A Tale of Two "Games"

 In my post about the Keigo Higashino novel "The Name Of The Game Is A Kidnapping" and its 2003 and 2024 adaptations, I had remarked that with the 2003 version with Naohito Fujiki, Yukie Nakama and Ryo Ishibashi, while mostly true to the source material (with a few alterations and additions), they tacked on an extended "happy ending" for everyone involved, a move I felt didn't sit right but did leave the audiences satisfied!

 

The 2024 version started off well by avoiding a lot of changes the 2003 version made, seeming to adhere to the novel as best as they could,  and I stated in my last post that I felt we were going to get the "true" adaptation at last! Kazuya Kamenashi was excellent as Sakuma, Ai Mikami great as Juri and Atsuro Watabe properlyintimidating as  Katsuragi. Things looked good!

Well, I just finished watching the new series, and not only did they ALSO tack on a new ending, my GOSH, it had to be the most over-the-top, overly dramatic conclusions ever! Seriously, I had the surprised Pikachu face as I watched this new ending, thinking, "Everyone agrees that the Keigo Higashino novel is perfect...so WHY do they always feel they need to ADD to the ending???"

Is it because in Japan, the novel is so well known that they feel the need to surprise the fans who have already read the book? Is the original "twist" not enough? Surely fans of the source material must have been as disappointed as I was with this newfangled wrap up...

Too bad, as I was REALLY digging the 2024 version up to that point!

“The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping” 2024!

Not even three months ago I was raving about reading author Keigo Higashino’s awesome book “The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping” (Game no Na Wa Yuukai) and the 2003 movie adaptation of it, "g@me",  (of which I've gushed about here)...

...and here we are with a brand new 2024 mini-series adaptation for the next generation to jump into!! The Higashino novel originally came out in 2002, thus this new mini series has been updated, taking us from the Heisei to the Reiwa era. But outside of that, the story and characters remain the same, and I must say that after watching episode 1 of the mini series tonight, think it is a fantastic adaptation!!

The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping tells the story of a successful if arrogant advertising designer named Sakuma (here played by Kazuya Kamenashi) who, at the crux of a huge business venture, is told that the company has inexplicably cancelled the project.

This termination is due to the seemingly whim of the business account’s president, Katsuragi (Atsuro Watabe), who has decided he doesn't like Sakuma's vision and style. 
Despite conversing with the company president face to face, they get nowhere, and though they are able to convince the car company president to give them one more chance, it is with the explicit instructions that Sakuma must be taken off the project.

That night a frustrated Sakuma makes his way to Katsuragi’s mansion. He doesn’t know if he’s going there to plead his case or duke it out with the man, but instead, he comes across a young girl leaping over the walls and running away.

Her name is Juri (Ai Mikami), and, deducing that she is Katsuragi's daughter, Sakuma quickly makes moves to confront her, thinking that perhaps he can win points with Katsuragi by helping her...

Though he picks her up with plans of using her to his advantage with Katsuragi, Sakuma will find this girl is running away from home because she is fed up with her family, in point her father, whom she feels alienated from. Sakuma gets Juri a hotel to hide out in for the time being, and they get to talking. They realize they have a mutual interest in Katsuragi: Juri needs money from him to run away from the family, and Sakuma wants to ‘get back” at Katsuragi for his humiliation.  

Together the two team up to create the most elaborate hoax on Katsuragi: To fake Juri’s KIDNAPPING and bilk the Company president for MILLIONS! But plans like this must be meticulously thought out and executed, but Sakuma is calm and collected. After all, it’s a game to him. And he just LOVES a challenge!

Episode One just aired and like I said, was really great, and for many reasons! Making the decision to air it as a mini series rather than a movie gives them more time to fully cover the source material and scenes and scenarios that were changed or cut can be fully realized...
In the original book Katsuragi was president of a Car Manufacturing Company but in the 2003 film it was changed to Beer business. Here it is restored to Car Manufacturer, and I must say, the advertising campaign of  having a “virtual test drive” of the car via computers, a fancy idea back in 2002, is so “of the time” right now!!

Additionally, I mentioned in my earlier post that one thing that always bugged me about the 2003 film was that Yukie Nakama seemed waaaaay to old to be playing the young teenage runaway Juri, but Ai Mikami portrays her just fine!

As well, Kamenashi as Sakuma is great. Naohito Fujiki played Sakuma in the film and while he was okay, you didn’t see the bitterness and the stakes he was playing for as much as you do in the miniseries. Kamenashi really conveys the EGO that Sakuma has and the burning desire to get the upper hand on Katsuragi!!

The Miniseries is going to be a lean 4 episodes long and I fully expect the next three episodes to be as great as this first one was! Should be a wild ride!

PS: OOOOH, and just LOOK at where Sakuma resides! As a highly succesful businessman, of COURSE it makes sense that he lives at THE AFFLUENT APARTMENT, that hoity-toity abode I JUST  talked about a few days ago! 

When you gotta show that the person is a success, ya GOTTA have them reside at the AFFLUENT apartment, it's just a given!!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Notes on "Destiny"

Story of a girl named Kanade Nishimura whose Father suddenly and mysteriously committed suicide when she was in middle school. Because of this, she grew up as a shy and introverted person who shunned friendship, til she meets a group of friendly students who take her under their wing and accept her as one of their group!

Starring Satomi Ishihara in the lead role as Kanade, this is another cast of starts, with Kazuya Kamenashi as Masaki Nogi, Emma Miyazawa as Tomomi Mori, Minami Tanaka as Kaori Oikawa, and Yuma Yamato as Yuko Umeda....

This group will eventually bring Kanade out of her shell, and for the first time, will experience comradeship and bonding with others. "Let's be friends forever" one says, and they all agree!

Sadly, this will not last, and the partnership shatters when one of the group is killed in an accident. Moreover, one of them, Nogi, who was present at the scene of the accident, disappears after the funeral, seemingly never to be seen again....

Fast forward to the present day as Kanade is working as a lawyer for the Prosecuting Office. She seems content with the life and even has a romantic partner Takashi Okuda (Masanobu Ando).

But when she crosses paths with that same man who had disappeared from their lives after the time of the accident. And as she tries to discover where he has been and what he has done, the truth about not only the death of her college friend but of her own father’s suicide will come to light…

Only seen the first episode which mostly set-up the story without revealing much, but I dunno, this one doesn’t grab me at all. May be the slow pace and meandering style, but I found myself trailing off a few times during the show! Will watch a few more to see where this goes, but I’m already getting 100 Man Kai Ieba Yokatta vibes from this,  and THAT one was a dreary and dragged out murder mystery which I really had to slog through.  Nonetheless, it seems this one's already a HUGE hit, so MY lukewarm response is DEFINITELY in the minority... will love to be proved wrong in my initial analysis!

Posted by zdorama @zdoramaagain.blogspot.com