I feel bad I didn't talk about Hitori Shizuka in my jdorama write up for this season. I've learned my lesson; any WOWOW dorama is worth checking out. The main character for ep 1 is Takizaki played by Takahashi Issei, the guy who looks like he wants to cry all the time from Gonzo. Takizaki is a low level police officer who is stuck working in a police box and dealing with grandmothers making a report about 900 yen being stolen.
I love good old WOWOW realism. I really enjoyed the look at being a grunt in the police force. Doing menial work such as keeping onlookers away from crime scenes or being tasked to random questioning of town people. I like that even when Takizaki manages to hit on a lead from asking random people at public places, he is unable to present his finding because other senior members of the investigation team have hit upon the same information from chasing juicier leads. I love that its not preachy but shows it as it is.
Not going to say much about the plot save that a murder occurs close to Takizaki's police box and he goes to investigate only to find another policeman already there. I went into Hitori Shizuka with no knowledge save for Kaho's face on the poster an I enjoyed every damn minute of it.
Hitori Shizuka looks like your typical awesome WOWOW dorama. Gritty and real. Even Tsugunai doesn't look as good. There must be something about the directors who work for WOWOW or something in the water there that make their doramas look so much better than the rest. Personally I think its because the lighting doesn't make it seem like every room has multiple light sources and the earth has two suns and the directing is about capturing performances and not making actors look good.
I am very excited about this and its a definite must watch for me. If you've seen Kaho from Kare, Otoko, Tomodachi, you know she's got the acting skills to pull this off.
8 comments:
Personally I think its because the lighting doesn't make it seem like every room has multiple light sources and the earth has two suns and the directing is about capturing performances and not making actors look good.
I have to agree with this. Everyone doesn't look super bright, made up, and polished. I thoroughly found myself enjoying this drama as well and even watched it without fast forwarding. I'm looking forward to the next episode.
Me too! I loved ep 1!
I think Kaho really stuck out in Kare, Otto, Otoko Tomodachi. And I started watching that for Maki Yoko (I am a great Maki Yoko fan, and not just because of her looks), but fell in love with Kaho in her role as the detached sister.
I loved her smile at the end of this episode. It stung like a bee : )
It felt a bit like the smile of Orson Welles in The Third Man.
I like the police officer too in this. I recently saw Takahashi Issei in W no Higeki and he definitely couldn'd save that higeki : P
Am I the only one who thinks Kaho is getting really prettier now? She's always be kinda plain, but she's looking stunning especially this year.
(yea, lame I know, we're supposed to talk about her acting, not concentrating on her look).
I'm getting putting this drama as one of my to-look for this season.
I think after Double Face I've learned that WOWOW can have insane production values too. Can't generalise still, but I'm defo going to try this series out now. Cheers!
This is exactly why I follow this blog; I'd never have thought to watch this show if I hadn't read this review. Once again, I'm very glad I did.
I'd just like to say, that choice of first screen cap above is genius...after watching the episode I get a VERY different vibe from it now (she is rather beautiful though). Really enjoyed the story even though I had predicted the outcome quite early on. Looking forward to more episodes! Thanks for making it a must watch.
Thanks for the heads up. This one flew under my radar. Having watched the first ep 1, I couldn't stop til ep 5. The way the writer screwed this show together is quite brilliant. It is a well crafted show, and I agree, hats off to Kaho.
This is a pretty disturbing show all the way.
Jung, now you've got me so tempted to watch it raw. Why aren't Japanese subs available for WOWOW doramas???!!!!
Awesome show just finished episode 6. Will go hunt for the novel one day
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