Hitori Shizuka eps 2-4

EPISODE 2

We get another interesting main character with Hirofumi Arai, Abe's subordinate from Going My Home playing a public safety cop who seems a bit detached, maybe a bit autistic. He is given menial jobs but he gives as much effort into his public safety work as someone investigating a murder. He's got detailed maps of the town, pictures of graffiti and information on things such as areas where there are insufficient lighting.

Episode starts of with Ito Shizuka's colleague at her combini job getting stalked. It was interesting and I really enjoyed Hirofumi Arai's character but I was wondering where it was leading anyway. There's a shocking reveal at the end which made me think there are some things worse than murder.

EPISODE 3

Not another new character! Not really new, the detective was at the end of episode one but every episode has had an interesting protagonist while Shizuka serves as the villain working behind the scenes. I'm interested to know what happened to the characters from eps 1 and 2 after their encounter with Shizuka.

The beginning of episode 3 is a great example of an efficient way to re-introduce your main character. He's on a stake out outside a love hotel, thus showing his job and then is stopped by two policemen who check his ID and give the audience some information about his past. Just a couple of minutes to establish who the detective is and on with the story.

All I got to say is poor fucker. He's trying to do his job, he is weighed down by his 'sacrifice' for the police force and in the end, he gets played around by Shizuka. This would not happen in your typical dorama. Episode 3 ends with a who the hell are those guys?

EPISODE 4

I love how sloppy the gun fight is. People don't die straight away and apparently its not so easy to shoot people behind cover. There is no main character in episode 4. Its basically Kodoku no Gurume turning out to be a cop investigating the crime scene and we see him piece the events together.

Shizuka changes her final plan when the yakuza's daughter comes out of the room. How good this dorama is depends on the last two episodes because the first 4 have not really been about Shizuka. She is this shadowy figure in the background. This ghost that all 4 characters are chasing but the audience knows little about.