Iryu 3 ep 7-10

Just when I thought Iryu 3 had finally found its legs, it stumbles yet again with the lame and utterly pointless Asada PTSD story. Fair enough if the writers wanted to do an Asada story but the whole link with the past incident that put the dragon on his back was so lame, even by Iryu standards. Not to mention the whole falling down scene was shot in such a way that it didn't look like it was possible for Asada to accidentally fall. It reminds me of the stabbing scene at the end of Shiroi Haru.

Somehow, jdorama cameramen/directors cannot utilise the camera properly to make an 'action' scene look plausible. Look at the above picture. Kid was standing on the ledge, slips down and somehow forces Asada on top the ledge only for him to let go of the kid's hand which would have kept him from falling. This fucking amateurishly done scene completely destroyed the awesome ending of episode 6. Didn't someone have the fucking balls to tell the director that hang on, that particular sequence of events does not look right? If they didn't have time to plan such a simple but important scene properly then the director should have just done quick close up shots without having to expose the stupidity of Asada pulling a kid down and jumping off the roof for no reason.

First rule of working in hospitals; always walk in a V formation. Bonus points if you can walk like you're going to a fight.

The fact that they went the amnesia and ptsd storyline tells me they had no idea what to do with Asada. The answer is simple. Asada is the constant of the show. He does not need 'depth'. This series has always been about people changing through their interaction with Asada. If the writers were so desperate as to use an amnesia story, why not write an episode for the nurse who no one cares about because the audience does not know anything about her?!

Its not all bad. The last episode features the most absurd multiple surgeries ever to be done in the series and I love it. One of the keys to Iryu is carefully pushing the envelope in regards to bullshit surgeries and have Asada perform miracles. Asada is the Superman of surgeons and thus he requires super-surgeries.  The awesome soundtrack will take care of the rest.

The writing in Iryu 3 is horribly all over the place. It jumps from one theme to another without any strong sense of build up. The end story of the series is about Kuroki and yet he is given a poor excuse of a back story and has not been given character development time. They want to make him the cool villain who turns out not to be the final boss and that should have been the focal point of the series. He's supposed to be Ashram to Asada's Parn for those who have seen Record of Lodoss War.

Actually come to think of it, I think I've realised what's been missing from Kuroki. Asada is Parn, the bland good guy protagonist but is supported by Miki, who is his Deedlit. Yes I know Miki is not in season 3 but bear with me. Asada is the constant and doesn't talk much but Miki was the connection between him and the team and his proxy by which his problems can be verbalised while he can still look cool. What Kuroki lacked was his own Pirotess.

Ashram was cool not just because he wore black but because he had his own Pirotess. Kuroki just needed some hot assistant who is very loyal to him to give him a stronger aura and make the audience realise that there is something more to this catheter dude than just being Noguchi's lackey. Kuroki's Pirotess would allow him to interact with the team while staying cool and mysterious in the shadows. Pirotess would be able to give hints about Kuroki's past without him having to do to exposition and the scene at the end with Asada holding Kuroki should have been hers. The writers introduced a nurse that they did nothing with who would have been served so much better as Kuroki's right hand woman. Then we can have her trying to seduce Ijyuiin to Kuroki's side while he runs away like a pansy.

Iryu 3 is a dorama that has a mishmash of ideas but clearly lacks focus. Maybe the writers didn't have enough time but clearly the script needs to be rewritten many times and refocused. If your main ending is Kuroki's redemption then the main priority is to set it up. If your secondary story is to show that Team Dragon can work without Asada, then do so without wasting people's time with and amnesia and revisiting his magical tattoo story. And probably devote an episode to each of the team members instead of making their stories a footnote. If you're a fan of Iryu, there's enough good parts to make it watchable but if someone asks me for a medical jdorama to watch, I'll pass the person Iryu 1& 2 and never mention 3.