MADDER: I’m The Culprit In That Case!

Mao Ioki in MADDER

Caught the first few episodes of the new drama Madder: Sono Jiken, Watashi ga Hannin desu (I’m The Culprit In That Case! ), A VERY fun and entertaining story of a young high school student named Akane Nakano (Mao Ioki) attending Seiran Academy, a school for the exceptionally gifted, where she is a genius among geniuses. 

Like many geniuses, however, she is bored with schools and scores and societal status, looking at everyone and everything with an apathetic eye. That is, until one morning when she comes across the scene of a murder near the school campus. 

This is a grisly serial murder, the fifth in a series, and while looking on, Akane sees someone suspicious among the crowd of gawkers, an unscrupulous guy in a maintenance outfit, who seems to be taking an unusually keen interest in the investigation! "Hm, seems shady", she thinks.

She might have forgotten about him in time, but when she sees him doing maintenance at her school (after yet another mind-numbingly dull day), she takes a renewed interest in him and follows him to his workshop. 

His name is Kurokawa (Ryuta Yamamura) and, speaking frankly, she confronts him and tells him that she saw him at her school… and at the scene of the morning murder. 

Looking her over, he chides her, saying “Shouldn’t you be more concerned about school?”, but when she confesses boredom and apathy with school, he says, “perhaps the killer was like you- bored with the mundane and desperate to experience something new. He says that you cannot see things the same after killing someone, that carrying the burden of a crime changes your entire outlook of life. 

Listening to this man talk, Akane realizes he has described her life to a T. And later, forlornly walking home, she has an epiphany to shake up her monochrome life and experience this colorful new world that Kurokawa spoke of.

Thus when school opens the next morning and the students and faculty discover that SOMEONE has vandalized the  school statue and SMASHED to BITS, we know instantly that the culprit is HER! 

In such a way begins Akane's new life of crime!

Eager to feel the thrill of the chase, Akane is delighted when her entire class of geniuses consider this vandalism a challenge to the school and team up help catch the criminal! 

There is: 

Hiroto Miyauchi (Eiku Yamashita) Mathematics Gold Olympiad,

 Eto Arata (Kouhei Higuchi) , Quiz Champion

 Mayu Shinozaki (Riru Yoshina) , Linguistics Expert 

Minato Yorihara (Hibiki Mizuno),  Astronomy Olympiad 

Yuka Ono (Kanon) , Pianist with Perfect Pitch

 and Try-hard Kitakyushuu Speech Champion Rin Hojo (Tsugumi)! 

Are THESE to be Akane's Intellectual Adversaries? She can't wait!

Akane’s excitement, however. is short lived when she finds that despite their brains, these kids just can’t keep up with her devious deceptions-misdiagnosing trails, arguing amongst themselves,  harebrained procedures, she finds that to keep the game going, she has to actually go out of her way to HELP them decipher the clues to her own crime! 

Meanwhile there’s all sorts of other shenanigans going on in school with corrupt principals and shady teachers- and of course there’s a real serial killer on the loose in town just waiting for his next victim, while the police investigators (Rina Takeda, Shojo Hama) assigned to the case seem to have no clue how to even start! 

Looks like Akane will have her hands FULL if she plans to continue this new occupation of juggling full-time student…and part-time criminal! 

As you all know, I’m not a fan of the “Troubled Student” dramas and usually shy away from those focused on the kids, but MADDER’s set-up sounded so fun, and indeed, it’s been a real hoot to watch! First time seeing actress Mao Ioki whose deadpan delivery of the perpetually bored Akane Nakano steals every scene! 

Drama stats tell me she’s from one of those AKB type acts-Nogizaka46 to be exact- which makes me wonder if we’re seeing the beginning so the next wave of talent! Going to have to keep track of these actors and actresses!

Into The World of Manga with Haru Kuroki in "Juhan Shuttai!"

Haru Kuroki as the Perpetually Perky Kokoro in "Juhan Shuttai!"

Despite how much I love actress Haru Kuroki, somehow her drama JUHAN SHUTTAI! from 2016 completely slipped under my radar, so I was excited to see it up for grabs at the J-drama forums! Wonderfully winsome and sweetly sincere, Juhan tells the story of Kokoro Kurosawa (Kuroki), an energetic and spritely young girl who never lets the negative side of life get her down and always aims for the positive! 

A one-time Olympic Judo contender, when a devastating injury takes her out of the game, she looks into herself to see what she can contribute to the world now that she has been sidelined, and, remembering how the world of manga was the original inspiration for her love of Judo, wishes to be involved in those that made those stories a reality!

Friends Sara (Rina Takeda) and  Tsukasa (Emiko Tomiyama) 

Always looking at life from the perspective of sports, she tackles the job interview for a magazine publishing company she wants to join with the same outlook: observing the opponent, predicting what they will do, and choosing the right time to make moves!

Surprising the interviewers with her energetic outlook and smart answers to their queries, she seems a shoe-in for employment...

...until she makes the mistake of applying the world of Judo to the interview too literally and accidentally judo flips an elderly janitor…who just happens to be the company PRESIDENT!!!

Anyone else would surely have NO CHANCE of getting employed after that, and even Kokoro figures she's blown it... but Kokoro’s friends remind her she has this thing called “weird luck”, and she is to find that rather than being insulted by the judo maneuver, the Company President sees much potential in her and she actually gets HIRED!!!

With her athletic background, one would assume she’d be placed in the sports department of the magazine, however the employees are shocked when she is placed right in the section she's been dreaming of getting into- the MANGA Department of VIBES Magazine!!!

Kokoro is all smiles as she meets the team-

Senior Editor Iokibe (Joe Odagiri) and Section Chief Wada (Matsushige Yutaka)

 

Kikuchi (Nagaoka Tasuku) , Yasui (Yasuda Ken), and Mibu (Arakawa Yoshiyoshi)

"Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu!!"

The employees of the Manga department don’t quite know what to make of this naive, chatty and eternally bubbly young girl, but she is eager and determined to learn all she can and do her best! And as she learns the ropes of the manga department bit by bit, she will prove to all her naysayers that she has the moxie to get the job done!

helping outside sales agent Koizumi (Sakaguchi Kentaro) promote works with bookstore clerks...

...and even when problems come up for Kokoro and Iokibe (such as dealing with doubts felt by a senior manga creator, played by Fumiyo Kohinata), Kokoro’s unorthodox insights are sometimes the very thing that can help snap out of it and get both the manga and creative team back on track!

 

Finding inspiration in the strangest palces!

Awww man, like I mentioned, I’ve always loved Haru Kuroki ever since “Mi Wo Tsukushi Ryoricho”, (as well as others like Nagi no Oitoma, Ichikei no Karasu and Boku no Neechan) and her role as the super sunshiney Kokoro has immediately become another BIG favorite of mine!!!!

As I already mentioned, this drama came out in 2016, and it makes me sad that I don't remember anyone talking about it when it was actually airing. Like I said, even I hadn't heard of this drama til recently! Such a great little show with tender moments and a LOT of heart, and worthy of viewers!

As for me, I'm gonna really enjoy this one!!!!!!