[J-Drama review] Kurosagi
2 months ago, I stopped watching Japanese dramas. I used to watch an episode or two a day to pass time while doing my painfully boring physio exercises for my knees. However, once my knees got better in August, I stopped physio and stopped watching. Well now my knees aren't that great again (I'm a cross-legged addict :P ) and thanks to lelola, I already have something ready to work out to: My 3rd Yamapi drama! JOY!!!! XD
Kurosagi (aka The Black Swindler)
April - June 2006
Official Website
Story: J-pop heartthrob Yamapi (last seen in Nobuta) is KUROSAGI, a master-of-disguise swindler of swindlers trying to avenge his family's death. Horikita Maki (last seen in Nobuta . . surely a coincidence!) is TSURARA, the college girl living next door who hates swindlers. WILL. THEY. FALL. IN. LOVE?!!!!.
Length: 11 episodes
Download fansub @ d-addicts.
From the first minute where Yamapi is lying half-naked on the grass staring at the camera, to about 15 minutes later where he saves a girl from an oncoming greenscreen train, I was thinking, "I am going to HATE this show" and "lelola, I thought we were friends!" Surprisingly, however, the show improved after those first 15 minutes and ended up to be a great episode with an interesting story. I mean, I've always enjoyed shows about protagonists impersonating others -- "Catch Me If You Can" and "The Pretender" immediately come to mind -- plus the other great thing about Kurosagi is that it's one of the darkest jdramas I've ever seen!
BUT!
Then the rest of the series happened. Suddenly, the show switched from dark to light-hearted, with the cases getting sillier and sillier till I actually wanted Kurosagi to LOSE for helping such moronic victims regain their stolen money from such moronic swindlers. :P
But of course, Kurosagi just keeps winning and the story soon gets repetitive with Kuro donning disguises, some no different from the last, to catch another money-swindling "Shirosagi" no dumber than the last, and destroying him/her within one episode (BTW, what happened to the love-swindling "Akasagi" they constantly mention Kurosagi going after? The "Aka" sorta appears in Ep 2 but then it's like the writers go "Ehh, I like writing about Shirosagi better" and never deal with it again :P).
Anyway, I wish they had built up stronger opponents who would last longer than an episode and have Kurosagi actually, y'know, *struggle* to win, especially since it's hard to buy him swindling all these pros with his 4 years or so of experience. Maybe that's why his victories feel a bit contrived as he relies on everything he sets up working perfectly or having the perfect costume ready at the right time.
Speaking of contrivances, this show has so many "people-popping-out-of-nowhere" moments you'd think they were living at Melrose Place! In particular, the "somebody happens to walk into a conversation they weren't suppose to hear" gets a good work-out here.
Kurosagi: A Love Story
So someone had to go stick fluffy romance into this drama, and if one girl wasn't enough, they also add her incredibly annoying & possessive friend into the mix. Neither Yamapi or Maki can escape The Love Triangle, it seems.
Personally, I felt that the most fascinating relationship in the show was with Kurosagi and the somewhat-bipolar detective trying to catch him. So I was disappointed when they only spent a few minutes on the two interacting in the ENTIRE show, instead devoting way more time on the romance stuff, stuff like Tsurara going "I love you! But . . WHY?!!" and her friend going "He's mine! Don't try to destroy us!" >_< It's just distracting, badly written and doesn't fit in this originally dark storyline. v with the romance, ^ with the darkness!!
The Acting
Yamapi: Good singer? No. Good actor? Yes. "Huh?" you say? Well, I honestly think that most F/T Japanese singers make good actors because they're already used to the camera, regularly performing on stage or chatting on a variety show. Acting is really just a natural extension of singing. Still, while Yamapi was good as Kurosagi, I didn't think he was AS good as his Nobuta and Dragonzakura roles. Maybe he's starting to realize that whether he tries hard or not, the ratings will always be there as long as he's there. ;)
Granted, most of the cast in this show weren't exactly giving stellar performances either. With the exception of the old mob boss, Katsuragi (played by Yamazaki Tsutomu) . . that guy was awesome, though I wish he wouldn't spit so much. :P
Another exception is Maki, who pulls off a much better performance here than in Nobuta now that her character has more freedom of expression. Still, not exactly Inoue Mao level, and her running faster than a car screaming "YOU ARE NOT ALONE!" is probably something she wants to leave off her audition tapes.
The End
I've been told that the weakest part of Kurosagi is the ending, to the point that I was expecting something like "It was all a dream" or "Hey everyone died and it's up to Kurosagi & Tsurara to repopulate the planet with pretty boys!" Thankfully, it wasn't nearly *that* bad. The final episode steps back into dark mode and has quite a few memorable scenes as a result. But yeah, I think they could've snipped off the last 5 minutes which felt like it was directed by Spielberg (and if you've read my War of the Worlds review, this isn't exactly a good thing).
What I did like!
Kurosagi has THE BEST opening credits video I've ever seen for a TV show! Though I could've done without "Daite Senorita," HA! Seriously, I don't know what a song about wanting a woman to hug you has anything to do with the story, and why they keep playing it when he defeats a swindler.
- "You're finished. I have all your money and the cops are coming. Bang."
- "NOOOOOOOOO!!" Hold me, hold me, hold me senorita! WTF?!!
Ok, I guess that turned into more of what I didn't like. :P Basically, as far as shows about stopping swindlers go, Kurosagi is much better than Jikou Keisatsu but not nearly as good as TRICK. For me, the only highlights of the series were the first two episodes and the last, aaaand Episode 4 was great too where Kurosagi encounters his only real opponent. Everything else felt like filler with a few minutes of baby-step plot progression here and there. The character of Kurosagi is interesting, but I think the story could be compressed into a movie or a shorter series. Drop the romance and some excess characters, and I think you'd have a much more entertaining, and hopefully darker, Kurosagi.
Rating: 6 out of 10
And while I'm here, I was just checking out the jdramas of the new fall season, and here's the Top 5 I'm really looking forward to seeing someday:
#1. 14 Sai no Haha (14 year old mom) - HOLY CRAP!! That amazing young actress from Joou no Kyoushitsu is playing a PREGNANT junior high student in her next role??? I thought these kinda topics were taboo in Japan, let alone TV dramas!! Definitely gotta check out this refreshingly bold series and see how far they take the issue. NTV - Starts Oct 11.
#2. Boku no Aruku Michi (The Road I Choose to Walk) - SMAP's Kusanagi plays an autistic 31 year old man that has the IQ of a 10 year old. I've never heard of a jdrama dealing with autism, something that hits home in my family, so it'll be interesting to see. Plus, I've never seen a Kusanagi drama either and heard they're usually good. FujiTV - Starts Oct 10.
#3. Yakusha Damashii (The Soul of an Actor) - All I know is that it's written by the Odoru Daisousasen writer and that's good enough for me. :) FujiTV - Starts Oct 17.
#4. Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu (A Sailor Suit and A Machine Gun) - Need I say more? ;) TBS - Starts Oct 13.
#5. Teppan Shoujo Akane!! (Iron plate Girl Akane!!) - Maki returns again as a chef. I actually have another cooking drama on my computer, Lunch no Joou, which ironically stars Yamapi as a chef. So maybe I'll watch these two dramas together since I don't think I could stand seeing Yamapi & Maki apart for a single season!! =/ TBS - Starts Oct 15.
If anyone has any more recent suggestions, let me know . . though I already have like ten series on my computer that I should get through first. ^_^;
Kurosagi (aka The Black Swindler)
April - June 2006
Official Website
Story: J-pop heartthrob Yamapi (last seen in Nobuta) is KUROSAGI, a master-of-disguise swindler of swindlers trying to avenge his family's death. Horikita Maki (last seen in Nobuta . . surely a coincidence!) is TSURARA, the college girl living next door who hates swindlers. WILL. THEY. FALL. IN. LOVE?!!!!.
Length: 11 episodes
Download fansub @ d-addicts.
From the first minute where Yamapi is lying half-naked on the grass staring at the camera, to about 15 minutes later where he saves a girl from an oncoming greenscreen train, I was thinking, "I am going to HATE this show" and "lelola, I thought we were friends!" Surprisingly, however, the show improved after those first 15 minutes and ended up to be a great episode with an interesting story. I mean, I've always enjoyed shows about protagonists impersonating others -- "Catch Me If You Can" and "The Pretender" immediately come to mind -- plus the other great thing about Kurosagi is that it's one of the darkest jdramas I've ever seen!
BUT!
Then the rest of the series happened. Suddenly, the show switched from dark to light-hearted, with the cases getting sillier and sillier till I actually wanted Kurosagi to LOSE for helping such moronic victims regain their stolen money from such moronic swindlers. :P
But of course, Kurosagi just keeps winning and the story soon gets repetitive with Kuro donning disguises, some no different from the last, to catch another money-swindling "Shirosagi" no dumber than the last, and destroying him/her within one episode (BTW, what happened to the love-swindling "Akasagi" they constantly mention Kurosagi going after? The "Aka" sorta appears in Ep 2 but then it's like the writers go "Ehh, I like writing about Shirosagi better" and never deal with it again :P).
Anyway, I wish they had built up stronger opponents who would last longer than an episode and have Kurosagi actually, y'know, *struggle* to win, especially since it's hard to buy him swindling all these pros with his 4 years or so of experience. Maybe that's why his victories feel a bit contrived as he relies on everything he sets up working perfectly or having the perfect costume ready at the right time.
Speaking of contrivances, this show has so many "people-popping-out-of-nowhere" moments you'd think they were living at Melrose Place! In particular, the "somebody happens to walk into a conversation they weren't suppose to hear" gets a good work-out here.
Kurosagi: A Love Story
So someone had to go stick fluffy romance into this drama, and if one girl wasn't enough, they also add her incredibly annoying & possessive friend into the mix. Neither Yamapi or Maki can escape The Love Triangle, it seems.
Personally, I felt that the most fascinating relationship in the show was with Kurosagi and the somewhat-bipolar detective trying to catch him. So I was disappointed when they only spent a few minutes on the two interacting in the ENTIRE show, instead devoting way more time on the romance stuff, stuff like Tsurara going "I love you! But . . WHY?!!" and her friend going "He's mine! Don't try to destroy us!" >_< It's just distracting, badly written and doesn't fit in this originally dark storyline. v with the romance, ^ with the darkness!!
The Acting
Yamapi: Good singer? No. Good actor? Yes. "Huh?" you say? Well, I honestly think that most F/T Japanese singers make good actors because they're already used to the camera, regularly performing on stage or chatting on a variety show. Acting is really just a natural extension of singing. Still, while Yamapi was good as Kurosagi, I didn't think he was AS good as his Nobuta and Dragonzakura roles. Maybe he's starting to realize that whether he tries hard or not, the ratings will always be there as long as he's there. ;)
Granted, most of the cast in this show weren't exactly giving stellar performances either. With the exception of the old mob boss, Katsuragi (played by Yamazaki Tsutomu) . . that guy was awesome, though I wish he wouldn't spit so much. :P
Another exception is Maki, who pulls off a much better performance here than in Nobuta now that her character has more freedom of expression. Still, not exactly Inoue Mao level, and her running faster than a car screaming "YOU ARE NOT ALONE!" is probably something she wants to leave off her audition tapes.
The End
I've been told that the weakest part of Kurosagi is the ending, to the point that I was expecting something like "It was all a dream" or "Hey everyone died and it's up to Kurosagi & Tsurara to repopulate the planet with pretty boys!" Thankfully, it wasn't nearly *that* bad. The final episode steps back into dark mode and has quite a few memorable scenes as a result. But yeah, I think they could've snipped off the last 5 minutes which felt like it was directed by Spielberg (and if you've read my War of the Worlds review, this isn't exactly a good thing).
What I did like!
Kurosagi has THE BEST opening credits video I've ever seen for a TV show! Though I could've done without "Daite Senorita," HA! Seriously, I don't know what a song about wanting a woman to hug you has anything to do with the story, and why they keep playing it when he defeats a swindler.
- "You're finished. I have all your money and the cops are coming. Bang."
- "NOOOOOOOOO!!" Hold me, hold me, hold me senorita! WTF?!!
Ok, I guess that turned into more of what I didn't like. :P Basically, as far as shows about stopping swindlers go, Kurosagi is much better than Jikou Keisatsu but not nearly as good as TRICK. For me, the only highlights of the series were the first two episodes and the last, aaaand Episode 4 was great too where Kurosagi encounters his only real opponent. Everything else felt like filler with a few minutes of baby-step plot progression here and there. The character of Kurosagi is interesting, but I think the story could be compressed into a movie or a shorter series. Drop the romance and some excess characters, and I think you'd have a much more entertaining, and hopefully darker, Kurosagi.
Rating: 6 out of 10
And while I'm here, I was just checking out the jdramas of the new fall season, and here's the Top 5 I'm really looking forward to seeing someday:
#1. 14 Sai no Haha (14 year old mom) - HOLY CRAP!! That amazing young actress from Joou no Kyoushitsu is playing a PREGNANT junior high student in her next role??? I thought these kinda topics were taboo in Japan, let alone TV dramas!! Definitely gotta check out this refreshingly bold series and see how far they take the issue. NTV - Starts Oct 11.
#2. Boku no Aruku Michi (The Road I Choose to Walk) - SMAP's Kusanagi plays an autistic 31 year old man that has the IQ of a 10 year old. I've never heard of a jdrama dealing with autism, something that hits home in my family, so it'll be interesting to see. Plus, I've never seen a Kusanagi drama either and heard they're usually good. FujiTV - Starts Oct 10.
#3. Yakusha Damashii (The Soul of an Actor) - All I know is that it's written by the Odoru Daisousasen writer and that's good enough for me. :) FujiTV - Starts Oct 17.
#4. Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu (A Sailor Suit and A Machine Gun) - Need I say more? ;) TBS - Starts Oct 13.
#5. Teppan Shoujo Akane!! (Iron plate Girl Akane!!) - Maki returns again as a chef. I actually have another cooking drama on my computer, Lunch no Joou, which ironically stars Yamapi as a chef. So maybe I'll watch these two dramas together since I don't think I could stand seeing Yamapi & Maki apart for a single season!! =/ TBS - Starts Oct 15.
If anyone has any more recent suggestions, let me know . . though I already have like ten series on my computer that I should get through first. ^_^;