Never could I have imagined a terrorist jdorama like Gaiji Keisatsu. After watching laughable and inept attempts like Bloody Monday and Rondo, I was convinced that Japan lacked the writing and directing talent to do a good terrorist thriller and any attempts will be curtailed by stupid jdorama conventions like the whole team walking in formation in slow motion, villains who have to justify everything with long monologues and a hundred guys in suits following a suspect while pressing into their ears and talking into their wrists.
I did not dare to even hope that one day, someone could actually do a terrorism jdorama that dealt with lots of grey area issues regarding national security, was actually very exciting with lots of twists and turns and did not insult the viewer's intelligence. No inept police officers to serve as antagonists. Very well done scenes of police trailing and staking out suspects. High tension storylines involving police informants. No stupid sterile headquarters and camera work trying to make the show look cool. Everything is gritty and real and I love the use of surveillance camera point of views. Fuck, Gaiji Keisatsu just does everything so well that its a miracle.
Watabe Atsuro plays Sumimoto, head of his own unit of gaiji jeisatsu or foreign affairs police. Sumimoto has trust issues and is someone who will do anything for the cause. Ono Machiko plays Haruna who is the new transferee to the gaiji keisatsu department and she is the eyes from which the audience is introduced to the force. Watabe Atsuro is absolutely perfect in this role because the show is not afraid to go dark. Sumimoto is a character who will always make you question his actions and I love it.
Gaiji Keisatsu show makes you unsure of Sumimoto motives and methods through Haruna and you can see all parties trying to manipulate each other for their own goals. It is not a dorama about who is right or wrong but what are the actual motives of the players and to what end will they try to achieve it? Gaiji keisatsu are police but because of the nature of their job and limits own their powers, they have to make difficult decisions. What is the maximum price to pay in regards to national security? Can one serve two masters at the same time and are they mutually exclusive? The music is also pretty good. Props to the judicious use of Bolero in the series. I couldn't help thinking of Love Exposure but Gaiji Keisatsu really made it its own.
I was dreading that the show would pull back from the abyss and make things black and white but Gaiji Ketsatsu dared to go places that all other bright and idiotically simple dorama fear to tread. If I have any complaints, it is the final scene after the credits which just felt too tacked on. Its like one of those moral/karma scenes at the end of a softcore film which usually involve a beach, knives and blood. Besides that, Gaiji Keisatsu is absolutely flawless.
A big thank you to jt_erectus for recommending this show. I hereby declare Gaiji Keisatsu my choice for best jdorama of 2009. Yes, better than Rabusha, Jin and Soratobu Taiya. Watabe Atsuro deserves to be best actor. It is a crime against humanity that Gaiji Keisatsu has an average rating of 5.1. I have no idea what the reception for this show was but it deserves to be hailed as the standard for Japanese police/terrorist shows. The makers of the show should be given titles, made national heroes and given charge of all future police jdoramas. Truly one of the best jdoramas I've ever seen. I've been having such a great run of good doramas all of which coincidentally do not feature idols. Hhhmm. Coincidence?
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