Well-written police procedural

This script has everything - good humour, interesting exploration of humanity and justice, excellent character development, solid chemistry between characters, and a mesmerising villain to top it off.

The earlier cases may come off as small and insignificant. Unlike most police procedurals, only a handful of cases revolve around a murder - some are probably just misdemeanours. What's interesting in these earlier episodes is that there are clues, characters and concepts dropped in which feature in a more significant way later on. I think that's the appeal about this whole series, because the fact that things that occurred in an earlier episode have a bearing later on makes these characters' lives feel real and present.

There's a lot I can say about the story, from the very nuanced depictions of not just the main characters but also of their female boss, who's probably one of the most convincing and well-rounded female police bosses written in Japanese TV. It's also full of ideas that's worth further exploring on a rewatch, like the idea of smaller crimes not being insignificant, the lack of (and urgent need for) an appropriate witness protection program, the prejudice against migrant workers (which is applicable to most developed countries), the dangers of internet vigilantism (and how apt it was to get Suda Masaki to do this role after "Class 3A"), or how fragile and vulnerable justice is, even for people who society expects to uphold justice.

Suda Masaki is a scene stealer, and his portrayal of the insolent and enigmatic Kuzumi makes him one of the best villains to come out of this genre (I don't think that's a spoiler since in his first appearance he shows an underage kid a drug). It will be such a shame not to have a second season of this.

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A good watch but not for everyone

There is a particular genre in Asian webnovels that I don't really see elsewhere - the "revenge fantasy", and key to this genre is that even if the stakes keep climbing and the risks turn life-threatening, the protagonist will always win. I think that's what you've got to keep in mind before you dive in, because it ticks every archetype in the genre box - an overpowered protagonist, a number of irrationally brutal villains, a supporting cast of smitten fans, exaggerated stakes and hyperbolic resolutions. If that's not the genre you were hoping for, or you're looking for the classic gangster/thriller genre, then this isn't for you.

It's also a peculiar mix of (more classic) genres - personally I found the comedy hilarious, the business manipulations interesting, and the violence fun, but audiences who enjoy cutesy domestic comedy and dark violent thrillers don't overlap by much. That said, I personally found the comedy gave much needed relief to what is at its heart a grim tragedy about the corruption and collusion of the justice systems, which forces the main characters to take increasingly illegal means to protect or get back what's important to them. There's a lot of good themes wrapped up in the Geumga Plaza residents' journeys - from simply accepting that they're disenfranchised and helpless, to making full use of their own abilities to protect their own rights. For the main character himself, though, as satisfying as it was to see him give the villains their comeuppance, it was a bittersweet journey that gave him a short reprieve before forcing him return to his old trade.

Maybe because my expectations going into this drama was low - I honestly just expected pointless fanservice, which there was a lot of - but I was surprised that I could actually see a consistent theme and message in the story. Can justice exist when every branch of the justice system is corrupt? And this show is the perfect fantasy for everyone who has ever wished, in those situations, someone could just sweep in and take out the trash.

PS: Also has one of the best OSTs I've heard. Not many songs, but a great variety of instrumental pieces.

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Operating in the grey

Both seasons 3 and 4 of Zettai Reido are quite different to the first 2 seasons. The setting is Big Brother-esque (or Platinum Data-like) where data about people's personal movements and CCTV footage are used in a program to predict major crime. Usually this is fairly believable because the alarm is triggered when the suspect purchases a weapon. The team, which is not officially registered in the bureau, then undertakes undercover operations to try and prevent a crime from occurring.

The premise makes it different to the usual crime solvers because you know the suspect, and you have a suspicion of what they will do, but you don't know when, why or who their victim is, and this is where the story focuses on. What they find is that often these murders are premeditated because the intended victim has done something horrific and gotten away with it. Most of the episode endings leave the team (and audience) torn between wanting the perpetrator to get their revenge, and feeling obliged to stop the crime.

It's an odd drama because it almost goes out of the way to make the to-be perpetrator sympathisable, and most of the major characters also have their own demons to deal with. The final case was a bit of a let down because of the way it was built up throughout the entire series. Overall, a well-written and smoothly produced series, but intentionally less satisfying because of the moral ambivalence.

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Not as good as Code Blue

I had high expectations for this series. It was from the writer for (the first 2 much better seasons of) Code Blue, and it had Amami Yuki. What could possibly go wrong?

I'm not sure what happened. The whole thing was surprisingly bland. Code Blue was fantastic because of the distinctive characters who played off against each other and developed throughout the series. Even after finishing I'm not sure where they were trying to go with the characters. I think the script was also being a bit experimental by trying to group different cases together by themes of the week, but it just didn't seem to work. The supporting cast also just didn't gel. I appreciate Hirose Alice's gutsiness but she just wasn't as endearing as Gakki's or Toda Erika's characters in Code Blue.

That said, the quality of the medical materials in this is as good as Code Blue's, so if you're interested in neurology there's plenty of interesting cases here. I've seen people say that the cases are so fantastical that they're unbelievable and must be exceptionally rare, but actually most of the conditions are not that uncommon.

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