Akutou - Juuhanzai Sousahan (2011)

This drama is one of those that I put on my to watch list, just because, and I was thoroughly surprised. Don't watch this drama, if you don't like investigative/cop drama's. One of the things that I liked about this drama, the actors were convincing, the actors played their characters very well. The story is sort of typical in your good guy/bad guy set up, but there are a lot of twists and turns. Another thing about this drama, that had me intrigued was the questions it posed "What is justice?" "How far is to far" "What would you do?". And finally: There are no pretty boys & idols.

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This is a show I wanted to like much more than I do. I love handsome yet dubious dads, I love crime shows, and yet... Eh? Which is not to say that it's bad, but rather that it compelled me a lot with its general premise only to let me down a bit, in the end, by not being nearly as good as it could've been.

I watch a lot of detective shows, so I'm used to the usual partnership setups - buddy cops who just don't get along at first and all that. This show instantly got my attention with how unique its potential "partnership" felt. A much deeper conflict of moral alignments! On opposing sides while also being on the same! The possibility of our good cop being gradually swayed towards the side of corruption!

Unfortunately by the end our honorable secondary lead felt superfluous, almost, his POV and this interesting conflict almost totally pushed aside in favor of the main lead's individual issues as well as larger conspiracies. I think this show either needed to pick a narrower central focus or have at least 3-4 more episodes. 8 was simply not enough to deal with everything it is handing to you.

Deeply wish we could've totally cut out the lady team member's side plot entirely to free up some screentime. What a terrible plot to saddle your one important female character with. (Domestic abuse content warning, for anyone who's sensitive to that.)

Some pros so I don't sound too negative: the episodic crimes are interesting conceptually, though a few are a little obvious when it comes to the "whodunnit." I think this is a rare show about corrupt cops saving the day through their questionable methods where I honestly never felt like those actions were being glorified? Something about the vibe of it all. I love how much fun the guy who plays the one villain is having. This character is so aggravating in the most enjoyable way. And perhaps most importantly in a show like this: Mr Takahashi Katsunori is unreasonably attractive in it.

But man, what is with that ending? There had to have been a better way to do it.

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