Tensai Tantei Mitarai ~ Nankai Jiken File ‘Kasa wo Oru Onna’

Detective dramas are a staple of the J-drama landscape these days, and half the time it comes with the “genius (insert profession) + sidekick” solving cases, which has probably been done to death everywhere. After all, how many genius sleuths can there be running around? Still, it’s always interesting to check out the sort of cases these dramas come up with, and I never refuse the opportunity to watch a hot detective in action.

Mitarai Kiyoshi (Tamaki Hiroshi) is a brilliant eccentric neuroscientist who is also a famous sleuth. He is good friends with the author Ishioka Kazumi (Domoto Koichi). One day, Ishioka tells Mitarai about a mystery he heard on the radio – a listener had called in about a mysterious woman in white who was walking around in the pouring rain with a small plastic bag and a red umbrella. She then allowed the umbrella to be crushed by a passing car before going on her way with the broken umbrella. Mitarai puts the pieces together and deduces that a murder must have occurred in the vicinity where the woman was spotted…

Ouroboros

Recurring fate you’re still haunting me
no one believes no one will know
Recurring fate
you’re still whispering
no one believes no one no one can tell

Two boys who grew up at an orphanage found their favourite teacher Yuiko murdered one night and the incident covered up by a policeman wearing a gold watch. The boys vowed to avenge their teacher. Twenty years later, Ryuzaki Ikuo (Ikuta Toma) is a detective in the Shinjuku second police bureau investigating cases with Hibino Mizuki (Ueno Juri), while Danno Tatsuya (Oguri Shun) has become one of the leading members of the yakuza. As Ikuo and Tatsuya gain ground on uncovering the murderer’s identity, Mizuki begins to suspect the relationship between the two men…

Zannen na Otto episodes 3-10

It’s a pity that I wasn’t able to write more consistent posts for Zannen na Otto during its run, so here’s a wrap-up post on the rest of the episodes. It was a fun and zany ride, and I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to say that it ended well for all concerned. It won’t go down as a classic, but for Tamaki Hiroshi fans who enjoy watching him flex his comedic chops, it’s definitely worth checking out.

Yoichi’s growth was nicely charted throughout the rest of the episodes. I thought it was done fairly realistically and in logical, reasonable steps that viewers would be able to relate to. The bulk of the episodes dealt with how Yoichi and Chisato clash over issues such as parenting methods, work vs home, friends’ problems etc. I like that although Yoichi does most of the maturing and learns to appreciate his family more, Chisato also learns to see things from her husband’s point of view.