Oriento Kyuko Satsujin Jiken (2015)

This was a really, really well done version of the famous book. I think  one of the factors is that, in my eyes, Japan and England are similar in many things (their people are considered cold/not showing too many  feelings, they both like tea and gardens, and so on). There are 2 parts,  Part 1 is all about the murder, and the most loyal to the book (I've  read the book years ago, I don't remember it all too well though). Part 2  is about the recruitment of the group who is going to murder the bad  guy and the planning to do it. My personal favorite was Part 2. It was  more dynamic, and we get to know all characters. Part 1 was much slower,  I think it could have been shorter.

The OST was sublime. The girls look all beautiful with their vintage clothes, make-up and hairstyles. The younger men, like Tamaki and  Nino, looked so handsome.

I  love how they changed what it needed to be changed to make it more  Japanese. Like, instead of other languages (English, French), it were dialects. Or all names in Kanji.

I can find only 2 minuses in this version:

1)  Suguro Takeru, a.k.a, Poirot. I think the actor looked incredible as  Poirot, and I think he would be excellent in a version for theater.  Poirot is a very vain and egocentric guy, therefore, he is also a character who can be annoying for some or amusing for others. The actor, Nomura Mansai,  was certainly more eccentric than I imagine Poirot to be, that's why I  think it would have looked better on stage. He certainly is the most handsome (and thinner) Poirot I've seen so far. Unfortunately, where he did very wrong was in trying to look... what? Funny? One of a kind? with that annoying voice. Why did he have to talk like that?

2) Length:  since I am more used to doramas, I would have preferred if, instead of 2 parts of 2 hours and 20 minutes, it were 4 episodes of 45 minutes (part 1 should have been shorter). As it was, I split it in half every episode to watch it.

I recommend it strongly for people who like to watch other version of this super popular book. Besides, the cast was  excellent (except for "Poirot", who could have been great if he talked normally).

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If you like Poirot, please give this one a chance

I'm giving this a 9.0, but really I want to give part 2 a 10.0 and part 1 a 8.0. There is nothing wrong with part 1. It is a solid version of this story, but I also didn't find anything overly special about it. And I didn't love the Poirot (Suguro). But part 2 was so good! I haven't seen someone tell the family's story before, such as how they were got together and came up with the idea. It was really well done. I can't recommend watching part 2 enough, even if you don't watch part 1 (watching part 1 isn't necessary unless you are unfamiliar with the Murder on the Orient Express story in general).

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I am not a huge fan of whodunnit type shows, but my husband LOVES Poirot and he kept coming in and going did this happen? How about this? His conclusion is that this was a truer to the story than most of the versions he has watched. According to him most other versions streamline the complicated story and simplify the relationships.

That being said the first half of the show...I actually fell asleep...and had to back and re-watch about 40 minutes worth. The second half though was riveting and kept me entertained.

I am not gonna lie, I watched this for Nino, but the whole cast did an excellent job,

If you are a fan of the franchise or Agatha Christie or the genre I recommend this one.

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