TAROIEL

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.