J-Drama Deja-Vu: That “Affluent” Apartment

 

Whenever a drama needs a shortcut to show that a particular character is succesful, they rely on  what I call the “Affluent” apartment, an apartment set made to suggest wealth and/or success!
I first took notice of the place in the wildly fun drama “Oyabaka Seishun Hakusho” where  novice youtuber Negoro (Junki Tozuka) has gone viral and hit it big. Suddenly loaded with dough, what better way to indicate his newfound status than a ritzy apartment?

This was a very impressionable set, with a faux brick facade on one side, a gorgeous penthouse view on the other, an artistic styled staircase to the bedroom…and an antique African-styled mirror against the wall!

With these unique features, you had a very easily identifiable abode, one I instantly recognized next time I saw it in  "Toshi no Sakon", where Wakana Aoi moved in with the highly succesful Terunosuke Takezai:

 then the romcom "Usokon" with Neru Nagahama and Fuma Kikuchi:

This one was a surprise-I did not realize til I re-watched the Ikuta Toma drama "Ore no Hanashi wa Negai" recently that the affluent Kana Kurashina lived in the same apartment as well!! Watching it, I jumped up, saying "Hey!! it's the affluent apartment!!!" LOL

 ...and when that fancy apartment made an appearance in the latest episode of the new "Hanasaki Mai ga Damattenai" series  (as the home of the svelte Rinko Kikuchi), I just HAD to “speak out” about it finally!!!

I'm sure I've seen this place in many more dramas but just didn't recognize it, and I'm sure there's more to come as well!!! I'll certainly be on the lookout for it!

True Detective: Keibuho Daimajin

 Absolutely KNOCKED OUT by the first episode of the crime thriller “Keibuho Daimajin”, following the exploits of a detective nick-named Daimajin and his venture into the underbelly of crime. From the GET GO this show pulled no punches and hit the ground running, taking me on a journey I had no IDEA where it would lead!

Ikuta Toma stas as Daiba Jin, an all-star ‘ace” within the Police Department for his record of arrest rates and his singular passion to punish the evildoers. But his dedication to the cause goes deeper than anyone might suspect.

When we are introduced to Daiba, he has caught up to a powerful leader in the force named Amo Dai, who has been leading a child abduction serial case for years, without success. The reason becomes clear to Daiba when he discovers that AMO HIMSELF has been the child murderer, and, knowing full well that because of his power and authority, will get off scot free, Daiba metes out the ultimate punishment- by KILLING HIM with his own hands, and setting it up to look like a suicide.

Later Daiba returns to the scene as the lead investigator, and persuades the investigative team to rule it as a suicide, while also trying to steer the team to the proof of Amo’s evil deeds.

There is a kink in Daiba’s plans, however, a keen investigator named Saimon Hirayasu (Osamu Mukai), who isn’t easily swayed by the obvious clues Daiba has left behind indicting Amo as the child killer. He examines the scene and has his OWN ideas of what's happened....

Hoping to show Hirayasu proof of Amo’s crimes, Daiba says they should check Amo’s second home. Daiba has recently rescued a child from Amo’s depraved basement, and wants Hirayasu to discover it on his own.

 They go to the house, where Daiba feigns innocence as they break into the place and make their way down the stairs to the torture room.  Daiba exclaims to Hirayasu, “Amo must have been the killer!” but is met with shock...when Hirayasu not only says that he knows FULL WELL that Amo was the serial killer- but that DAIBA was the one that executed him!

Daiba is in disbelief, but Hirayasu calms him down, stating that he fully APPLAUDS Daiba’s methods. Like Daiba, he knew that Amo was basically untouchable and would never answer for any crimes, so he completely understood when Daiba resorted to murder.

Hirayasu even goes as far as saying he knows of at least three other “murders” of corrupt individuals that he believes Daiba was responsible for, but instead of turning him over to the authorities, he orders him to JOIN his covert investigative team! Seems Daiba is going to be under this guy's thumb for awhile....

When Daiba arrives the next day, he is met with the most rinky dink of a team, with just two investigators there (Kavka Shishido and Kenta Hamano) in a cramped space. But when Hiroyasu arrives, he lets Daiba know that this task force has a secret agenda: to investigate all the corrupt goings on  within the governing landscape by an old cult-like organization known only as the “44”, of which Amo was a part of.

Together the team hopes to work in the shadows tracking down the ne’er do wells, and with Hirayasu, Daiba agrees on a shaky truce as they go into the deep workings of the organization...

Hirayasu meeting with his own  “Deep Throat” informant Taizo Kumota (Ken Matsudaira) for information....

The group may have a perpetual “fly in the ointment” on hand,  with a sharp and compassionate young detective named Yuka Tanabata (Tao Tsuchiya). Like the rest, she is concerned about the child abduction cases, and when the child who Daiba had rescued describes him to her, Tanabata suspects Daiba may have had something to do with the kidnappings!

And with a chance sighting of Daiba at Amo’s house and Daiba’s sudden departure from the department into Hirayasu’s mysterious team, she makes it her mission to pry into their goings on and movements!

MAN, I cannot tell you how jazzed I am for this show, and was CRYING OUT the fact that this first episode wasn’t at least an hour-long, it ended FAR too FAST! I’ve mentioned before how disappointed I am when crime dramas like JOKER: Yurusarezaru Sousakan and ALICE no TOGE portray the leads as cold-blooder anti-hero killers, anly to revela at the end that they didn’t REALLY hurt anybody and it was all for show. 

That’s why I was so BLOWN AWAY by the Oguri Shun crime drama BORDER, where the judgement and punishment extracted onto the villains were so cold, cruel and ABSOLUTE, and with Keibuho Daimajin’s INTENSE opening scene of Daiba STRANGLING the criminal to DEATH…I was GOBSMACKED!

PS: About the post title: This drama’s macabre and surreal vibe REALLY reminded me of the excellent “True Detective” series, especially the first one with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson… and until some station eventually actually makes a Japan version (like they did with Cold Case, Bones, Suits, etc), this one will do nicely!

REALLY excited to follow this one!!!