Kurosagi

 Japanese title: クロサギ

Aired on TBS
From 2006 April 14 to June 23
11 épisodes + a movie (2008)

 Main cast:

Yamashita Tomohisa: Kurosaki (Kurosagi)

Horikita Maki: Yoshikawa Tsurara

Ichikawa Yui: Mishima Yukari

Yamazaki Tsutomu: Katsuragi Toshio

Okunuki Kaoru: Hayasa

Aikawa Sho: Kashima Masaru

Tayama Ryosei: Momoyama Tetsuji

Kato Koji: Shiraishi Yoichi

Note: This drama is based on a popular manga that I haven't read.

Review: +

 

Title: Kurosagi is the nickname of the main character, it means "black swindler" which is to say, the ultimate swindler, the swindler of swindlers.

Boy: He's like a super hero. Dark origin story: check. Disguises: various. Super power: being incredibly clever and self-controlled. Motives: taking revenge and helping victims. He is lonely, has turned off his emotions due to a tragedy and in order to devote himself to the destruction of swindlers but you can see glimpses of kindness. Glimpses. (+)

Girl: She wants to be a prosecutor so she's at odds with Boy's occupation which consists in breaking the law. She's very normal but I found her a bit bland. It's weird because she has her own agenda and expresses herself but I didn't find her interesting. I feel like she was more a token character because someone had to point out that there are laws etc. Besides, I didn't get why she loves him, just because he's hot and mysterious. She should be intrigued, maybe attracted to him but he's so indifferent to her, she ends up acting like a doormat. (-)

Relationship: Weak. Were the relationship between the two main characters a lot more compelling, it would have been a Fav but... as I said, Girl is boring, and there is no chemistry. The romance subplot isn't organic, it seemed like they had to add it. You know there is a problem when you ship another girl with Boy. (-)

Plots: Each episode, Boy takes down a swindler. Each time, it's a different scheme, with fake(s) identity(ies). It often requires suspension of disbelief but it's entertaining. (+) I just wish it would have been a bit more serialised.

 

Other characters: - Girl's best friend: I like her though she can be mean. We have some backstory, she's lively, she’s way more energetic than Girl. (+)

 

- Foe: A policeman who wants to arrest Boy. I just can't with him. His characterization is all over the place, his backstory is the least credible thing in the drama and he laughs maniacally for no reason like a villain in a C-movie. (-)

 

- Allies: I didn't really get them. There is a old man who is very important and I warmed to him in the latest episodes but in the first ones, he's just disgusting, kind of creepy, like he was supposed to be mysterious but ended up as annoying. There is a woman who cares for him and I didn’t really get her either. (-)

One backstory is dropped for each character and then almost never heard of again, except for Boy. Even for him, we see the same images again and again and only at the end, we get some additional flashbacks fleshing out the origins story.

 

Funny factor: Hmm no.

Music: I liked it.

 

Bottom line:

 

Two things saved this drama for me and made it compelling to watch:

1) Yamashita Tomohisa is magnetic in this drama, I just can't take my eyes off him in this drama. (Corner of superficiality: his hairstyle in this drama suits him and his character perfectly. Look at the picture above! It's actually promo for the movie but I like it better -except for the tear...- and anyway, it's closer to how he looks in the drama, since his movie hair is less black.) 

2) Swindling plots: original, interesting guest characters, new and distinctive challenges.

However, I can't deny the shortcomings: Most characters are uninteresting and you feel like you don't know them and can't understand them. A romantic subplot is shoehorned.

It also feels like they wanted to keep stuff for a second season that never happened.

But a movie happened. I was hoping resolution, Boy finally taking down the big boss that ruined his family and I was disappointed. It was like a random episode of the drama stretched to two hours (so too long) only with less Girl (she has maybe 5 minutes of screen time but she doesn’t do anything), an obsession with Julius Caesar by Shakespeare I didn’t totally get and an added emphasis on Old Man which would have been interesting if I, you know, was interested and not grossed out by him.  Movie:  -

Proposal Daisakusen

Japanese title: プロポーズ大作戦

Aired on Fuji TV
April - June 2007
on Monday at 21.00

11 episodes + a Special (March 2008)

Main cast:

Yamashita Tomohisa: Iwase Ken

Nagasawa Masami: Yoshida Rei

Fujiki Naohito: Tada Tetsuya

Eikura Nana: Oku Eri

Hiraoka Yuta: Enokido Mikio

Hamada Gaku: Tsurumi Hisashi

Mikami Hiroshi: the Yosei/Fairy

Notes:
- I rewatched it for the second time and my opinion hasn't changed.
- Hello Manager and one of the coworkers of Hotaru no Hikari.

Review: +/-

Title: Like I ended up doing in most reviews, I’ll  actually use this section to give a short synopsis. In this drama, Boy attends his childhood friend’s wedding. He loves her but never confessed and is full of regrets. Every episode, he returns to a point in the past, starting in high school, to change his actions and better convey his feelings to her hoping she won’t get married to another man.

Girl: She’s nice. Though she has liked Boy since they met as kids, their relationship is based on teasing and she has never managed to confess to him.

Boy: He’s a quiet guy. His present self works hard to change the past and does really cute things for Girl but his past self was at best, totally clueless and more likely but worse, a tool. Therefore it’s too easy to understand why Girl would move on.

Other boy: He’s socially awkward but very earnest.

Friends: I talk about them early in the review because they are important in this drama. Though it’s in the background of the romance story, the friendship theme is indissociable. Girl’s best friend is energetic, joyful and she likes to go out with boys. Boy has two friends: one of them is sincerely in love with Girl’s best friend and has no shame expressing himself openly though he always gets rejected, the other is calm, mature, smart, in a word, cool.

Relationship: Ouch. This is where this drama falls apart. My opinion.

1^st: No chemistry between Boy and Girl. I buy them as friends but not as lovers. Their interactions are mostly teasing and I get that it’s hard when you grew up together to change the relationship you have but the will-they/won’t-they tension was lacking.

2^nd: There is no deep discussion between Boy and Girl, like discussing their dreams, their problems. Emotion only comes from their repressed feelings towards each other and common memories of their school years. Which is not enough to make me believe that two people are endgame.

3^rd: Past Boy didn’t seem to care that much about Girl’s feelings and she was right to move on to Other boy with whom she has better chemistry and who is a great guy.

4^th: Boy is actually quite selfish. He realises he has loved Girl for 14 years, which I’m not convinced of, and decides to win her back. But their love seem childish while her relationship with Other boy feels more mature. Indeed, their characters go better together while her feelings for Boy are kept alive in part by nostalgia.

Funny factor: Running gags. Also Boy keeps talking about events or using catchphrases before they happen, which is fun if you are really familiar with these Japanese pop culture references.

Music: Okay.

Bottom line: This is a high-concept drama. Bonus point for originality but the format of each episode gets tiring. Introduction: he goes into the past. Conclusion: he comes back. Seeing only “moments” in their lives was a bit superficial. I didn’t root for the main couple but I have to say that the returns to the past were well-handled and interesting, as a concept. I don’t know how it could have been better but it could have been way worse so +/-.