Higashino Keigo Mysteries ep 7

First off I've got to say a big thank you to tayorinai tenshi for recommending episode 7. For those who have given up on this series, I highly recommend you just watch episode 7. It is that damn good. Almost Shokuzai ep 1 level good. Toda Erika is like heaps better than Nagasawa Masami. She can do cute, funny and serious. To be fair to Masami, ep 6 was stuck between trying to be serious and moving and ended up doing neither but after watching Masami for years, its clear she can't do more than being cute. I think if you put Toda Erika in Bunshin, it would be pretty good. Interesting to note that Bunshin is based on a Higashino Keigo novel as well. Stop reading and watch it if you haven't cause there's gonna be some spoilers.

Why is episode 7 so good compared to the rest? Its done a better job of cramming in the ebb and flow of a 90 minute movie into 40 minutes compared to the rest. You've got your murder, initial suspects, multiple red herrings leading to confirmation of killer with with a twisted motive and one chilling revelation at the end. 

During the 45 minutes, there is constantly new information to keep me guessing. Contrast that with the Nakai Kiichi mystery where people just show up and I don't care cause there's no clues to entice me. Mysteries are fun when the audience thinks along or is lead to think something. The previous mysteries are simpler and needed to be more character stories instead of depending on the twist and 40 minutes is not enough.

Episode 7 would have made an awesome movie cause its a movie with every single ounce of fat cut out. Give Santamaria Yusuke's character more of a background and spend more time on the red herrings and it can easily earch 1 1/2 hours. The step brother red herring turned out to be interesting because he was an indirect cause. 

The ending is so kick ass. Japanese horror at its best. I will never forget that scene with Santamaria Yusuke trying to peep through the gap trying to figure out who that person was. The same person who was talking about the lullaby to her at the beginning. If the other mysteries turn out to be good, please let me know. I think I'm going to remember 2012 not for any series as a whole but for single episodes, specifically Higashino Keigo ep 7, Shokuzai 1 and 5 and Tsumi to Batsu 1-3.