Monday 12 November 2012

Currently watching: Monsters

Putting the SMAP member Katori Shingo in the lead role of this comedy police drama was a smart move. If you're one of those people who find SMAP annoying, insincere and ubiquitous, then you'd surely have no problems with him as the annoying, insincere and ubiquitous detective Hiratsuka Heihachi. If you're a fan of SMAP, then you can be impressed by how well Katori Shingo can act, because he's obviously nothing like that in real life.


Either way, I enjoyed the first two episodes of this series. The format is pretty similar to the writers' previous big hit, Mr Brain, in that a genius detective solves crimes while their rookie partner ends up in all kinds of awkward situations. And if that's what you like, then you can't go wrong here.


The crimes are interesting with nice solutions, and the jokes are good. The comedy is that sort of weird, slightly theatrical kind where people hold their poses for a second too long, but it's still funny.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the heads up on this one -- I thought from the picture in the d-addicts post that it was Goro who was the star. My rule is Goro=don't watch, so now I can take a look.

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  2. You may want to make an exception for the film University of Laughs. But otherwise, I can't fault your logic. I don't dislike SMAP in dramas, but they are by no means a guarantee of quality.

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  3. It has a lot to do with the direction, I think. University of laughs is exceptionally good. Goro is convincing as the straight man (although it would seem the other way round at first, but then all the acting is done by the censor). He does have a kind of endearing innocence about him here that I couldn't see in any of his other roles...

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  4. I think Mitani Kouki (writer of University of Laughs) has worked with all members of SMAP at one time or another, except Takuya Kimura. Odd, that.

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