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I agree so much! It's devastating that the drama ended! It was the highlight of this year for me. What's your top 3 episodes?

Here's hoping they will cave and do another season

Aww, thanks)))

Check MIU's MDL Page, there is a duscussion in comments about where to find subs.

Thanks!) Kokonoe is the sweetest! When he called Shima and Ibuki 'you two fools' in ep11, I laughed so much.

Thanks)))) Hoshino Gen's character here is so different from his character in Nige-Haji it's amazing - it's almost bizzare to see Hiramasa-san giving up his mild-manners and embracing toxic masculinity xD

Don't feel pressure though, life's too short to watch every masterpiece there is)))

Thanks) I remember when people were discussing on MDL which j-dramas to anticipate this spring. Now we know that ratings hits in Japan turned out to be Hanzawa, Nagisa, Haken, and BG. On the other hand, for various reasons, Cinderella, Ryu no Michi, and Midnight Runners didn't blow up. Miu404 had great ratings though not as great as ratings champions. But Miu404 generated enormous dedicated audience and got lots of positive reviews from professional critics. It's probably gonna become the most acclaimed mainstream drama of the year.

Both Ayan Go and Hoshino Gen said that they consider this drama to be the turning point of their careers.

I must admit, when the first promos of the drama appeared, they didn't look good at all. Somehow, Miu404's advertisment (and the trailers) fails to capture what's good in it. So I was hesitating to watch it myself. It's funny how life turns out.

I'm glad! I hope that if you watch it, you'll enjoy it as much as I did))

Thanks)) Actually, during MIU's run people constantly compared it with Odoru Daisousasen (cause MIU is about every day Police work and relationship between various departments + there is a very well-developed relationship between two buddies).

It was very nice to see that Odoru is still recognised in Japan as a perfect Police drama.

I can't believe Nogi-san said that Shima is (real 1) and Ibuki is (imaginary i) and together they are a basis in the complex space. Their sum is literally bigger than they are individually! Such a beautiful metaphor!

(obviously, she said that Shima is incomplete unit that gets completed by Ibuki's i but I think that she meant the basis. It's a bit involved explanation for a tv drama so fans are arguing since the radio.)

Have you checked with the translator on their Twitter? I think they put their subs in some shared folder too.

Have you checked with the translator on their Twitter? I think they put their subs in some shared folder too.

The finale had enormous ratings (for the time slot) : 14,5!

Yeah, I haven't gotten around to Hanzawa 2 too. I love 1st season very much but at the same time it's so old-fashioned. Some j-netizens claimed that MIU with its current themes put Hanzawa in a bad light.

About time slots and the likes: I just feel that there are certain constraints that come with the channel and a time slot. Like it would be unfair to blame night time dramas for low budget or prime time dramas for not being quirky or controversial. Wowow dramas can be controversial and they have huge budgets, for example, and MIU is prime so there is no nudity etc. But you are right that it doesn't matter for personal enjoyment.

I am wondering about it too! I've already finished the drama and I'd award it the title of the best if it was up to me. Even if we disregard Kotaki Kyodai etc for not being prime time dramas (kind of, they are of from a different league?), I worry that Hanzawa will eclipse everything for most of the Japanese public. So the title 'the drama of the year as aknowledged by J-audiebce' would go to Hanzawa probably. What do you think?

The history has been made! MIU finale is something I will never forget!

I'm glad to help))

I think there are still some early career photoshoots with Suda where he does typical idol fanservice (like posing in a bathtube etc) and maybe even a photo book? It's fascinating how he turned to hard acting after that.

Anticipation for the finale is too much! I can't handle it!

More trivia (from various interviews and media appearances):

- Nogi-san (the writer) said she's tired with old men as bad guys in police dramas (corrupted police chiefs or politicians), that is why they casted who they did for the role of a villain.

- Melon Bread car was supposed to be gone after the 5th episode but they decided to keep it.

- Nogi-san said that only Iura Arata's Nakado in Unnatural became a different character than she wrote due to Arata's charismatic acting. But in MIU both Ayano Go and Gen-san do what they want so the characters are quite different from the script. (example: in the 1st episode it was Gen-san's adlib to kick the trash bin while it was Ayano Go's adlib to cry 'I am on fire' in reply).

- Nogi-san is very impressed with how many different complicated emotions both leads display while acting. She especially liked Ibuki's expression after he releases Shima in ep 4, the scene in Ibuki's flat in ep 8 (she could feel the tension in the air), the confrontations with Karia-san in ep 8 (they were unexpectedly funny).

- The director Tsukahara-san and Gen-san confessed that they sort of 'pimped out' Shima. They deliberately gave Shime a haircut that revealed his nape and chose many tops for him with a very low neckline. Ayano Go, on the contrary, gave Ibuki a wardrobe he would wear himself. Thus, Ibuki became quite fashionable for a police officer.

- The famous scene in ep 9 is adlib - the actors got 'too excited' during rehearsals and had that famous emotional moment together. The director was moved to tears and decided to add it in. So the actors repeated the moment now with the cameras rolling. Nogi-san commented that she would never write a moment like this because it would have turned out disingenuous. But when the actors naturally do it, it looks great.

Suda has been on a tv-show recently where he mentioned several fun facts.

It turns out his agency were promoting him as an idol-actor at the beginning (he had no say in the roles he were given). So at the time Suda considered his acting to be a hobby and not a calling - it seems Suda never cared much for idol work.

Then an offer for a role in The Backwater came: the role with lots of nudity and other scenes that did not suit idol image. Most of the stuff at the agency was against Suda taking the role. But, for the first time ever, he was allowed to choose himself. And he decided to take the role.

His girlfriend at the time couldn't accept that he would be shooting erotic scenes and they broke up. This, as Suda said, marked his transition to acting as a serious career he would make sacrifices for.

Another little trivia: all Suda's real friends and loved ones call him by his real name. Suda said that if someone calls him Suda-san or Masaki-kun, he considers them 'business contacts' instead of friends. Hilariously, after the tv-show aired, Saito Takumi (while being a guest on Suda's radio) kept calling Suda by his real name because he wanted Suda to know that he values their friendship))