Monday, December 17, 2012

Tokumei Tantei 4-9


Great news, the first four episodes of Tokumei Tantei have been subbed. I gave the first three eps a must watch so what about the rest of the series. For me, I think it got a bit boring in the middle, especially compared with Tokumei Kakarichou Tadano Hitoshi. Part of the reason is maybe Ozaki Masaya (KDO,Shiroi Haru and Love Generation) is not involved in writing this. Its not nearly as fun.


I think the main reason is that it is a bit all over the place. You got a anime-like rich person house story, fake shaman story, touching woman who lost her memory story; stuff you can find in other doramas. Tadano Hitoshi had a central theme which was workplace/salaryman/company problems. Affairs, people leaking information, corporate blackmail etc, more adult type stories you don't usually see. I guess you could say that the middle episodes were pretty uneven in tone.


Its like why I always do all the sub missions in Yakuza/Ryu ga gotoku. There are not just beat the bad guys up missions. They are stories only available in the Yakuza world. Stories of hosts getting into trouble when their client can't pay, illegal Chinese immigrants hiding out in a secret town or girls spiking drinks.


Regardless, episodes 8+9 are a must watch for me. Episode 8 because its a great payoff. Tantei gets framed for a murder and the girls must band together and solve the mystery. It was fun watching the girls step into his shoes and stumble along. One of the easiest ways to make a dorama fun is just to give a supporting character his/her moment to shine in the end.  


Episode 9 is the best episode of the series. The story is about the idol group with 5 members which operates similarly to AKB48; fans have to buy cds to be able to vote for the favourite girl who becomes the centre. I love the remark by Tantei-san that its no different from a kyabakura. The girl who gets nominated the most and earns the most money becomes no.1. This is what I'm looking for, more adult stories and perspectives. AKB48 is basically an idol kyabakura.


They really went all out for the budget of episode 9. It must cost at least double the normal budget with the extra idol props and extras. Not to mention that it was double the amount of fanservice. :)


Sadly, I can't give the whole series a must watch with the series getting slow for me in the middle. I would consider half the episodes pretty good and the middle ones weak. The fan service pushes the series to a very watchable one for me. If you like the screencaps, you'll definitely enjoy it. If you like Tokumei Tantei then you'll love Tadano Hitoshi.I apologise for going a bit overzealous with screencaps.




Lol. I think Tantei-san needed to be a more snarky character like this.










Lol. Poor fella.

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