Shinai naru Boku e Satsui wo Komete (2022)

An Absolute Mindfuck

Everyone here needs therapy, including me.

Did I just single-handedly binge the one and only drama that managed to score relatively close to my sleep paralysis demon, Mouse (2021), which had a chokehold on me for two years since it’s release?

Possibly.

First things first before I get into the actual review. How the HELL does this drama only have a rating of 7.8/10? Imo, it deserves at least an 8.6 if not greater!

—

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Had some meaningful shots and unique transition scenes as well. The lighting in the drama changed depending on the scene. Overall, it was very fitting and helped to set the mood for the scene extremely well. The shots were also done very professionally and in a very abstract, artistic manner. I was blown away by how impactful doing something as simple as placing a camera and adjusting the lighting so that a character’s eyes had absolutely no light in them was. It really sent shivers up my spine and evoked a lot of complication emotions in me.

ACTING
I have to say, every actor and actress nailed their roles. I’ll especially acknowledge Yamada Rouske for delivering an impeccable performance throughout. After all, he played two roles that were drastically different from one another, but his acting blended seamlessly with each character’s personality. In all, emotions ran high for the drama, and that was mainly due to the fact that everyone in the cast were seasoned actors and actresses. Everyone acted with their eyes, which managed to capture the rawest emotions.

STORYLINE
Holy shit. That’s all I can say to summarize the plot of this drama. To put it more informally, this drama is a complete mindfuck. It’s convoluted.. but somehow MAKES SENSE. Even after all the series of events that unfolded, there were maybe only 2 plots holes left at the end that weren’t filled, but since they’re not vital to the plot as much as some of the other plot aspects, I’ll excuse it. The premise itself is very unique and almost mind-boggling of how good it is. Be warned that it is quite makjang— a Korean term meaning that a drama has an over-exaggerated, "what the fuck is going on?" kind of plot with a series of ridiculous twists and turns at every corner possible. This style of drama may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for those with short attention span like me who can’t handle slow burn and thrives off action, this drama will be right up your alley! The pacing of the story wasn’t too fast nor slow, and the flow of the events in the drama blew me away at how good it was. Every event linked to one another, so it really put me in that detective sort of mode when trying to connect them. Spoilers, but the ending couldn’t have been more perfect imo. Relationships between the characters progressed naturally and the screenwriters even sprinkled a generous amount of character development for the characters who needed it most towards the end of the drama. Possibly my only complaint regarding the plot is its predictability. Nonetheless, it really messes with your mind. One moment you’re sure that the person is the culprit, and 5 seconds later you’re questioning the meaning of life. Also, the length of the drama was great. At one point, I did feel like the plot got unnecessarily draggy, but those series of events really managed to unfold into something grand later on. Finally, one of my favorite aspects of the plot is the amount of morally-grey characters we have. It’s safe to say that almost all of the characters were developed, dimensional, and fully-fledged. Towards the end, the drama makes you wonder if justice was really served or not. Did the culprit deserve the punishment they got?


EXPERIENCE
Although there were some aspects of the plot that were relatively predictable, the thrill the drama brought along with it made up for that predictability. For the first time in a while, I truly felt like I removed the experience of watching a good thriller. Every since Mouse (2021), I was getting some serious PTDD (post-traumatic drama disorder) and still haven’t recovered from it, even two years later. However, watching this drama gave me so much thrill and really put me into the mindset of a detectives. It’s just a crazy, convoluted story that seems like there would be many plot holes, but before you even know it, all those plot holes got filled in seamlessly— and that was extremely satisfying to witness! It’s also a very thought-provoking experience. The drama really lives up to its psychological thriller tag. Every now and then I think back on some scenes and feel like my heart aches at how sad it is. Every character is pitiful, there isn’t no "pure villain." This drama really deserves some sort of tragedy tag because my heart simply wasn’t ready for the amount of angst it delivered.

SOUNDTRACK
Although the songs were very good, there was a lack of variety. Additionally, some scenes had improper OST / song placement, but hey, all the songs were fitted to the theme of the drama and were catchy!

Read More

An Absolute Trainwreck

It was so bad, but I couldn't look away. Definitely one of the worst dramas I've ever seen, but it was a wild ride. I'm glad I watched it, even though I know I could never tolerate a rewatch.

Every episode was multiple batshit twists and turns, the plot was convoluted and stopped making sense. Every episode felt like they were trying to top the last insane twist, and what started out as a slightly weird but otherwise entertaining story ended up being the most ridiculous thing I've ever watched.

Two of the most frustrating aspects of this drama were the inaccurate portrayals of mental health issues and the music choices for the show. The mental health issues displayed in the show were pretty unrealistic and it seemed like a writer had read a dictionary definition of a few disorders and then just interpreted it however they liked to add more twists to the show. The music was inappropriate for the mood of the scenes it was played during, and it really took away from any immersion into the storyline and just made suspension of disbelief so much more difficult.

I found myself nearing the end of the drama saying, "I wonder how they're going to exceed the absurdity of the previous episode!" It was the only thing that kept me going till the end.

Read More

Warning. Do not read if you're scared of spoilers.

The show is an over achiever psychological thriller. The creator(s) cramped up too much into a nine episodes show. It just ends up a little bit lacking of finesse.

The ML is a young student with a simple dream, he just want a normal life. That is until he discovered his split personality, he named his other persona B1. But later on, he learned that he was the alter persona of B1, not the other way around.

B1 was searching for the real culprit in the serial killings that his father was framed for. He wants revenge.

Turned out, his father was framed as a serial killer, his mother couldn't take it and killed her self. Everyone around him have more sinister motives than he thought and his adoptive father is the real culprit all along.

Anyway, it all ended well. It's a good watch.

Read More

A domino effect full of twists and turns

Firstly, the storyline started off small scaled as shown in the teaser trailer. However the plot gradually branches off and connects the events of the past murders to various characters. It unravels the twisted and corrupt parts of the people within the system and in everyday life.

Following the MC, Eiji throughout the journey of uncovering his father's incident, the writer, Okada Michitaka did an excellent job adding subtle hints while also throwing off viewers attention by mainly focusing on Eiji's pov.

There is no filler as everything connects to the root of the 15 year incident. The storyline may seem cramped at times, but it all comes together. During emotional scenes, I believe the director and editor relied too heavily on repetitive flashbacks to carry the emotional factor. It would have been more impactful to rely on the micro expressions of the actors.

In terms of the casts performance, it was intriguing to see Yamada Ryosuke switch between the two opposite personalities of Eiji. I've only seen him in FMA live action, and his performance was well executed here. The supporting casts played their parts, but the culprit actor had a chilling impact.

The ost was so-so. It was great how the music department switched up to instrumental instead of repeating the theme song during certain happy moments.

If you are looking for a psychological mystery series full of mind boggling twists and J-idols this show may be for you.

Read More

Engaging

First trigger warnings: there is violence (torture, child abuse references, bullying etc) and some quite graphic images.
I watched on Viki, where it is titled "The Killer Inside".
This drama had plenty of twists and turns, intrigue, deception, threat and surprises.
I did decide fairly quickly who I thought the culprit was, and turned out right.
However, this drama kept me engaged right the way through and I watched all episodes back-to-back.
The cast was pretty good and suited their roles. Some very unpleasant and messed up characters. A little over-acting at times from some, but not too often. Occasionally it felt a little stilted/awkward too and several scenes were less than credible (the court scenes were a little bizarre - no witnesses or indication of what exactly the trial was of), but overall I thought this a decent watch and needed to know the outcome.
I did also wonder how a character could return to more or less where their life left off, after having been incarcerated for an unknown length of time (clarity around that would have been good). Hey, it is fiction though!
Credit to Yamada Ryosuke and Kawaei Rina, who I thought were very engaging.

Read More

I really enjoyed this short series

First off I feel that most people who review on this app are tough...like actual critiques! I watch a show for enjoyment only so my thoughts come from there .

I really enjoyed this 9 episode series. I felt it all wrapped up nicley in the end. Would more episodes make it better? Maybe but I also think more episodes would have started to make it conviluded and messier.

The only real issue I had with the show was how the split personaliy was portrayed at times. But again coming from a standpoint of entertainment only I let it pass.

The twist and turns kept me totally engaged. I hated to stop and having to come back later. I wanted to totally binge. But alas I have other things to do.

The acting was amazing. Each character was very believable and te actors seemed to understand their character well.

If you can watch a show without picking it apart then I feel you may really enjoy this one also.

Read More