[J-Drama review] Jikou Keisatsu
Jikou Keisatsu (aka The Time Limit Detective)
January - March 2006
Official Website
Story: In Japan, the "statute of limitation" law states that when crimes aren't solved within 15 years, they must be dropped. Police officer Kiriyama, portrayed by Japanese Academy Award winner Odagiri Joe, investigates these dropped cases as his hobby.
Length: 9 episodes
I started watching Jikou Keisatsu because I was looking for another gritty crime drama to compare with Rondo. The d-addicts wiki site for Keisatsu had a picture of a police officer sitting sternly in a chair next to the words "Genre: mystery," so I thought, Hey this is what I'm looking for!
The wiki failed to mention that it was also a comedy. >_< Oh well, at least it wasn't as over-the-top as Kuitan or Densha Otoko.
BUT!
The major problem with Jikou Keisatsu is that it's SO BORING! and I really, really had the urge to hit fast forward many, many times. The cases are poorly written, and heavily rely on coincidences to solve. In nearly every episode, we see the "Newton + Apple = I got it!" plot device in play, where a case will have Officer Kiriyama completely stumped until he *just happens* to see someone or something nearby that offers a clue and leads him to the solution. In addition, the cases aren't given much time to develop since all of them are solved by the end of the episode. In fact, you could watch the whole series out of order and it wouldn't make a difference! There is no binding storyline and nothing ever carries over to the next episode!
The other reason that it's SO BORING is that the characters are pretty uninteresting. They're static and two-dimensional without a background or history. In fact, I was surprised to hear that this series is an original script and wasn't based on a popular manga. The way the show is presented, it felt like these were established characters that came from some source that everyone in Japan was familiar with, so no background or development was needed. Then again, you could almost say it was based on the long-running manga Kindaichi, which sounds uncannily similar to Jikou minus the time limit detective stuff. Wow, sure are a lot of nice, repentant murderers in Japan. ;)
Y'know, I bet the singer of the only song in Jikou isn't happy with the show either because the cast keeps talking over her song. :P This is the first drama I've seen where you can barely hear the song. It's like it was very reluctantly added due to the "all dramas must have a song" law.
On the Bright Side . .
1. There *was* ONE episode that I really loved: the Valentine's Day episode (Ep. 6). I'm just a sucker for comedy relief acting serious. ^^ Ironically, the Valentine's episode was the only episode I loved in Kuitan, too. o_O
2. The spoofs they did with the "This drama is fiction" lines were pretty creative. This one was my favorite . .
3.
The Return of The Floating Noodles!
4. The series is mercifully short. In fact, this is the first drama I've seen where both first and last episodes remain at the regular 47 minute runtime. ^^b
Ok, so a couple brownie points up there, BUT! still not enough to save this SO BORING series.
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nothing to do with the rating, but another major reason I checked out this show was because of Odagiri Joe. I knew of his popularity, but I'd never seen him act before so I wanted to check out one of his shows. While it's kinda hard to tell what he's like from this show, his acting was great. And he also reminds me of . . someone. *I think* it might be Katori Shingo, except thinner and calmer. ;)
. . Wait, I'm reading here that Joe was also that lipstick-wearing psycho samurai from Azumi?? WAZZUPWITDAT?! O_O
You can get Jikou Keisatsu from d-addicts.
English subs can be found separately here.
The subtitles are the most well-written softsubs I've seen yet, so it might be worth checking out one episode just for the subs. :)
January - March 2006
Official Website
Story: In Japan, the "statute of limitation" law states that when crimes aren't solved within 15 years, they must be dropped. Police officer Kiriyama, portrayed by Japanese Academy Award winner Odagiri Joe, investigates these dropped cases as his hobby.
Length: 9 episodes
I started watching Jikou Keisatsu because I was looking for another gritty crime drama to compare with Rondo. The d-addicts wiki site for Keisatsu had a picture of a police officer sitting sternly in a chair next to the words "Genre: mystery," so I thought, Hey this is what I'm looking for!
The wiki failed to mention that it was also a comedy. >_< Oh well, at least it wasn't as over-the-top as Kuitan or Densha Otoko.
BUT!
The major problem with Jikou Keisatsu is that it's SO BORING! and I really, really had the urge to hit fast forward many, many times. The cases are poorly written, and heavily rely on coincidences to solve. In nearly every episode, we see the "Newton + Apple = I got it!" plot device in play, where a case will have Officer Kiriyama completely stumped until he *just happens* to see someone or something nearby that offers a clue and leads him to the solution. In addition, the cases aren't given much time to develop since all of them are solved by the end of the episode. In fact, you could watch the whole series out of order and it wouldn't make a difference! There is no binding storyline and nothing ever carries over to the next episode!
The other reason that it's SO BORING is that the characters are pretty uninteresting. They're static and two-dimensional without a background or history. In fact, I was surprised to hear that this series is an original script and wasn't based on a popular manga. The way the show is presented, it felt like these were established characters that came from some source that everyone in Japan was familiar with, so no background or development was needed. Then again, you could almost say it was based on the long-running manga Kindaichi, which sounds uncannily similar to Jikou minus the time limit detective stuff. Wow, sure are a lot of nice, repentant murderers in Japan. ;)
Y'know, I bet the singer of the only song in Jikou isn't happy with the show either because the cast keeps talking over her song. :P This is the first drama I've seen where you can barely hear the song. It's like it was very reluctantly added due to the "all dramas must have a song" law.
On the Bright Side . .
1. There *was* ONE episode that I really loved: the Valentine's Day episode (Ep. 6). I'm just a sucker for comedy relief acting serious. ^^ Ironically, the Valentine's episode was the only episode I loved in Kuitan, too. o_O
2. The spoofs they did with the "This drama is fiction" lines were pretty creative. This one was my favorite . .
3.
The Return of The Floating Noodles!
4. The series is mercifully short. In fact, this is the first drama I've seen where both first and last episodes remain at the regular 47 minute runtime. ^^b
Ok, so a couple brownie points up there, BUT! still not enough to save this SO BORING series.
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nothing to do with the rating, but another major reason I checked out this show was because of Odagiri Joe. I knew of his popularity, but I'd never seen him act before so I wanted to check out one of his shows. While it's kinda hard to tell what he's like from this show, his acting was great. And he also reminds me of . . someone. *I think* it might be Katori Shingo, except thinner and calmer. ;)
. . Wait, I'm reading here that Joe was also that lipstick-wearing psycho samurai from Azumi?? WAZZUPWITDAT?! O_O
You can get Jikou Keisatsu from d-addicts.
English subs can be found separately here.
The subtitles are the most well-written softsubs I've seen yet, so it might be worth checking out one episode just for the subs. :)