Saka no Ue no Akai Yane Episode 1

It has been a long time since I have seen a gruesome and creepy thriller. Off the thought of my head, the first show that comes to mind is Kurosawa Kiyoshi's Creepy which was very disappointing. 18 years ago, a host called Obuchi convinced a schoolgirl Aota Sayaka to murder and dismember her parents. (Yes, do not watch episode 1 when you are eating food)

Obuchi was given a death sentence and Sayaka a life sentence because she was being brainwashed by Obuchi. During the trial Obuchi actually got his autobiography published, talking about how he took his first life as a kid which we see at the start of the episode.

Kiritani Kenta is now an editor at a magazine and wants to publish Ogura Sana's (Kurashina Kana) novel about the incident. Ogura Sana won a newbie writing award years ago and wrote a follow up which was shot down and both editor and writer started to interview more people involved with Obuchi and Aoda to get a better picture.

A very much like thriller and the execution of episode 1 is very good. Every character feels a bit off. An executive criticizes Ogura Sana's script as immature and from someone who does not know society well. Sana has a weird relationship with her controlling mother and we later learn that she was adopted.

My first thought is Sana must be Sayaka's sister and given up for adoption and the twist is going to be that Sayaka was the evil manipulator all along. The most interesting thing is how did sleazy host convince girl to kill parents?

Renbutsu Misako is the courtroom sketch artist for the Obuchi trial and is legally married to Obuchi. She is so creepy. I have read about women who fall in love with serial killers and watching her play this character is unnerving.

Never thought I would put Renbutsu Misako and creepy in the same sentence but good use of shadows can do that and the super bright lipstick makes her look even more demented

Speaking of good use of shadows...

Are they going to to a parents were abusive to girl to justify the murder?

WOWOW casting is top class. Kobayashi Ryoko in next episode? Yes!

And this Kurashina Sana smile with the freaking line creeped the hell out of me! I get why WOWOW spoiled the reveal because I am so creeped out but want to see WTF is going on? Is being in prison a lie? Great episode 1 WOWOW and I don't want to get too excited because it is easier to set up an interesting mystery then to make it consistently exciting. Thanks to Monchi for subbing!