วันจันทร์ที่ 16 พฤศจิกายน พ.ศ. 2552

kurosagi (2008)

Title: クロサギ

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The swindler of all swindlers


A boy who's childhood was ruined by con artists, becomes a swindler himself to target those who cheat others, to exact justice. (5/10)

Summary

A family is cheated out of all their money. The father, out of desperation, kills the children, his wife, and then commits suicide. One child survives, and his name is Kurosaki. Now a young man, Kurosaki vows revenge on those who brought tragedy on his family, and wages a personal war to erase the world of swindlers. He takes on the name Kurosagi, and becomes a con artist himself, targeting other con artists and cheating them out of their money. His work becomes more complicated when he meets his new tenant, Yoshikawa Tsurara, a law student who is adamantly against swindling and cheating of any sort. After she finds out what kind of “business” Kurosagi is in to, Tsurara does everything in her ability to stop him, and change his bitter heart.

Review

If someone were to walk upon Kurosagi, with no knowledge of what it was about except for the series’ concept, and started to watch it, they would be taken aback by the normality of the Japanese drama. They might expect a darker, more sinister feel to the series; after all, this is a story that deals with cheating people out of money. No, what’s interesting about Kurosagi is that it sets the entire drama in a totally normal city. It puts a world that supersedes the normal, and exists around and beneath society. What’s creepy is how normal the operations of these con artists seem in this drama. On occasion, there is the classic ‘parking lot’ showdown, or a deceptive looking one-way mirror in the restaurant that Kurosaki works from, but on the whole, it plays itself out in a very more, innocent city. It’s not any abnormal horror that plagues the victims in this story, but normal people cheating over citizens out of their hard-earned money.

For the role of the secretive, emotional-stunted Kurosaki, Yamashita Tomohisa had to be a cool, collected individual who was able to keep his bearings around him while all hell broke loose around him. This young actor has been miscast in other television dramas (e.g. Proposal Daisakusen) but his character fits perfectly in Kurosagi. His youthful, cool demeanor is forced throughout the series, which is marvelous for his character: a young, struggling adolescent who has lost his family and lives off of feelings of vengeance and anger, with no support, no love in his life. Tomohisa’s breakdown in the later episodes of the series plays wonderfully with the character’s own likely emotional frailty, as he struggles to push out Yoshikawa Tsurara (Horikita Maki), who is the perfect counterpart to him. Maki constantly carries around a sweet, worried look on her face, reflecting a lady who can’t keep her mind off of the misfortune of those around her. Her best friend and rival for Kurosaki’s interest, Mishima Yukari (Ichikawa Yui) puts on an accurate, if detached, performance, as the annoying, jealous friend, who fails to see her own friend’s concern for Kurosaki.


The development of the story is quick, even rushed. There is a great deal of confusion as to the exact value of Mikimoto’s presence (Kishibe Shiro), as he seems to be an important target for Kurosaki. More character development, and subsequently less side-stories related to Kurosaki’s exploits against other less important con artists, would have resulted in a smoother, more appreciable story. Although it’s a worthy watch, Kurosagi would have benefitted from a longer episode count, or even a sequel. As it stands, it boasts an interesting idea that wasn’t organized as well as it could have been. Unlike the perfect plans of Kurosaki, there are holes everywhere that cripple an otherwise mastermind live action series.


The copyright of the article Review: Kurosagi in Asian Films is owned by Kevin Chan. Permission to republish Review: Kurosagi in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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