Bloody Monday ep1

Can't remember when I last played an ero-game. I blame it on having a 7 year old PC.

This is going to be a pretty spoiler filled review so if you haven't watched it yet, I'd recommend you to give this show a try. Its not great but it does the espionage/thriller genre pretty well for a jdorama though it has its flaws. Recently we've had our bad share of really bad cop show/thrillers in Koshonin and SP but Gonzo proved that the Japanese can make a good cop show/thriller show even with all the jdorama cliches as long as they have good actors and the pacing is decent. Bloody Monday is kind of like the Japanese version of 24 except the main character is of course a goddamn shonen hacker. Just like how only kids on pilot robots in Japan, only schoolboys can save the world.

I would a terrorist for those puppies!
I can live with that. It just means that the government agency in charge of anti-terrorism, Third-I is the supporting cast and comes off looking incompetant. The bastard who impregnated Shida Mirai in 14 Sai no Haha is the Hero, Takagi Fujimaru, the son of a Third-I agent and an expert hacker. Putting hacking in movies/doramas brings its set of problems like the better hacker is the one who can type faster. I'm prepared to shut of my brain in this area. They use CG animals and closing doors to describe the hacking so that's a plus. The fact that Takagi can hack into a shopping complex's security cameras in 5 seconds from a laptop on the net is asking a bit too much in suspension of disbelief. Not to mention that the whole scene was utterly pointless. Overall, he does a pretty good job as Fujimaru .



On the whole, I was really impressed with ep 1. It really looks like a big budget dorama and the number of different scenes and location shots means that it must have taken them ages to shoot. They avoided the first major flaw of SP and Koshonin which was to stretch scenes as long as possible because of budget. As I've said before action/thriller shows are all about pacing. One scene after another, always something happening. Like a constant drumbeat, occasionally slowing down for emotional scenes but brief enough not to bore the audience. I was impressed even with the ending sequence of ep 1. Shooting an action scene with crowds is time consuming. Its only easy when they are standing still.

If you think she looks familiar, its because she's the super doctor girl from Iryu 2! My, how fast she has grown. :)

Kichise Michoko (Liar Game secretary) is the main villain in ep 1 and she is perfectly cast as the seductress. She just oozes dangerous feminine charm. I think she's in danger of being typecast as the seductive woman and I'd love to see what else she can do. Nobody else in the cast really stands out so far. There's this Hannibal Lector type character who might be the leader of the organisation but nothing's been revealed about who he is and why he's being kept in a cell with a glass wall. At he is better than that poor excuse of a villain in Koshonin.

I would hug trees for Kichise Michiko.

Bloody Monday ep 1 manages to establish the basis of the story while leaving a lof of questions to be answered in later episodes. The only flaw in episode in would be some gaps in logic. I can accept stuff that have pretty straightforward explanations like the other people besides the clown who coughed blood because they most probably were agents of the organisation as well. But trying to explain the whole purpose of the blackout to turn the air conditioning so that the virus can 'spread easier'? I have no idea how air conditioning can reduce the effects of airborne viruses but I can't imagine it would be by much. They really need to explain why because the terrorists really put so much effort into getting Fujimaru to hack the power station and then to break into the power station. Why not just blow up power line and backup generator? Or just break into the complex's control center and turn off the air cond?

maybe it'll get too hot and she'll take the top off?

Why bother pulling off a fake attack in the first place? Why want to warn the authorities before you pull off the actual attack. They better have a bloody good reason besides it'll make a good twist for the ending of ep1. And WTF did they not try to find the clown guy after everyone stormed out? FFS he is their one chance to get more into and all they do is a poor version of the Iryu walk cool as a group thing. Besides the above questions about the plot, I enjoyed ep 1. I remain skeptical as to whether they can keep up the pacing. They certainly went in guns blazing for ep 1 but IMO its more important that the quality of a show be consistent rather than putting too many eggs in one basket.

They really need to bad the Iryu group slomo walk. Any show that tries to do it just looks lame and cheesy.