Trace: Kasouken no Otoko (2019)

Hold on, this may be long! I'm sorry!

I can honestly say that this is one of the most intense, dramatic, surreal shows I have ever watched; Japanese, South Korean, or otherwise! When I heard about this show, I was immediately attracted because of the genre (forensics/police/crime/etc..) but I didn't want to watch it so soon because I wanted to watch this show based on its story and not be biased because of the popularity of its cast since the genre is one of my favorites. I am so glad I waited for the first wave of hype to die down because I was not disappointed at all!

The fact that this show is a police/forensic/medical/crime/etc... show is what drew me in but that was only halfway, of course, the other half was because I had faith in (this may sound hypocritical) the cast selected: Nishikido Ryo, Araki Yuko, Yamazaki Shigenori, Sasai Eisuke, Koyuki, Funakoshi Eiichiro, and the multitude of extremely talented guests. However, do not let the cast fool you! The real gem of this show is, in fact, the story alone!

Yes, everyone involved with this show did an outstanding, superb, exceptional job from work on the set, to directing, to portraying their characters, and so much more. Not one moment of this show is wasted in any way, shape or form. The amount of hard work, respect, talent, and genuine love for the show was so strong that it pulled me to continue watching and I binge-watched the entire show in one day.

To me, this show did seem to be lacking something, but to be honest I could never put my finger on it and once I finished watching I completely forgot what it could have possibly been. Each episode slowly but surely lays the trail of the finale, if you blink you may miss something important. There were episodes where I thought I could predict the outcome, but I was completely wrong; this goes for the final episode, too! I could never have thought of, nor have I ever seen, a drama/tv show/movie/play/book that had this shows genuinely honest and raw intensity.

If you pass on this show just because of a few comments/reviews or because you don't like a certain actor/actress then you are missing out on a once in a life time story.

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I started watching this because of Nishikido Ryo tbh. That aside, a mystery/crime drama with the forensic scientists as the main focus? Count me in. Though to be fair, this was the second time Ryo played the role of a forensic officer after JOKER.

Have to say, when I first started watching the series I wasn't really expecting to really grow attached to the characters. But hey, that just means that the series did well at casting the right actors for their respective roles as had their personalities written well.

That aside, I love how the drama dealt with the romance sub-plot regarding Mano and Sawaguchi subtly without taking away the focus from the main plot/theme. Then again, that could also be credited to Nishikido and Araki for being able to bring their characters to life, and Dokkun's really is good at playing these kinds of roles XD. That aside, I really love the whole casting of the forensic team. Like I love how at first they're not really so close-knitted, yet near the end you see them becoming more like families and that was partially due to Araki's character.

Other than that, have to say that the plot was well-written. Loved the fact that each episode kept me guessing and made me want to pay close attention to the clues that were revealed in order to unearth the crimes involved.

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