Notes on "Invisible"

 Not gonna lie, I was hoping I was going to like the new crime drama “Invisible” a lot more than I did- while on the surface it seems like a worthy successor to last season’s Avalanche, complete with a “loose cannon” type guy (Issei Takahashi) who is hell-bent on catching the murderer of his partner, somehow the show just hasn’t been wowwing me…

For one thing, Takahashi’s character aside, there just aren’t that many charismatic characters. Whereas Avalanche had an entire team (and leader besides) of colorful and very unique members, Invisible’s cast seems rather mundane and by-the-books..

Shibasaki Kou is the  titular “Invisible” Agent Kiriko,  working as a go-between between people who desire chaos and the terrorists who can make it happen, and I thought the drama was going to be a cat-and-mouse game between her and the determined Takahashi character Takafumi…

Instead she is brought in right away and spends the rest of the episode with a very annoying smug look on her face as she purposely gives these vague hints at who terrorists are and when the next attack will be. Very snarky!

It is up to the Shimura and the team to figure out what her words mean, and of course they eventually do,  but it's very anticlimactic for them to go back to her after diffusing the latest situation and Kiriko saying "Ah, I see you figured out what I meant..."

I tell you, it’s a lot less thrilling to have her already in custody when she’s giving her speeches…it would be like if Riddler was already in jail and THEN giving Batman the riddles to solve….

Ah, we’ll see where this one goes, such a shame, out of all the new dramas this season, Invisible was the one I was most counting on to blow me away!! Hopefully it can still do it in the coming episodes!

No Matter How Dark the Night Is: "Yoru ga Dorehodo Kurakutemo"

With such wacky, fun dramas as Joshikosei no Kudazukai, Wataoji, and Edomoiselle, I had begun to think upon actress Yui Okada as a strictly comedic actress (which would make sense considering her genealogy), but she really wowed me in the dark and moody 4-part mystery drama “Yoru ga Dorehodo Kurakutemo~No Matter How Dark the Night Is” with her serious side!

The drama tells the story of an aggressive journalist named Michinari Shiga (Takaya Kamikawa) for a scandal magazine who has no problem exposing people to the public as long as it makes headlines.

So he is at complete odds when his own son Kensuke (Shono Hayama) is accused of murdering his teacher and her husband before slashing his own neck in an attempt at suicide. Discovered in time, Kensuke is still alive but near death. He lies in a coma while both Shiga and his wife (Michiko Hada), come to terms with the horrible accusations. They cannot believe what they are hearing. 

But the press has no problem assuming Kensuke's guilt and soon the papers are inundated with wild stories of Shiga's Son's depravity. Even more harrowing is the police, led by detective Nagasawa (Taizo Harada), who are already convinced of Kensuke's guilt and are trying to quickly close the case. and the police all try to uncover the truth of what really happened.

It's only the diligence of the police force's leader Kudo (Masanobu Takashima), who feels the case needs a closer look and is averse to making any quick judgments, that Shiga is able to do some detecting of his own, determined to prove his son innocent.

Along the way Shiga crosses paths with the murdered couple’s college daughter Nanami Hoshino (Okada), who makes it her mission to lash back at those who took her parents from her, in particular Kensuke and his parents.

Shiga tries to convince Hoshino that there is more to the story, but the girls' blinding hatred of he and his family make her a dangerous person to cross. And without any evidence to prove otherwise, it all seems hopeless.

Very gripping mini-series, with great acting and pacing, I watched it all in one afternoon without a break! Could do with MORE mysteries like this one!