Dark Tower: Crime and Corruption in “Sakura No Tou”

 Just watched the first episode of the crime drama “Sakura No Tou~ Cherry Blossom’s Tower” and this one really hit the ground running, with its dark and gritty style.
Ren Kamijo (Hiroshi Tamaki) is a morose and brooding detective working for the Metropolitan Police Department who keeps his feelings and methods to himself as he works his cases.
As a child, he looked up to his father who was also a Police Officer. But beneath his Dad’s happy exterior he always sensed something sad about him, and he is devastated when he commits suicide.

Knowing that a huge part of his Father’s frustrations was the politics he had to deal with on the force, and Ren has grown up believing the only thing that matters is power. power to control some and be shielded from others. And so he has had only one goal in mind, to move up the ladder of command in the department til he is at the top of the “tower”, and  to get there he throws integrity to the wind, using the most unscrupulous of methods to get what he needs to solve his cases, not caring if he has to break some laws himself to do it!

He will have a huge uphill battle on his hands, as the Metropolitan Police is in the middle of a huge power struggle between several splinters at the top, including Sendo (Kippei Shiina), Yoshinaga (Ken Mitsuishi) and Gondo (Kotaro Yoshida), all of whom want the same goal of complete control. 

Sendo is a colleague of Kamijo and takes him under his wing in an effort to use him to promote his office. In this they are kindred spirits for Sendo also wants to move up regardless of what it takes, and gives Kamijo an unofficial nod to do what he sees fit!

On that front, Kamijo has a team of people with equally questionable ethics to help him, the savvy Cabaclub Bar Mama Komiya (Saki Takaoka) and ex-detective Kariya (Jun Hashimoto), all of whom collude with kamijo to frame, extort and threaten the suspects until Kamijo can make the arrest!

One person who frowns upon  Kamijo’s methods is Sawa Mizuki (Ryoko Hirosue), his childhood friend who is also a detective in the department. As she is not an “elite” like Kamijo, she is lower in rank and can truthfully not expect to get much higher. Still, she is passionate about her job and is constantly frustrated when the higher-ups’ bickering and games prevents them from doing their job.

When Kamijo is assigned to head the case of a Bank Robbery gone wrong, Sawa has a chance to reconnect with Kamijo and remarks how dark he has become since they were kids.

But the darkness runs deeper that she can imagine, and though they initially team up to investigate, once his unethical ways come to light, her conscience is torn between the results he gets…and doing what is right.

A veritable ALL-STAR cast here with heavy hitters as all the principle roles, and we even have saucy Risa Naka back in another one of her trademark “sassy spoiled girl with evil streak in her” roles as the daughter of Sendo and a possible romantic interest of Kamijo’s…or perhaps something more sinister?!

Oh Man, this is building up to be one heck of a drama, in the vein of KUROKOCHI,  JOKER: YURUSAREZARU SOSAKAN, or BORDER, with the lead as a conflicted person who shows as much depravity as he does heroics! I’ve written about how much I love these anti-heroes in dramas and it’s been intriguing to say the least!

PS: I really like the look of Hiroshi Tamaki as the hard-as-nails detective Kamijo...at times seems to be channeling Steve McGarrett of Hawaii 5-O! Maybe it's the hair...

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com