Currently watching: Alice no Toge

Hmm, revenge dramas. I can take them or leave them, frankly, especially on TV which is usually too timid to be nasty or cruel. Watching this drama, I was reminded of Saki and Shokuzai. In Saki, the lead character killed people off one by one. Meanwhile, in Shokuzai the reason for the revenge wasn’t revealed until the final episode.

In episode one of Alice no Toge, nobody died and the viewer knows exactly the main character’s motive. This leaves me wondering exactly where the tension and suspense is going to come from.

The best bits of this series so far are Ueno Juri in the lead role, who is good as the emotionless doctor out to avenge the death of her father, and Odagiri Joe, who plays a journalist who has already worked out her plans.

On the down side, it starts with a woman walking in slow-motion while the sound of her high heels echo ominously. I’m getting a little tired of that cliché, and it did not make me think “this is going to be awesome”.

Other than that, I’m just waiting for the storyline to start.