As viewers are often reminded by the stylish introduction to each episode, Detective Ishikawa Ango walks the “border” between life and death. A mistake on the job lands him with a bullet lodged in his brain and a difficult decision to make: have surgery or leave it? BORDER begins when Ishikawa puts off the decision and returns to work. Each episode covers a different case, complete with a unique death and its matching ghost. Our hero interacts with the spirits and lines up what they have to say with the facts; oftentimes, the victim is even able to tell him who has done what. Though one might worry this takes away from the mystery, enough twists and turns are thrown in to keep things interesting.
Like with most procedurals, not all crimes are created equal. Some episodes are stronger than others, with the most uneven occurring smack dab in the middle. I did like that not every victim was likable or even a particularly good person; it allowed the story to go in different directions than expected. There was also a double-meaning in the word “border,” which factors in as added complexity to the theme.
BORDER struggles most because of its predilection for exposition. Even at the start, we zip right through the “how” of Ishikawa’s powers came to be. Only a few moments pass before he’s tossed into his first case. Case denouements come across as spoon-feeding at times, or like a snippet from a script outline. A good example can be seen in an entire character: our female coroner. She is described rather than developed, tending to speak in sentences full of exposition. When the narrative stands on its own legs with a bit more subtlety (as in the seventh case) this drama watches much better. Plus, the ending simply screams for a sequel which might be good or bad depending on the viewer.
Perhaps the greatest strength of BORDER rests in its solid atmosphere. Cold colors and dark lighting work to build a flawless mood which goes unshaken for the duration of the series. Famous composer Kawai Kenji lends his talents to the soundtrack, resulting in many instances of eeriness and memorability. There are few vocals as expected, but what we get is great (such as the theme evils fall by MAN WITH A MISSION). I particularly enjoyed the creepy choral theme which plays from time to time. However, the scope of music is a touch limited—it might get repetitive for some viewers.
Unfortunately, few cast members are of note. We have Oguri Shun who is gripping as Ishikawa, despite how stoic and lifeless the character ought to be. In one early scene, the character describes his life as waiting for the next big case—with little else worth mentioning. As time goes on and Ishikawa develops more, this talented actor gets more room to stretch his wings. He is particularly impressive in the last few episodes, where more range is necessary. The other performances are forgettable, with the exception of certain guest stars and those strange little hackers (Nomaguchi Toru and Hamano Kenta).
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Story
The premise is nothing new. We've seen it just recently in a couple of korean dramas, and the concept was used countless times. However, this dorama approaches it in a totally different, obscure manner which I found refreshing. At the introduction, we got a detective who deals with his job in a pragmatic way because if he's not out catching criminals, he wouldn't be doing much else. Then he got this power, and the more we watch him, the more we see how its been affecting him and his emotional state. Some episodes were better than others, some episodes had more interesting "victims" than others. Overall the dorama didn't give me this attachment that I MUST watch the next episode as soon as its available, but kept me interested in the development of the main character. I gotta say it was more of a one man show, all the other characters didn't add much, and are just here to accompany our hero in his journey.
Acting
Oguri Shun is the star here, everything about his character development, his actions, the acting were near perfect. He might not be in my top 10 fave japanese actors (I don't have one yet lol) but he gave it his all here and you FEEL it. The rest of the actors weren't really given much, and honestly didn't do much with what they're given. Even the 2 geeks, though their presence was entertaining.
Music
I found the soundtrack a little too dramatic for my taste, but it fit the overall mood of the show.
Directing
I gotta say thats my favourite part of this dorama. That was a constant here. I loved the lighting and the dark colours used throughout the dorama. I love the mood it created. It added so much to the story, and though I didn't jump in to watch each episode, once I started 1, it engulfed me throughout the episode.
Finally, I found the ending fits perfectly with where the character was going, the story and its mood.
PS I don't put much on rewatch value, specially detective shows so ignore that :P
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Every time this drama hit a good climax in each episode, the resolution/ending would undo all the built-up tension and excitement. The crimes lacked good explanations, and were usually resolved with vague interpretations that had no details.
The story relied too much on the main character to drive the drama. I felt he was too calm for the events that were going around him, which made things less exciting. I wasn't sure if it was the actor or the role itself. However, throughout the drama, he actually developed a personality and emotions, which made him slightly more interesting. If the writers concentrated more on the developing the side characters, the drama might have been more interesting and the main character would not seem as boring.
I did like the uniqueness of the the villains though. They weren't the mainstream villains everyone is used to seeing in Japanese dramas. Everyone was super crazy and twisted by Japanese standards. I thought they were more interesting than the main character.
Most of the tension and excitement was due to the music. The choral music was placed at exactly the right moments, which intensified the events of the drama.
The people who would enjoy BORDER are those who like supernatural dramas, the actor Oguri Shun, and interesting villains. However, there are other dramas who did all the above a lot better than BORDER, like SPEC.
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This review may contain spoilers
Started watching the drama because of Oguri Shun, not to mention that the setting of the story is pretty interesting. It's an intriguing take to be honest, a mystery and detective drama involving one who could see and talk to the dead.The cases were also interesting as well, and it was amazing how the cases ended up connecting to each other and how as Ango began to get used to his new-found ability his life began to spiral more towards the dark side.
While the manga gave clear hints as to why and how Ango was able to see the recently dead and talk to them, I like how the drama didn't outright explain it to the viewer because in doing that we're also learning more about Ango's ability as he realise it and allowing us to relate more to Ango as a person. And I love how the drama's tone was much more serious compared to the manga.
Love the soundtrack and how the main theme could convey many different emotions from Ango depending on the seriousness of the cases that he faced. Great writing as well as execution, I wished that there's more episodes for the drama just so I could continue seeing Ishikawa Ango a little bit longer.
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Border consistently ranks at the top of 'the best detective J-dramas' ratings, yet, it is often claimed to be boring and unoriginal. This discrepancy is easily explained.
On the one hand, the Border scriptwriter Kaneshiro Kazuki is known for his solid well though out mystery plots. In the small world of detective J-dramas solid plot is nothing to sneeze at.
The main character is also quite unusual for a procedural; he is young run-of-the-mill policeman who is disillusioned with the mission of the force, the higher ups, and himself. He is decidedly not a hero. His newfound ability finally gives him an edge in the fight against injustice but it also inconveniences him and makes him an outcast. In other words, for those inclined, the many small misfortunes of the main character are a great source of dark amusement especially since Oguri Shun infuses the character with his trademark charm.
The bleak atmosphere and hypnotic pace underline the existential despair of the main character so the viewer never stops wondering where is the limit of the main character's power and what happens when it is reached. After all, we all know that there is only so many ways a detective drama can end.
It is also worth noting that the drama is a serious one despite the 'seeing the dead' aspect. That differentiates it quite a lot from western fluffy shows with gimmics.
On the other hand, bleak atmosphere and hypnotic pace for those who don't enjoy these things easily translates to boring storytelling and navel-gazing. The secondary characters are not that fun and some of them are further bogged down by mediocre performances. There is no romantic tension or engaging banter (aside from scenes with Furuta Arata's character). The main character's rage against injustice is too easily seen as a typical seinen riot against unfair world that doesn't give one what they feel entitled to.
Unlike Unnatural, Dele or Keiji Yugami, Border is not a mystery drama for everyone. But it is quite different from many other J-dramas and it is the closest to the true noir (the unsexy kind) you can find. I'd especially recommend it to the detective lovers who got tired with 'closed room' Agatha Christie shenanigans in J-dramas and who can tolerate the lack of fanservice for the sake of dry plot developments.
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This review may contain spoilers
BORDER is an absolute treat. Not only is its production value high and crisp, it also has a great ensemble of actors with electric chemistry and interesting crimes-to-solve per episode. The starting premise of a passionate detective who can see the dead is a good hook enough, but add to that the difficulty of finding evidence for a crime when you already know who the killer is, and you have a remarkable series. Because Oguri's Ishikawa can talk to the dead, he often already knows who the criminal is - the challenge is proving it, and it's this unique challenge that adds drama to what could easily have been just another police procedural. My only beef with BORDER is that it is too episodic. In the first episode, Ishikawa comments that he doesn't have much time for his personal life - in his free time, he only watches boring television shows and sleeps. While BORDER isn't in any way boring, it does have the feel of having no strings attached to a greater, more complicated narrative arc that requires more of the viewer's attention and investment. It doesn't really have One Great Mission that you, as the viewer, will look forward to completing with the lead. In that, it feels like a show you can just dive into randomly to watch what challenge Ishikawa is facing this week, and if you miss an episode, it won't be a problem, because you won't have missed anything in the greater scheme of things.
BORDER: Redemption offers a greater opportunity to explore a wider, deeper story arc, but my thoughts on that will require a separate post.
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The narrative starts off pretty well but the overall plot declines steadily thereafter. The crime-solving aspect of the series is subpar and there's pretty much no character development. Based off the camera work, it has a low budget feel, which wouldn't matter as much if all else was done well. But it's as if they tried to take all the ingredients that are successful in other crime series and mashed it all together hoping for a well-done dish. All the characters remained one-noted and you don't get attached to any of them. I thought the concept of helping the dead would have been one of the highlights but they also don't have much value. Unfortunately, it didn't cut it in the entertainment or emotional triggering areas.
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At first, I'm afraid to watch this series because it was said that Ango can see and talk with the dead. I'm bad at horror and the synopsis kinda remind me of The 6th Sense (^_^;) But I'm so happy that the dead is not bloody and in a clean shape (^_^)
As for the movie, at first I really love it, the motive of the killers and what they thought, but somehow it become anticlimax for me (-__-) I think the 8th episode should become the last. And with that original last episode, I think there's should be Border Season 2, not just a special :D I think Ishikawa too much drowned in his ability.
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La balle qui l'a frappé lui a laissé un don terrible.
C’est un très bon drama pour les amateurs de sombritude, comme moi !D’abord pour la photo, très soignée et belle mais où le choix de privilégier l’atmosphère sombre est évident.
Le personnage d’Ando est un solitaire, peu apprécié de son collègue, que sa froideur rebute. Son don particulier n’arrange rien car il cherche constamment à s’éloigner afin de pouvoir discuter tranquillement avec la victime. Le fait d’avoir des renseignements de première main l’aide, mais en même temps le met dans la situation terrible de connaître le coupable sans avoir la preuve de sa culpabilité.
Comme souvent, le drama présente une enquête par épisode avec le fil rouge de chercher qui a voulu tuer Ando et pourquoi. Confronté à l’impossibilité de punir un coupable qu’il connaît, Ando va peu à peu glisser vers des moyens à la limite de la légalité, aidé par un genre de chef mafieux qui lui fournit des aides parallèles, tout en le prévenant que la pente est glissante… Tout l’intérêt du drama est ce cheminement d’Ando vers le côté de plus en plus obscur de la vie… Il demande à son assistant mafieux « croyez-vous au crime parfait ? » et il lui répond : »Attention, le crime parfait entraîne la justice parfaite » sous-entendant celle qu’on rend seul, sans juge et sans jury…
Alors, Ando saura-t-il résister, renoncer à châtier le coupable et sauver son âme, ou punir, et par là devenir à son tour un assassin ?
On a la réponse à la dernière image…
Oguri Shun porte tout le drama, il est parfait, un jeu sobre, retenu, on devine parfaitement le conflit intérieur, la colère contenue contre un système corrompu, la douleur de l’impuissance… La dernière scène est inoubliable…
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