Miharu-Rush's subs are up to episode 8 so spoilers for episode 9+10 will be white-outed. I went into Mozu with high hopes and its been mixed for me but one thing's for certain, Mozu season 1 has been sponsored by all cigarette companies since we don't see any brands. They smoke so much that I don't even feel like having a cigarette after wacthing.
WHAT I LIKED
+ The effort. They really wanted to do hard boiled cop action drama that doesn't end up in an abandoned warehouse. Can't fault them for that.
+ Chase sequence in ep 5. Not superb but not bad. Its something you see a lot in Hong Kong movies but its something you don't see in Japanese doramas/movies. I'm guessing shooting in public in Japan is a lot more expensive than in HK. I really like Yoshida Kotaro as the overacting bad guy. The only thing I didn't like was the punch by Kagawa Teruyuki that sent the baddie spinning onto the car boot as if Kagawa were a sentai ranger.
+ Shingai turned out to be the most interesting character in the show.
+ Kagawa Teruyuki daughter episode. A character episode that did more show than tell.
+ Moody and nicely framed camera shots.
+ The previews never failed to excite me.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
- Too much posturing, brooding and repeating the same thing over and over again by our main character Kuraki and not enough detective work. Kuraki is a character haunted by his past but the script is just not good enough.
- Too much telling and not showing. For example, Maki Yoko's dad's storyline. Every once in a while, some character will mention it as if to say, "Please keep this in the back of your mind for season 2" when they haven't exactly given me a reason to care. Let's not forget Kagawa Teruyuki reminding the audience how much he hates Public Security.
- Hiromi got shot multiple times, got stabbed through his heart by a gigantic spear and somehow managed to extricate his body from the spear and walk all the way through the sewer? They never explained Kazuhiko's black eye super power but that's tough to buy. So is Kazuhiko going to be as good a killer as Hiromi in season 2? Are they going to pull a Hiromi was actually Kazuhiko thinking he was Hiromi?
- We have to wait for season 2 for the daruma and glarke alpha, two things I have a hard time imagining a satisfying explanation.
SUMMARY
Good try but Mozu season 1 didn't reach must watch status. The action is there, the directing is there but the script is not polished enough. I'm still looking forward to season 2 though and am keeping my expectation lower this time. Its just unfortunate WOWOW doesn't have Japanese subs.
I've been told that Nishijima Hitedoshi is pretty popular with the ladies in Japan and I saw lots of advertisements of him selling refrigerators which explains the topless scene with Maki Yoko even though all the blood was coming from his head.
Rootabega here:
ReplyDeleteI guess I`m in the minority here, but I thought MOZU was a complete, hot mess. If it were translated into stream of consciousness poetry, it would read something like this:
Fear the corny story-book shrike
Memory loss, memory loss
Where is zee microchip?
Smoke smoke smoke smoke aah..
The bomb the bomb the bomb
Sardonia, oh Sardonia,
we stand on guard for thee
Smoke smoke smoke smoke aah..
Dharma dreams and terrorists
``God wants you to live``
Oops. Guess not.
The truth, the whole truth, nothin` but the truth...
Smoke smoke smoke smoke aah..
Japanese angst, Indonesian FX,
Rainbow lights on chain link fencing.
Clink clink clink goes the icepick
Stab stab stab goes the icepick
Little girl is crying, fluffy rabbits, schoolyard
First year student film montage.
Unconvincing as a female twin,
even less convincing in drag.
No cavity search in jail.
Car crash
Smoke smoke smoke
Stabbed and beaten
Smoke smoke smoke
Shot and beaten
Smoke smoke smoke
Aah...
Lol. Can't disagree with your points there.
ReplyDeleteHahah Rootabega: Smoke, smoke, smoke.
ReplyDeleteI always thought Nishijima Hitedoshi was a good actor. He is... very, very attractive in this drama. I see why they did the shirtless scenes.
Sometimes I think it's too bad this blog is only about dramas, movies and the occasional video game. I'd love to hear you talk about anime sometime or even something like Avatar the last Airbender (although it's likely you don't like that kind of show).
Would like to hear your opinion on other dramas this season. I started off liking Saigo kara 2 but it fell a bit flat for me. :/
well u can always blame that since it wasnt shown on wowow that means it wont be good, and that the second season shown on wowow means it will be good :P
ReplyDeletei think ur expectations were high especially with the actors from double face. this show was watchable but not a must watch.
ya that scene with the shirtlessness was just meh -_-
also the unstoppable terminator that is hiromi was just >.>
i dont like supernatural stuff in my detective dramas, so hopefully they dont pull some of that in season 2.
on another note so thats wat that thing in the lower floor in diver city was for - concerts. i was wondering what that shuttered place was when i was there.
i also tried the ramen you suggested there last month. it was so good better than what i can get here at home.
so i went to that gundam museum and wow that store g-front in the end was just plain EVIL. they are scalping gundam fans. i actually bought 2 shirts there which i now regret since they are WAY overpriced :(
I know Mike is a rich man not because he goes to Japan every 3 months, but because he is a smoker in Australia.
ReplyDeleteI'm only up to ep 4, but I agree with you 100% on too much talking and not enough showing. I guess it's a budget issue since it's 10+ eps. His acting in ep 4 with knife was genius.
Thank the casting director for hiring that old henchman. He is brilliant.
Sonna~: The dialoge ia pretty bad so can't really say anything about Nishijima's acting.
ReplyDeletedgundam: Better to regret buying than not buying.
Jung: If I had the money to go every three months, I'd might as well live there.