropriate closure. Not the one that feels pleasant, but the one that feels real.
Ultimately, I felt pity and compassion for them, because no matter how many colors they could see, they all lived in complete darkness. They were too self-absorbed and delusional to notice that the world doesn't belong only to them.
I cried watching the ending and my heart ached.
The final scene showed that sometimes it's more about what isn't told/shown then what is. There was also so much love underneath, yet it was too imperfect, weak and fragile to find its way out of the cocoon and turn into a butterfly.
Would I recommend it?
To someone who can watch difficult, heavy things with an open mind, definitely.
For others, it can be triggering and just too much to handle, because each character here has lost themselves in shadows, missing the true essence of art and beauty because they chased after something unattainable and tried to possess, persevere and capture things that were never meant to be held onto by human hands, but admired from afar, in their natural form.
There is a line between madness and genius, and this drama walks on the very edge of it, showing the obsessions, pride and cruelty taking over and forming their own artificial, grand and seemingly everlasting and just, but empty gratification.
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This review may contain spoilers
What the Hell Did I Just Watch: Butterflies, "Human specimens", and Absolutely No Normal People
I went in expecting a crime thriller about a serial killer and an investigation. That’s on me for not reading properly, because this is not that show at all.It opens with a man who has murdered six boys, including his own son, turning himself in and narrating his life. Almost immediately, Shiro doesn’t feel as a killer. He comes off as maybe neurodivergent, but violent? No. By episode two, it’s already obvious that something isn’t adding up, which is way too early for a supposed mystery. At first, it feels like the show is building toward something smarter.
Then it suggests the murders might actually be Itaru’s( shiro's son) and that works. Itaru has that deeply unsettling art justifies everything vibe that makes this idea believable. That twist is disturbing in the right way and for a moment, the series feels solid. I really liked it.
Then it completely shits the bed.
Shiro taking the blame to protect his son doesn’t come off as tragic or complex it feels braindead. Instead of acting like a normal person reporting his son or stopping him he recreates the crime and turns his own child into the “specimen” (because his son asked, which is just… ew). Until then, Shiro was the closest thing this show had to a normal human being, (not considering side characters )and suddenly he’s making choices that make zero sense. WTH
The final episode goes full clown mode. First it’s not Itaru, it’s Anna. Then it turns out it was not even Anna’s idea, it was her mother Rumi’s. Itaru helping Anna after literally watching her axe someone is barely justified beyond the show endlessly chanting “art” like it excuses everything. It doesn’t. Apparently everyone wants to be Rumi’s successor, which is fucking irritating. Just because she sees more colors? Tetrachromacy doesn’t make her special, especially when her art is so ass.
Also Rumi believing Shiro would admire her murders because they were inspired by his father’s ideas is straight up delusional. At that point, every character feels detached from reality. No one reacts or thinks like an actual human being, and the show mistakes that collective insanity for depth.
I have never used this much profanity in anything before, but this series earns it. It genuinely could have been good until the last episode fucked it. By the end, Shiro’s kid is dead, the real killers walk free, and there’s no emotional payoff, just emptiness. What could have been a tight psychological drama turns into a pile of shock value twists. The more it twists, the cheaper it feels. The cinematography is good and music. That’s it. The writing overcomplicates itself until nothing lands, nothing hurts, and nothing matters.
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Insanity and obsession in pursuit of perfection
This series is magnificent with a few flaws here and there, I'm not pretending it's a masterpiece but, My god!! It's so good, entertaining and captivating in a way that I don't mind the flaws.Right from the beginning it grabbed my attention by the display of the bodies so beautifully and carefully set, the attention to details, the colors and whole composition are so stunningly beautiful that if they had been made using clay models, carved rocks or literally any other materials would've been, true masterpieces worthy of awards and recognition for yeas and years.
The way the story is told, even though is slow it's not at all boring, and despite dealing with horrible acts of murder very little blood and gore is shown, so even the faint hearted can enjoy this one.
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A Beautiful and Twisted Tale of Obsession and Perfection
I honestly didn’t know what to expect going in, but by the time I finished this drama, my heart was touched. This drama isn’t a flashy kind of crime drama. It’s really slow and will force you to really sit with what you’re watching. You need to savor it episode by episode.PROS
1. Gives depth to all of the characters.
2. Thought-provoking themes about humanity, obsession, and the need for appreciation.
3. Beautiful use of metaphors and art.
CONS
1. Very slow pacing (not a con for me; however, if you dislike slow-burn dramas, then you will probably dislike this as well).
2. Might be too plot-twisty (yes, such a thing exists) for some people. I enjoyed it, but I can see why some people wouldn't like it either. There's just a lot of plot-twists.
By the end, I wasn’t just thinking about the story. I was thinking about people, about how easily we get obsessed or detached, and how important it is not to. Human Specimens is fairly dark and isn’t particularly an easy watch. It might break your heart at certain points, but it’s so well-done that I can't help but appreciate it. Highly recommend giving this a try!
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A Disturbing Exhibit Between Art and Morality
This is very psychotic, disturbing, thought-provoking and unsettling.The show constantly blurs the line between art and morality, making you uncomfortable on purpose.
The plot twists are effective, even if some moments feel more shocking than deep.
It’s not an easy watch, but it sticks with you.
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Arte vs Follia: dove finisce la poetica dell’artista e inizia la psicosi dell’omicida
Nel primo episodio c’è stata quella crisi di sopraffazione estetica, quel senso di dissolvimento dell’io che Stendhal descrisse davanti alla bellezza che ti sovrasta e ti smonta, un’esperienza che qui ha attraversato il confine tra schermo e inconscio.È come se qualcuno avesse camminato nella mia testa, fosse entrato in un incubo e l’avesse trasformato in una installazione artistica.
Quindi, per me, la serie ha smesso di essere intrattenimento ed è diventata un’intrusione sconvolgente.
Tra tutte le farfalle che ho scoperto nell’arco narrativo, la Red-Bodied Swallowtail, la “rossa velenosa” che le altre swallowtail, innocue, ne copiano l’aspetto, è il pretesto per raccontare il fulcro relazionale che lega tutti i personaggi in un ciclo di imitazione tossica, solo per sentirsi riconosciuti.
In fondo, tutti inseguono lo sguardo dell’altro per amore o per riconoscimento, ma quello sguardo è sempre mediato dall’arte, fredda, ideale, immortale, e mai dall’umanità calda, imperfetta e amorevole.
Uno dei migliori thriller che ho mai visto: disturbante, triste e doloroso, in cui la bellezza non è un velo sull’orrore ma è l’orrore stesso che si traveste da arte. Ed è crudele e inutile perché avvelena, provocando un conflitto interno tra disgusto morale e fascinazione estetica che ti spacca il cuore e ti lascia con la nausea, il tutto condito con una colonna sonora che ti scava nel cervello.
Mi piacerebbe leggere il libro per saperne di più ma purtroppo non lo trovo.
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