nhii

i’ve been rewatching the drama and there were a few details about Kainuma in the 1st episode that still remain unclear (?) which makes me think the Kainuma case will make a comeback in the final arc:

yes it wasn’t an actual rule. if maki wished he could get married anytime. i just want to point out that even if maki doesn’t end up with anyone, there’s a solid reason behind that, and it’s not because of suzuki, aoki or yukiko. as the chief of the ninth, maki had seen too many things that people would kill to bury or attain because he had worked alone on too many top secret cases for the government, cases that no other members of the ninth was allowed to work on. maki often got death threats, dead animals sent to his house. he couldn’t go anywhere alone and always had one of his subordinates as bodyguard when he went outside. i feel like the drama hasn’t emphasized this part of his life much (aside from that one moment when they showed that he had security devices installed on his phone and his office, which was the true to the manga) but judging from the preview of episode 9, it seems like they’re starting to show how dangerous maki’s position is.

it’s true that he wanted his subordinates to have a work-life balance, but maki had a much higher risk than anyone else so having family and loved ones is just not an affordable option for him. i don’t mind if the drama tries to downplay the seriousness of his position and gives him a good reason to sleep well at night though, he deserves it.

i found the movie 2-3 years ago (after my last comment here) on jraws. unfortunately, the site has gone under i believe. but i still have the movie in my drive and i don’t know how to share it, it’s quite heavy. there’s no subs though.

i watched it in theater last year. i can’t believe that it’s been 1 year 2 months and the secret guest star is still being kept as a secret on this site lmao ahsksjshsk. it’s not even getting subbed yet i’m not sure if i should add the guest star to the cast section because it would be a spoiler.

hi, this is quite a late reply but in case you still want to find some good dramas with him leading, i recommend the currently airing ‘himitsu: the top secret’, it’s quite dark with a bit of BL undertones and so far it’s been very worth watching.

another fun one would be ‘colorful love’, a very lovely and lighthearted romance, you’ll be surprised at his charm in this one.

my personal favorite is ‘shijukara’ which is a very well executed drama but the themes it dealt with are definitely not for everyone.

i just want to pop in and point out this little detail from the manga that might clear up a few things in their relationships. It was said that as the 9th’s section chief, maki cannot get married due to his duties’ confidentiality and danger, his family and loved ones might become his weakness and easily targeted by hostile organizations to attain top secrets from him. this is probably why even if maki has feelings for anyone he’ll never act on it, even when yukiko has feelings for maki she has to suppress it, and suzuki didn’t go thru with the proposal because he was afraid maki would be left alone (as someone explained in the manga).

gotta love the way the track ‘MAKI’ is put right in the middle of the tracks named ‘secrets’, ‘flooded hippocampus’, ‘thoughts and screams’, ‘beneath the swamp’. ah yes, we love to see maki suffer.

full official playlist of the drama's original soundtrack album by Yaffle for those who needs it:

🔴 https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nX2CEciW8zjAVJfH_QDjlU4UyGJlWLFf0

🟢 https://open.spotify.com/album/3GMwSjESAnkY8LU7rRFKBB?si=10fW6dXoQVewbs-dr2bU7A

really hope it's available globally. the music is truly, really good *chef kiss*.

i’ve already got the hang of their relationship when i read the manga but seeing you writing it down like this is just adsfshskksjk they’re so messy i love it lmao

this was the drama that got me signing up MDL 9 years ago. time sure flies fast.

i still remember going thru this movie's hashtag on x when it was released in japan and i can confirm that japanese’s reactions/reviews were just the same as the comments here: everyone was confused about the fact that the FL was called ugly lol.

i finished watching this 2 years ago with jpn subs and i still remember that i loved it so much. very healing and endearing, got me feeling nostalgic about the time and place i've never been.

too bad it seems like it hasn't got subbed yet. i think i still have the raws and jpn subs somewhere in my drive, please let me know if anyone needs them to sub it.

it’s still being postponed, no confirmed official release date yet.

aw 🥹 so happy to know that you like rihito’s acting and maki that much. i actually wasn’t sure if i should respond to your question earlier because that’s not something i often see people ask under a jdrama lol. i do know a bit about korean showbiz so i understand your confusion. jdramas do have a lot of interesting ones since they’re not afraid to go beyond the lines of moral and imagination. i hope you’ll find many more that suit your taste. do keep in mind that the average ratings for jdramas on MDL are lower than other countries, if it’s in the 8.0 range with 1000+ watchers, it might already be considered “very well liked” or even “classic/masterpiece”.

hi. i appreciate that you’re interested in rihito’s acting here and i notice that you’re new to japanese media so i just want to let you know that japanese showbiz industry isn’t a very safe space for celebrities to openly discuss about their sexualities or even their relationships.

as for rihito, he has never mentioned his sexuality publicly (at least from the interviews i’ve read and watched so far) and i doubt he will in the (near) future. but because of his unique physique and appearance, he does often get cast in androgynous, gender ambiguous and/or vulnerable roles. this leads to a result that a lot of his works are borderline BL or have BL undertones but rarely get tagged as “BL” officially. this is neither a bad thing nor a good thing, rihito himself is open to take on any role that interests him and widens his acting range. it’s true that his male co-stars are often very fond of him though lol hence the chemistry on screen. but off screen he’s like a sweet little brother to them.

only 3 episodes left lol it’s been years since i last had this strong desire for a drama to have a sequel, especially when i know that this one still has so many good materials left to adapt. well, anyways i hope they’ll put everything they’ve got into that final arc and end this with a bang. let hell begin, i’m ready.

aw :(
i noticed that scene in ep5 too but was still hoping they would put it somewhere else. and yea, that's how i interpreted the blindfold scene, it actually didn't dawn on me until my 2nd reading, and it also made sense considering how many traumatic experiences maki had gone through.

i'm really curious how much of maki's private life they're gonna put into this drama. iirc there were some of these blindfolded bed scenes which i'm pretty sure was a way of maki to protect his sex life from being recorded to his brain? it was a really great detail and added a lot to maki as a character. unfortunately, we still haven't seen it in the drama yet but we still have hope... do we?

i've been following rihito's works for some years now, i can't put into words how happy i am that they let rihito take such an important role like this. and they were damn right, he is the perfect maki. i can see he treat the role with so much care and hard work, from his styling, his talking voice to his walk and body language.
i read hitmitsu 4 years ago and was obsessed with it for a while. tbh i wasn't sure about this adaptation after the 1st episode but rihito really morphs more and more into maki by each moment he's on screen and the cast is doing a really great job portraying the characters so far, with solid chemistry too. rn i'm just so glad that it has more than 10 episodes (? tho i'm not sure if this is confirmed or not).

also gonna put in the reply below a SPOILER from the MANGA, not the drama. please read with caution.

hi there. so glad to see you still around rihito's new works <3
and i completely agree, rihito and mugi really did a good job bringing out the complexity of their relationship. i love mugi as an actress too (still can't believe i get to see them both in an adaptation of himitsu) and every scene of them arguing with each other has been so well done and acted. the tension in their words and emotions!! dang, i love it so much lol