GALILEO [TV][Jap]

Written by Funn Lim


"By the way I am still obsessed with this series. I need a cure!"





DON'T PANIC! THIS IS A REALLY LONG REVIEW! BE WARNED!

Released in
2007

Based on
Novels by Higashino Keigo.

No. of Episodes
10 regular 1 hour episodes plus 1 feature length episode entitled Episode 0

Cast-Character
Fukuyama Masaharu as Yukawa Manabu (Galileo himself)
Shibasaki Kou as Utsumi Kaoru (rookie police detective)
Kitamura Kazuki as Kusanagi Shunpei (HQ detective, former university mate of Yukawa)
Shinagawa Hiroshi as Yuge Shiro (partner of Utsumi)
Watanabe Ikkei as Kuribayashi Hiromi (lab assistant of Yukawa)
Maya Miki as Jonouchi Sakurako (coroner)

and plenty of famous guest stars but I can only recognise a few due to my ignorance of Japanese stars. For entire list, check here.

Relationship chart
Found this wonderful and easy to understand chart at d-addicts. Final proof that this MUST be a very popular and well loved series, because if not no one would bother with relationship charts! In English too!

Plot Summary
In "Galileo," Fukuyama Masaharu plays a genius physicist and university associate professor, Yukawa Manabu, who solves difficult mysteries. Affectionately known as Tantei Galileo ("Detective Galileo"), Yukawa is brilliant, an all-round sportsman, tall and handsome but eccentric. Yukawa's partner is a rookie cop, Utsumi Kaoru (Shibasaki Kou), a hot-blooded woman with a strong sense of justice.

Taken from d-addicts.

Episodic Titles
01 Burns
Summary : a young delinquent's head suddenly and mysteriously caught on fire and he burnt to death.

02 Floats
Summary : a young boy unwittingly becomes an alibi to a murder suspect and his testimony collaborates with the suspect except that the boy claims to have seen the suspect's car in an out of body experience

03 Rattles
Summary : a young woman is looking for her missing husband in a house that mysteriously rattles and shakes every night

04 Rots
Summary : a girl seemingly drowns in her own pool, however one tiny part of her body gave in to suspiscion where it mysteriously rots when it shouldn't be

05 Strangles
Summary : a man dies of mysterious circumstances, strangled but there seems to be contradictions to how he died

06 Dreams
Summary : a young man climbs into a young girl's house, having seen her messages in water to meet her in her room and is hunted by the police for attempted rape where he is convinced they were destined to be with one another

07 Predicts
A man sees his lover hanging herself, except he has already seen the same scenario a week before!

08 Sees
Summary : a sister saw her older sister outside the balcony only to be told at the very same time, her sister was dead from 200 stab wounds to her body.

09 Bursts Part 1
Summary : 2 men mysteriously died with exposure to radiation, setting up a climatic confrontation between Yukawa and his mentor.

10 Bursts Part 2
Summary : Yukawa must race against time to dismantle a nuclear bomb to save Tokyo and a trapped Utsumi.

Comments
I wrote the review for the movie follow up of this series before I knew of the existence of this series. I loved Suspect X and said I wished Yukawa Manabu has his own series. Before I even posted the review for 2 days, Sehseh kindly informed me that there was a series and the movie was a spin off from that series. I should have known. Very rare Japanese TV actors ever cross over to movies or vice versa and almost always the materials are from manga or novels or some folklores. Having seen the trailer for Suspect X on TV, I was intrigued because I saw a flash of Fukuyama Masaharu, the only Japanese actor whose name I know without even an ounce of effort. Being a fan of his (after watching like 1 of his series only),I decided to check out Suspect X. After becoming rather big fan of Suspect X, I decided to check out the TV series, Galileo and to tell you the truth, in retrospect the movie and the TV series are so distinctly different BUT that being said, you can watch the movie and will be able to follow the story without watching the TV series. But the fun in watching the TV series is watching how the relationships are established.

In restrospect, Suspect X is a dead serious movie. The TV series is also serious but with a dash of comedy in every episode, either in Utsumi's bumbling ways or Yukawa's rather clueless ways. I read Utsumi was never in the novels and so I believe inserting Utsumi into the TV series and the movie is a brilliant move; she is now my favourite female character simply because of how the character is written and how well the actress, Shibasaki Kou played her. More on that later.

Every episode in Galileo presents a seemingly impossible crime being committed, and in every episode Yukawa would hypothesise and then solve the how. What I love about this series is the coroner would explain what is seen on the body. Yukawa explains the how the murder was committed. BUT it is for Utsumi to uncover the where, why and when. Yukawa has no interest in the humanity aspect although he is not as heartless as I may describe him to be. As a scientist he is naturally detached. But he is also a scientist with a sense of responsibility, which makes him slightly different and better from the rest. Utsumi is not as bumbling as I describe her to be because she notices facts and is persistent in uncovering the truth. Whilst Yukawa may be anti social and thanks to Utsumi he has a social life (but he is happy being all by himself), Utsumi is also quick to form a judgment, almost always a favourable judgment eventhough she hardly knows the person. Her inability to hate anyone contrasts well with Yukawa's ability to detach himself from everyone and it is great to see these 2 forces coming together and fighting with one another. But no worries, there aren't any fighting so to speak. Utsumi admires and deeply respects Yukawa for his scientific mind as well as his rather good looking looks whilst Yukawa must like Utsumi to help her even when the questions goes beyond physics or science. Is there love? Not even in the movie. It is not Yukawa's inability or rejection of love, in fact many times Yukawa was teased by Utsumi about love and girlfriends and he does consider having one but I believe he just loves being alone and left alone to do what he does best; science. He did contemplate love but maybe it his weird ways, his inability to form a meaningful love relationship that is stopping him. He is called Galileo (he is a genius to his contemporaries) the Weird (for obvious reasons) not for nothing. I believe if Yukawa is a real person, he is a very difficult man to love. He can be cold and too fact based and yet as this series went on to show and to reveal, Yukawa sinsei is a man with a sense of responsibility, guilt even and helpful when he wants to be. He is often enticed into a case with interesting facts, which makes me think of Dr Gregory House of House MD and he may be a genius, but like the movie demonstrates, he is in the end a flawed genius. In the last episode he told Utsumi he is not a good man person which Utsumi strongly disagrees. He sees his own inadequacies and his own flaws. A man that can recognise his own faults can't be a bad person.

Contrast that to Utsumi who is a person with a strong sense of justice, who does her job to know why rather than just how. Many time Yukawa warns her that she is too guided by her emotions and often she lets her emotions get the better of her. But that what makes her so interesting and contrast so well with Yukawa; she brings out the gentleness and the warmth in Yukawa. Not that Yukawa is a cold hearted bastard but he just doesn't show much emotion. The cases she brings to him makes him question humanity and what the murderers are capable of. Many times it is because of Utsumi that I see Yukawa as a human being, a person capable of forming a meaningful relationship with someone. In some ways he did form a working and a somewhat personal relationship with Utsumi. Not a strictly love relationship but a better one; one that is based on mutual respect. And you have got to respect Utsumi; she works hard, fights hard and wonders hard but in the end her heart is in the right places as is Yukawa whose mind is in the right places.

When these 2 are together, I appreciate the many laugh out loud scenes between the 2. I also love how Yukawa would always deny Utsumi's claim of supernatural. Utsumi, a grown police officer believes in ghosts, supernatural and fortune telling. Yukawa is a man of science and no more and definitely no less. He would debunk her theories and yet he is capable of believing in teleportation! I find that hilarious in its own unique way. To me teleportation is like apparition; can't be true. But he sincerely believes it. I also like how his logical mind works, and all his explanation may have science in it, but they're also logical.

I have read some criticisms of this series, unfairly compairing this series to the more atrocious Numbers. I can tell you one thing for sure; Galileo is a much well written and better series than the nonsensical Numbers. It is better than all CSIs combined. And it is the type of series Forensic Heroes wished it is. Of course on the surface there is nothing similar with all these series. I would say Galileo is more similar to House MD than everything I stated here but in the end it deals with an impossible death, investigation as to How by an expert being called in and the police concluding with the why. Galileo succeeds in putting all these elements together and may I say, with style aplenty.

Each episode is clearly defined into possibly 3 segments. First is the crime as to What happened which would include some investigation. Then Yukawa comes into the picture to investigate with Utsumi and would then enter into the 2nd segment that is the How explanation, almost accompanied by that soundtrack whereby Yukawa would run to find something to write on his theories (some formula I can never see completely) which would include an experiment being conducted and the final segment is the Why explanation which would be Utsumi to inform Yukawa the motive of the crime, even if Yukawa is not even remotely interested. It may sound formulaic but it works.

However the one part that may become tiresome to some is the part where Yukawa runs to write on something his formula for the crime (as in How it happened). Hear the music and that's the cue where he runs and find amazingly a pen, a charcoal, a chalk, a mist, something to write and his signature pose, palm on his face with eyes peeping out. Believe me, it is a very stylish pose but for 10 episodes you see the same thing, it can get rather predictable. I am not sure if Suspect X has that, I really can't remember. However I like style and so I like those scenes. It is just funny to see where he can write on and with what. I hope to do a screencapture of his formula even if sometimes I feel there can't be any connection between the formula and the How factor. But who knows, he is into physics and he is a physicist and so maybe his (X+Y)x(t^1@3) whatever may legitimately solve the How factor. It may not solve a crime as every crime must and should have a motive and that is Utsumi's job.

There is however one aspect I wasn't very keen on, something I know is essential how all rounder our Yukawa is but sometimes can be quite a bit like "Let's all ADORE Yukawa". I know Yukawa looks dreamy and can be dreamy eventhough like I said in real life Yukawa would be very difficult to love. He is just plain weird and difficult sometimes. I doubt he can be passionate as a person to a person as he is very passionate to science. The sometimes embarassing scenes would be where Yukawa is shown rock climbing, then playing squash, then cooking, lying on the bed sleeping, etc. And when he is rock climbing or playing squash, notice how the camera would zoom to his arms, in a rather loving and adoring way. Perhaps the camera man is in love with Fukuyama Masaharu or maybe they're trying to make him into a sex symbol (which Masha is justifiably so BUT Yukawa? Maybe not) and to have Utsumi looking at him wide eyed and all can be quite over the top. I was waiting for that one scene where he plays the piano and sings. Alas, none whatsoever. But athletic is good. Yukawa can even cook! It's like LOOK! YUKAWA CAN COOK! LOOK AT YUKAWA'S SINEWY MUSCLE! sort of scenes.

Muscle or not, is debatable. Masha is a bit too slim but he does have well toned arms. And may I say he is tall too, but that is because Shibasaki Kou is the shortest in the series and also the ceilings in the series is just too low, thus making Masha seems 6 feet tall when I am sure he isn't.

And talking about height, let's talk about fashion. I love Shibasaki Kou fashion in a serious sense. Her hair, her make up, her suit, all perfectly embodies her as a detective, however silly she may be as Utsumi. As for Masha, he is always in a vest, knitted or otherwise, shirt with collar and long sleeves, trousers (never jeans) and oh my God, his messy but probably took 3 hours to style hair! I love his hair! Overall I like the tone and the fashion. What I didn't like is of course the architecture.

Japanese homes, apartments, etc are all so depressing looking. Even those mansion old types look depressing. Inside the ceilings are so low, the passageway so narrow, the colour like standard industrial colour and realistically some apartments faces the factory. Even Yukawa's office which is a messy science lab is boring looking. His classroom looks colourless. As in Suspect X which shows the beggars and the homeless, in Galileo shockingly we get to see delinquents (some may argue deserves the death sentence) and beautifully polluted river with guess what? Fridges!! Even trash and garbage dump sites. Amazing! What is colourful though is in Episode 1; the university students with the afro and skateboards. That was fun to watch. The only colourful houses are those belonging to murder suspects.

And what else is fun to watch? The little stuff. I really miss what was shown in Episode 1; the way Yukawa holds his classroom enthralled with whatever he was saying and almost if not all of his students are female. He would hold his microphone and point to some student for answers like a superstar holding his own concert. I love that scene and would have wished for more except after that no more such scene. We are confined to his lab, where he would hold all sort of dangerous experiments (like recreating lightning!) and even cook in there. Also in Episode 1, we get to see Yukawa conducting his experiment in the open field, after that no more such scenes. Maybe budget was lesser?

As for what are the students actually doing, physics or graduate physics I am not sure. I am not a physicist but I am quite certain some aspect is more high school material than graduate student material. But who cares? It all looks cool.

So are the experiments as in the How aspect real? I don't know. There is a warning at the end of each episode not to conduct such experiment at home. Some may complain they're far too complicated. The point is Utsumi presents to Yukawa some very complicated supposition and it is for Yukawa to explain how it all happened. If someone wants to commit a crime or commits a crime in a very different way that would have the police so dumbfounded, perhaps these over the top methods are justified. Frankly I find nothing silly about the How although I may sometimes find the Why factor a bit silly. Of all the 10 episodes, I find each episode's How factor rather clever, like I did with Suspect X. Very little is talked on the victim or the perpetrator, more on the crime itself but that doesn't mean we don't get to see the humanity factor. Of all 10 episodes, I find episodes 1, 2, 3 and 10 the best of the rest, with the saddest being episode 3 and the silliest (as in the Why factor with an impossible How factor) to be Episode 5. Most shocking would be episode 4 simply because of the Why as well as the villain exposing his buttocks! Funniest is Episode 6 follows closely by Episode 10. Frankly I love each episode but if I had to choose, Episode 1 and episode 3 would be a tie but Episode 2 is rather clever; a mirage, who would have thought of that. Each case had me baffled, as to How and Why. Episode 2 is also rather sad, a young son lying for his father just so to please him. The worst is without a doubt episode 5, because I can't get the How and the Why factors. Episode 9 is the most confusing but saved by Episode 10 which is both funny and poignant. Yukawa is by no means perfect; he always has no idea how some death happened and his trademark answer to Utsumi's question "So you figure out how it was done?" was "I have absolutely no idea". He admits that much!

All these brings about very quotable quotes. "The hypothesis is possible", "the theories is possible" etc and Utsumi saying "It is a detective's intuition" which Yukawa always dismisses as illogical but my favourite quote of all is in Episode 10 Look out for the one were Yukawa was dismantling a bomb (HE COULD DISMANTLE BOMBS!!!), where Utsumi said "I thought we just have to cut a blue or red wire" and Yukawa said "You watched too many cartoons" and Utsumi panicked and said "We should call the police, the military, the Pentagon..." and Yukawa dryly replied "The Pentagon is American". After some 2 hours of solving some impossible problems, Yukawa looked at the final piece of the bomb and said "What the hell is this? Maybe I should have watched cartoons" because it came down to blue or red wire! With 10 seconds to go, Yukawa admitted defeat and asked a panicking Utsumi "So what is your favourite colour?" and Utsumi cried "PINK!" and Yukawa cut a wire. The entire scene was urgent and yet funny. I was thinking "HURRY YUKAWA SENSEI! HURRY!!" and he did cut the wire. Guess which wire he cut? I just love how she said PINK! Very funny. Anyway at the end Yukawa said "Your intuition is indeed a supernatural phenomenon"!

I think the entire success of this series, apart from the stories, the crimes and the characters at the end of the day boils down to 2 reasons; the Japanese writer's ability to create an iconic character and the actor's ability to possess it wholely.

I am not sure if another actor may be able to give the character justice as he did, but I feel Fukuyama Masaharu is perfectly cast. Reading some criticisms that said this was not his best work, maybe I am not the ultimate authority as to what his best work is. But if this isn't, then his best work must be beyond smashingly spectacular because I thought his Yukawa Manabu is smashingly spectacular. This is one annoying character that a less likeable or lesser actor may be nuked by it. But Masha did it so well I can see nobody else in it. Of course I am not familiar with Japanese actors, I only know at most 2 or 3 and Masha is the only one I am aware of at present. What drove me to watch Suspect X was him, what made me want to watch this series is him as Galileo himself. Am I a fan? Can't say I am since a fan is knowledgeable of his or her favourite star's work. I am not even aware he is first and foremost a singer/songwriter so shamefully I must admit I am not a fan in that sense. But I love him so. I must admit his name has not entered my radar for almost half a decade, maybe more and to suddenly see him again is like seeing a familiar well liked face. Japanese actor can be iconic in looks and in their work. I believe actors have longer longevity than singers and their actors are most pretty good. Almost all have this deep barritone of a voice, looks tall even if very slim with that hairstyle that takes hours to mess it up. Masha has the babyface good looks and yet serious enough to be taken as an intellectual. I would believe he is a physicist. Like Bae Youngjun, he gives me an impression he is smart or rather well read. He is also tall and lanky and yet somehow strangely athletic looking enough to look like he could play squash and all. He still looks great for his age (38 at the time of filming perhaps) even if older. He of course looks bigger outside of a series, maybe he specifically lost weight for series. And my god, he can sing! What I noticed about him first and foremost is his voice. Deep deep voice. In the movie review I have said his style of acting as Yukawa is controlled acting. It is not necessarily bad acting. I can tell you what is bad acting and what is controlled acting. Masha's style in here is very much in control. I can find no fault in his performance. Even if Yukawa Manabu is such a boring smart high and mighty sort of character which can be arrogant as well, somehow Masha made him likeable, undeniably attractive and very very desirable. I like smart men and Yukawa is a smart man and plus point is Masha is a very handsome man and so all put together is a thoroughly killer combination. And guess what? He can act. Subtlety is something I appreciate the most, like how he delivered the lines to Shibasaki Kou's Utsumi in Episode 10 "I am just like him (Kijima)" in a sort of sad way or when he first met Utsumi he said "I do not know this face" in an arrogant way or the way Utsumi teased him about introducing girls to him and he said dryly "I hope she is someone who knows Theory of relativity..." and Utsumi looked at him and knew she has zero chance with him and he looked at her and for that minute did consider her offer of introducing girls to him and perhaps even considered her. That fleeting moment was well done and when well done adds to the entire atmosphere of this series. If you are one of those who feels this is not his best, perhaps justifiably so. But if you feel he was terrible in here, I urge you to rewatch the entire series. Even rewatch the movie or even Episode 0. Again can't say this was his best but I can safely say give me another 10 seasons of Yukawa Manabu and I won't complain one bit.

Shibasaki Kou is a relevation. In the movie review, I described why I like her so. In here I will describe why I love her so. For one, she has banished the image of apron wearing Japanese women forever out of my head. Her Utsumi can't even cook! She doesn't speak with a breathy whisper that seems like forced modesty, doesn't sit nor walk like those usual Stepford Wives' Japanese version and her hair does get messy. She has expressions, speaks louds, speaks fast, walk fast, gets angry, has emotions, and doesn't breath out loud when panicking. Everything that is opposite of a typical performance by a Japanese actress. And she is funny! She delivers her lines with such cuteness and yet sometimes with such seriousness. An amazing performance by an amazing actress, she totally inhabit the role of Utsumi and I would hate to see some breathy sounding actress replacing her as Utsumi. I also love her chemistry with Masha and the fact that they formed a band together, they must have got along really well in real life. What makes Galileo such a great series to watch is in part thanks to Shibasaki Kou. In Episode 0 without her it seems a bit bland although Masha is still a bonus and motivation for me. By the way in Suspect X I mentioned she is always in big meetings with loads of officers. In retrospect, it means Utsumi was promoted to HQ except at HQ she is being told to make coffee! Such disrespect!

Kitamura Kazuki as Kusanagi walks in like some superstar, followed closely by a bunch of assistants. In fact his Kusanagi reminds me of a pop star. Handsome, capable, popular except Kusanagi knows it ws Yukawa who helps him solve the cases and gives him the promotion to HQ!

Watanabe Ikkei is funny as Kuribayashi, the perpetual lab assistant. You will see him in Episode 0, as well as the flashback when Yukawa was a university graduate student which means he has been at Teito University forever! He is always saying "Yukawa Sensei, do not agree to assist the police anymore" for good reasons. For one Yukawa has papers to mark, lectures to attend to, experiments to conduct, researches to finish, etc. Yukawa is a busy man and often we see Yukawa dozing off. So Kuribayashi has every reason to urge Yukawa to stay out! Anyway Watanabe Ikkei is really funny and is obviously the comic relief.

Shinagawa Hiroshi as Yuge is useless as a detective (at least Utsumi tries to investigate, he simply concludes without much investigation) but he is one funny actor when it comes to autopsy scenes. Always the first to throw up. Episode 1 was really funny, seeing Shinagawa Hiroshi and Shibasaki Kou expressions when watching an autopsy, trying hard not to vomit. Realistic also.

Maya Miki as Jonouchi the coroner is pretty and always eating. She is super cool when it comes to autopsies and never flinched. Seems to take things too lightly as well and one unconvincing performance when an acquaitance of hers was brutally murdered but she seems non-plussed. Apart from that, I like her performance.

Everybody else has minor roles but does require him or her to do something.

Now every episode the victims or villains or victims' families arefamous guest stars but I can only spot a few. Episode 1 I have seen the actor in a food series many years before. He looks much older now. Episode 3, the victim's wife is the same actress in Departures whom I hated. Surprisingly in here she doesn't speak with a breathy voice nor smile when she is speaking. Maybe different movie different style of acting. The young girl in Episode 5 looks like the breathy girl from L (Death Note spin off)? Not sure since they all look alike. My sis recognised some from other episodes. However I suspect Episode 10's Kijima must be a really famous veteran actor because if not why would the camera slowly pan to his face? The rest frankly I do not know but I feel the guest stars definitely contributed to the enjoyment of this series. In other words, a job well done.

The almost last bit I must talk about is the other reason why I enjoyed this series. The subtitles were simply amazing. I watched the fansub version and I must insist that if you want to download any hard subbed version, you must get the SARS fansub version, the link is at the end of this entire review. The video quality is amazing but the subtitles, awesomely great. Not the Form 5 standard but the graduate universty student standard. The effort can be seen and so lovingly done. But you must read fast because you know for every 2 chinese words, Japanese uses 4 words to describe the same thing and some subs can be pretty long, like 4 lines! But if you have seen All About Eve's subs, I am sure you can handle it. Thanks to All About Eve's Standard 3 subbing (the original one, not the later versions!) I could now not only read fast, I could rearrange words and sentences to make sense into it. Of course with this SARS fansub you don't need to. All perfectly structured, well translated. I am not sure the translation was from the Chinese translation or really from Japanese dialogue but it makes sense, except for one part where Yuge said to Kijima's secretary that she is his beautiful WIFE when it should be SECRETARY. Other than that, no complains and a joy to watch thanks to the subbing. I am sure there must be one or two off sentences but when you have lived almost a lifetime of standard 3 subbing, to watch something like what you see in Galileo, it is like Hallelujah!!

And for the last bit would be both my complain and my compliment that is the background soundtrack. The good is sometimes it is good, the bad is sometimes the music sounds like some bad hotel lobby soundtrack. I am sure much better effort can be put into the whole soundtrack thing since music plays a big role in the style department. A good soundtrack with some stylishly filmed scene can add to the entire stylish feel of the series. How can I put it plainly? Just why did they use the bad hotel lobby soundtrack?

Verdict
Problem with Japanese series is they end a series much too early and yet that is the best; they said what they wanted to say in 10 episodes or so. I believe this series can do another 10 more episodes, but maybe cut out that Yukawa-must-write-his-formula-somewhere scene. Love this series, which reignited my love for Japanese dramas and further brought back fond memories why I love Fukuyama Masaharu. And now I also get to see new talents or undiscovered ones, at least to, such as Shibasaki Kou. Great themesong too! If you love crime series, or Japanese dramas with a dash of comedy or even just memorable characters and simply great performances or for Fukuyama Masaharu alone or just nothing better to do or loves House MD, THIS is the series to watch. It's just 10 episodes. I am sure you invested more time into crap like Forensic Heroes and even worse, Numbers and CSIs. By the way I am still obsessed with this series. I need a cure!


Add On Review
Title
Galileo: Episode Zero

Plot
The special is set 3 years prior to the drama series, with the story being related to a murder case that was partly referenced in the original show. Detective Kusanagi is looking to solve a murder mystery, and he gets back in touch with his former badminton teammate, the brilliant professor Yukawa Manabu who was the assistant professor.

The mystery
A useless son seemingly was pierced through the heart by a (suspected) knife and then burnt to death by fireworks set off in his own house when no one was inside the house nor did anyone escaped!

Comments
I believe this is a poorer version of the entire Galileo series. It starts 3 years before Utsumi comes into the picture and Yukawa was just an assistant professor. Come to think of it, 3 years later he is the associate professor which only means he has a meteoric rise. I am not sure when Suspect X takes place though. Anyway this special almost 2 hours episode presents again the same formula except you will get to see a young (as in 12 years before) Yukawa (even weirder!), young Kusanagi (regular college guy), younger Kuribayashi and an introduction to some police staff we see in the regular episodes, except for Utsumi of course. First of, the story arc is less funnier than the series but funnier than the movie. In this special episode you will get to see Ishigami (or rather his back) introduced which is a continuation to the movie itself. I must say, nice continuation sequence eventhough again I am not sure when does Suspect X starts. The story is not as interesting as the series but the How factor is still pretty clever even if the Why factor is to me unbelievable. Moreover I find it ludicrous that Kuribayashi was at the beach begging girls in bikinis to spend time with Yukawa who manages himself pretty well by playing beach volleyball with Kusanagi. All those focus on the bikini wearing girls are embarassing to watch and definitely for ratings but why would this need that? The regular series itself has high ratings from what I read. To have the camera pointing at the jiggling breasts and all just seems to cheapen this special episode. Whilst I like watching how Kusanagi sought out Yukawa's help, their younger days exactly how Yukawa helped Kusanagi is also plausible, but to hear Kusanagi was once a murder suspect is over the top. Why? Why would the useless detectives suspect Kusanagi, a mere pizza delivery boy of killing a tenant where he is delivering pizza to? What is the WHY factor? This is similar to the criticism I had with Suspect X; why jump to conclusion which is something Yukawa always reprimanded Utsumi of? Except Utsumi jumped to a good person type of conclusion. The police in here seems inept and dumb. The younger Yukawa may be weird and smart, it also shows he did all the experiment with how you can make someone jump off the building without touching them was in the end pointless as the lady killed herself. However it shows not all Yukawa's hypothesis is correct even if doable after several tries. I like this aspect of Yukawa. I was hoping there is some explanation as to how Yukawa got his famous palm in face pose started but alas, he seems to have always had it! Anyway, the more I watch this episode, which isn't bad by itself, the more I miss Utsumi's presence which what makes the series such a great watch. Of course Masha is a great reason to watch but I don't think Episode 0 adds anything new to the whole series and the meeting between Kusanagi and Yukawa in their younger days were sloppily written. A better more in depth writing would be most fair to the fans who probably waited for this special for a long time. I am not sure whether I can say the younger actors were well cast or not but I must say the 2 actors definitely got the mannerisms of the older actors perfectly even if Miura Haruma as the young Yukawa didn't really look like Masha one bit. Pretty looking yes, weird looking too but none of Masha's baby face looks. He looks seriously too serious. Sano Kazuma as young Kusanagi was ok. Like I said, the mannerisms were perfect, looks wise not so. It is also funny to see Watanabe Ikkei as Kuribayashi again, this time younger and then a much younger Kuribayashi and his changing interaction with Yukawa. Many years before, he was arrogantly giving advice to Yukawa. Then as the assistant to the new assistant professor, he was eager to please. In the series after some years working together, there is a sense of respect and closeness between the 2, more so since Yukawa even cooks for Kuribayashi! There is also an introduction to a young graduate student of Yukawa, a pretty girl whose name I didn't catch who was inspired to be a police office after seeing how Yukawa applied his knowledge to solve crimes. The girl is ok; I find her pretty and pretty annoying. But again I am pleased to see a non-Japanese type of acting by a Japanese actress. Maybe I have not been watching Japanese series for far too long that their method of acting has changed without me realising it. Overall the How is pretty clever even if far fetched, the Why a terrible ending and the performances again well done. But Yukawa without Utsumi is like your favourite sandwich without the bread. It just doesn't seem right. My least favourite of all the Galileo episodes (inclusive of the movie) but still an entertaining watch for fans of Galileo. Just don't watch this first if you haven't seen Galileo. Start with the movie and then move to the series and then last but not least, move to this special only for completion sake.

Interesting Stuff
Funny stuff
It is a Malaysian joke when you have a seemingly impossible job to to and you lament that it is something that will kill you you say "Mati Kudasai!". I swear it I will never say that again because there is such a Japanese word except it as "Mate Kudasai!!" which means "Hold on a minute". I suppose same but not quite as Choto-mate. Anyway I was quite shocked to hear it is a real word! No more mati-kudasai for me!

Important stuff
Can someone, anyone, everyone tell me what Yukawa writes in his equation? What?!

And most interesting one...

Whilst searching the net I stumbled across a website which I forgot to bookmark which said that the famous Yukawa Sensei's pose in this series (one that is very evidently missing in Suspect X the movie) where he figured out some equation and poses with his left hand on his face, 2 eyes peeking through 3 fingers wide apart and the other two tucked in, like exactly the one below...

I never wondered about the significance of it. I just thought it looks stylish, something like Ultraman crosses his chest or something. But that website which again I forgot to bookmark (baka!!) said it is actually the gesture or handsign for Fleming's left hand rule! WHAT?

Fleming's left hand rule (for electric motors) shows the direction of the thrust on a conductor carrying a current in a magnetic field. The left hand is held with the thumb, index finger and middle finger mutually at right angles. It can be recalled by remembering that "motors drive on the left, in Britain anyway."

Like this...




The left hand is for motors. There is a right hand version, for generators. Now why Yukawa sensei favours motors over generators?

Serious? YES INDEED! Now it made sense! And for this to be Yukawa sensei's signature pose, wow! And guess what? I read the entire explanation and I still don't get it! Good to know the writer added this little tidbit. I wonder the writer or the screenwriter? Or am I reading too much into a stylish pose?

Anyone read the novels before? Any signiicant departure in the series and in the books other than the character Utsumi whom I know wasn't in the books before (and a brilliant change by the way)?


The Making Of ...
Not sure if fanmade or real TMO but one of the videos, he actually wrote the whole formula, twice! Interesting stuff. Not sure if everyone can access, but just in case it is slow or you can't access, try downloading, installing and connecting to the Hotspot Shield before opening the video/links. Video will open full size in new browser window.

Part 1
No idea what is said in this video but since it has Chinese subtitles, hopefully someone kind enough could just summarize using Post A Comment.

http://mv.baidu.com/export/flashplayer.swf?vid=ff7f91eebde2e7864525adf5

Part 2
http://mv.baidu.com/export/flashplayer.swf?vid=438ade5fe1c96139a33cfa0a

Part 3
http://mv.baidu.com/export/flashplayer.swf?vid=aeaead2adac49234bf9a4209

Part 4
http://mv.baidu.com/export/flashplayer.swf?vid=eb9e5ba0bce87a4d3f0ff309

Part 5
http://mv.baidu.com/export/flashplayer.swf?vid=ab1523115f05f73c16b14e08

Themesong
Written by Fukuyama Masaharu himself and sung by Shibasaki Kou herself accompanied by Masaharu on guitar. The song is KISS Shite by KOH+ (new band comprising of these 2). Shibasaki Kou looks so different and Masha, well he kinda overworked the whole guitar thing BUT again, great catchy song.

Official MV


Captured from Series
Love the whole spark writing thing. Shown at the end of each episode.



Sung by the man himself


Fan made trailers
Haven't watched these with sound on but looks pretty good. Trailers from the series made by fans. Such dedicated fans! All the more better because only dedicated fans would make such golden stuff, without which we shall be much poorer!





Note : The following I notice have some scenes from Episode 0, such as the volleyball scene.


Fuji TV 2007 Autumn Drama Promotion Game Show
These are at youku.com. If you can't access (slow connection, etc) and from Malaysia, check out this link to know how to access. The following are one event where Galileo theme played some serious competetive games. No subtitles but easy to follow. For fans of Fukuyama Masaharu, do check out link no. 4 where he displayed his archery skills. He won by points of coolness, in my opinion although his point isn't bad at all.

1. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTMwNTc5MjQ=.html
2. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTMwNTI3OTY=.html
3. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTMwNTMyODA=.html
4. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTMzMDIxMDQ=.html
5. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTMwNjAzOTY=.html

It is worth watching the whole event just to see how reserved and yet lively they'll are. However for case in point as in the archery, see video below. Remember to connect to Hotspot Shield first.


Watch 071001 waratte iitomo autumn SP - achery in Entertainment  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Awards
13th Asian Television Awards: Best Drama Series
55th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Drama
55th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Actor - Fukuyama Masaharu
55th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actress - Shibasaki Kou
55th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Script - Fukuda Yasushi
55th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Director
55th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Theme Song

Follow Up
The movie, Suspect X. Read my glowing (almost radioactive) review here.

Download series
Get the great subbed (hard subbed!) copy HERE. Look for Galileo. You will also find Episode 0 and the movie in the same line.





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MARRIAGE OF INCONVENIENCE [TVB]

Written by Funn Lim

"I would gladly watch ANY SHIRLEY YEUNG series TWICE than to watch this series even for a minute. Sorry to Shirley Yeung fans for using her as an example but this is to show how much I detest THIS series."




SPOILERS ... SPOILERS ... SPOILERS

The Title Commented
I like the title of Marriage of Inconvenience. That's about what I like about this series.

Released In
2008

No. Of Episodes
20

Cast
Bobby Au Yeung
Angela Tong
Toby Leung
Patrick Tang
Raymond Wong
Astrid Chan
Winnie Yeung
Power Chan
Stephen Huynh
Mimi Lo
Ai Wai
Joel Chan
Lee Ka Sing
Rain Lau


Plot
While the owner of a marriage bureau himself, the candid Kong Hoi-chuen (Bobby Au Yeung) nevertheless has no luck in finding a girlfriend. He meets Miu Ling (Angela Tong), who has just been disappointed in love, by chance. With his words of consolation Ling is able to recover. Six months later, Ling agrees to marry Chuen. The marriage lasts happily for three years, husband and wife ended up working in the marriage bureau in a home they both adore. Just when Chuen thinks that he is the happiest husband in the world, Ling's ex-lover Ivan (Raymond Wong) returns. Several years ago Ivan left Ling because he didn't want to be 'tied down' in a relationship, but now he wants a second chance. When he meets with Ling again he kisses her, despite her resistance, and Chuen misinterprets the situation. Chuen is both angry and furious, getting himself helplessly drunk in his office, and when he wakes he finds himself beside one of his female clients, mainlander Ng Yi Wu-Jiu (Toby Leung). Ling sees this and like her husband, misinterprets the situation and demands a divorce.

The divorce proceeds almost smoothly, as Cheun and Ling both want out as soon as possible. Unfortunately it is not as simple as they thought. Ling, believing that she has been wronged, refuses to move out of her beloved house. Cheun, who sees the house as his, decides to arrange a fake marriage with Ng Yi Wu-Jiu. In exchange for staying at the house for free, she pretends to be his lover. The plan was that they would anger Ling enough to leave. While Cheun works on angering Ling in the house, she retailates by hiring Ivan to work in the bureau and patroning his restaurant, which angers Cheun.

Later they both learn that Ng Yi Wu-Jiu is in fact the girl of a triad leader, she has her own loyal followers and rival gangs trying to kill her. Ivan meanwhile has shown himself to be quite capable and no longer a worthless playboy, with good connections and plenty of wealth. As Chuen and Ling both learn, their fighting might have involved too many unknown elements...

Taken from Wikipedia

Comments
I was looking at Wikipedia and it wrote...

Award nominations
41st TVB Anniversary Awards (2008)

"Best Drama"

... which just shows any junk will be nominated just so it can fill the quota.

You may ask what is wrong with this comedy? After all a warring couple can be fun to watch, to those who likes warring couples. I like this sort of series if done well but unfortunately there are about possibly 3 warring couples in here and that is overcrowded and noisy. And stretched to 20 episodes of constant warring couples, it can be very tiring and draining. After a while it isn't funny anymore.

This series reminds me of another similar one, that starred Lawrence Ng and Kenix Kwok. I think it is Till Death Do us Part or something like that which in turn was based on a Japanese series. I was very tired of that series, but this one takes the title as the worst.

First up, the story itself can be settled in 10 episodes the most. It does seem to have lots of characters but their stories are each so wafer thin that after a while you start to wonder is there anything else. The series quickly started with Bobby and Angela having doubts about one another, Angela being pursued by her commitment phobe but way hunkier ex boyfriend, Raymond whilst Bobby was tricked into believing that he slept with a young China girl desperate to remain in HK waiting for her gangster boyfriend, Joel and that is Toby. Truth is Angela didn't want to go back with Raymond and Bobby did not sleep with Toby. However both parties busted with one another and ended up having a swift divorce. Then there was the question of their dream home, bought by Bobby so he's not willing to let go and decorated with loving care by Angela so she is not willing to let go. So they both shared the house with demarcation who gets what. Bobby trying to help Toby to stay in HK married her and that infuriated Angela and there began the constant fighting. I must say the words used in the quarrels are crude but real. So you have Bobby calling Angela the Chinese equivalent of Slut/adulteress each time, her lover the adulterer whilst Angela calls him basterd/adulterer and Toby the adulteress. This will go on for many many episodes until such time Angela began to date Raymond again. Besides them we have the surrounding friends, the perpetual commitment phobe Astrid (so you know who she ends up with right?) who sleeps around, innocent Toby and her protective friend Patrick who was Joel's gang member, an uptight gynochologist Winnie Yeung and an outwardly chauvinistic and seemed to obsessed with porn Power Chan (guess who he ends up with), a married Mimi Lo to a rather hunky guy (Stephen) and of course a nerdy computer guy Lee who didn't end up with anybody. Throw in also Joel the gangster with an ulterior motice, Ai Wai a seemingly bad gangster guy who is actually not what he seems and his assistant, whose name I do not know but he had a memorable role as a young gangster wannabe in King Of Comedy next to Stephen Chow.

It isn't even convulated, just repetetive. They fight over the house, fight over food, fight over toilet, throw in in laws and they fight some more, push around, and fight over the house again, kept calling each other names and that is only by the 8th episode. 12 episodes more to go. It is a very frustrating watch as they kept on fighting. And when they stopped fighting, there was always hints of reconciliation and then there was betrayal where Astrid slept with Raymond which hurt Angela again and yet Angela forgave him, incredibly and also forgave Astrid. Yet she couldn't forgive Bobby for sleeping with Toby, someone she didn't know. Truth be told, she got her priorities all wrong. Then there's the love story between Power and Winnie, fight fight fight, then understanding, then fight some more then finally got together because Power turns out to be a true romantic. The way the series go, an attractive intelligent woman like Winnie doesn't seem to have a break with man eventhough Power is ok, he is beneath her education, wealth and even intellectual wise. There are just no other man. The one woman the attractive intelligent guys go for is Angela whose character is I shall unreservedly say a dumb stupid idiot. What is so great about her that guys go gaga? Her looks perhaps?

Let's talk about looks then.

Is it me or as the series proceeds along, Angela's makeup is as thick as ever? And her clothes became lesser and lesser, tighter and tighter, to such point there was a scene in the almost end episode where she walked into the dream house with a huge hammer to destroy the house (since she can't sell it, she doesn't want Bobby to have it as she feels as long as the house is there she can't move on and marry Raymond) and the scene turns to her smashing the basins with the hammer wearing, if I can remember correctly black leather boots, laced stockin's, low spaghetti strapped top which gives her the leather dominatrix chick look? Is it that necessary at all? No one walks around dressed like that, not in broad daylight unless this is a special costume for smashing basins?

And then there totally inappropriate scenes that no young ones should watch. This series is highly sexualised without showing sex scenes. But they're very suggestive that I flinched watching them because it is supposed to be funny, I just found them disturbing and I thought why not just show Bobby jump on top of Toby and get on with it, which by the way there was such a scene towards the end. Bobby was imagining stuff and first he saw Toby acting rather sexy. It was all imagination but if a series would have an actress dressing like a dominatrix just to smash a basin bowl, what more about acting sexy? Toby is always in short skirts, since she is young. In such imagination scene, she would be kneeling on the bed, wind blowing her hair, slowly peeling off her outer sweater which inside reveals a ... spaghetti strap (a must have wardrobe in this series) as she slowly peel them off and her making kittenish sound as she urged Bobby to come closer... is it sexy? Well do you find Toby sexually stimulating?? To see Bobby's face red, eyes bulging... seems rather disturbing. Then there Angela, the sexier one doing the same thing but by that time it just feels wrong. Is humour only in quarrels and sex? Can't we have genuinely funny moments without cringing at the scenes? Not just once but more than 3 times. To be fair to Toby, she has a killer body so to speak but I just can't connect the body to the face... and the acting...

There are some funny moments, thanks to Ai Wai and the boy I do not know his name. They were genuinely funny and I enjoyed their scenes very much, however short lived. The rest were simply irritating. It is full of contradiction.

We all know from the outset Raymond is meant for Astrid, the 2 who sleeps around and can't commit. But Raymond wants Angela back, did all sort of things like opening a restaurant called Sahara, etc and yet he had no hesitation in sleeping with Astrid, at all. Even after that he still wants Angela and was going to marry her until he realises he loves Astrid, thus wasting the viewers' time with the whole predictable roundabout.

The problems with the side characters isn't as pronounced as that with the main ones. I like Toby's character even if she started the relationship on a lie. At least she has personality. Bobby's character when he is not busy fighting he is busy pining for Angela's character. And he seems more in love with her than she is with him. That's the impression I got. When he was so sad that Angela was back with Raymond, so love sick he actually couldn't walk. Angela did not visit, did not enquire, seems unconcerned at all. In fact for someone who later seeks Bobby to pretend they're still married with one another when her mother visited them, I felt she was so cold and Bobby should have said no. Throughout I never liked Angela's character and even in the end I despise her character. I find her character stupid and irrelevant, undecided and cruel and cold to Bobby. There is nothing appealing about that character and the fact that her character largely depended on what she wore for attention and perhaps ratings shows what a failure this series is. And usually Bobby has great chemistry with his leading ladies, but with Angela he fell flat on his face.

Problem is Angela herself. She got this first leading role after her much loved performance as the ugly duckling whose name I can't remember. She had minimal role in there but in here the focus is on her. In the past she was always someone's girlfriend or mistress, like Astrid who is always the sophisticated 3rd party. Unlike Astrid, Angela is now the leading lady in here, probably sharing almost equal screentime with Toby Leung if I may say so but what a bummer... I don't find her interesting at all. At times it is because of her character who is cold and heartless and uninteresting and also very badly written but sometimes it is because of Angela herself and her worried eyebrow look that gets to me big time. Either exceedingly angry or worried and never quite in between. She is a good actress and maybe this is not the role to showcase her talent in a leading role but damningly I would have wished she stayed in the background a little while longer.

Then there's Toby Leung. What is it about this girl that she keeps getting a big chunk of a role? What is it about her that she gets probably you can call 2nd lead or big screentime? She annoyed me in Drive Of Life, with her monotomous delivery of her lines and how they all kept saying she is pretty etc when frankly good looks isn't her forte. Same in this series. But looks isn't an impediment to an acting career. Good acting should be the basis. If this is really a comedy, Toby Leung fails big time. She isn't funny but her character has her charms and can be quite endearing except that her performance in terms of drama is also a big fail. Can someone just tell her to go for speech classes? She talks in such a lazy way I almost fell asleep everytime she opens her mouth. Imagine her in some big ancient drama series requiring her to say "MEN! FIGHT TO YOUR DEATH!!! FOR HONOUR OF YOUR EMPEROR!!!!!!!!!!" and I would guess not one would be spurred into action. I dread that kind of role being done by her without proper speech classes. Her acting itself somewhat improve from her earlier ones but it is still as Kate Tsui says "DEADFOOL!" as in dreadful. Why am I explaning myself?? Anyway she has hope, she is not hopeless and nope, cosmetic surgery won't help. I demand good acting over good looks. Good looks is to mask the fact you are a terrible actress, like a cushion for that impending fall but if you don't have natural good looks, talent does help. I wouldn't say Toby Leung can't be helped. She is young and however awful she is since she seems to be getting good or rather plump roles, I suppose she can learn on the job. I am just not sure I can suffer a few years of bad acting to wait for her to get moderately good. But one thing for sure; series like this DOESN'T HELP IN HER CAUSE.

Bobby... Bobbybobbybobbybobby... he is funny, and why this series was kinda enjoyable in the first place. Bobby is always watcheable but even he can't help this dud. Probably because his character is such a foul mouth (no swearing but everytime open mouth calls Angela adulteress!! adulteress!! can be quite irritating after a while). I just didn't like his performance in here solely because I just don't like this series.

One actress surprised me with her new found versatility is Winnie Yeung. I swear after she got married she is actually a better actress than she was before. I especially liked her performance in The Silver Chamber Of Sorrows whom I find classy and elegant. In here she is rather mean and crude as a spinster but is effective. She looks so dowdy. I enjoyed her chemistry with Power Chan, one of the few highlights of this series which unfortunately got bogged down with so much quarrels that I just didn't care anymore.

Power Chan is a fine actor but even a fine actor can't lift a bad script to not so bad script.

Astrid Chan is surprisingly watcheable even if unbelievable that her character can sleep with her best friend's boyfriend and got away with it even if she had to endure one slap. One slap is never enough!!

Raymond Wong is someone I am not familiar with. China actor perhaps? He speaks with an accent. He looks good, handsome, dark and well built. Unfortunately his character is a 1st class jerk, sleeping with best friend of girlfriend and GETTING AWAY WITH IT! No justice!! Performance wise, I thought he is a good actor even if his character has zero personality and after some time commenting on good looks, it became a snooze fest because how long can you stare at a beautiful but empty vase?

Ai Wai is the highlight of this series together with that young man. They're so funny and a series should be made of these 2 as brothers or parent and child or something. These two have more chemistry together than everybody else combined and the only reason why you should even bother watch the series even if you have to fast forward to find their scenes which isn't much.

Lee Ka Sing is someone I haven't quite seem for sometime. At first he looks rather nerdy and one of the funniest scene was how Bobby tried to help him to change his image as he crawled around crying with such low self esteem over his looks. Some haircut, nice suits and gone with the specs, he actually looks rather handsome! But alas, the rest of the series doesn't have that life changing effect.

There is Rain Lau in here but rather insignificant role.

I feel the talents of some of the actors in here are wasted on a poorly writen script, unexciting storyline, unsympathetic characters and downright offensive materials. I just think this series as it went along tried to capitalise on the sensuality of Angela who is rather sexy of course and I have never quite seen such revealing clothings in a series and she has a great body. But when sexy takes over the real nature of this series that is comedy, it spells trouble. BIG BIG TROUBLE.

Verdict
What a predictable messy crap!

Avoid AT ALL COST! Don't even pay 1 cent! Don't even download for free! Don't waste your time I beg you, I beg you never to torture yourself, never to waste that precious moments in your life for this crap! I would gladly watch ANY SHIRLEY YEUNG series TWICE than to watch this series even for a minute. Sorry to Shirley Yeung fans for using her as an example but this is to show how much I detest THIS series.

Interesting Argument
I came across some forum discussing how ugly Toby Leung is and how not so ugly Angela Tong is. Of course the forum is full of haters. I may say Toby is not pretty or even ugly but the reason I am not loving her is her bad acting and her lazy voice. Anyway the discussion went off tangent and into the territory that I felt was uncalled for; some posters said Toby was FAT. Fat? Seriously, fat? I thought she was slim! Not thin but for her height, she was slim. I thought she looked rather good in short skirt and I even thought she has a nice figure. Not like mature woman figure like Angela who has a nice figure as well but FAT? How do you define fat? I thought she was as slim as any other top TVB actresses, not as flat chested with strong looking legs BUT FAT? I know you hate her but please, have I called Shirley Yeung fat? I don't even call Bobby fat. Maybe the posters meant Toby Leung is PHAT?

Who knows? Nowadays people just don't know how to write anymore.

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DEPARTURES [Mov][Jap]

Written by Funn Lim

"Who says death is an easy subject?"




SPOILERS ... SPOILERS ... SPOILERS

Original Title
Okuribito

Trivia
The Japanese title "Okuribito" means "the sending [away/off] people" (as in: people who send) - but this word is not normally used in Japanese -thanks to IMDB.com

And I went about calling it Burito, Okuburito, Okawhatisthatito, Okuisthatito, Okuwhatdidyousaoto... anything but Okuribito.

Released in
2008

Interesting Fact
Japan's contender AND WINNER for the 2009 foreign language Oscar. Its win was unexpected and I think the director actually said thank you to Mr Roboto. A deserving win over those depressing war time or torture films. This is of course a movie about death which is depressing also.

Cast-Character
Masahiro Motoki ... Daigo Kobayashi
Tsutomu Yamazaki ... Ikuei Sasaki
Ryoko Hirosue ... Mika Kobayashi
Kazuko Yoshiyuki ... Tsuyako Yamashita
Kimiko Yo ... Yuriko Kamimura
Takashi Sasano ... Shokichi Hirata

Plot
Taken from IMDB.com

Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.

Comments
I don't think I can summarize the plot of this movie than the one I found in IMDB.com. Of course it didn't mention that Daigo hates his father who left his mother and himself when he was very little whilst his mother died when he was overseas, so he never really encountered death first hand. It is a crucial plot because Daigo could not remember his father's face, has fond memories of his father and yet hated his father for being a deserter, a bad husband to his long suffering mother. In the end he sees Sasaki, the owner of NK Agency (that is the chief encoffineer who trained him) as his father figure and learned more from this man about life and death than he did with his father, with a shattering realisation in the end of the movie that made him remember his father's face.

To say that this movie is all bang bang and action packed is of course a lie. It is in the end a slow moving artistic movie but not quite as slow and sometimes depressingly pointless that we see independent movie makers make, more notably those from Malaysia or that of Wong Kar Wai, who will take 3 hours to make a point that never materialise because nobody could understand him. This movie is easy enough to follow but the points made are both beautiful and sometimes sad.

Who says death is an easy subject? Remember Life Is Beautiful? Who would have thought a nazi concentration camp be the subject of a comedy with a sad but beautiful ending? So is this movie. Death is often a frightening subject to many since who knows what happens after death and to some who experience it looking at their loved ones, death can be painful, sad and sometime life changing experience, for the better or for the worse. I have frankly never heard of the word encoffineer, I am sure maybe morticians and such are similar but in Japan where everything is steeped in tradition, even just a tea drinking session will become a ceremony, I am not puzzled nor surprised that such a job function exists. An encoffineer as explained in this movie not only just prepares the dead for burial or what's the better word for burning? I can't remember at this moment. Their job is to bath the body, dress them, apply makeup, put them in coffin, all but close the lid and burn it. All in front of the family members. It was explained that this used to be done by the family members but now the family would prefer a professional encoffineer to do it. As Sasaki shows Daigo in his very first encoffineer job (for lack of better word to use), it is also a ritual to regain the dignity of the dead and a final farewell for the family to the dead, some sort of a goodbye ritual, a finality of all finality, as death may not be the finality of it all. Sometimes Daigo sees quarrels, parents blaming parents, happy times as grandchildren remembering their grandparents' favourite socks or tragic tears with regards to early death of children or sick spouses. All these are sensitive issues and it was up to Daigo and Sasaki to weather the pain and suffering in total silence. A job well done is when a relative rushes up and tearfully say thank you. It could be from the way the ritual was done or a simple way of putting on make up on the body making the body look like a sleeping person, as if frozen in time and death.

Daigo and Sasaki also works closely with the funeral parlour (probably those arranging the funeral ceremony, coffin, etc) to pick up dead bodies. And in the end it is also shown the bodies of those without family will be callously and without much respect thrown into a simple coffin and be done with. There is no sensitivity involved and only then I realised how important an encoffineer's job is because each body, wanted or unwanted were once somebody's parent or spouse or child or sibling, living, breathing human being.

Interestingly there is stigma involved. I would have thought such a specialised field like being an encoffineer is a respected profession, after all they provide the final dignity to the dead. But this movie frankly shows Daigo was ostracised by even his own young wife, Mika who left him when he refused to leave his job and even his childhood friend who avoided him, even scolded him for being close until of course a tragedy happened that made both Mika and that friend realised how important and dignified Daigo's job was. Even Daigo was supersitious, and wanted to quit many times but lured back by good money, or rather the lack of jobs out there and in the end the respect he has for Sasaki, that he decided to stay despite his wife's objections. Why would Daigo have such a newfound love for this job? He was after all a cellist in an ill fated ochestra that closed not long after he joined. In fact he has all his life tried very hard to be a good cellist, he wasn't bad but he finally accepted the fact in the beginning maybe being a cellist isn't the job for him. He wanted to become a cellist because when he was little his father (who was faceless since he can't remember) was a big fan of classical music, thus was a man of refined taste. He often played the cello in front of his parents and so he grew up wanting to be a cellist eventhough it took him a long time to get into an ochestra. His wife was supportive of his decision to move back to his hometown, not a very small place and into his dead mother's house. He found an ad from NK Agency looking for someone to deal with departures, thinking it was a travel agency he answered the ad only to be pushed into the job by a very determined Sasaki. Along the way I have this feeling that perhaps an encoffineer is a job for the old, because Sasaki and many others often said Daigo is the youngest encoffineer they have seen. It was like let the old handle the dead and the young do something else! Daigo has no appreciation for the gravity of his job nor what it has on his life until he observed Sasaki in his office which is full of green plants and Sasaki often ate well, lived well and of course earned well. Sasaki became an encoffineer when he himself buried his own dead wife several years ago and found his true calling, and Daigo too found his. Through Sasaki, Daigo actually have a newfound respect for death and a newfound thirst for life, he began to eat well and enjoy his food, he began to see life in a whole new way.

I really enjoyed that part where he bonded with Sasaki and how Sasaki handled his reluctance. There are indeed many comedic moments right towards to almost at the end and I feel even some funeral moments were handled well despite the comedic moments.

The ending was poignant. Daigo received a telegram that his father has died and the letter asked for his mother to pick up his body. Of course his mother was dead. He refused to go, since his father abandoned him, he refused to do the final rites. But the office lady whose name I forgot whom he had bonded well with her over his time at the office begged him to. She reasoned she too had an affair, left her son and was now too ashamed to go home to her son. Daigo didn't understand if his father died alone (his father was having an affair with a waitress at his mother's small cafe shop 3 decades ago), why didn't he come home? In the end he went to his father's body, his father spent his life working as a workman living in small quarters, lived alone, died alone holding a piece of pebble that he once gave his father and he realised his father was too ashamed to go home even if his mother waited for him her whole life. He suddenly could put his face into his memories of his father and he cried for the lost years and he prepared his father for the final journey, restoring his father's dignity as his wife looked on. In fact his wife didn't want him to go back to being an encoffineer until she witnessed first hand earlier how he prepared a lady who ran a bath house that she also knew that she understood there is nothing dirty with her husband's job. She came back earlier because she was pregnant by the way.

Whilst I will not question the story nor the presentation of the story as the cinematography and music are excellent, I was very confused with the timeline, mainly because the subtitles were conflicting. One said he was in the job for 2 years (meaning he lied to his wife for 2 years, which is impossible) and one said he was in the job for 2 weeks (even more impossible). I was very confused what is the timeline in the movie, how long before Sasaki let him handle the cases alone. There are also a moment in the movie that makes you go "seriously?" like the way Daigo celebrated life by playing his cello beside a rice "padi" field, surrounded by greens (aka life) and appreciating the natural wonders of the world as the camera goes circling around him many times. A bit over the top in my opinion but yes, I got the point, many times over. It is also rather predictable, as in the bath house lady will die, his wife will come back because of that, he will get acceptance. It was almost given that would be the catalyst to his relationship with everybody. What surprised me pleasantly was I actually thought Sasaki will die and Daigo would become his encoffineer but no, that goes for his father and like I said, a rather poignant ending. I also sat with certain apprehension that each body is being encoffined so to speak in the same way, massaging the hands, face, body, cleaning every part, etc. Even between a man and a woman. I was wondering what about accident victims? Murder victims? Bloated bodies? You don't see such bodies in here, except for one who died for many days before she was discovered as Daigo vomitted Sasaki scolded him to quickly take the body. Whatever the circumstances, the dead must be treated respectfully. Is such a ritual still an important part of Japanese culture? How then do they handle bodies that aren't that pleasant looking, like murder victims? This movie doesn't show you beyond the encoffining (is there such a word?) process and straight to burning. In between I am sure there are rituals at temples, etc. One scene showed Sasaki and Daigo attending ceremonies of all faiths which is funny and yet realistic; they all do need an encoffineer in the end since death is death.

While the stories may confuse you sometimes, and you may question certain aspect, what is unquestionable is the performances by the lead actor and his mentor in the movie.

Masahiro Motoki, someone I haven't seen before was a revelation as a comedic actor and a serious dramatic actor. His bumbling attempts during the job and how in the end he began to respect his work and love it were fantastic to watch. Except for my confusion over the timeline, his progression is believable and lovable. I really like Daigo who despite his wife's objections and leaving him, he steadfastly pursued this line of work. He does have that cute moments and his sad moments are equally as effective. His chemistry with the actor who plays his mentor is simply fantastic.

Tsutomu Yamazaki is funny. He is funny without making funny faces or delivering a whole lot of lines. In fact he is most silence but his every action, every grimace, every facial expression (which is limited actually) and those few lines he delivered were delivered with comic timing as and when needed and authority as and when there should be any. He is actually the comic relief and his deadpan way of acting is the highlight of this movie. If there is a scene you must not missed, it is the scene how he got Daigo to work for him and the scenes where he is eating, always saying "Delicious, sadly so".

Everybody else is standard stuff for me except for Ryoko Hirosue who plays the wife Mika really annoys me big time. Again that breathy whisper that kinda makes me want to cough but not quite whenever I listen to her talk that way, that cute look, that smiling look even when she is angry...I can't feel her and I feel her performance was the dark point of this movie.

But other than that, I can't think of anything bad to say.

Oh yes, one more thing. Why is it every house I see in a Japanese movie or TV series, especially movies is so depressing looking and colourless? I was watching Suspect X and the apartments are like boxes, but that is in the city but in the countryside, even a 2 storey hours is so depressing looking. Just reminds me of Ju On you know, small, dark, depressing and looks haunted. No bungalows? I know space is gold in Japan but colourful apartments perhaps?

And seriously, nothing bad to say other than that.

Did I mention the soundtrack? Excellent stuff.

Verdict
A must watch. This is a movie that deservedly won the Oscars and to be is one of the best movie I have ever seen, even from Japan.

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SUSPECT X [Mov][Jap]

Written by Funn Lim


"Tsutsumi portrayed Ishigami in such a valiant way, his motives unquestionable that when his method was exposed, you will pity him and slam Yukawa instead for being a busybody"







SPOILERS ... SPOILERS ... SPOILERS

Original title

Yôgisha X no kenshin which I read is translated as The Devotion of Suspect X which is a dead giveaway even before the movie starts so the title Suspect X is quite mysterious in my opinion. Japanese does come out with the most interesting but sometimes meaningless English titles. Like Death Note. In itself meaningless and yet interesting.

Released in

2008

Cast-Character
Masaharu Fukuyama ... Manabu Yukawa
Kou Shibasaki ... Kaoru Utsumi
Kazuki Kitamura ... Shumpei Kusanagi
Yasuko Matsuyuki ... Yasuko Hanaoka
Shin'ichi Tsutsumi ... Tetsuya Ishigami
Dankan ... Kuniaki Kudo
Keishi Nagatsuka ... Shinji Togashi
Miho Kanazawa ... Misato Hanaoka
Ikkei Watanabe ... Hiromi Koribayashi
Hiroshi Shinagawa ... Shiro Yuge
Miki Maya ... Sakurako Shironouchi

More at IMDB.com

Truth be told I only know one actor and that is Fukuyama Masaharu from Under One Roof series. I was very excited to know ONE actor in the movie because normally TV actors and movie actors in Japan don't quite appear interchange their medium of appearance. And my god, he looks tall (because the girl is short), as thin as I remember him to be, voice as deeply melodic as years before and his hair, fabulously messy. But he does look old in here, and he is playing a rather youthful looking 38. Brought back good memories of him since if I remember correctly I have only seen him in at most 2 or 3 series. Haven't watched Japanese series for quite some time.

Plot
A rather simple story with twists after twists in the end. It is essentially a crime drama. From the outset we know a beautiful divorcee, Yasuko and her teenaged daughter, Misato were visited by the divorcees's despicable ex husband, Shinji (not the girl's father) and when he spied on the girl changing her clothes, the mother chased him out only to have the daughter use a big snow globe to hit his head. Not dead, he then attacked the girl, beating her senselessly and the mother in an attempt to save herself and her daughter, pushed him onto the floor and used an electrical cord, wrapped around his neck and pulled hard whilst the daughter held down his struggling hands. Some time later he stopped moving. Yasuko has an elusive and lonely neighbour by the name of Tesuya Ishigami (his surname, Ishigami is apparently very rare in Japan) who is a high school maths teacher who keeps to himself. However he heard the struggling, knocked on her door and by the end of some quiet questioning, he was telling her what to do to avoid arrest. And so the crime drama begins.

The next scene the police, headed by a young man and his younger lady assistant whose name I did not catch (and the only female detective in the department) were sent to investigate a naked male body dumped at a nearby baseball field. It was a cold winter day and the body could not be identified, as his face was smashed in and his fingers burned. However not much later the police quite easily found his identity that is Shinji and the investigation quickly narrowed on his ex wife, Yasuko. However Yasuko seems to have iron clad alibis, from movie ticket stubs to karaoke sessions to dinners, all on a weekday on the 2nd December. The police did not believe her at all but her alibis were eventually checked out and so they were stumped. What they didn't know was Yasuko was being coached by Ishigami who calls her from a payphone to avoid detection. She doesn't quite realised why Ishigami was helping her but Ishigami seems happy to assist.

Meanwhile the police confused how the killer as in Yasuko can be at 2 places at one time met with their top scientist/physicist/crime solver from the scientific point of view, the smart handsome youthful Prof Yukawa at the university. Prof Yukawa was not interested in the case until he heard the name Ishigawa whom he himself said "I do not use the word genius lightly, but to me Ishigawa was a genius but his only interest is in maths". He met and was friendly with Ishigawa when they were in college 17 years before and so he made a visit to Ishigawa, rekindled old friendship and was surprised to find Ishigawa not achieving the success he ought to have. Ishigawa explained he was forced to leave his post at the university to take care of an ailing mother. His teaching job at the high school was meaningless of course, he was only interested in maths and the students did now show him the respect that Yukawa afforded him. When the police realised Ishigami was smarter than they thought, the attention was focussed on him being the killer to aid his lover Yasuko but Yukawa dismissed that theory as he believed "Ishigami is not capable of murder". As the investigation hit a wall, the police began to shift their attention to another theory as Shinji was also owing a lot of money and gang members may be involved. But the police somehow was convinced Yasuko was the killer and even Yukawa believed Ishigami may not have killed Shinji but he may have helped disguised the scene as some brutal murder and coached Yasuko. Yasuko herself felt grateful for Ishigami's help but was troubled to find him becoming more possessive of her, to the point that a former customer of hers (she was a bar hostess) who began to woo her received threatening letters and she knew it was by Ishigami. She refused to take Ishigami's calls eventhough her daughter liked him and in the end the call she received he said to her "This will be our last conversation" instructing her to read one letter and keep the other and the next thing he surrendered himself to the police, saying he killed Shinji. The police solved the case but Yukawa whose brilliant mind was troubled by the many facts later had a hypothesis that he explained to Ishigami which proved to be right. His hypothesis explained why Yasuko who killed Shinji had iron clad alibis and could be a 2 places at one time and how deep was Ishigami's role in the cover up. However what he could not understand was what drove Ishigami to this ultimate act of sacrifice to which this movie will reveal towards the end.

And as Ishigami told Yukawa earlier "Exposing the truth will only hurt everybody" and Yukawa finally knew what Ishigami meant.

Comments
Shall I repeat how excited I was to see Fukuyama Masaharu? A long name, one of which I just knew without having to think "Who is he ah? What's the name again ah?". Anyway he is one stylish physicist in here and this movie's theme is laid out earlier on when a suspecting Yukawa asked a rather expressionless Ishigami "Which is more difficult? Creating an unsolvable crime or solving one?" The promise of 2 great minds and friends being pitted against one another is unfortunately never fully realised. Yukawa was later reduced to deducing the facts, the police no more than just running back and forth on theories whilst Ishigami's role is more fleshed out. In fact I have the impression this is a story on Ishigami.

The question most will definitely ask is why on earth Ishigami would need to go to such lengths to help Yasuko? After all Shinji was such a bastard, he came to the house unannounced, took money, spied on Misato who was changing, proceeded to beat the crap out of a teenage child and the whole so called murder is an excellent example of self defence. That man could easily kill both of them and his rage was unquestionable. In America or anywhere else, Yasuko and Misato would be free. However we are talking about Japan here with a very different legal jurisprudence and perhaps there may not just be criminal responsibility no matter what, but rather social stigma of an ex wife killing a husband. Moreover Yasuko wanted to protect Misato whose grip was clearly seen on Shinji's hands. It would be a drawn out process, a very long trial and in the end all reputation lost. So I would not dispute the need and certainly the reason why Ishigami did it was also obvious, a concept Yukawa couldn't understand, that is love. To Yukawa for what Ishigami did, Yukawa felt great distressed because "You have such a brilliant mind you wasted it all on this!", this being what he did ultimately which I shall not reveal here. I thought the whole bit about maths versus physics is quite interesting. But the more interesting part was how Ishigami manipulated the facts to help Yasuko escape. His brilliant mind almost helped Yasuko escape with a perfect murder but he didn't cound on the fact that Yasuko would be wrecked by guilt. Not guilt for her dead ex husband, he deserved his end but what Ishigami did for her, she asked him "Why? Why? Why?" and when she confessed "I will join you in prison, to accept this punishment with you", it was Ishigami's turn to cry and ask "Why? Why? Why?". It was effort poured down the drain, all wasted because one man couldn't let things be (Yukawa), one man didn't count on the fact Yasuko may have either feelings for him or such feelings of guilt for he had done for her (Ishigami) and one ruled by her gratitude and conscience (Yasuko).

The last act of this movie was very moving, what drives Ishigami (more than love), what drives Yukawa (more than a need for the truth) and what drives Yasuko (more than just guilt). The ending will leave you wondering, pondering and of course a little sad at the injustice of it all. I of course cursed Yukawa why he didn't just let it go. Even the policewoman seems interested in letting it go.

The final scene before the end credits was a lonely desolute Yukawa sitting on a bench with the policewoman next to him where he sadly said "This was the bench where I first met Ishigawa 17 years ago" and as he thought things over, he said to her "His biggest failure was to fall in love. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have ended up where he is" and he was convinced he was right but the policewoman gently said "Falling in love with Yasuko saved him" and Yukawa looked at her, confused. He of course could not understand the magnitude of love, he believed Ishigami threw his life away for love but the truth was Ishigami was ready to kill himself as he had been a failure when he heard a knock on his door and it was Yasuko and Misato greeting him as their new neighbour. Over the time, they often greeted him warmly and he was saved by his secret love for Yasuko and helping her was the one true meaning of his continued existence, he felt his life in the end had a purpose, and he was appreciated for it. When Yukawa expressed his disappointment and anger that Ishigami used his brilliance to help a woman escape a crime, saying "what a waste of a brilliant mind", Ishigami sadly said "You're the only one who would think that of me" which meant Yukawa was the only one who appreciated his brilliance, that it was such a waste.

[ADD - 22.03.2011 : it is upon watching this movie for the 4th time did I finally get the meaning of this confrontation scene between Yukawa and Ishigami where Yukawa said "what a waste of a brilliant mind" and Ishigami replied "You're the only one who would think that of me" which confused me for sometime and indeed I was totally wrong in my explanation of this scene. Yukawa actually said "What a waste of a brilliant mind, to do all that for the sake of love" and Ishigami actually replied "You're the only one who would think that way". What it means is Yukawa thought Ishigami threw his life away for love but to Ishigami, it was Yukawa who didn't understand the power of love and that he would be the only one to think that love is not worth all that trouble and all the sacrifice. That is the actual meaning this scene. Which ties in nicely to the last scene where Yukawa still thought Ishigami wasted his life for the sake of love when Utsumi said "It was love that saved him" and finally it may have dawned on Yukawa what drove Ishigami to do what he did. It is as much as a sacrifice for Ishigami as it was a realisation for Yukawa. This movie adds some depth to Yukawa that did not exist in the book version. I read the book which is almost identical except Yukawa was a kinder friend in the book and actually showed compassion to Ishigami but in the movie Yukawa was a harsher friend who felt Ishigami wasted his life. In the book Yukawa did not want to reveal the truth but Kusanagi wanted to and Yukawa begged Kusanagi to let Yasuko to turn herself in which in the book Yasuko was not that giving a character until she found out her daughter tried to kill herself out of guilt. The book is great and filled in the holes left in the movie but the movie was great as it fleshes out certain characters, like Kusanagi (which you can interprete as Utsumi in the movie) and Yukawa]

Exactly how Ishigami helped Yukawa create the iron clad alibis is for you to figure out which the movie will answer in the end. It will answer what, where, why, when and how.

However this movie has its problems. Why the need for Ishigami to do what he ultimately did when covering the murder itself would be enough? Maybe dramatic license? And why would so many police work on one case? Or rather was it some bi weekly meeting between all departments to discuss all cases? I mean the ratio of 50 cops were one murder victim is ridiculous. And why would the police immediately focus on Yasuko? They never discussed her motive, never even questioned it when that man was owing debts to so many people, some gang members, wouldn't they be better suspects? Why were they so convinced Yasuko was the killer? This to me is one loophole in the plot I just had to endure and not question. The moment you let that possess you, believe me you will not enjoy the movie.

And I enjoyed the movie tremendously. I thought the whole cover up, although gory in the end and a bit too dramatic was overall brilliant and very clever, especially the whole alibi thing. I was thinking how come the alibis could be so convincing (and none of them shown, just discussed by the detectives and Yukawa) that the police could not disprove them? And why is Yukawa so youthful and Ishigami, at 38 years old looking like 50? Did Yasuko feel for Ishigami? Why Ishigami was stalking her and her potential new boyfriend, a jovial richer man who was her ex customer? And why everyone calls her beautiful? Well I can reveal the answer to the last question here; she is beautiful actually.

There were of course times of utter frustration for the viewers. Like the repeated scenes of explaining Ishigami helped Yasuko, that we already know for like so many times. Then there was the repeated explantion on what Yasuko did and of course those infuriating scenes where telephone calls are slow to be received or that scene where Ishigami said he got 2 letters and there I was saying "COME ON! HURRY UP! GET THE LETTERS AND READ!!" but it will take a further 15 minutes or so before that is done. Also times of silence. Total silence. Can be irritating.

But what is interesting is one aspect I thought I will never see in a Japanese movie. Homeless people living under the bridge. Wow, Japan got homeless people meh? Well yes of course, we just never see. And another aspect; students behaving rudely in front of a teacher. Never seen that before.

And the other aspect why I enjoyed this movie tremendously is of course the performances.

First of all Fukuyama Masaharu did not disappoint. If you think he was wooden, well that's his style. He doesn't show much emotion but when needed you will see the emotion. He is always very subtle in his acting from what I remember (but not on good authority since I have seen so few) and he can display anger, coolness and disappointment all in one go. And when I say cool, oh my my my, I remember why I liked him so when I was much much younger. He is so cool! Of course I am very sure he will look terrible without his clothes on (so thin!) but my god, he looks good in a lab coat and his hair styled in the messy style I know the hairstylist spend like just hours on it! His far shots showed him rather youthful but zoom in, well time has been kind on him but still time has passed substantially. His voice is almost mesmerizing, such a deep barritone that many Japanese actors are well known far (and most Korean actors in a more whiny way), So masculine and when he explained about science, I was convinced eventhough I had no idea what he was talking about. His type of acting needs some getting used to because Japanese actors do not emote emotionally so to speak but they do shout and scream. I don't know, maybe I am just excited at seeing him but I thought he was rather convincing as a scientist-crime solver. I hope there will be a sequel with his character in it. I wouldn't mind watching a series with him as Yukawa solving crime. And Yukawa can be such an egoistical know it all character but the concern, loyalty, disappointment, perhaps regret and in the end confusion he displayed towards his friend and what he did showed him as a human being. Fukuyama Masaharu's (a name I can keep on repeating without being bored with it) performance certainly highlighted all that with his face registering only one look throughout; not bad acting, just very controlled. Anyway I still feel Yukawa is such a busybody!

Then there were the women.

I am not sure of the name of the policewoman so I can't identify the actress' name but this is probably the first time ever I have ever seen or heard a Japanese actress speak louder than a breathy whisper. Japanese actresses tend to whisper in that sort of fake docile polite low tone way and when they play scared, panic or angry, it is always that fake docile polite low tone way except with a lot more heavy breathing which can be annoying after 1 minute. I can never stand their performances, even the actress' breathy way of talking in the Oscar winning excellent movie, Departures. But this one who plays the detective, she speaks in normal tone, no breathy, no whispering, no fake docile way. She sounded like a detective, albeit a young inexperienced one that is often asked to make coffee and bring stuff like a secretary (realistic isn't it?) but in one scene where she was raiding a night club, she shouted for order and was very convincing as a cop. Some comments in imdb.com said she was terrible but I beg to differ. If you know how Japanese actresses act, you will be very surprised at her performance. It has force and it has power, without all those docile nonsense. At least for once I don't see one actress wearing that kitchen apron. Truth is she had very little role. I mean her role had little to do but she was in almost every scene, and her character obviously in love with Yukawa who knew but didn't quite care I suppose.

Yasuko Matsuyuki plays Yasuko (must be a popular Japanese name) who of course wears the apron most of the time. But her performance doesn't begin and end with whispering her lines. There were distress, there were anger, there were confusion, fear, questions but her final scene, though she threw her chances at happiness away is totally believable. The scene where she killed her ex husband is also believable. I am just glad there are no heavy breathings and shrieky voices. Not even the girl who plays her daughter and that can mean only good news for audiences like myself.

But the highlight has to be Shin'ichi Tsutsumi who plays the rather valiant but quite creepy in a way Ishigami. I read that he is mostly a stage actor, and it shows. Yes, stage actors can be overacting actors, but he has enough experience to keep that under control, moreover Japanese actors are rather subdued in their acting, stage actors or otherwise. In here he is definitely given more to play with than Fukuyama Masaharu. He didn't have to be cool, in fact he walks with a slight stoop, like without much purpose, without much respect. But interestingly again, his oldish Ishigami can outclimb Yukawa during a mountain climbing expedition. And may I add I was expecting you know a hill but they actually climbed a snow covered snow storm ridden majorly high mountain! Ishigami was actually healthier than Yukawa in that sense but why he looked so old was because life as in opportunities passed him by and he wasn't happy. Tsutsumi portrayed Ishigami in such a valiant way, his motives unquestionable that when his method was exposed, you will pity him and slam Yukawa instead for being a busybody. After all he was going to jail so what difference does it make? I like his controlled but natural performance. He can be so quiet and still and yet a formidable force. He was believable as a very calculating and brilliant man stuck in a dead end job whose potential was never realised. When Yukawa lamented that his brilliance was thrown away, I kinda buy into that but I also understand why he did what he did and Tsutsumi's performance is the opposite of Fukuyama's performance; that is he is not handsome, not cool and not entirely popular or well liked. And yet he understood what is love even if he did it in a very gory manner to display his love for Yasuko. By the way this actor looks like Zheng Geping from Singapore and frankly also an excellent actor. I would say Tsutsumi stole the show, especially that last scene as he cried "Why? Why? Why?" as he was dragged away by the police, not banking on the fact that perhaps Yasuko may feel love for him? or maybe an obligation towards him? Gratitude? I never knew if Yasuko really loved him.

The other performances are standard performances by characters that are either nameless, faceless or pointless. Plenty of police but frankly they have no character development.

Verdict
A must see for fans of interesting and thought provoking crime drama that focusses on the human aspect rather than the crime aspect. Whether it is intelligent or not is up to your interpretation. I thought it was pretty clever at times. But the performances by the 2 lead actors and 2 lead actresses are the factors that carried this movie and made it something better than the usual. Is it the best crime drama ever? Of course not, but you must admit, it is again pretty clever. Is this the best movie ever from Japan? Not really. The most original? Maybe Death Note is but not this. The most stylish? Not really. Is it the most entertaining? Nope. But is it one of the cleverest, stylish, entertaining and quite original movie I have seen thus far. Moreover it has a killer soundtrack, like when a certain character walk with a swagger cue the swagger music, like when a character explaining about scientific theories cue the scientific music, you know what I mean, even if at times over the top, making my heart beat faster because of the majorly exciting mysterious soundtrack when the characters were just packing their climbing gears. I actually thought in that packing the climbing gears scene itself, I thought maybe a dead body will pop up in that scene. Overall a must see movie for anyone who appreciates a good movie and I believe everybody does.

The Ending Revealed
Complete spoilers as to how Ishigami did it. Please highlight from *** to *** to read.

***

So how did he do it? How did he create the iron clad alibis?


First of all other than lying about not killing Shinji, Yasuko did not lie about everything else. She did go to the movie with her daughter, they did go for dinner and then karaoke, all on a school night. The witnesses were all telling the truth, the ticket stubs were real. What was not real was the day. The dinner, etc happened on Dec 2nd. The police theorised Shinji died on Dec 2nd. So Yasuko can't be at 2 places at the same time. She can be, but on a different time. Shinji was actually killed on Dec 1st but Ishigami only dragged his body out on the 2nd. Yasuko was coached to go movie and etc on the 2nd to create alibis. So she was telling the truth. But the body that was discovered did not have the hand markings that Misato created on Shinji's forearm when she was holding his down. In fact the cord use to strangle him was different. Why? Because the body wasn't Shinji's body. Shinji's body was cut into pieces and thrown into the sea together with the snow globe. Ishigami kept the cord, etc. Why & how? First, Ishigami lured a homeless man that would not be missed with food and lodging and money with instruction he stays at Shinji's place at hotel, ensuring that man's body will be covered with Shinji's skin and hair. Then he met with the man and used a different cord to kill him, stripped him off naked and burning his clothes ensuring the body will be noticed. Before that he ensured the man stole a brand new bicyle that will be reported missing. He wanted the body to be found. Later he acted like he was obssessed with Yasuko, following her, taking pictures, sending them to her rich suitor to create this fear in Yasuko. Yasuko genuinely felt fear when the police interviewed her. He then made a hole in his apartment to hers (they live next door to one another) and created a whole stalking routine. Why? From the beginning he was fully ready to confess that he killed Shinji with a very credible story, he had wanted to go to jail on her behalf an ensured nothing can be traced back to her. He wrote her a letter explaining his actions (except for the killing of the homeless guy) and he ended it by saying he wishes for her to marry that rich suitor who was a good man and a gentleman. He wanted her to live her life happily and he was happy to take her place. And he prepared another for her to give to the police, his threatening letter with stalking pictures. His story was he was so in love with Yasuko and stalking her that he couldn't stand any man beside her and when he saw the ex husband making her life miserable, he killed him. But Yukawa theorised correctly and in the end may or may not have told Yasuko everything but Yasuko realised he did everything for her and Misato who also felt very guilty over what happened and so she confessed to the crime of killing Shinji whilst Ishigami already confessed to that crime. In the end Ishigami insisted he acted alone whilst Yasuko confessed she was the real killer. There will be a trial but the movie ended with police divers finding the broken snow globe in the cold sea which suggests they will find the body parts of Shinji.


In the end whether the body is found or not, Ishigami will serve time for murder, but for which one? Shinji or the homeless man? And what will happen to Yasuko? Will the juries believe her or the more determined Ishigami? I will venture to speculate that Ishigami is a smart man therefore he will convince the jury he is responsible for both murders. Bodies exposed to natural environment like sea will probably be destroyed and so Yasuko and her daughter will probably be free and Ishigami will probably go to jail like how he planned it to be.


But why would he make such a sacrifice? Love and a sense of purpose. In detension he saw the colours of mathematics, he began to see life again.


And it does answer Yukawa's query; that Ishigami was CAPABLE of murder because of love. Creepy but that's the answer.

***

Themesong
Sung Live
I wonder what they're saying, very animated which is very rare in Japanese culture


MV








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