Shokuzai eps 4 + 5

 Lots of spoilers ahead.....

Shokuzai is the jdorama with Korean style dark comedy that I have been waiting for, without the usual visual violence against women and gore. The comedy is less pronounced but its there. Ep 4 is a sister vs sister story with Ikewaki Chizuru and Ito Ayumi and it was very fun to watch. Much better than eps 2 and 3. Kinda wished they could have turned it into a two hour movie cause it is interesting enough as a stand alone story.

The older sister played by Ayumi who grew up sick and always had their mother's attention and Chizuru playing the younger sister who always resented the sister and has a policeman fetish. Great stuff about complex relationship and its got a perfect dark comedy ending. Still don't understand the punch ending of ep 2 and it would be better if it was obvious at the end of ep 3 that it was all in Akiko's head.

Shokuzai is about 3 girls who destroy themselves to atone for Emiri's death and the desire to see them atone is what drives Asako (Koizumi Kyoko). The killer is unknown so there is no one for her to turn her anger towards and the three girls are so scarred by the incident like Asako that they let it dictate their lives.

Really weird police station under renovation and is that a car in the background?

The comedy is that, the 4 girls had nothing to atone for. That the real cause of it was Asako's past. That it was not the act of a pedophile but an act of vengeance against her past misdeeds.Brilliant concept. The final episode is on par with the first one in terms of acting and directing. I would say eps 1 and 5 are excellent, 4 is pretty good while 2 and 3 are decent. The important thing is episode 5 brings everything full circle and really justifies the name of the dorama.

The ending is that Asako, the on person driving the other girls to seek atonement is unable to atone for her own crimes. She is denied or rather subconsciously denies herself the act because she is partly responsible for the death of her daughter. My only complain about episode 5 is the scene where she gives the big hint during the car crash. Better to save it for the scene with her husband and it would have been much more powerful.

Hats off to Wowow for making Shokuzai and getting Kurosawa Kiyoshi to do it. Its pretty good but its not the classic that I had hoped it would be after ep 1. I already talked about the endings to eps 2 and 3 but I think showing the 4 characters more from Asako's perspective would have been better. To show that her obsessively mad desire for the girls to atone has not died and that it is the only thing keeping her alive. It would have made the first twist funnier in a sense.