Faiz Ikari recommended me the first season of Gannibal some time ago. I had it sitting on my HD for a long time because I wasn't in a mood for a cannibal jdorama. I was pessimistic that someone else can do a violent movie to Sono Sion levels. I knew nothing of this show nor what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised and I am glad I waited this long to watch Gannibal.
Gannibal starts off with a police officer accusing a bunch of people in a village for being cannibals before he is killed with a sickle. No point hiding the theme of the story, right. The name of the jdorama already rhymes with cannibal.
The Agawas, played by Yagira Yuya and Yoshioka Riho are a couple who moved to this village of Kuge because of Yagira's job as the village policeman and because of their daughter Mashiro, who is unable to speak after a traumatic event. Usually in stories like this, nothing seems suspicious but alarm bells are ringing pretty loudly from the Agawas first day in Kuge from the villagers behaviour.
Gannibal plays the behaviour off from stereotypical countryside behaviour of neighbours poking their noses into everyone's business and expecting everyone to behave a certain way or else they would be excluded but the most alarming is the threats of violence does not faze the husband Agawa Daigo.
In episode 1, I was thinking I need to watch Hayabusa Shobodan again. I was also thinking any sane person would have at least gotten his wife and kid out of Kuge. It kind of bugged me that because they were clearly in danger and the behaviour of the people was not normal. I guess the daughter loved it there and Yoshioka Riho was trying to fit in but Daigo knew something was rotten.
Agawa Daigo has become one of my favourite jdorama charaters because of one thing, this guy is a police office who has no fear and kicks ass. There are very few characters like this because jdoramas don't have the action budget but also as Kaname Jun said in Oshi no Ko, jdoramas are made for women and kids.
Here we have a police officer not afraid of violence, loving the danger versus the Goto family of Kuge. The fight at the end of episode 1 really woke me up to this show. Gannibal is not Hayabusa Shobodan nor a Sono Sion horror cannibal story. Gannibal is an action horror/thriller with an emphasis on action. This is what I want. Japan's version of the Roundup except the bad guys are cannibalistic villagers who act like gangsters instead of actual gansters.
There is a car shootout scene in episode 2 which was good and Gannibal got better with every episode. Every episode ended with a great cliffhanger and I finished the 7 episodes in no time only to be greated with one crazy cliffhanger.
The only thing I don't like about Gannibal is the way the story treats the traumatic event in Agawa Daigo's past. The characters react to it like it is a shameful secret when he should be seen as a hero. It is not like he had a choice which is really weird.
The reason I am happy that it has taken me so long to watch Gannibal is that season 2 is coming out on the 19th next month on Disney+. Wait, Gannibal is a Disney+ show? Wtf. Disney is responsible for this violence horror jdorama? Amazing! That's where they got the money for that car scene. The more companies invest in jdoramas, the happier I am, especially shows that are not made for the women and children demographic. Disney are getting my money next month. I can't imagine how long Faiz and people who watched it much earlier have been waiting for season 2. I would have devoured the manga while waiting.
Amazing show. I need to add this to my jdorama awards 2022. Must watch first season. It could come apart in season 2 but I love the action and the violence. Must watch. Bring on season 2!
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