Since this series is heavily focused on Ryutaro (Tanaka Min) we as an audience get an insight in to how he's clueless about his children's personal lives and interests, because he's so caught up with his work-life.
There's no fault that this tv-series does not have the adrenaline boost that Imawa no Kuni no Alice has - And that is because the Ogami family's life is dull. There's no happiness nor love as there's always a grey cloud hovering over their heads at all times, and I think that's what's unique about this series because their emptiness is reflected in to the overall vibe of this series hence explaining why it's "boring" or "slow", as a lot of people have commented...
Tanaka Min carries this series on his back! Despite his character being "emotionless" throughout the majority of the runtime, you feel what he feels with his micro-expressions and the small details. They've constructed the character of Ryutaro beautifully as an anti-hero where in some parts you're confused wether to have a hostile feeling towards him or sympathize with him - But it's a fact that Tanaka Min is the glue of this series!!!
As for Mackenyu, they've definitely used his name and face for the boosting of promotion for this series and I agree that during this 10-episode time he haven't gotten the fair distribution as a credited co-main actor; However by the looks of the finale episode, that'll change soon as the hints are clearly being set up for him to fit in to the shoes of you-know-who ;)
Over all, I genuinely feel like majority of you lot have not given this series a fair chance. It's a fairly easy tv-series to follow along with, there's no complication nor major plot-hole and the acting is relatively okay - And the cinematography is wow-mazing!!! There's a true beauty to this "slow" series if you guys look under the surface carefully with an open mind and eyes.
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Cinematography at it's best...
First, I don't know any of the actors nor did I know about this show. I just was intrigued by the title. I expected some family with power working out of the shadows and it did not disappoint. For sure this is not an action series and that's what I like. It's slowly building up, detailing every nuance of all the characters in it. It looks mostly emotionless but it isn't. It's all very subtle and hidden but it's there. The normal family struggles with affairs and enstranged father/son/daughter relationships are depicted in detail while telling a story about a political power struggle at the highest level. I hope they will continue this story with a second season because ending on a cliff-hanger is not really my cup of tea.Overall this series seems to be made for a niche of people who do enjoy artistic cinematography, slow character building and story telling, which is diametral of how fast our society lives now. And I think, that's a good thing!
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The stomach of Japanese politics.
The premise of the drama is very good and it is exactly how I think Japan and its politics and society are, where everything is appearance and the true war occurs behind the scenes in a fierce, discreet, and camouflaged way.As for the performance, Min Tanaka was masterful and managed to convince us that the power of the "owl" lies more in meticulousness than in the imposition of forces. On the other hand, his co-star, Mackenyu, had little screen time throughout the drama, but his performance was quite mediocre. I have said several times that it seems like he feels uncomfortable acting and speaking in Japanese.
Now, we wait for a hypothetical second season. The Japanese have a habit of leaving open endings and simply forgetting about the drama.
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