maclou

I thought this was pretty good, the first episode was really interesting, the second episode was good too, the third episode was a little boring and then suddenly it was already the final act. I wonder if there were so few episodes because of COVID. I wondered if it would have benefitted from more episodes, I'm not sure if more episodes would have been able to live up to the first two but at least it would fleshed out the characters more. I would have really liked to of seen more of a relationship between Kurosawa and Sanemura...

I think the acting is appropriate for this part but in general I agree he's not a very good actor.

For some reason I see lots of people saying there are only 6 but I downloaded all the raws from torrents on nyaa I think

The thought of it being a set up is interesting! After all with his memory issues he might have found the video but not actually remember not doing it. But at the same time in the first episode they made it clear that his brain injury can lead to him being uncharacteristically violent and that made me think he was the rapists' murderer from the first ep. But again someone with that knowledge of his disability could be using it against him. It looked in the vid like the father was kind grabbing him and he pushed him back but then chocked him too, like self defense gone too far or protecting his sister, it really could go either way right now!!

There are 8 episodes tho

First ep, I didn't think it was OMG AWESOME but I don't think it's worth some of the harsh comments it's getting here either. I'm not sure if I'll stick with it or not at this point. One thing that was interesting though was the setting outside of Tokyo and it's suburbs... Kyoto is a popular setting too but it's a little different from a lot of other police dramas.

I hadn't heard anything about this drama and just noticed it because it was being subbed and decided to try it out. It's really interesting and different, I'm on the 4th episode and so far I really recommend it. It's one of those late night dramas that's weird and quirky but not in a pervy way...

I was dying to see this movie from the first time I saw the preview. I usually try not to look too forward to Japanese movies cos I know I won't usually be able to see them until they come out on BD at least 6 months later and then they might never get subs and THEN when this was put off even further because of COVID I worried that I might never get to see it! Thanks to the Nippon Connection festival I've seen it already, I'm so thankful haha. I hope that some other online festivals will get this movie as well so more will get to see it.

As for the movie itself... well I liked it but it wasn't quite as interesting as the trailer looked and I've seen some other SABU movies and they were very weird and this one wasn't SO weird. It almost feels like a spoiler to say so, so if you want to go in COMPLETELY blind stop here..... but for me it felt like a very straight forward movie, from the very beginning of the movie I already knew how it would end, early in the movie I could see where it was going, there were a couple of minor things I didn't totally see coming but they weren't really surprising either. I thought it was easy to understand and actually I liked that about it.

I agree with you! The Hio casting is really bizarre (and I like him!) There are many 99 liners and younger who are active right now and who could use the boost of being in a drama. In the past I feel like the most recent crop of young actors (ones now in their mid 20s) suffered because of the casting people to old in high school parts and the fact the hs dramas have fallen a bit out of style. They shouldn't do that again to the newer gen, the days of 24+ high school students need to be over!

Well I’m watching it now the more I got in to it the better I think it is and I know a lot of people really love it but the problems really stick out to me mostly because this and that came out so close together so I might just be nitpicky about it.

I’ve come to your comment on this drama two months later just to say that I really think you’re 100% spot on. I can understand why people like this drama but once you see how ‘too perfect’ everything is it really starts to become annoying. I have this issue with with the writer’s drama from this season too (Nijiiro Chart) everyone is too good, everything is done because it’s the easiest way to dump information and to get a specific emotional reaction from the audience. Seeing these dramas side by side really amplifies it and it just seems so lazy.

OK!

Does anyone know if this is available anywhere?

After the first episode I thought if it's not Sano my #1 suspect is the doctor. Isn't it too suspicious that it was his children who died first? Also this would give a reason for Sano to be seen out with the daughter like he was, maybe she told him something or he already knew her dad was up to something so he couldn't go to him for help right away and was trying to bring her somewhere else? But for some reason he's not able or doesn't want to say what he knows. That's all I can think of. Sano is still super suspicious and I don't really trust him either. It's still very early to guess anything but it's just a feeling.

This took a while to grow on me and there were some things that got on my nerves but about halfway through I couldn't stop watching! I just HAD to know what happened next. I think it's worth watching :-)

Looking forward to the second half!

I also love seeing movies and dramas set in the countryside in Japan. It's one of the reasons I enjoy asadora as at least parts of them take place somewhere different and unique. Thank you for this post it's really interesting! I just wanted to say too that I really loved A Forest of Wool and Steel.

I love Takumi!! I need to watch more of his dramas and movies so ofc this is helpful. I love the picture of him and Taishi!

It's not subbed but I think it's a pretty easy to understand. It's so simple in some ways that I can pretty much guess what's going to happen before it happens. But ofc yeah I wish it would be subbed too!

Great article! I feel like you made really good choices with who you highlighted, I mean the focus doesn't have to be on the same actors every single time. For some reason I'm really interested in this new generation of "high schoolers" lol

I've known Hirano Sho since he was in shows with the Kansai Juniors and he was a real funny kid. I kind of miss him with them but I'm glad he's so successful now.

I really like Wada Masato so I'm glad he made this list! When I first got in to live action Japanese things first I was in to TeniMyu and he was in that and part of an acting group (D-Boys) that had lots of members in them and even back then I thought of him as the old guy lmao. Last year I watched him in Gochisosan and Jimi ni Sugoi and he has a really good feeling to him, even just watching those two things he became one of my favorite minor character actors, so I'd really like to see him in more parts!

In general I like seeing actors who are a bit older (late 30s+) start to find more success in their careers because it can get a bit boring just watching for the newest hot young thing (although I like seeing them too lol), also it gives hope because if you like an actor but you don't feel like he has the roles or popularity you wish he had some day he might get there.

I started noticing Hikari's brother last year and I felt like he was building up to have his break out year this year but if I'm being honest I don't care for his face XD;

I like the look of Mahiro but he hasn't really been in anything I've particularly wanted to watch. Same with Makenyu I guess (well other then Pacific Rim which I did watch).