Just finished: Trick

Trick was a long-running drama based on an amateur magician, Yamada, and a university professor, Ueda, solving impossible paranormal crimes. It began in 2000 and in total, it comprises of three series, three movies and three feature-length specials, the third of which aired recently and is apparently the last of their adventures.

The first series is great, and is a must to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries with a spooky twist. It also has the advantage of an interesting story arc: what caused the mysterious death of Yamada’s father many years ago.

It is a quality piece of TV, and one of the best things I can say about it is that it stills sticks in my mind. Which I can’t honestly say about its many sequels. There are so many TV specials and movies that’s it’s hard to be sure which ones were which. I’m not even sure I’ve seen them all – they all start to blur into each other after a while.

The resolution improves, but the joke remains the same:

This how each series/special introduces the failed magician Yamada.

The most recent and final part of the drama concerns a cursed treasure and a family who are slowly killed off one by one. The story is fine, the comedy is surreal, and all the recurring characters make an appearance. On the plus side, its style is still quite unique. No other TV drama at the moment would dare to cut away from the action to a close-up of a slug, or have one of the main suspects constantly over-act.

On the down side, there wasn’t much new to the world of Trick. It felt like watching a bunch of ageing rockers trot out on stage one more time, jacket sleeves rolled up, to go through the old hits one more time. If you watch this final episode of Trick, you’ll get exactly what you expect. Whether that’s good or bad depends on what you expect.

Just finished: Saki

* spoilers *

This mystery series started out as a murder mystery, but then switched to more of a revenge story in which the men who she despised had their lives ruined rather than ended suddenly. And I suppose this made sense. After all, there's only so many times your boyfriends can die before people start to suspect things.

It was a good drama.Not brilliant, but it was full of nice imagery such as the five steaks in the fridge representing the five men she was after, and Saki's habit of buying a vintage bottle of wine for each time she begins her plan, are both clever ways of heightening the tension.

It didn't really have an ending. Saki walked away unpunished, having gained the viewers' sympathy with her sad story (and it is quite sad) and because she spared the fifth and final man. She didn't really seem to repent or admit any wrong-doing and there's a strange scene at the end when she's in a park, sitting by herself on a bench, pregnant. Is this supposed to imply that she's mended her ways and settled down to start a family? Hmm, I wonder.

Recommended: Trick

Finally, I get round to writing about this TV series. I've recently started watching the first series again just before I go to bed, and it's perfect late night entertainment.

It was first broadcast in the year 2000, and it shows. Not in the fashion or style of directing, but in the quality of the picture. There are probably much better versions on the internet out there, but somehow I like the VHS rip. It somehow adds to the feeling of watching something other-worldly and distant.

The story itself is about a stage magician whose father died in mysterious circumstances. She is recruited by a university professor to investigate apparent supernatural crimes. Each time getting into more danger and, seemingly, getting closer to the truth about her father.

I remember, years ago, this was one of the first Japanese dramas I watched, how strange it all seemed. Not just the storylines, but the style of comedy, the soundtrack and the directing. They really set it apart from anything else I'd seen before then. In fact, I can remember being unsure if I liked it at first. But I'm glad I stuck with it.

The stories are clever and some are genuinely quite chilling, despite all the jokes. And the plot about her father that runs through the series is an excellent way to keep the viewer interested. The first series, especially, is an entertaining and fascinating piece of television.

Currently watching: Saki

This psychological thriller concerns a beautiful woman, her knack for getting people to trust he, and her motives for doing so. It starts Nakama Yukie as the main protagonist, and she is very good in the role of the enigmatic heroine, attractive and at the same time, a bit repellent.

The first episode gets very close to the problem of setting up a lot of storylines, so it seems like the writer is just throwing out ideas and hoping something will stick. However, the story seems to be quite well paced, and I didn't feel overwhelmed with new information.

I enjoyed the first episode, and was impressed with the hard sub version from Heiwa fansubs, which included a nice bit when the subtitles went out of focus along with the image. Very professional.

I note that the lead actress and producers and directors all collaborated before on Utsukushii Rinjin in 2011. While I don't have time to find that and watch it, Saki is certainly good enough to make me think I may have missed something.

Currently watching: Ghost Mama Sousasen

This light hearted drama aims to mix family life and some police work as the ghost of a police officer can only be seen by her young son.

The show runs into problems very early. For a start, the first part of the episode is all about setting up the premise. The main character is introduced and then killed off, and then there's a five minute bit where everyone has to be sad, otherwise they'd just look callous and unfeeling. Then they have to introduce the moment where the son discovers he can see his mother, but no one else can.

Once all that's done, there's hardly any time left for the crime to be solved.

So far, it's a bit bland. The child actor can't really carry off the sad scenes. The rest of the cast work fine. But won't this just fall into the same trap as Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri? When you have a supernatural being able to solve crimes, too much time is spent trying to explain why it's taking so long to solve a crime, and not enough on solving a clever mystery.

Just finished: Untouchable

Well, that was an odd ending. Not surreal or unexpected, but just… odd. It was as if the series had put so much effort into creating a convoluted storyline, the writers wanted to explain every last detail before the series ended. As such, the last episode was mostly people explained what had happened rather than anything actually happening.

The storyline follows a similar template to One Missed Call – ambitious journalist gets demoted to a trashy magazine only to stumble upon a huge storyline that puts her life (and the lives of others) at risk. Although One Missed Call is clearly a horror from the start, Untouchable begins in a lighthearted way and turns darker as the episodes tick by.

Apparently it was a bit of a rating’s flop in Japan, and it’s difficult to see why. Certainly in the first few programmes, the mix of Nakama Yukie, amateur detective work and mysterious secrets give it a very "Trick"ish feel, and that was a big old success.

Having said that, something odd happened while I was watching this. At the start, I was happy to plough through the episodes at a rate of one every couple of days, but as time went on, my enthusiasm waned such that it was a couple of weeks before I got round to watching the final part.

Which makes forming any opinion on this a bit awkward. While there’s nothing wrong with it, there’s something missing to really keep you going until the end. While I recommend it, especially if you liked Trick (I really must get round to writing about that one day), I can’t guarantee it’ll have you on the edge of your seat.