Gonzo: Densetsu no Keiji eps 1-4

My, Motokariya Yuika has grown since Sekachu. :)

I've always harped about jdoramas can't do proper action. This ties with their inability to do interesting storylines. Most of the detective shows have been downright mediocre (Odorou Daisasousen) or pathetic (SP). Police shows are very similar to mystery shows and there are some pretty good ones like One Million Stars and Trick but they are not really cop shows. I think cop shows either suffer from too family orientated (Kochi Hon Ikegami Sho) or too much about bumbling cops and their jurisdictional conflicts instead of the actual crimes themselves. Jdorama cop shows lack in the essential ingredient of suspence.

If I were a Japanese cop, I'd want to question all the hot Japanese teachers too.

Gonzo is the cop show to change that. Gonzo is the name of the main character played by Uchino Masaaki. Most jdorama viewers would know him as KimuTaku's brother from Love Generation or Ueto Aya's coach in Ace wo Nerae. There seems to be a huge gap in his jdorama acting between both shows. I didn't even recognise him in Ace and he deserves credit for making what could have been a horrible show very watchable.

Gonzo somehow not too excited with Otsuka Nene.

This show really reminds me of Bengoshi no Kuzu in that Kuzu became a career defining series for Toyokawa Etsushi and I certainly see it becoming so for Masaaki. Of course, their characters share similar traits of being very flawed but entertaining. After all, who the hell wants to watch a story about a goody-two-shoes. Its more fun to watch a story about a great detective who has fallen from grace. Masaaki infuses Gonzo with the right amount of humour and empathy to make him the perfect underdog. He doesn't stray into the realm of overacting and basically gives Gonzo the aura of a likeable rogue.

Gonzo with another hot chick. Waitaminit, for a supposed 'loser' he's got it going pretty good!

Joining Masaaki is Tsutui Michitaka, who most people will remember from Asunaro Hakusho (Hmm, another Kimutaku dorama.) who Gonzo once mentored who has ulterior motives in trying to resurrect Gonzo's career. I'm not going to go through all the characters. Suffice to say, basically all the characters are in the show for a storyline purpose and its just fun to watch dialogue and scenes not written to waste time but rather build up the suspense. Unlike Kuzu though, Gonzo so far is pretty good in terms of storyline. Gone are the stupid characters often used for humour but only serve to make cop shows look like a sitcom. Gonzo is that dark; there are still your usual jdorama elements but it has believability of character.

OMG, he gets to play games at work and have Motokariya Yuika watching! My empathy for Gonzo maybe turning into envy!

So far every episode has been very exciting especially towards the end while continuing the main overall story. If there's one huge criticism of the show is how the writers have split every episode so far as one element of the main investigation. This sorta makes the cops look stupid as some important elements should have been dealt with straight away such as the weapon which will be covered in ep 5. But hey, I'm happy to turn a blind eye as its probably a better way to structure the series.

Can't believe Sekachu was only 4 years ago!

Best show of the season so far? Most definitely. Highly recommended.