Sunday, April 28, 2024

Believe~Kimi no Kakeru Hashi

 Takuya Kimura stars as Riku Kariyama, an architectural designer with great skills and success. He has confidence in both his designs as well as his relationship with work associates, where he is respected and well-liked!
Maika Yamamoto
Hayate Ichinose

Kinya Kitaoji
As the head designer of a prominent bridge set to be the crowning achievement of a town, it seems he only has highs to look forward to- that is until tragedy strikes. While on location doing routine inspections to the bridge, a serious fault is discovered and, once failing, sets in motion a horrific collapse of the entire structure, causing both injury and even death.


Though there are lots of factors to the incident and much finger pointing, as the head designer of the project, Kariyama takes it upon himself to accept full responsibility for the accident, and after a sensational trail, is sentenced to a prison term.
Though now in prison, Kariyama still holds fast to his dignity and reserve, believing what he has done by taking the burden of the responsibility off the company and fellow workers by placing the fault in his initial architectural designs.

But we will learn that  there have actually been NO faults in his part of the project, and that the blame falls squarely on the supplier of the support cables, of whom which they secretly replaced quality materials with shoddy replacements. No, the real reason Kariyama has taken the blame is due to company president Osoda’s request, who feels that if the truth were to come out, the company themselves would be blamed for associating with the faulty supplier.
Osoda promises  that if Kariyama takes the blame, he will make sure his punishment is light and will surely be returned to the company in due time.But of course, these promises soon fall by the wayside as greedy people in positions of power make their own moves within the company.
For his part, Kariyama intends to endure his sentence silently, believing it is for the sake of all. But when his wife Reiko (Amami Yuki) visits him, she only has two things to report. One, that what he’s doing is not noble protecting people with his silence, but rather lying and deception. And furthermore, she adds that though he never noticed when they were together, she is dying of cancer, and, as it stands, he won’t be out until she has long passed.

It is faced with these hard truths that Kariyama takes stock in what he has done and said and, with the help of his lawyer Akizawa (Saito Takumi),  asks for a retrial so he can finally speak the truth of the tragic accident and clear his name.
But with so much at stake, there are many who can benefit from him remaining imprisoned and  use all their connections to sabotage his attempts at freedom. At the same time, there are those out there who are seeking the truth of the matter, and who will work tirelessly to have Kariyama’s voice heard and the corrupt individuals exposed!
Takaya Kamikawa
Ryoma Takeuchi

Fumiyo Kohinata
Takumi Saito
Chikako Kaku
Yuki Amami
As usual for  Kimura Takuya vehicles, Believe~Kimi no Kakeru Hashi is a real event, with huge stars simply crammed into the cast in all prominent roles and this one looks to be a fast-paced and gripping show!

So far it seems to be a character-driven series rather than a political/business one, and that’s a good sign. Lately lots of dramas have taken the VIVANT route and (IN my opinion) simply been bogged down with technical government/political stuff...I know this is a popular genre right now, but I get a real headache trying to wade through so much technical jargon, political figures, departments, etc.... hope this one doesn’t fall to the same trope!

Friday, April 26, 2024

Minami Hamabe Back with New "Alibi Breaker" Special

 I fell in love with Minami Hamabe in her stint as the rascally troublemaking idol Junko Kuroba in the 2019 drama “Pure” (which I wrote about here), but it was her next drama “Alibi Kuzushi Uketamawarimasu” which really showcased her as a rising star to watch! 
As it was the first full drama I watched with Minami, (Pure was a mere 3 episodes) I’ve always had a sentimental attachment to the Alibi-breaking Tokino Mitani, and so when it was announced that Hamabe would be returning for a reunion speical, I was dying to check it out!
All the regulars from the 2020 series have returned as well, with Ken Yasuda back as the irritable detective Yoshiyuki Saji and Ryo Narita as the bumbling detective Yuma Tokai, also Tokio Emoto and Masanobu Katsumura, reconstructing the old team to once again take on new crimes and new alibis to break...
Ryo Narita
Shotaru Mmiya
Masanobu Katsumura
Tokio Emoto
WELL, after just finishing watching the special , I must admit to being mostly...underwhelmed. For some reason they decided to start the show with Saji being an absolute PILL to Junko, starting things off on a bad foot, at least in MY viewing experience! Secretly using Kuroba to 'solve" his cases is one thing, but forbidding her from offering her services (even deleting her webpage) to the public is a jerk move, in my opinion.
Was waiting for the moment where he slinks back to her and asks for her help, instead  it's almost framed like he's doing HER a favor by using her alibi breaking skills at the end. Which I guess it is since Kuroba's so gung-ho about using her brains to crack the cases, but still...
Will say that this special is just cram-packed full of secondary characters to keep track of: Rin Takanashi, Shotaro Mamiya,Shono Hayama, Yuma Yamato, Wakana Matsumoto, Akiko Hinagata, etc, etc, Egads, with all of them running around, this special felt more like an extended variety show sketch than a drama episode proper, and quite often felt like a mess!
Rin Takanashi
Shono Hayama
Wakana Matsumoto
Akiko Hinagata
Yuma Yamato
Ryosuke Yamamoto
Really, there was like 3 different arcs going on at the same time, and none of them particularly gripping or imaginative (come on, invisible ink as a crime method is something a 3rd grader would come up with!), and after all that brouhaha, still left the conclusion open-ended to leave room for more sequels (or even new series)…very exhausting!


So yeah….was glad to see the old gang again, and love that Minami is really curating her backlog of enduring characters, however unless they’re going to tighten up the cast and plot devices, it might be best to leave this one to stand on its own….
(Would love to see Hamabe reprise her role of Mami Shirasawa of “Talio Fukushu Daiko no Futari” - now, THAT would be something to see!!!