Jdorama: SP (Security Police)
I know it was popular, but SP (Security Police) has got to be the most excruciating and infuriating drama I've ever watched - certainly I don't remember ever yelling and cursing at the screen quite so much before, or throwing my hands up in disgust, or rolling my eyes. It was a lesson in patience, and yes, for the first time in a long time, I exercised the fast-forward to relieve my frustration. I think everyone who's enjoyed this must be a much more patient and generous person than I am.
That being said, it had its highlights, namely Okada Junichi and Tsutsumi Shinichi. Okada provided plenty of pretty, and the two together brought the brooding angst and delicious chemistry. Both actors acquitted themselves nicely in the action component of their roles as well. I certainly found it novel to watch an action-oriented drama like this, but in terms of construction and writing, SP left a lot to be desired. (incidentally, the episodes were fairly short, a little over a half-hour due to 2 minutes of flash-back and preview on both the front and back end which padded the episodes out)
I know I'm supposed to suspend my disbelief but neither Okada and Tsutsumi, nor all the nice filming and production values could paper over the slightness of the story or the sheer stupidity of the police and security work. It got to a point where I was so disgusted that I thought that the 'good guys' deserved whatever they got - they had basically painted bulls-eyes on their charges. The final episode was particularly painful to watch (I truly could not believe that what we were shown was meant to approximate any kind of good judgment or competent procedure). If it wasn't for the fact that I became genuinely interested in the characters, and that I just had to know how it all turned out (as well as the fact that I could basically marathon the drama over 3 days), I would have otherwise given up solely due to the eye-popping un-reality and incompetence portrayed on screen. I should just never watch any jdramas involving police work because I always end up horrified by both the stupidity of the hierarchy's decisions as well as the execution.
And then there was that ending, gah! I understand the special didn't really provide any answers?
ETA: I'm sorry for the rant; I explained a bit more in the comments. I don't hate this drama at all - and I enjoyed some aspects of it quite a lot.
However, the pretty was very pretty! So,
