Monday 21 February 2011

Recommended: Galileo











This detective series from 2007, based on novels written by Higashino Keigo, concerns a police detective who enlists an eccentric physics professor to help her solve seemingly paranormal crimes. This is hardly an original set-up in Japanese dramas: there are quite a large number of shows with a similar basis, but this is a cut above the rest.

It uses science to explain the peculiar events, and most of the solutions are ingenious with some nice demonstrations of odd physical phenomena along the way. And the cast is great. Shibasaki Kou and Fukuyama Masaharu are ideal in the two lead roles of detective and scientist, Maya Miki is perhaps the world's most adorable pathologist and there’s a constant supply of famous faces taking the roles of the victims and suspects of each episode’s crime.











Even the two feature-length specials are worth watching. In fact, perhaps they're even better than the series. One is set before the series, with a different detective (a male one this time, which I believe is more faithful to the original novels) while the other is a straight sequel to the TV shows.

If you’re a bit of a geek who’s looking for a science-based crime-busting show, this is hard to beat.

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