A common set-up of the modern J-drama Mystery Show is the “Odd person with Anti-social personality who has curious talent is recruited by skeptical Detective to help solve Murders”, a trope used in such classics as Masaharu Fukuyama’s Galileo, Hiroshi Abe’s The Sniffer, even Satoshi Ohno’s Kagi No Kagetta Heya, and now we have Rasen no Meikyu: DNA Kagaku Sosa!
This time around we have Kei Tanaka as the current oddball scientist, the acclaimed DNA Specialist Jin Jinbo who claims that thru DNA he can fairly predict a person’s personality, inclinations and even possible future...and on the detective side we have the bitter disbeliever Genji Ando, played by Ken Yasuda in a role that looks almost exactly like his role in the Minami Hamabe mystery drama Alibi Kuzushi Uketamawarimasu, though a LOT more serious…
The two happen to meet during a routine questioning Ando is giving of a suspect in his club, where Jinbo happens to be taking samples of rodent dander. Overhearing the interrogation, Jinbo points out some fallacies the suspect is giving and ends up giving Ando his card.
Back at Headquarters, Ando’s Investigative partner Runa Ranbara (a DEVASTATINGLY GORGEOUS Kana Kurashina) and forensic scientist Ayaka Kusuda (Yuriko Ono) gush about Jin Jinbo and how widely respected he is in the world of DNA studies! Ando is stunned to hear how respected Jinbo is, considering how odd he seems!
There is a serial killer on the loose which Ando has been passionately tracker for personal reasons. When the case comes to a standstill, Ando reluctantly ask Jinbo to help in the investigation with his skills. And as par for the course in these dramas, Jinbo refuses, wanting nothing to do with the police or the public, only caring about his work.
Like most detectives before him, Jinbo is an eccentric of sorts, looking at things solely through the eyes of how DNA comes into play…except when he’s at the small restaurant he lives above, run by the kind and genial Yukari Baba (Keiko Matsuzaka) who crafts the overly sugary sweet desserts which seem to be the only non-DNA thing Jinbo cares about!
He is asked by the police many times to help, but it’s when he sees how sincere Ando is, when he feels like he can trust the detective, that he finally agrees. From then, the two team up to track down a ruthless killer in their midst…using both parts DNA and good old detective intuition!!
This Mystery drama is hitting ALL the usual cliches of this trope, and I had to laugh when they even got Ikkei Watanabe to be Ando’s infuriated superior, HAHAHA! Watanabe’s done this role SO MANY times, it should unofficially be called the Ikkei role, LOL!
We'll see where this one goes, it's interesting enough...and it's worth it to stick around for the sheer Kana Kurashina goodness alone!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com
