Nigeru Onna

Mizuno Miki is Nishiwaki Reiko, a former orphanage worker falsely imprisoned for 8 years for the murder of a child.

Endo Kenichi is the police officer who forced a confession out of her.

Tabato Tomoko plays Nishiwaki's best friend who lied to deny her alibi during the trial.

Naka Riisa is this weird girl whose path crosses with Nishiwaki.

Nigeru Onna is a very well written and directed 6 episode story about vengeance, guilt, responsibility and loneliness. I love this shot, its so wonderfully lit. I hate how the mainstream jdoramas are lit as if there are 4 light sources in a room. A frame cannot be beautifully lit without shadows.

Its a dark and depressing show that once I got started, I couldn't stop. I think 6 episodes is the sweet spot for a lot of jdoramas and I commend NHK and WOWOW for going this route instead of the usual 10 episode format.

For those expecting a furious rage of vengeance show, Nigeru Onna is not it. Its more sad and contemplative with very rare moments of joy and doesn't give you simple answers.

Nigeru Onna is so close to getting a must watch from me but there Naka Riisa's critical performance just doesn't impress me. I kept thinking how much better Kaho would be at this job cause this important role has Kaho written all over it. Seriously, Kaho can do that crazy while projecting fear and anger better than Naka Riisa did in Nigeru Onna.

Thanks to Heiwa fansubs for subbing Nigeru Onna. Most of what I'm interested to watch never get subbed. :( If I had to compare Nigeru Onna to a recent show, its just below the awesome Garasu no Ashi.

Highly recommended if you want a dark and deep jdorama about the journey of self discovery.