Drama Review: Tensai Tantei Mitarai (天才探偵ミタライ)
Thursday, March 24, 2016
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| Image from Fujitv.co.jp/mitarai |
Ahem, I'm calm again.
I basically decided to watch this two hour plus drama special because I saw the poster for the movie while I was at Hakata, and I wanted to see if I was interested in watching the movie. After watching this, my only regret is that this isn't a drama series. But still, a two hour plus special episode isn't too bad.
The drama basically starts when Ishioka, a writer, conveys a story he heard to his friend, Mitarai. It goes like this:
A woman wearing a white dress stands at the side of the road in the pouring rain. She throws her umbrella onto the road, and only when it's broken, does she pick it up and continue on her way.
Mitarai immediately deduces that the woman just committed a murder, and his deduction is proved true when a dead body matching his description is found. The only thing is, the woman in white is found in the next room, dead.
Actually, the way Mitarai behaves reminds me a lot of Sherlock. I mean, his friend is a writer too (hello, Dr. Watson). When Mitarai first met the newly transferred cop (Tategawa), he immediately deduces that she's been pulling all nighters and that her perfume is a cheap one from the conbini. But, I also watched The Abominable Bride recently, and I think this was more interesting.
Apart from Sherlock Holmes, Mitarai also reminds me of Manabu Yukawa from Galileo (also another great series. Although I refuse to watch the second season).
Oh, and for some reason, I had absolutely no sympathy for the victims in this drama. Well, I sort of had sympathy for one, but the backstory was revealed, and I ended up feeling sorry for the killer instead. I thought that was a good twist, actually. Rather than making the twist about how the killer is someone else, having the twist be about the truth of the motive for murder made for a refreshing change.
While I liked most of the main characters (including, clearly, the murderer), I thought that Tategawa, the female detective, was kinda annoying. For some reason, when it's a male-dominated cast, the female characters seem to be not as well characterised. I think she's was supposed to be refreshingly straight honest, but she just came across as unlikable and rude to me. I guess the problem was introducing the two leads first, then having her come in and be all disapproving, which probably made me not warm to her.
I'd actually love for a Hosho Reiko (from Nazotoki wa Dinner no Atode) type of character. Well, actually, I just want to see Kageyama (from Nazotoki) and Mitatarai have a deduction showdown. Oh, and Yukawa too! Three smart people in a battle of wits.
Oh yeah, the best type of female lead would probably be like Utsumi from Galileo. She and Yukawa had great chemistry, and I'd love to see something like that here.
Conclusion: I'm definitely going to watch the movie when it comes out!!