64 is an 2015 NHK show about an unsolved case where a little girl was kidnapped for ransom and was found dead after the money was delivered. The 64 in the title refers to the year when the crime happened, 1989 or Showa 64, the last year of Showa era before Heisei began.
Pierre Taki who has has cancelled in Jdoramas, only appearing in Netflix shows plays the main character Mikami, a former detective who was involved with the 64 case and now works as the head of public relations in D prefecture. So nice to see Pierre Taki in a leading role because he is usually a supporting actor. So sad he got cancelled in Judge Eyes. I have a digital copy of the PS4 original and I have a feeling if I start it up, it will update and remove him from the game so if I want to play it again, I have to do it offline.
Mikami is haunted by the case, which happened 14 years ago but he has bigger worries as his daughter has run away from home and his wife sits at home waiting for silent cause from his daughter. Furthermore, as head of PR for the police he is constantly butting heads with the media over issues such as not releasing names of suspects.
As the head of PR, Mikami is also tasked with convincing the father of the victim to accept the visit of the Director of Police before the statute of limitations runs out on the case. Mikami is a person under a lot of stress and he is trying to juggle it all so he has my full attention.
In the beginning, 64 seems so familiar. I have seen so many unsolved cases jdoramas before. What makes 64 stand out is showing the relationship between police and media and PR team who get no information from actual detectives and the media constantly crying for blood because they feel the police are stonewalling them. Most of the times in jdoramas, media are usually presented as just printing out the police's press release instead of doing investigations so this part is refreshing.
However, it is very dangerous to give too much information to the media especially before an investigation is finished. We have seen it time and time again media jumping to the wrong conclusions in Australia. Media fight to be the first to report something and get the scoop and they play a role in keeping police honest but at the same time, everything is not so black and white.
The one thing I do not like is the direction of 64. The director Inoue Tsuyoshi did one of my favourite shows ever Hagetaka but there is a kind of weirdness to the direction. There is always a high pitched noise between scenes and sometimes the angles are weird. I don't know how to explain it but the style of the show seems wrong. I feel like a more traditional WOWOW style would have been better.
That being said, I feel like I have to watch the 2 part movie now because the story is pretty good and I like the way that the real killer's identity is discovered because it ties everything up beautifully. Watchable 5 episodes which should have been 4.
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