This review may contain spoilers
If you like dark, suspense, thriller mystery dramas then this show is definitely for you! Not to mention, learning about shogi is a great bonus!The show pulls you into a dark, swift-moving suspenseful drama full of history, haunting emotions, mysteries, and the dirty underside of life. If you blink you may miss something important, but the catch-up between each episode is pretty clear and concise, too. The characters succeed in making each episode full of information, yet end at the perfect cliffhangers; almost as if they themselves are glued to the edge of their seats, excited to learn more about the story themselves. And sometimes it seems just like watching a docu-drama.
Each member of the cast has brought so much pride and respect for this show that it's almost tangible to the viewer. The detective/police work is not as prevalent to the show as the shogi games themselves, however, it carries the show quite well at an even 50/50 for each episode. So there isn't really anything missing or different that would make this less of a detective/crime drama.
Yudai Chiba is marvelous in his role; its almost scary how many sides this man has. Each moment was skillfully crafted for each moment in history and for the building of the game(s). The feelings of each character are intense and very raw, completely honest with their characters and themselves. Reality itself bleeds away from each actor, and yourself, as you continue to watch.
This show is very thought-provoking from beginning to end. If the drama is this fantastic, then I can only imagine how wonderful the book must be!
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The story was pretty good, and the way they presented it was masterful and it made it seem even better, as they mashed up the mystery with the male lead's story, even past of his parents. Another great thing about this drama was the performances. The lead actor was amazing and managed to show a variety of emotions from the begining till the very ending.
I do have to admit that I had no idea what was the game and how it is played (though you can pretty much figure that out by watching this drama). That's why I feel like I missed a big part of what the drama wanted to say.
So, overall, eight out of ten.
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