Was really looking forward to this. Sawamura Ikki has more than paid his dues to the jdorama gods and deserves a chance to be lead actor. Plus he has Kita Yoshio backing him up. On the flip side, its a cop show and jdoramas have a really horrible track record with cop shows. Its got a pretty good intro which can be seen here though too many characters turning their heads trying to look cool does diminish the effect.
You know how many doramas I had to do before I finally got my first main role in Kita Yoshio?
The good news is, Keishicho Shissonin Sosaka doesn't reach the boring depths of Hancho. The bad news is, its probably on par with what I've seen of Zettai Reido. Keishicho Shissonin Sosaka is about this police unit that deals with missing people. Takashiro Kengo (Sawamura Ikki) joins them at the start but seems to have some history with the main investigation unit and a traumatic event that happened 7 years ago.
There's not much personality to the characters. Kengo and the young chick are the only ones who get stories that personally affect them but otherwise they are just blank slates. Sort of like Law and Order which isn't a bad thing as long as the storylines hold up. Unfortunately, the quality between episodes varies too much. Episode one has a forced nice ending that just baffles the brain. I don't know whether the put this twist in there just for the sake of a twist or some idiot mandated a sentimental ending.
Episode 4 is a horrible episode about a hikkikomori who was once part of a two piece band that was utterly predictable with another overly sentimental ending that could have easily been part of Hancho. Episode 5 and 6 are the best of the series and episode 9 has a mini cliffhanger that only teases a possible resolution to Kengo's past though it doesn't give us specifics. Yes, its basically an incomplete ending to get us to watch season 2.
I think this is Hoshino Mari.
I think Keishicho Shissonin Sosaka suffers from lack of empathy. Law and Order is about wading through the legal process and seeing justice done. Keishicho Shissonin Sosaka is more about a solving mysteries involving people who sometimes have disappeared for less than 24 hours. Its less about seeing how the cops trace people and more about sentimental twist to the story. Hhhm, shades of Shinzanmono.
The show also suffers from way too many freaking characters. You've got Kengo and Kita Yoshio. You've got a boring token chick and faceless dude who acts like an idiot, the head of the division who doesn't really act like the head and the mom from mother who does nothing but make coffee. Oh yeah, forgot the computer dude who's only job is too look up whether people have used credit cards or their phones. At least its not one of those cop shows where the use 100 police officers to for 6 months to solve a murder case. Big teams only work in shows like Iryu where every person has a specific role.
Not all the episodes are bad but overall its very meh. I don't really regret watching it but while watching I kept thinking about Rinjo and how well acted and written it was. Rinjo didn't hit a home run every episode but I could always appreciate what the writer was aiming for and it was never overly sentimental. The twists never felt forced.
If Keishicho Shissonin Sosaka were available for download, I'd say it was a sort of watchable series but spending aud $30 for me is too much for a run of the mill series. Its not even on dramawiki. Though the cliffhanger at the end might entice me to get season 2. Forgot the mention that the HK English subs as always are horrible and I had a hard time understanding some of the episodes. IMO, you'd probably be better off spending your money on Rinjo 2 which I will get to watching when I have time.
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