celinka20

Started off with a mystery and the premise makes the viewer root for certain characters. The unravelling of the mystery was entertaining to watch because of all the plot twists.

The social injustice narrative became a bit too heavy with the sadistic abuse of the servants, and there never seemed to be any way out. The social injustice narrative became a bit too heavy with the sadistic abuse of the servants, and the tiresome part of it is the fact that there never seemed to be any way out. They all had to endure it because of the poverty back at home, and the seemingly high wages that "compensated" for the "back-breaking labour." In spite of that explanation, it's hard to believe that money is enough to motivate someone stay at this job when some of the abuse could maim them for life, making it difficult for them to continue earning any income at all.

The acting was quite convincing for the most part, for both sides of villains and protagonists. Thanavate Siriwattanagul, who plays Mawin, stood out for me. The characterization of the servants was quite one-dimensional for all of them, so one cannot say that they had much acting to sell to begin with.

Ending was satisfying, although a bit too fantastical.

This drama reminded me of the soap operas produced by TVB in Hong Kong back in the 80's and 90's. A lot of these tropes were later adopted by Korean dramas in the 2000's to 2010's. This Japanese drama, even though it was released in 2008, was refreshing and entertaining. The reason? Because it did not use melodrama like the others to sustain the viewer's interest.

What I liked:

• the dynamics of the three siblings
• some of the realism experienced in male-female romances
• unconventional characters > love how each sibling had distinct personality traits
• the fact that the younger brother and sister played a big part in the solving of the mystery, and did not simply be relegated to sidekick status
• character development for the protagonists and antagonisists

> showed a subtle complexity rather than relying on stock characteristics

• the ending

What was iffy:

• could have paid more attention to the relationship dynamics between Koichi & Shizuna

> considering the fact that they were the major players in the scams and the investigation of the mystery.

Each case really does have quite a compelling premise. The types of cases are also very interesting because they're civil suits, not criminal ones, which we've already seen too much of in both Asian and North American dramas. The problem is that the middle section of each case gets really boring and I end up dropping it for a couple of days before I try to finish it.

What I liked:

• unusual and interesting cases
• favourite case was Oba's
• male and female leads - actors had pretty good chemistry
• creating a protagonist who has a superpower, but who also has a major flaw
• the other supporting characters in the ensemble

What was problematic:

• writer/director didn't know how to build up complexity in a story to keep it interesting
• Ishiko's and Oba's dynamics > actors had no chemistry with one another

Since there are more things that I like about this drama than not, it should have got a higher rating. However, the overall series is just very blah.