This review may contain spoilers
A Solid Acting Performance by Yuko Takeuchi
Is Strawberry Night worth watching?
Yes and no.
I'm still not entirely familiar with the canon of Japanese television, but I suspect women don't often take leading roles in police procedurals. Strawberry Night plays into this quite a bit by featuring a male, hard-nosed detective in an antagonistic role to Yuko Takeuchi's leading role; in addition, the foundation of Himekawa Reiko's backstory and her character is heavily based on her personal life as a woman. I'm trying not to spoil things too heavily as learning about what makes Reiko tick is the best part of the special; her characterisation is much more interesting than murder mystery storyline. All this acts as a double-edged sword for it makes Himekawa Reiko a little predictable (maybe even shallow) as a character, but also allows Takeuchi to show audiences her excellent acting chops.
Like most Japanese dramas, I really appreciated the blocking, set pieces and lighting. There really is a focus on cinematography and editing in Asian dramas that is head and shoulders above what you see in Western dramas (particularily the muck that is raked on Netflix nowadays). The dialogue and narrative of Strawberry Night aren't anything to write home about: it's one of those "if you've seen one serial murder mystery you've seen them all" type of situations. The main reason to watch this special (and the subsequent TV show) is to see how Takeuchi performs in a more serious setting where she isn't a romantic interest.
Basically, I wouldn't rate this highly as a work of detective fiction or within the police procedural genre, but if you wanted to see a Yuko Takeuchi performance outside of her films, this might be an interesting watch.
Yes and no.
I'm still not entirely familiar with the canon of Japanese television, but I suspect women don't often take leading roles in police procedurals. Strawberry Night plays into this quite a bit by featuring a male, hard-nosed detective in an antagonistic role to Yuko Takeuchi's leading role; in addition, the foundation of Himekawa Reiko's backstory and her character is heavily based on her personal life as a woman. I'm trying not to spoil things too heavily as learning about what makes Reiko tick is the best part of the special; her characterisation is much more interesting than murder mystery storyline. All this acts as a double-edged sword for it makes Himekawa Reiko a little predictable (maybe even shallow) as a character, but also allows Takeuchi to show audiences her excellent acting chops.
Like most Japanese dramas, I really appreciated the blocking, set pieces and lighting. There really is a focus on cinematography and editing in Asian dramas that is head and shoulders above what you see in Western dramas (particularily the muck that is raked on Netflix nowadays). The dialogue and narrative of Strawberry Night aren't anything to write home about: it's one of those "if you've seen one serial murder mystery you've seen them all" type of situations. The main reason to watch this special (and the subsequent TV show) is to see how Takeuchi performs in a more serious setting where she isn't a romantic interest.
Basically, I wouldn't rate this highly as a work of detective fiction or within the police procedural genre, but if you wanted to see a Yuko Takeuchi performance outside of her films, this might be an interesting watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
