239
603
129
10
9
12
10
3
10
18
6
9
1
2
10
20
4
4
3
1
2
3
4
1
1
2
4
10
13
30
Welcome to the circus and the land of cult activity
…where brain cells die with every poor judgement the characters make. It’s an entertaining trainwreck you just cannot look away from.
Not one person was normal in this drama, and that’s surprisingly not the issue. The issue was how almost no one had a working brain. I can excuse villagers and the Gote family, because this is what happens when you don’t touch the grass enough, and by touch a grass I mean interact with normal people outside of your little cult circle. Male lead thought? No excuse. I was able to witness the negative black hole brain cell energy in its purest form. He truly did not know when to shut up - each and every time he just spilled all the tea explaining who he suspects, why, of what, and what he will do about it - straight to the suspects faces. Learn how to lie… But no, he had to verbalize every useless thought that showed up in his half empty brain. I had to pause the episodes because I was getting too much second hand embarrassment. And it was so much fun to see him keep getting into trouble, often of his own making.
What’s also annoying about his character was his obsession over being a detective and investigating - annoying, but well written. This is your typical man child with little self esteem who wants to feel important and powerful, and he mostly uses force and intimidation to get it. Zero planning, just straight to the action. Which then led to never ending conflicts with everyone in his surrounding. Not blaming him for being paranoid, but he could be smarter about it.
On the other side we had Agawa Yuki who went into the oblivious side of extreme. With the level of weirdness going on in the town, the fact she still claimed "Maybe we worry too much” was just amazing. The level of denial and wishful thinking is what gets many people dead. Her whole persona reminded me of a horror movie “Speak No Evil” - every time you accept weird behavior not to stir the pot, the boundary gets moved and at some point there are no boundaries left.
Even the innocent and pure kids did not escape the abnormal presentation. Agawa’s daughter was literally the worst judge of the characters, always wanting to befriend the criminals, murderers, and predators.
All that said, I think the scariest part of the whole show was not the Zombie Grandpa, nor the actual shenanigans happening in the village and Goto family, but how everyone tried to control, gaslight and force into obedience Agawa Daigo. The pressure put by the community, the shift of the quality of the interactions - going from attacking, shaming, isolating, to smiling and treating like a part of family. The gaslighting was so strong I also became paranoid and suspected everyone and their mother, cousin, kids and unborn babies of doing shady business and being part of the problem.
As for the Goto family, not stated in the drama, but there must be some inbreeding going on. They are way too closed of a community to have so many young people in the family without some Sweet Home Alabama vibes. Jokes aside, I actually loved watching their scenes. Figuring out their morals, laws, conflicts resolutions, hierarchy, culture and tradition was fascinating, even if scary. On one hand you can sense the ultimate loyalty they have for each other, on the other hand you can see that even considering any type of change would be viewed as betrayal.
I also love how this is basically a spider man meme of all these crazy folks pointing at each other claiming the other ones are the crazy ones. You are all part of the same circus, accept that. At first it was extremely frustrating to see all that happening and no one making rational decisions, even the police outside of the village. It didn't seem realistic, but the longer I thought about it, the more I started to accept it. This would not be so outside of the realm of possibility. I can totally see police just ignoring and not wanting to get involved in whatever is happening in a small village that is more or less isolated from the rest of the world, as long as the crazy does not start to leak into their own town and surrounding area.
On the technical side: really good transitions between shots - often focused on a specific item (apple in episode one) or movement - one character walking away, close up to their back, fade do black, camera moves away and we are following a different character. Small things that just work and make the shift between scenes more smooth. As psychotic as I might sound, I also think the drama was visually stunning. I love the realistic gore, the blood that looked like blood and not cheap Temu red paint, the costumes, set design - all great.
The music was just fire, amazing, perfect, both in timing and the choice. The end of the episode instrumental? Perfection. It’s literally a crime that it's not released anywhere. I am honestly mad.
As for the acting - where to even begin? Yagira Yuya aced the role of the hot-tempered detective with obvious internal issues. The way I wanted to both beat him up back into reality and witness him beating people up just shows the complexity of the character and the great portrayal - made me have conflicting feelings and it made sense. Kasamatsu Show was probably my favorite - up till now I am not fully sure how sane Goto Keisuke was, but I know creating that feeling in viewers was intentional.
From the supporting cast, the one that I want to praise the most was Yoshihara Mitsuo as Goto Iwao. I’d assume for most Mutsuo was more of a memorable character, but somehow for me the more calculative and methodological Iwao was more frightening - he almost seemed normal, and that underlying sense of danger that was less obvious, but ever-present could not be easy to deliver.
I know for many this drama was gruesome and uncomfortable to watch, but for me it was just a fun even if slightly frustrating watch. Maybe I am desensitized because of all the horror I saw, but I just kept laughing with every new pathological and shocking reveal happening on screen.
Can this drama be viewed as stand alone without watching part 2? No. It’s not the case of most of the plot getting semi-conclusion. You cannot treat it as a drama with an open ending, because it honestly presents no ending. The last scene is a cliffhanger that more or less forces you to watch more if you wish to get any conclusion. Will I watch season 2? For sure, but I need a short break first :)
Not one person was normal in this drama, and that’s surprisingly not the issue. The issue was how almost no one had a working brain. I can excuse villagers and the Gote family, because this is what happens when you don’t touch the grass enough, and by touch a grass I mean interact with normal people outside of your little cult circle. Male lead thought? No excuse. I was able to witness the negative black hole brain cell energy in its purest form. He truly did not know when to shut up - each and every time he just spilled all the tea explaining who he suspects, why, of what, and what he will do about it - straight to the suspects faces. Learn how to lie… But no, he had to verbalize every useless thought that showed up in his half empty brain. I had to pause the episodes because I was getting too much second hand embarrassment. And it was so much fun to see him keep getting into trouble, often of his own making.
What’s also annoying about his character was his obsession over being a detective and investigating - annoying, but well written. This is your typical man child with little self esteem who wants to feel important and powerful, and he mostly uses force and intimidation to get it. Zero planning, just straight to the action. Which then led to never ending conflicts with everyone in his surrounding. Not blaming him for being paranoid, but he could be smarter about it.
On the other side we had Agawa Yuki who went into the oblivious side of extreme. With the level of weirdness going on in the town, the fact she still claimed "Maybe we worry too much” was just amazing. The level of denial and wishful thinking is what gets many people dead. Her whole persona reminded me of a horror movie “Speak No Evil” - every time you accept weird behavior not to stir the pot, the boundary gets moved and at some point there are no boundaries left.
Even the innocent and pure kids did not escape the abnormal presentation. Agawa’s daughter was literally the worst judge of the characters, always wanting to befriend the criminals, murderers, and predators.
All that said, I think the scariest part of the whole show was not the Zombie Grandpa, nor the actual shenanigans happening in the village and Goto family, but how everyone tried to control, gaslight and force into obedience Agawa Daigo. The pressure put by the community, the shift of the quality of the interactions - going from attacking, shaming, isolating, to smiling and treating like a part of family. The gaslighting was so strong I also became paranoid and suspected everyone and their mother, cousin, kids and unborn babies of doing shady business and being part of the problem.
As for the Goto family, not stated in the drama, but there must be some inbreeding going on. They are way too closed of a community to have so many young people in the family without some Sweet Home Alabama vibes. Jokes aside, I actually loved watching their scenes. Figuring out their morals, laws, conflicts resolutions, hierarchy, culture and tradition was fascinating, even if scary. On one hand you can sense the ultimate loyalty they have for each other, on the other hand you can see that even considering any type of change would be viewed as betrayal.
I also love how this is basically a spider man meme of all these crazy folks pointing at each other claiming the other ones are the crazy ones. You are all part of the same circus, accept that. At first it was extremely frustrating to see all that happening and no one making rational decisions, even the police outside of the village. It didn't seem realistic, but the longer I thought about it, the more I started to accept it. This would not be so outside of the realm of possibility. I can totally see police just ignoring and not wanting to get involved in whatever is happening in a small village that is more or less isolated from the rest of the world, as long as the crazy does not start to leak into their own town and surrounding area.
On the technical side: really good transitions between shots - often focused on a specific item (apple in episode one) or movement - one character walking away, close up to their back, fade do black, camera moves away and we are following a different character. Small things that just work and make the shift between scenes more smooth. As psychotic as I might sound, I also think the drama was visually stunning. I love the realistic gore, the blood that looked like blood and not cheap Temu red paint, the costumes, set design - all great.
The music was just fire, amazing, perfect, both in timing and the choice. The end of the episode instrumental? Perfection. It’s literally a crime that it's not released anywhere. I am honestly mad.
As for the acting - where to even begin? Yagira Yuya aced the role of the hot-tempered detective with obvious internal issues. The way I wanted to both beat him up back into reality and witness him beating people up just shows the complexity of the character and the great portrayal - made me have conflicting feelings and it made sense. Kasamatsu Show was probably my favorite - up till now I am not fully sure how sane Goto Keisuke was, but I know creating that feeling in viewers was intentional.
From the supporting cast, the one that I want to praise the most was Yoshihara Mitsuo as Goto Iwao. I’d assume for most Mutsuo was more of a memorable character, but somehow for me the more calculative and methodological Iwao was more frightening - he almost seemed normal, and that underlying sense of danger that was less obvious, but ever-present could not be easy to deliver.
I know for many this drama was gruesome and uncomfortable to watch, but for me it was just a fun even if slightly frustrating watch. Maybe I am desensitized because of all the horror I saw, but I just kept laughing with every new pathological and shocking reveal happening on screen.
Can this drama be viewed as stand alone without watching part 2? No. It’s not the case of most of the plot getting semi-conclusion. You cannot treat it as a drama with an open ending, because it honestly presents no ending. The last scene is a cliffhanger that more or less forces you to watch more if you wish to get any conclusion. Will I watch season 2? For sure, but I need a short break first :)
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