Its been a long time since I've seen the Mitani Koki Shinsengumi! series. The last time I saw it was in 2014 in preperation for playing Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin! Its definitely a must watch show and one of my favourite Jidaigeki.
Keppuuroku is 2011 show starring Nagai Masaru as Hijikata. I will always remember Nagai Masaru as the one actor in Buzzer Beater who actually looked like he could play basketball. In Keppuuroku, he's got the meaty part of Hijikata, probably the most memorable character of the Shinsengumi story. FYI there are two other versions of Keppuuroku; 1965 and 1998.
I don't really know how to judge Keppuuroku. I think the casting is very good. I dare say as good as the Mitani Koki one. I really liked Toyohara Kousuke as Serizawa Kamo, the best 'bad guy' role of the story. If I were an actor and couldn't play Hijikata, I would want the Kamo role. I prefer the Kondou Isami actor compared to Katori Shingo although his role is not as meaty.
Compared to Shinsengumi!, Keppuuroku does not have as many episodes and feels like its a collection of best of stories and the timelines jump here and there. The swordfights are ok. Unfortunately no blood. I'd rather no blood than CG blood any day.
Around halfway I started wondering if Japan would ever do a non romanticized version of the story. All the things they did was crazy and so many people were killed. It was a bunch of killers in an organization where someone was committing seppuku every other day for breaking some rule. They were undisciplined killers bound by crazy strict rules.
In the end I enjoyed it, especially the ending song Bojou by Yoshida Takurou. Not too often I would sit through all the ending credits of a jdorama. If you enjoy jidaigeki like me, I think Shinsengumi is worth your time.
If you don't really watch them, Keppuuroku is not good enough to be worth your while and you should try the Mitani Koki one. A huge thanks to evasive for subbing!
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