Hayabusa Shobodan Episodes 1~5

I didn't even want to try Hayabusa Shobodan because the idea of an inaka fire fighting dorama did not sound interesting to me. However I tried it out and now I am seriously hooked into this story about a mystery writer who movies to the countryside, joins the firefighting group and tries to solve the mystery of the serial arson attacks.

Mishima Taro once won the newcomer award for his debut work 5 years ago but his other works since then have not sold and he is in a slump. Taro inherits his father's house in the rural village of Hayabusa and decides to move there because Kawaguchi Haruna lives there and he feels really alive living in the same village with her.

Taro is invited to join the firefighting group and after a fire incident burns down the house of a friend of his father's he realises he was a part to play in protecting Hayabusa. So he has to juggle his work, firefighting, mystery solving and of course navigating all the difficult people relationships living in a village.

The first thing that came to my mind watching Hayabusa Shobodan is how beautiful Kawaguchi I mean the countryside is. There is this sweeping view in the beginning of episode 1 that took my breath away. 

I would move to the middle of nowhere in Hayabusa for Kawaguchi Haruna and the views.

Hayabusa Shobodan is your standard make everyone a freaking suspect because everyone has something to hide show. However it does not have that feeling of Anata no Ban where the writer is just pulling on twist after another until I did not care what happened anymore.

The other I thing I noticed besides how beautifully shot it was, was that the writing was very good. Its hard to explain but it feels like the opposite of Anata no Ban where it is just empty calories. Hayabusa Shobodan does not feel like a convoluted puzzle box with no character work. I could be wrong but I can feel this intense concentration in the writing like the writer has a every confidence in the story. I care more about the Shobodan characters more than anyone in Anata no Ban.

I just want to say I really feel like eating Unaju right now.

At half way point this feels and looks like a possible must watch but I don't want to get too excited because I thought Anata no Ban would have been good as well. What I want to say is it is easy to set up mystery doramas but making it pay off is the difficult bit.

I love episode 5 but won't spoil what it is about. This final shot is so good.

Give Hayabusa Shobodan a go if you like mysteries set in beautiful countryside. Big thanks to Kaizensubs for subbing. I got the subs and raws from drama-otaku. I don't want to get ahead of myself but you look at those screenshots and you know that TV Asahi have put a lot of effort into the visuals of this show and the writing is good so far but ultimately will depend on the ending like all mystery doramas. Very watchable so far and fingers crossed it doesn't end up like Love Complex which had one of the weirdest jdorama endings ever.