Sakura no To (2021)

"Kamijo Ren no longer exists"

As one rarely engaged in the world of J-drama my initial interest in this show was completely coincidental. Upon the end of the show I can surely call it a happy one. Sakura No Tou is at it's heart Kamijo Ren's bitter battle for revenge. Shrouded in grey, the actions and scheming necessary to achieve these results will leave one questioning the legitimacy of his attempts while reminding us that the ones he faces are no angels either. Brilliantly acted, the performances of all involved create an immersive experience , aided by focused script and equally focused direction.
Both opening and ending scores were great and certainly memorable. While the ending did have a somewhat questionable conclusions (the final half of the final episode while metaphorically satisfying, the results from it feel rather tepid) it does not discount the wider greatest on display.
It's a definite recommendation and certainly a great intro into J-drama for the usually uninvolved.

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"Sakura no Tou" is a truly complex drama about politics, power, and revenge. This is not the usual police drama, serving up "case of the week" episodes. Instead, its overarching story follows Kamijo Ren on his quest for justice to avenge his father by tearing down the Tokyo Metropolitan Police from the inside out. And while following his journey, the audience is led down several paths as we question the complexity and worth of justice as well. The cast of this drama is what made me give it a chance, and I'm totally glad I did! Led by the brilliant Tamaki Hiroshi as Kamijo, the cast takes the the writing of this drama and just pushes it to another level. Scenes with Shiina Kippei and Tamaki Hiroshi matching wits are especially fun to watch. The women in the drama do get the shorter end of the stick in terms of development (they're not totally terrible, just could be better!), but with Hirosue Ryoko and Naka Riisa playing them, the characters feel more elevated because of their performances. Also, this drama is much better marathoned than followed week to week; I marathoned the first half of the drama because I fell behind in my watching, and because the storytelling is relatively tight, it was much more satisfying! I'm not the biggest fan of police dramas at all, but this one, this is a good one worth checking out at least.

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