irene_purin (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
irene_purin) wrote2017-12-27 10:52 pm
irene_purin) wrote2017-12-27 10:52 pm
Entry tags:
Maou
Just finished Maou, a drama starring Ohno Satoshi aka Arashi's Riida~ >v<
Meet this girl and her gold(fish) memory: she has seen Ikuta Toma a lot on VS Arashi lately yet still couldn't recognize that one of the lead actor in this drama is him XD
Back to Maou, it's a great drama with excellent pacing and neat delivery imo!
The main premise is revenge, and as you might've expected, there's NO WAY a revenge-themed drama will be happy and fluffy, so don't expect that. That said, despite all the tears I shed watching Maou, I really think that they chose the best possible ending.
I couldn't find a way to write this post with little spoiler, as the greatness of this drama is pictured by the way each and every single mystery is revealed. So yes, this post will contain more spoilers than my usual ones :3
As mentioned before, the drama revolved around a murder case happening 11 years ago, where the murder was claimed not guilty as the act was considered a self-defense happening during the quarrel between 2 middle schoolers. Not long after the incident, the mother of the deceased, Manaka Hideo (played by Takeuchi Toshi), died from heart failure, possibly due to the sorrow she bore. Being left alone with no other family member, the older, Manaka Tomoo (played by Ohno Satoshi) sought revenge.
Changing his identity to his friend's, who died due to an accident, Manaka Tomoo lived as Naruse Ryou for the whole drama, carefully observing the life of the person who killed his brother, Serizawa Naoto (played by Ikuta Toma) and also the people around him, while Naruse himself worked as a defense attorney and earned a good reputation in the field. After he gathered all he needed to start his plan, Naruse started sending red envelopes to Serizawa and the people within his plan. Each envelope usually contains a tarot card, and sometimes some rhymes and/or an item that might be used for the plan. And here's where the series of murders killing the people dear to Serizawa Naoto started.
I did mention that it's Naruse's (Manaka Tomoo) revenge plan, but the number of murders that he himself really orchestrated was the first 2 murders, where items used for the murder were sent via packages as a push to act, and the reporter murdering, which was basically triggered by the victim himself. The remaining murders were done personally by the murderers without much interference of Naruse himself. All he did was throwing facts that were potential to invoke conflict: he simply sent Serizawa Naoto's conflicted friend some pictures showing that Serizawa Noriyoshi's wife cheated on his secretary, and some other trivial acts.
These letters/packages sent were all thought thoroughly: it contained afterimages that hint to the cases that enabled Sakita Shiori (played by Kobayashi Ryoko) who has an ability to check those afterimages to help out with the investigation. That said though, of all the letters, one feels off. All the letters were sent as a "notice" and as a "hint" to the upcoming case. You can say that it's a "challenge" from Naruse to Serizawa. However, there is one that was sent to a constructor worker as a threat to not reveal a fact that can reveal that Naruse is Manaka Tomoo. This way of execution is completely different from Naruse's method and I believe that this is sent by Naruse's crime "partner", Yamano Keita (played as Shimizu Yutaka), who was also revenging Hideo's death.
Due to this different work ethic, where Naruse's is elegant under-radar and Yamano's is really brute force, Yamano was disappointed at how Naruse ended up letting one target to live and went to kill the target himself. The fact that he did it so openly enabled the media to quickly announce him as the murder, which is really different to Naruse's cases, where even after Serizawa knew about him being the true culprit, he couldn't arrest him due to lack of evidence.
Typical revenge-themed drama, a lot of people died. And this is a HUGE spoiler but at the end, both Serizawa and Naruse died. I personally think that this ending is the best possible ending for all the characters in the series. Having any of them live will put that person into a misery of guilt for killing people. Naruse mentioned at the end that there's one person that has to die no matter what and I believe that he was referring to himself, as an atonement of what he had done. It's trivial, but there have been hints where Naruse wanted Serizawa to not give up or to quickly catch the criminal, especially after he knew that Naruse is Manaka Tomoo. Cliche as it is, I personally think that he wanted himself to be stopped.
I personally think that Serizawa's character development is really great: from a reckless detective into a thoughtful one. Even at the end, I believe that he could see how Naruse was feeling really bad that Serizawa said "forgive me and yourself" before he died. And I really love Naruse's character too! Yamano said that they're only using Naruse Makiko, but I think Naruse personally loved her as his own sister and tried his best to be his friend's (the real Naruse Ryou) replacement, to make his sickly sister happy. Despite saying that he's a devil, I think that he still has a human's heart to love others. (And honestly, of all possible episodes, episode 7 where his sister revealed that she have always known that he's not her real brother is the episode that made me cry like crazy XD)
Also, as usual, yes I'm weak for kind ojiichan characters, but really I LOVE NAKANISHI-SAN! Nakanishi Hiromichi (played by Miyake Yuji) is Serizawa's superior! He's always so supportive towards his subordinates that they become a solid team, yet is not like "all people he knows are the right ones"! Like when facing Naruse while knowing his past, he didn't simply told him to stop, yet talked to him about his reasoning in a really considerate way. He's a great man!!!
One last thing, this is my personal view but I've always loved how Ohno is really good at showing slight-yet-noticeable expression change! He's honestly a great choice to play Naruse >v<
TL;DR, Maou is a GREAT drama! It has great premise and plot with excellent pacing, including the flashbacks! They incorporated the flashbacks between the cases that it doesn't feel like you're purposely being dragged back the timeline at all! It has a really great delivery!
If you're looking for a plot-oriented drama and are ready to cry, Maou is a great choice!
Meet this girl and her gold(fish) memory: she has seen Ikuta Toma a lot on VS Arashi lately yet still couldn't recognize that one of the lead actor in this drama is him XD
Back to Maou, it's a great drama with excellent pacing and neat delivery imo!
The main premise is revenge, and as you might've expected, there's NO WAY a revenge-themed drama will be happy and fluffy, so don't expect that. That said, despite all the tears I shed watching Maou, I really think that they chose the best possible ending.
I couldn't find a way to write this post with little spoiler, as the greatness of this drama is pictured by the way each and every single mystery is revealed. So yes, this post will contain more spoilers than my usual ones :3
As mentioned before, the drama revolved around a murder case happening 11 years ago, where the murder was claimed not guilty as the act was considered a self-defense happening during the quarrel between 2 middle schoolers. Not long after the incident, the mother of the deceased, Manaka Hideo (played by Takeuchi Toshi), died from heart failure, possibly due to the sorrow she bore. Being left alone with no other family member, the older, Manaka Tomoo (played by Ohno Satoshi) sought revenge.
Changing his identity to his friend's, who died due to an accident, Manaka Tomoo lived as Naruse Ryou for the whole drama, carefully observing the life of the person who killed his brother, Serizawa Naoto (played by Ikuta Toma) and also the people around him, while Naruse himself worked as a defense attorney and earned a good reputation in the field. After he gathered all he needed to start his plan, Naruse started sending red envelopes to Serizawa and the people within his plan. Each envelope usually contains a tarot card, and sometimes some rhymes and/or an item that might be used for the plan. And here's where the series of murders killing the people dear to Serizawa Naoto started.
I did mention that it's Naruse's (Manaka Tomoo) revenge plan, but the number of murders that he himself really orchestrated was the first 2 murders, where items used for the murder were sent via packages as a push to act, and the reporter murdering, which was basically triggered by the victim himself. The remaining murders were done personally by the murderers without much interference of Naruse himself. All he did was throwing facts that were potential to invoke conflict: he simply sent Serizawa Naoto's conflicted friend some pictures showing that Serizawa Noriyoshi's wife cheated on his secretary, and some other trivial acts.
These letters/packages sent were all thought thoroughly: it contained afterimages that hint to the cases that enabled Sakita Shiori (played by Kobayashi Ryoko) who has an ability to check those afterimages to help out with the investigation. That said though, of all the letters, one feels off. All the letters were sent as a "notice" and as a "hint" to the upcoming case. You can say that it's a "challenge" from Naruse to Serizawa. However, there is one that was sent to a constructor worker as a threat to not reveal a fact that can reveal that Naruse is Manaka Tomoo. This way of execution is completely different from Naruse's method and I believe that this is sent by Naruse's crime "partner", Yamano Keita (played as Shimizu Yutaka), who was also revenging Hideo's death.
Due to this different work ethic, where Naruse's is elegant under-radar and Yamano's is really brute force, Yamano was disappointed at how Naruse ended up letting one target to live and went to kill the target himself. The fact that he did it so openly enabled the media to quickly announce him as the murder, which is really different to Naruse's cases, where even after Serizawa knew about him being the true culprit, he couldn't arrest him due to lack of evidence.
Typical revenge-themed drama, a lot of people died. And this is a HUGE spoiler but at the end, both Serizawa and Naruse died. I personally think that this ending is the best possible ending for all the characters in the series. Having any of them live will put that person into a misery of guilt for killing people. Naruse mentioned at the end that there's one person that has to die no matter what and I believe that he was referring to himself, as an atonement of what he had done. It's trivial, but there have been hints where Naruse wanted Serizawa to not give up or to quickly catch the criminal, especially after he knew that Naruse is Manaka Tomoo. Cliche as it is, I personally think that he wanted himself to be stopped.
I personally think that Serizawa's character development is really great: from a reckless detective into a thoughtful one. Even at the end, I believe that he could see how Naruse was feeling really bad that Serizawa said "forgive me and yourself" before he died. And I really love Naruse's character too! Yamano said that they're only using Naruse Makiko, but I think Naruse personally loved her as his own sister and tried his best to be his friend's (the real Naruse Ryou) replacement, to make his sickly sister happy. Despite saying that he's a devil, I think that he still has a human's heart to love others. (And honestly, of all possible episodes, episode 7 where his sister revealed that she have always known that he's not her real brother is the episode that made me cry like crazy XD)
Also, as usual, yes I'm weak for kind ojiichan characters, but really I LOVE NAKANISHI-SAN! Nakanishi Hiromichi (played by Miyake Yuji) is Serizawa's superior! He's always so supportive towards his subordinates that they become a solid team, yet is not like "all people he knows are the right ones"! Like when facing Naruse while knowing his past, he didn't simply told him to stop, yet talked to him about his reasoning in a really considerate way. He's a great man!!!
One last thing, this is my personal view but I've always loved how Ohno is really good at showing slight-yet-noticeable expression change! He's honestly a great choice to play Naruse >v<
TL;DR, Maou is a GREAT drama! It has great premise and plot with excellent pacing, including the flashbacks! They incorporated the flashbacks between the cases that it doesn't feel like you're purposely being dragged back the timeline at all! It has a really great delivery!
If you're looking for a plot-oriented drama and are ready to cry, Maou is a great choice!