Orangevine

Tiger and Dragon is a timeless classic. I'd especially recommend it to those who love complex narratives as the elegance of the plot is something else.

Watch it also for young and devastatingly handsome Okada Junichi who hasn't yet earned reputation of a square-jawed stoic action lead and for unbelievably hot Nagase Tomoya.

10/10

Kudo Kankuro would not lead one astray as this drama proves. The mystery aspect is very well done. The story is too sad, though, and not in entertaining noir detective way.

8/10

I agree with the reviews. This drama is of a very low quality. But the main characters are played by the immensely charismatic and talented pair of Saito Takumi and Kubota Masataka which explains how this series obtained the cult following (and several sequels).

This is one of the best procedural J-dramas. Admittedly, it is 10 years old now and even back then it was a very low budget production. But its haunting atmosphere of constant danger is something else.

8/10

This season is even better than the first. Yes, the main arc is silly (and we all know who is the bad guy in every single Japanese procedural) but it doesn't detract from the whole.

PS At least Mashima Hidekazu has a love interest who is not half his age. The power of Amami Yuki XD

This is a true masterpiece; brilliant script, charismatic performances, non-stop comedy, touching revelations - the Hero has it all. Together with Gokusen it remains a timeless classic.

In a lot of Japanese detectives the fun lies not in the whodunit but rather in 'how they did it and why'.

Kageri Yuku Natsu (The Summer gets dark) is exactly like this. Watch it for the human drama, high production values, and great cast. Don't watch it for the mystery, though, and for Suda Masaki (he has no meaty scenes).

I found Higashino Keigo's novels to have two common features, namely, really slow pace and sexism. The latter manifests here in heavy-handed proclamations of the family values while the former bogs down otherwise quite elaborate case. I wouldn't recommend to watch it for the cast as they mostly don't have any meaty scenes.

On the surface, the premise sounds quite fun: genius physicist / detective vs a genius mathematician / suspect. Well, for me it's as fun as watching gender violence happen, i.e., not at all. If you don't get fazed by everyday suffocating domestic violence and stalkers, prefer grey morale, and don't mind slow pace, you may find this movie quite enjoyable as the cast is great and there is a nice cinematographic feel.

Fake science and sexist overtones ruined it for me. Masahara Fukuyama playing physicist is already hard to swallow. I do think that your mileage may vary but if you are like me and can't tolerate too much silliness, this show is not for you.

I've found this when I was searching for a good detective movie and I was severely disappointed. My main gripe is that it's very sexist and old-fashioned. It's hard to believe the novel was written in 2006 and not, say, during eighties. Ikemen cast do not make this pill sweeter (though, Hayashi Kento's performance is quite a treat).

6 out of 10.

I completely agree! This is one of the best J-drama of the recent years.

I wholeheartedly agree. The first half of the series was brilliant but the second half reeked of sexism and proclaimed morale I couldn't stomach.

Started watching for cast, ost, the original novel... But I had to quit after 4 episode. The drama is just too dark. The jokes about looking into the abyss until it stares back apply.

The drama also features very unusual characters that you wouldn't typically find in other dramas. It is because at heart these characters are late 19th century Russians and they differ quite a lot from modern Japanese people (in their conflicts and values).

So if you could stomach the feeling of overpowering despair, you may really enjoy watching great cast act out conflicts and emotions they don't usually get to.

This drama is a great thriller if you've never watched something like this before (after all, the genre is old and includes several classics; some of them are a lot more serious thematically and tonally). But it is indeed closer to satire and I'd argue that this aspect is the most entertaining one.

While classic predecessors tackled heavier issues, they didn't allow for the perverse pleasure of watching the main character torture the unsympathetic family. Some viewers may not be surprised by plot turns and anyone is unlikely to learn any useful lessons, but everyone can appreciate the confrontation between violent and unpredictable character of Sakurai Sho and hypocritical, petty, but vulnerable character of Kamiki Ryonosuke.

You could also argue that there are better actors than Sakurai but he is, again, very entertaining in this role. Kamiki, on the other hand, proved many times that this kind of roles are his specialty. While Suda Masaki brilliantly acted "violent and unpredicatable" sensei in the recent 3-Nen-A-Gumi, he didn't have the luxury of supporting actors of Kamiki caliber.

Who else is going to cry when the casting of the new Rurouni Kenshin movies is announced, and Suda is not in it?

I'm gonna go and say something sacrilegious... Suda Masaki is a genius actor but there is a thing he hasn't yet achieved in my opinion. And this thing is building romantic chemistry.

I don't mean it as a critique, I view it as a continuation of his talents. For me, he is real-life shounen hero. You know, like Luffy or Naruto. He got enormous spirit and dedication which shows in his work (Oh, Wilderness is a great example). But it also makes him detached from "earthly" stuff like romance. He portrays pure friendships like nobody's business (see Dele or Kamen Rider) and he brings this "pureness" to the most ridiculous and over-the-top characters making them likeable and relatable (see Teiichi's Country or Tamiou; especially in the former case, it is Suda's acting that makes scenes like the one where he looks someones boots funny and not crude).

At the same time, if I were to claim that Suda had all of the Agape and no Eros, people would be quick to point out how many R-18 scene he was in. But romantic chemistry is not all about sex. I'd say Suda's romances seem more like friends-with-benefits than grand passionate affairs. It doesn't help that he played every jerk that preys on women under the sun in his art house films. But even his classic romances like Monster Next Door fail to deliver. I swear, every time uber-sexy Tsuchia Tao's heroine was about to kiss Suda's character, it seemed like the Heaven's blessing was pouring down on him from above (that lighting!) and the moment would turn from "horny teenagers in love" to "love is not looking at each other; love is looking at the same direction", if you catch my drift.

If you disagree, you may be right! If Suda's romances work for you, it's great! Moreover, Suda has two upcoming romantic movies this year so obviously big wigs don't think he makes a bad male lead. But I personally can't help but compare him to actors like Saito Takumi, Ikematsu Sosuke, Yamaga Takayuki. These actors don't need romantic subplots to have enormous chemistry with other cast members; they just do. And Suda can have full-blown script-supported romance and still make it as pure as snow. Just exchange you favourite romance male lead in you favourite romantic drama with Suda (an outstanding chameleon actor who should be able to play any role) and see the story crumble.

Yeah, it was a heart-breaking scene (and a great performance from two stellar actors). I think a lot of kids of helicopter parents can relate to Teiichi's trauma.

Haha Calling Suda bad actor is like saying that Yanazaki Kento is ugly. And in the latter case you could at least argue that different cultures have different beauty standards.

I would really doubt anyone concerned that Suda shouts too much especially in relation to Teiichi where his acting is 70 percent of the movie's charm.

All the Rurouni Kenshin jokes were hilarious.