Perfect Report 1-7

Perfect Report is dorama about a underdog tv journalist department headed by Aoyama Kana (Matsuyuki Matsuko). They are the general of back up section staffed by rejects and their job is to back up whatever tv journalist group needs help whether it be politics or staking out an idol.

Once again, we have another job dorama where the main protagonists are hated by everyone else for no reason. Someone needs to explain to me why in so many jdoramas, they writers feel a need to create unnecessary obstacles which don't make sense. Actually its not the hated part that doesn't make sense, rather the continue to depise our main characters while they continue to succeed and prove their worth part that makes no sense.

There  the sub story that the head of the news section is merely using Aoyama for his own end but so far nothing has come of it. Usually in jdoramas, the main characters just take this abuse and bullying on the cheek and continue to do so despite doing what the bullies could not. Is this a reflection of Japanese work practices? That capable people should be aware of their place on the totem pole and not rock the boat?

The one show that keeps popping into my head is Beauty or Beast which was a very fun show about tv reporting with a bunch of underdogs. Perfect Report follows the same formula with stories that highlight each character but with some episodes, Perfect Report tries too hard to be cool. The on that comes to mind is the Aibu Saki episode. Not to mention how she could have caught up with a bus while waddling with an injury unless bus driver in Japan go 20 km/h.

The highlight for me is Akasaka Shu (Keisuke Koide). He starts of as one of the bullies, is career minded and is transferred to spy on Aoyama but we soon see that he has journalistic integrity as well as a host of problems which make him more of the main protagonist of the show. His got a good story arc and his main story is the driving force for the series while Aoyama's pops in and out at times. Actually Akasaka wins the main character spot because everyone else is a one note character.

Perfect Report starts off shaky but the two main stories especially Akasaka's has kept it from being a generic sob story with tryhard cool moments of investigative reporting. My gut feeling is that it will end strong. Perfect Report is just above the sea of mediocrity. Compared to Beauty or Beast, the quality of the episodes has not been consistent. Let's see if the main stories will make up for it.