Chase ep 1

 From Sakamoto Yuki the writer of Mother, Taiyo to Umi and Last Christmas comes Chase, a dorama about tax evasion/minimisation or whatever you want to call it. Despite my complaints about the last two episodes of Mother, Sakamoto Yuki definitely has writing skills. I've seen jdoramas about talking deers and Japanese cowboys but this is the first time I've ever seen a jdorama about tax.

 Everytime I question why I continue to watch jdoramas with all the horrible acting and storylines, its shows like this that make it all worthwhile. Its no surprise that the subber is Chuks, who has always gone after quality doramas. Without people like Chuks, the more mature doramas would never be subbed.

Eguchi Yosuke is Haruma, tax investigator with lovely wife and daughter and of course, he is very dedicated to his work blah blah blah. The main antagonist is Murakumo, played by Arata who is known as the Magician of the Caribbean because he is an expert at hiding people's money and reducing taxes. Murakumo is an interesting 'villain' not because he has an evil haircut and prosthetic left hand (when will the subbing of Tobousha be finished?) but because he is a well rounded character. He is not evil but rather is good at his job and he has history with the wife of a friend that he helps out in the first episode played by Aso Kumiko.

Arata has infused Murakumo with a mixture of coolness with a hint of humanity that almost makes him an anti-hero. His relationship with Aso Kumiko is going to be interesting to watch and their history as well as how he lost his left hand is going to be interesting. More importantly, Murakumo makes a perfect opponent for Haruma because a hero is only as good as the villain. Actually Haruma because a tragic hero at the end of episode 1 and I'm pretty sure Murakumo's story will be tragic as well.

Chase is just awesome, the ratings be damned. Its an education about how people and corporations hide their profits from the tax office and how much work is needed from tax investigators just to follow the paper trail. Definitely a must watch.