Tag: review

I watched the 11-episode manga-based action/mystery dorama, Tantei no Tantei (探偵の探偵) last week and was impressed with how good it was. I usually decide after three or four episodes of a dorama if I like it enough to continue watching, but Tantei no Tantei had me hooked from the first episode.

To start, Kitagawa Keiko (北川景子), who is one of my favorite actresses, is in the starring role, so that is a huge plus, and the rest of the cast is also strong, especially Kawaguchi Haruna (川口春奈) and Iura Arata (井浦新). The dorama just needed a good story, and it delivered on that as well.

There will be some spoilers below, so before that, I’ll just say that Tantei no Tantei is a dark mystery, with a fair amount of action (and blood), several plot twists, and a satisfying ending. If that sounds like something you are interested in, find this dorama and give it a watch!

******** SPOILER ALERT **********

The story starts out with Sasaki Rena interviewing at a detective school. We learn that her younger sister, Sakura, was murdered a few years earlier, with the killer receiving the help of a crooked detective. Sasaki states that she doesn’t want to become a detective, but wants to learn about detectives, so she can track down the person who led the murderer to her sister. It’s basically a story about revenge.

Sasaki eventually joins Suma Research, a detective agency, as part of a newly-formed “Anti-Detective” department. Her job is to keep an eye on corrupt detectives and expose them, but while investigating these detectives, she’s also searching for clues to finding the “Death God”, which is the name she calls the detective who was involved in her sister’s murder.

I liked the fact that the episodes weren’t stand-alone mini-stories as so many doramas turn out to be. Each episode reveals more about each character, and the plot advances at a good pace. I liked the story so much that I binge-watched episodes 1-5 until 3 AM one morning!

Another thing I liked is that the story is gritty without being too gross. There’s a lot of fighting and plenty of blood in the story. At one point, one of the characters says, “Our detectives noticed that Sasaki Rena’s face has a lot of bruises on it.” Duh, that’s her face in like half the show! The make-up artists sure must have been busy.

I also liked the fact that characters actually get killed in the show, and not just the criminals. One of the main characters, a police officer named Yuma, gets stabbed three times in the stomach, and dies in Sasaki’s arms. I was like whoa, no way! Unexpected! It seemed like that character was on track to become Sasaki’s love-interest, which would have been way too convenient for the plot, so his death was definitely a shocker. But then a minute later, we find out that Yuma is in the hospital, fighting for his life, and I thought how typical that was… none of the good guys die. In the next scene Sasaki sneaks into the hospital to check on Yuma’s condition and we find out he actually did die. Learning this, I was pleasantly surprised! (That sounds bad, doesn’t it?) What I mean is that it set a dark precedent that no character was immune to harm.

There were a few things I didn’t care for in Tantei no Tantei. For instance, there was a pivotal scene in episode 7 in which a police helicopter is hovering over a huge fight involving 20 or so people. It seemed like the police on the ground took forever to appear. In general, the police seemed completely inept… I don’t think they did anything beneficial. Yuma was only one who did anything, and he got killed. Anyways, that particular scene could have been handled better. It was awkward and not very realistic. Perhaps the producers could have brought in a better director for that scene.

I also didn’t care too much for episode 10, in which we are introduced to several other detectives from rival agencies. These were played by popular actors, and it seemed like such a shift in the feel of the story. For the first 9 episodes, we followed the same set of dark characters operating in a serious and unforgiving world, and then boom, episode 10 changes the tone with a comedic, light hearted, ensemble cast. It felt so forced. Like the cast of a comedy dorama made a guest appearance in Tantei no Tantei. The serious tone was lost. These new characters were squarely in the “immune to harm” camp.

Thankfully, the story shifted back to the dark tone at the end of episode 10, where the elusive “Death God” is finally revealed, and the final episode (11) was devoted to the confrontation between Sasaki and her nemesis. It was a satisfying end to the story, and I hope there is a sequel. The directors kept the door open so that the story can pick up immediately, so there is a possibility! Truthfully though, I don’t think the ratings for the series was high enough to warrant a second season. But I’ll hold onto hope.

Anyways, I would recommend this dorama to any mystery fans out there. Well acted and good story! Well worth the time – 8 out of 10 stars.

Bonus photo – the cast having some fun:

Omukae Death お迎えデス is a live-action dorama (Japanese TV drama) based on a manga of the same name, and has an interesting premise: after someone dies, they become ghosts and exist for up to 49 days in the real world before being escorted by “grim reapers” to the after-world. If they aren’t escorted within those 49 days, they become evil spirits and are eliminated, never to be reborn again.

Assisting the grim reapers (who aren’t really grim at all) are people who can see and communicate with ghosts. The two main characters, Madoka (played by Sōta Fukushi)and Sachi (played by Tao Tsuchiya) are two such people, and their job is to help the ghosts remove any regrets they have before they go to the after-world. In this way, the ghosts can rest in peace. So, the plot revolves around Madoka and Sachi helping the ghosts come to resolution so they can move on to the after-world.

Omukae Death has a total of nine episodes, and each one is kind of a story unto itself with guest actors in prominent roles. There is a larger story arc that concludes in episode 9. Some of the stand-alone stories are really good and tug on the heartstrings (they’re stories about people who died, after all!) so I was expecting the larger story to also have a nice emotional element. Unfortunately, it isn’t as strong as it could be. 😞 I think there was just too much going on with a few stories coming together, and it was hard for me to form a bond with a single one since my attention was divided. As is so often the case in Japanese dorama, there isn’t a single strong focus.

*** SPOILER ALERT START ***

One thing that I like about Omukae Death was that not all of the shorter stories have tidy, happy conclusions. For instance, there is an episode in which a high school teacher, with the help of the Madoka and Sachi, looks after her former student to make sure his life gets back on track. Even though he eventually shapes up and decides to go to university, the teacher waits too long to go to the after-world and her transformation into an evil spirit is irreversible. The ending scene of that story is probably the most emotional of the entire series.

*** SPOILER ALERT END ***

A funny thing I noticed was that throughout the entire series, Sachi always wore shorts. I thought it looked a little funny in the first episode, but then in all subsequent episodes, she also wears shorts! ❓ In fact, I started to keep a lookout to see if any other characters had the same fashion, but nope! I guess one of the brand sponsors is pushing their summer fashion line. Once or twice during each episode of Japanese doramas, there is a short ~15 second brand sponsor “break” where a voice-over announces the sponsors. The first time you see this, it’s really odd, but you quickly get used to them. Also, during the end credits, there is a list of brands that sponsor the show. I guess if I were more familiar with women’s fashion, I would be able to pick out the brand of shorts that Sachi wears in Omukae Death! 😃

On the acting front, the two mains are not spectacular, but they are both popular young actors so I can understand the casting. Like I mentioned before, Tao Tsuchiya is one of my favorites so I generally watch the shows she is in. 💖 The two actors who play the grim-reapers are fun and do a good job, especially because one of them is just a kid! Of course, my Japanese language skills are not great so I don’t pick up on all the nuances, but I think the acting was okay!

In conclusion, I’d give Omukae Death a rating of 6 on a scale of 1-10. It’s certainly watchable and if you have any interest in the actors or the manga, then it might be worth giving it a shot. However, devoting ~10 hours for the entire series might be more of a commitment than you want to make for just an average dorama.