Zettai Reido SP

Japanese title: 絶対零度 Special
Number of episodes: 1

Some info @ DramaWiki

A special episode that was aired not long (like a few days) before the start of the second season, this standalone episode thankfully isn’t merely a recap of the events and cases that took place in its debut season. It takes place a few months after the end of its first season, and there is a new case this time for investigation.

But of course, there are some really quick flashbacks of some of the memorable moments from the first season. These scenes take up a very, very minor proportion of this special episode so don’t worry, it’s mostly entirely new content.

The star of the show is no longer with the team she worked with in season 1, but a newly popped up evidence that has some links to an unsolved case many years back has led them together for a joint investigation, to concentrate on both the present case, and the one left unsolved. So essentially we will still get to see the familiar team together, just that not all of them are in the same department. For those who have not watched this series before, there might be some relations that may not be so obvious, but I would say it is mostly fine even if you have started from here.

The ending was a little unexpected (although I heard of some spoilers), and I wonder if it will be “continued” in the second season, which viewers will get a quick trailer and glimpse into what season 2 has in store for us at the end of the episode. Season 2 looks to be more exciting and I would probably be picking that up in time to come. Not sure if this is a bridging episode of sorts,  but if you liked the first season, this special should be an enjoyable one too.

Nasake no Onna

Japanese title: ナサケの女
Number of episodes: 8

Some info:
1) DramaWiki
2) Official Site (Japanese)

I vaguely recall mentioning about Japanese drama having a few tax related series around the same window which I didn’t observe previously. I took a break from this genre hence having this entry delayed for quite a while, but this drama is another that has a central of catching people who evade taxes.

Needless to say, the lady in the picture above is the main character of the story and has her hand at a number of pretty big cases. Not exactly the most co-operative of officers you would want to work with nor supervise, but in the end her intuition always ends up being right. I guess it’s something within predictable “range” once you get to see how the drama starts off.

One thing that bothers me is that most of those being investigated and having their compounds searched often hide their unlawful assets in similar fashion, for example in homes finding heaps of cash under the mattress of a bed seems to be very common. I wonder if all such people do that in real life. Surely there must be smarter and craftier ways to hide their assets. Oh well, it’s for drama effects I guess.

Apart from serious investigations there are a number of relatively more light-hearted scenes and perhaps a bit of comedy if your benchmark level is not so high. Mostly just to add some entertainment to an otherwise pretty serious and straight story. I wouldn’t say they are especially funny, but certainly needed to keep a balance to the mood of the series.

It is a relatively short series but it still has a main story lying around somewhere, only revealing a bit additional information until the right time arrives. I wasn’t quite expecting that since the series is pretty short. The way the drama ended also allows for sequels if they really wanted to, but I am guessing there won’t be any.

Iryu Sousa

Japanese title: 遺留捜査
Number of episodes: 11

Some info:
1) DramaWiki
2) Official Site (Japanese)

Another police/investigative drama, a genre that seems to be around every season. This time it enters from the perspective of the items left behind at the crime scene and the clues and stories that come along with them. Should be pretty obvious if you can read the kanji characters.

Of course there are still some stereotypes and first of all we need an over-zealous police officer who’s very curious over the items left behind. And next, his intuition often points him to the crucial items that need to be found out and analysed more. Initially, it is quite fun watching him go to crazy lengths just to find out the story behind a single item which may seem really non-important to the case on hand, but after a while the formula is a little predictable and the fun is no longer as much.

With that said, each case is somewhat different though it all involves death of some sort. The story of the victim is often quite touching and has this very human aspect side to them even though sometimes it may seem that they are in the wrong initially. Sometimes the story behind the victim is more interesting than the case itself. Lol.

Most of the cases are mostly unrelated and solved within the episode, but not surprisingly there is some slightly bigger story behind the department and the past which of course is left till the end of the series before it gets dug up once more. Other than that, it doesn’t really have that much of a main storyline like in some police dramas.

The theme song is sung by MISIA and somehow it sounds good here, even though the mood of the song is more of an emotional one, which usually fits the mood pretty well after telling the story to the victim’s family or closed ones.

Another aspect of the police force made into the main theme of a drama series. I would the start was more refreshing and had a nice way of telling each story except that the formula is repeated for every episode with some variation which doesn’t sustain the attractiveness at the high level constantly. But overall, I think this is still a pretty good drama to catch.