Hippocrates no Chikai

Once upon a time, Kitagawa Keiko did Sailor Moon and Mop and they were good. (stop snickering about Sailor Moon!) She certainly showed glimpses of acting ability and I enjoyed watching her on the screen. Then she started doing a bunch of crappy mainstream jdoramas including the insult to common sense show Lady. Since then I have basically avoided her shows until Hipprocates no Chikai, that is. Main reason being that its a WOWOW show.

Hippocrates no Chikai is a thriller about an intern who gets sent to the hospital morgue to learn about autopsies and slowly discovers to her horror that something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

The interesting part about this show is looking at Japanese attitudes towards autopsies. That cutting up of dead bodies is desecration.

There is just something off with Kitagawa Keiko's acting. If anything, I would say that her character doesn't feel real. I think she's stuck in mainstream, bright and sunny jdorama acting mode and doesn't fit the gritty WOWOW style acting.

Instead of going on the story's journey with her character, I find myself looking at the story from the autopsy mad Mitsuzaki's viewpoint and wondering if Mitsuzaki is wondering why Kitagawa is not picking up on the clues. It doesn't help that it took way to long for Kitagawa's character to begin suspecting the hospital.

I really loved the choice that Kitagawa Keiko's character makes at the end though. I remember thinking when she made the choice that if her character were a bit smarter and they had cast a better actress, this would have been a very good thriller.