Thursday, August 26, 2010

Review of Inugami-ke no Ichizoku 犬神家の一族

This is a 2 hour drama SP on one of the famous cases solved by Kindaichi Kosuke who, as many people know, is the grandfather of Kindaichi Hajime. Anyway, I'm not going to talk about their relationship or the family background but this drama SP has an interesting interpretation on how Kindaichi Kosuke became a detective.

Apparently, he went to US when he was young but ended up being a drug addict due to inability to find a proper job and was looked down by many people. However, the turning point in his life came when he managed to solve a murder case in the hotel he was working in and the owner decided to sponsor Kosuke's studies in the University. When he returned to Japan, he gained fame by setting his own detective agency and solved a number of high profile cases.

That was the first section of this SP which touched on Kosuke's life but the real action is right after that. He is asked to go to Shinshu (Nagano, in present day) at the request of a law firm's employee which is tasked to handle the inheritance of Inugami Sayohei. The employee claims that a series of murders could happen and seeks Kosuke's help. However, the employee is killed when Kosuke arrives in Shinshu...

I won't go into details on the case since it would spoil the fun especially for such investigate dramas. Well, Goro was quite funny as Kosuke who is really unkept and scratches his head repeatedly. As the dandruff keeps falling, you really have to marvel at Goro's willingness to shed his usual Prince Charming image to take on such a role. I guess since the traffic offence incident and this being one of his comeback dramas, Goro seems to have ditched his stereotype image so as to prove his worth as an actor. The other more familiar cast members to me would be Kato Ai and Nishijima Hidetoshi who acted in Ooku. As for the story, it was pretty good and full of twists but it still made sense. For those who like investigate dramas or like Goro, this should be worth spending 1 hour plus (minus the CMs) to watch.

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