Fixer Season 3 jdorama review

The first season of Fixer was about the car crash mystery of the Prime Minister, the second season was about how Karasawa Toshiaki would free Watanabe Tatsuya from being framed for a crime he did not commit and the third season is about a kidnapping set during a Tokyo governor election.

The first thing that caught my attention has this line by Kobayashi Kaoru saying only 50% of eligible voters vote for the governor of Tokyo. Half the people don't vote and even if they did, they do not remember the names or the policies of the candidates. The most important thing is to have people remember your name. Hhmm, this is true for mayor voting as well.

Season 3 started off well with the election and kidnapping of the daughter of a construction company, then there is this hostage exchange thing which I don't really buy. Fixer has a lot of great ideas but execution is lacking in details.

I do enjoy having Furuta Arata and Takashima Reiko for season 3. WOWOW casting is usually very good and Fixer is no exception. If you accept Fixer's flaws and turn off your brain, it is a fun whodunnit series set in the political world.

The best part of Fixer season 3 is the ending which made everything click in place because I did not understand why Karasawa Toshiaki did a bunch of things. Is there going to be Fixer season 4~6? Fixer is a 3 season series as far as I know. I really want to see what happens next and how Karasawa Toshiaki will get to his objective. Flawed but watchable for me with an exciting ending. Bring on the next season! Only the first season of Fixer has been subbed but Jp subs are available at avistaz.

Fixer season 2 jdorama review

Fixer season 1 was an ok Karasawa Toshiaki show about a political fixer trying to solve the case of how the Prime Minister of Japan got into a car accident which left the Prime Minister in a coma. It was more of an investigative dorama than political fixing but it was an watchable.

Season 2 of Fixer feels different. A lot of times when there is a season 2, you are wondering if they can replicate the feel for season 1 again or if there is more story to tell. It feels like season 1 set up a bunch of characters and season 2 we are seeing where the story is taking them.

In season 2, the reporter Watanabe Tatsuya is framed for attempted murder of the wife of the Tokyo Governor and Karasawa Toshiaki has to bail him out. Joining the cast for season is Suzuki Honami playing the defence lawyer of Watanabe. She acts the same as she did in Suits and I can't complain because I love every moment she is on screen, especially with Uchida Yuki.

There is a lot more political manoeuvring in season 2 although same as season 1 it is a whodunnit but the criminal is obvious and it is more about the court case and Shitara going up against legendary fixer Goichi Hongo played by Nishida Toshiyuki

Where Fixer lets me down is that the writing is not as sharp. The details aren't as good. The attempted murder frame up was way too flimsy. For someone as powerful as Shitara Kenichi having just one bodyguard is not enough. He needs a team to do what he is doing. I guess my complaint about the writing is that the world of Fixer doesn't feel real enough. Maybe its for budget reasons since Fixer has so many great actors but details help ground a story and make it real for the audience.

It is still fun though. Fixer has so many of my favourite actors including Kaname Jun, Kobayashi Kaoru, Ishiguro Ken and Yasuko Tomita. Kobayashi Kaoru is such a good actor that he can play such a conniving politician in Fixer and the warm master in Shinya Shokudo. Yasuko Tomita I have been a fan of since Suzuki sensei and I really like her as the Prime Minister. As for Kaname Jun, I wish I had time to rewatch Akuma no Bengonin because that was such a fun show.

If you are a fan of the actors in Fixer, you should check it out. Season 2 is better than one. Unfortunately only the first episode of season 2 has been subbed but I managed to get Japanese subs from avistaz which made it easy to watch. After the cliffhanger surprise ending of season 2, it is on to season 3!

Ryomaden Episodes 1~9

The Taiga dorama that I am very, very slowly working my way through is Ryomaden. Main reason I am watching is because there is a game coming up soon by Team Ninja called Rise of the Ronin. I am no Team Ninja fan, I thought Nioh was a meh FromSoft clone with a stupid randomly generated loot system but the game is bloody set in the Bakumatsu period with Sakamoto Ryoma in it so fingers and toes crossed it will be a good game!

Sakamoto Ryoma is one of the famous Japanese historical figures that everyone knows by name but no one really can say why he was famous. He was the main character of Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin! but that was more of a Shinsengumi story. Ryomaden was finally enlightened me on why Sakamoto Ryoma is a great man: he has to make a difficult decision between Hirosue Ryoko or Kanjiya Shihori who are throwing themselves at his feet.

I know what you are thinking. With the recent Hirosue Ryoko scandal, surely the answer should be Kanjiya Shihori but Ryomaden came out in 2010, when Hirosue Ryoko was still at the top of her powers.

Joking aside, Ryomaden is about Japan being this isolated country that realised how backwards they were when Commodore Perry and the black ships appeared threatening Japan to open the country to trade. Sakamoto Ryoma realised that the rest of the world had technology that Japan would not even dream of but most of the country wanted to expel the foreigners instead of learning from them because they were scared of being conquered.

Ryomaden shows how feudal society was in that era. In Sakamoto Ryoma's hometown of Tosa, there is even discrimination between different classes of samurai and anyone could get killed at anyone's whim. Samurai lived for the lord and episode 9 you even have a collective responsibility story which reminded me of the case where a school withdrew from Koshien just because on the the students who was not on the team got into a fight.

The thing I am looking forward to in Ryomaden is to see how Kagawa Teruyuki's character goes from super poor samurai selling bird cages to the founder of Mitsubishi. Can't complain, I hope Hirosue Ryoko and Kanjiya Shihori stay in the story until the end! Watchable.

Black Familia Shindou Ke no Fukushuu review

I like revenge shows because at worst you have fun watching bad guys get what they deserve and once in a blue moon you get something amazing like Samayou Yaiba. Black Familia is a revenge show with a twist: the daughter of the Shindou family Riria falls to her death from her school rooftop and all fingers point to the super rich and powerful Saotome family.

Yes, Black Familia is a family working together to get revenge against a bad family story. It also reminds me of Nagano Mei's Burn the House Down on Netflix which also has the main character work as a maid for revenge as the audience slowly gets to know the bad family. Except of course in Black Familia, you have a hairdresser father, pretending to be a Korean uncle and journalist older sister getting close to the family in their own way.

I really wanted to like Black Familia but the first alarm bell was in episode two when they kidnapped a bad teacher and for some reason all of them decided to interrogate the teacher together. I was watching the scene thinking why not have one person do the talking instead of 4 because the teacher might work out that they are all a family and blow their cover.

After that I skimmed half and watched half of the series to see what happens and I like the ending. I like that Black Familia is about what happens when you stare in the abyss too long. How much would you sacrifice for revenge? Is risking your family worth the price of vengeance for losing your daughter?

The concepts that Black Familia explore are interesting but the execution just wasn't good enough to stop me from fast forwarding here and there. I feel like if Sono Sion had directed it, it would have been much darker and twisted and the ending is just right for him but I am sure he has been cancelled.

Maybe its because I had already seen a much better revenge dorama in Burn the House Down but unfortunately I have to give Black Familia a meh. Really wanted to like it because it is full of supporting actors.

Kaso Girei Episodes 2~8

There are two more episodes left but I am ready to declare Kaso Girei a must watch after the incredible episode 8. If Tokyo Hinkon Joshi is a discourse about how women fall into poverty and get trapped there, Kaso Girei is about the business of religion and why it exists and the good and bad things that people use religion to do.

A jdorama being a discourse about an interesting issue alone does not make an interesting story. A story is nothing without characters and Kaso Girei has a lot of interesting characters. From Shumei who claims to see spirits but has a Madonna complex to Asako who was brainwashed by Eho Sanrinkai and is looking for a place to belong. I really like the line that Hiroe says in the screenshot; the people are the most important part and I really want to see our small band of original Seisen Shinpokai by happy.

Kaso Girei works because Kiryu Ekai is a good guy at heart. Seisen Shinpokai is a sham religion started by two religious otaku for money but Kiryu Ekai has created a place where people can belong. He is a good guy doing a bad thing which produces good results for people.

Makoto is kind of the enigma character of Kaso Girei because the audience is not really sure about his true motives but episode 8 was sad and beautiful. The final two lines by Kiryu Ekai to Makoto's revelation are absolutely beautiful. All the arguments and discourses about religion can be summed up beautifully by those two lines. I can imagine the writers/producers reading the novel and thinking these are the two magic lines we need to put on tv.

Kaso Girei explores the relationship between religion and politics. Politicians need the manpower and votes from religion and recognition from politicians gives a religion legitimacy aka the former Unification Church scandal. Japan has a very low voting rate, 51% at 2021. That means that politicians don't need to appeal to the average joe who doesn't vote and can just rely on votes from certain hardcore or religious groups to stay in power.

SUMMARY

Two more episodes to go. Can't wait. Happy to declare Kaso Girei must watch and I will join Seisen Shinpokai if the last two episodes are good! Maybe.