Episode Two of Detective Yugami 刑事ゆがみ is all about love and lies – in the most unexpected ways. It begins with Hanyu (Kamiki) teaching kids the value of telling the truth. As expected, Yugami (Asano) butts in arguing that lying is a practice one has to experience, and once a lie is told, there is a need for subsequent lies to propagate the manufactured ‘truth’.
And since I’m watching the drama in Viu, what better way than to use their Episode 2 description to start my review:
Yugami and Hanyu investigate an attempted sexual assault case. Despite hospitalization, the victim refuses to press charges or cooperate with the investigation. The mystery deepens when the scene does not correspond to the victim’s testimony. [watch Detective Yugami here]
We have a forty-ish teacher, Chisato (Mizuno Miki) hospitalized for a supposedly sexual assault. The perpetrator, Masaya (Nakagawa Taishi), joins her in the hospital and is now in a coma after accidentally banging his head on the victim’s table or so it seems. Chisato appears to be quite disturbed about the incident and refuses to cooperate with the police.
Apparently, they know each other – Masaya begins teaching in the same school. The twenty-something guy was also Chisato’s student a few years back…
Detective Yugami: Backgrounder
Fuji TV’s description of the drama is below:
In a society in which justice is awfully subjective, and the possibility of finding the truth is so complicated, detective Yukimasa Yugami simply chases after facts of various cases. For Yukimasa, it doesn’t matter if the case he’s dealing with involves a minister of the government, a local teacher trusted by everyone in the town or even a serial killer. After all, as they’re all just people, they may all be considered a possible suspect. Yukimasa will casually approach potential suspects and talk to them in order to attain new information which may assist him in his investigations. All he is looking for are the facts. So, he feels that there is no point in following the rules, nor trying to read the atmospheres of the environment he’s in. [read full details]
Episode Review: This is even better than the initial episode –
- Ep1 is predictable once Sugisaki Hana enters the picture. Viewers know exactly why she’s the culprit. In Ep2, we become aware that Chisato and Masaya are lovers only after Yugami and Hanyu made progress in their investigation. Such revelation actually heightens the drama;
- Chisato, portrayed by Mizuno Miki, is an extremely insecure woman. She has no experience in sex and to think that someone as popular and as attractive as Masaya (Japan’s leading candidate for the Rom-Com prince title) to be in love with her is simply too good to be true. Thus, she has to ‘resort’ to a radical way of making sure, she can satisfy his sexual ‘cravings’. Mizuno impresses with her understated performance.
- Seeing Nakagawa Taishi lie in a hospital bed for most of the drama can be a bit frustrating since it would have been a spectacle to watch him do scenes with Kamiki. I have the same feeling when he was a guest in Juhan Shutai, where he plays a bit player to Nagayama Kento’s major role;
- Kurosawa Asuka is especially familiar to me due to her role in The World of Kanako. She plays the mother of Komatsu Nana’s character, who was having an affair. As the overprotective mother of Masaya, she handles her scenes well, even how she reacts in hysterics is quite controlled, yet it heightens the tension;
- For Ep2, the LOL factor rests solely with Saitoh Takumi. Shouting baka! baka! over and over with such relish (and undisguised malice) to Hanyu can tickle anyone. But what is there to say to an underwear collector?
I like it that Yugami treats Hanyu with respect – knowing full well that his younger partner has a lot to learn. Hanyu’s investigative methodology – sometimes – ignores common sense, which Yugami has many.
The big dog, small dog (master-apprentice) interaction between them make for a hearty entertainment.