Kazunari Ninomiya and Mikako Tabe in "My Family"

Kazunari Ninomiya and Mikako Tabe, who were a much-loved and very close couple in the classic "Yamada Taro Monogatari" from years back reunite for "My Family" , this time playing a drastically different couple who, though married, do not get along. And when tragedy strikes, we will see that this "family" is as cold and distant as can be, living together while not knowing anything about each other.

Did not know too much about the new Ninomiya Kazunari/Tabe Mikako drama “My Family” except that it was a crime story, but went in with both feet hoping for a cool action drama, and for the most part, that's JUST what I got!

The story begins with Game App entrepreneur Haruto Narusawa  (Ninomiya) doing an online interview where he boasts his success to the love and support of his family. But as the camera pulls away, we see that the bottom half of his is dressed in sweats, which lets us know right away that this is a guy more interested in appearance than facts.

And indeed, as we see by the reaction of his daughter Tomoka (Miyu Oshima) when she sees the interview, his family life is far from close and loving. And over the course of the next few days, we will find out that the supposed happy Father knows almost nothing about his daughter!

He gets a call from his wife Michiru (Tabe) who is concerned because  Tomoka hasn’t returned home and in fact did not even go to school that day. But the aloof Narusawa chalks it up to teenage rebellion and playing hooky, and doesn’t feel the need to get over-excited. "Such a nagging wife!", his irritated face seems to say as he hangs up with her.

He leaves the care of the child to his wife, for he has more pressing matters on his mind. His business, which was once a big smash hit, has slowly been losing numbers, and his lazy solutions to mark up prices doesn’t impress his colleagues Kanako (Maryjun Takahashi) and Yusuke Bizen (Kunito Watanabe) who fear the company will soon be done for. Unless something drastic is done, they may have to file for bankruptcy!

He comes home to a very distraught wife. Haruto has been ignoring her calls and is still unconcerned that Tomoka hasn’t returned home though it is now getting late.

The arguing couple gets a phone call from a mysterious electronic voice on Michiru’s phone, but Haruto cuts off the call before they can say much. He feels it’s just telemarketers wasting time, but when they call HIS phone, the voice finally tells them some devastating news: They have their daughter Tomoka…and unless they pay them 500 Million Yen, they will KILL her!!!

A frightened Michiru is ready to do anything to get their daughter back, saying yes, anything... but Haruto balks at the amount, saying he doesn’t have that much. They tell him nonetheless, unless he has the money, Tomoka will die. They instruct him not to call the Police and disconnect.

Michiru is shocked that Haruto would put money before his daughter’s safety, but he tells her that you have to negotiate with the kidnappers. And despite Michiru’s desire for things to go smoothly and obey the kidnapper's orders,  the first thing Haruto does is call the police, saying they’re unprepared to handle it themselves.

They contact the police, and when it cuts to the two detectives (Takeshi Tomizawa and Takaya Sakoda) taking the call, they were as silly and WACKY as can be, and my heart sank: "Oh NOOOO, Inept Cops! This drama is going to be another farce like “Shinhannin Flag”!!! MAN, I gotta say, I was about to drop the drama right there as I REFUSE to watch another “Shinhannin Flag” type show EVER AGAIN…

But then they introduced the Hostage Negotiation Leader Keishi Katsuragi (Hiroshi Tamaki) and his team Chigusa Washio (Kinuo Yamada) and Tsukawa Umeki (Yuto Nasu), and I was instantly on board again- Here was a compelling character whom I could believe in, fronting a KAKKOI team of pros, and as he and his crew literally take over the Narusawa house, it gave me a glimmer of hope that this would be a good, well written crime drama for a change…(of course, if they end up being the kidnappers themselves, that would be right on par with Shinhannin Flag shenanigans…) 

Love the teamwork of Katsuragi and Washio...Katsuragi handling the nuts and bolts of the operation while Washio dealing with the emotional,  human side of things. I could watch a whole show dedicated to these two alone!

From the moment the Negotiating team are on the scene, it becomes a different show, a tense, slow burner full of anxiety as the prepare the plans for when the kidnappers call with their demands. The parents are coached what to say and how to react. They are told to ask to speak to their daughter and to prolong the call as long as possible. But the kidnappers are too savvy and make things quick.

When the meet-up and exchange gets botched, Michiru, who never wanted the police involved in the first place, balks and wants to go it alone. Haruto himself would like to leave it to the cops. But there are other elements involved such as just WHERE he's going to get the money from...and what plans the kidnappers have for them! There is also a hint that there is something MORE going on behind the scenes....

And then there’s another facet to the case- the kidnappers M.O. is exactly like an older kidnapping case Katsuragi has worked on- and tragically failed. So there is a personal motive for him to want to work the case as well.

All of these opinions of “how to do things” will soon come to a head, and in the end the couple will make their decision for good or bad, and only fate will show if it will end in relief or tragedy....

A FAST-paced first episode which already sets up a compelling mystery if it is done right- there are already a whole rogues gallery of possible “suspects” but as these things go you KNOW that the ones they’re already painting as being sketchy are going to be the first red herrings and have nothing to do with it...And as well, there are alot of characters introduced as ‘friends” and by that same rule, you know that the ones painted most faithfully will be the ones most diabolical!

Somehow I would just like to see a crime mystery without all the damn twists and red herrings. Seriously, if Silence of The Lambs were to come out today, Hannibal would be secretly revealed as the Pope and Clarice Starling would be revealed as a repressed mass murderer.

Maybe that’s why I liked the Yutaka Takenouchi drama so much- everybody was who they were. The cops were cops, the evil murderers were evil and the real “discovery” if you will, is more about how far someone will go for revenge and how much you accept before you are just as evil as the ones you hunt.

In ANY case, I'm CAUTIOUSLY excited about My Family…PLEASE don’t be another Shinhannin Flag!!!