This review may contain spoilers
Absolution through penalty
Punishing the evil baddies is cool, but old-fashioned in itself: what about exposing their inner evil by skinning them? That's basically the idea behind 『Smoking』 (original Japanese title 『スモーキング』 is the same), which the producers of the series, very productive and familiar with every genre, execute quite well.
Through a sort of exploration of the Japanese organized crime world and its sprawling links (not to the level of 『Yakuza and the Family』 though), that series produced by Netflix and aired in 2018 presents a 4-member gang accomplishing justice by attacking villains and revealing the demons they are by skinning the skin of their tattooed back and putting it in a big glass jar: a sophisticated trophy that everyone would wish to display it in their living room, and a philosophical message in itself: our skin is just a mere disguise that in some cases hides real monsters. It is gang chief's mission to reveal this truthful fact to the world, and the others' somewhat resolve to accompany him, for corruptible civil justice wasn't able to act in their favor.
Bloody is the operation undergone by the baddies, but always satisfactory to watch — and not gratuitous, as the Smoking Gang has morals. Best instance, they recognize and accept redemption when sincere — like for the Smokers themselves, which in addition doesn't gain much from their hunts and accept to live in poverty, likely for not falling into the iniquity they fight.
Their characters all have hidden pasts that they fatefully confront at some point. It is not so dense, but contains enough of a backstory to make their holders likeable — something that the performance of the actors also bring well. I personally loved the acting of the cool laid-back justicer of Haccho played by Nobuaki Kaneko, and also to a certain extent that of the old and wise Sabe played by Ryo Ishibashi 🙏
As often in this kind of production, the soundtrack is pretty forgettable — well except for the ending song that's still ringing in my ears, though in a bad fashion: I've been wondering each time why they'd have chosen a pop rap song that doesn't fit the Robin Hoodish crime vibe of the series. Maybe because it does fit the mainstream 18+ public the series aims for, admittedly; which is also the reason why deviances and cruelty are never so brutal or explicitly shown. In that vein, the series also ends with a rather open ending in case they would want to make the flame smoke more 🚬
Nothing aesthetically revolutionary, 『Smoking』 is a series that is worth watching for killing time while making contact with the limits of humanity: it's cooking well, and smoking good enough.
Through a sort of exploration of the Japanese organized crime world and its sprawling links (not to the level of 『Yakuza and the Family』 though), that series produced by Netflix and aired in 2018 presents a 4-member gang accomplishing justice by attacking villains and revealing the demons they are by skinning the skin of their tattooed back and putting it in a big glass jar: a sophisticated trophy that everyone would wish to display it in their living room, and a philosophical message in itself: our skin is just a mere disguise that in some cases hides real monsters. It is gang chief's mission to reveal this truthful fact to the world, and the others' somewhat resolve to accompany him, for corruptible civil justice wasn't able to act in their favor.
Bloody is the operation undergone by the baddies, but always satisfactory to watch — and not gratuitous, as the Smoking Gang has morals. Best instance, they recognize and accept redemption when sincere — like for the Smokers themselves, which in addition doesn't gain much from their hunts and accept to live in poverty, likely for not falling into the iniquity they fight.
Their characters all have hidden pasts that they fatefully confront at some point. It is not so dense, but contains enough of a backstory to make their holders likeable — something that the performance of the actors also bring well. I personally loved the acting of the cool laid-back justicer of Haccho played by Nobuaki Kaneko, and also to a certain extent that of the old and wise Sabe played by Ryo Ishibashi 🙏
As often in this kind of production, the soundtrack is pretty forgettable — well except for the ending song that's still ringing in my ears, though in a bad fashion: I've been wondering each time why they'd have chosen a pop rap song that doesn't fit the Robin Hoodish crime vibe of the series. Maybe because it does fit the mainstream 18+ public the series aims for, admittedly; which is also the reason why deviances and cruelty are never so brutal or explicitly shown. In that vein, the series also ends with a rather open ending in case they would want to make the flame smoke more 🚬
Nothing aesthetically revolutionary, 『Smoking』 is a series that is worth watching for killing time while making contact with the limits of humanity: it's cooking well, and smoking good enough.
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