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At first I thought: 'Oh no another drama where two guys fight over a girl', but I promise it's completely different than you might think. I loved the story and it's twists, the growth of the relationship as parters(Sou and Maruo) and the humour at completely unexpected places.
I'm a person who always skipped the opening. This was the first drama where I watched t everytime!! The music is really unique and I found myself more than once humming the opening theme at home.^^
If you're still not persuaded then I advise you to watch the first episode and decide afterwards.
Let yourself be caught in one of the best dramas Japan produced in the last decades.
Writing about it I get the desire to watch it again....
for the 6th time
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I think I got a kick out of the supporting characters more because they were silly and very colorful; especially Maruo (Mizushima Hiro) who was pretty ditzy to be a cop. I would kind of hate for him to be my backup as he tend to not be “with” it most of the time and would constantly argue with Sou about just everything. One thing I just couldn’t understand is how Yuki (Yoshitaka Yuriko) could be Jinno, (Sou’s father killer) girlfriend! I mean, what was she dating, a man her father’s age?
But Sou’s family were hilarious! His mother (Tanaka Yoshiko) always found the most inopportune moment to call him while he was on duty. Whether if he was on a stake-out; chasing a suspect or basically being shot at. She made it a point to shame him for complaining. But the one who cracked me up the most was Nakatani (Yoshimura Takuya). I have assume he was Sou’s sister, Karin (Kawaguchi Haruna) boyfriend. But he didn’t seem to have a home as he was forever over the Takakura home: day and night!
The romance between Keiichi (Katsuji Ryo) and Maki (Usuda Asami) was probably the most prominent romance; and they were barely on the screen! Truthfully, most Japanese dramas lack romance in my estimation but are usually better in the story development. This drama is definitely only for the hardcore, Shun Oguri fans. What it lacks in story and romance, it makes up for it with the action. Shun+Gun=Interesting!
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Shun is a total Gary Sue, and it took pretty much all of the intensity out of it. A lot of the plot was solved by him basically saying "oh, you didn't know that? Yeah I planned that in advance and did this. We're done here."
That coupled with some of the worst policing in the history of policing kind of made me sad.
The odd couple routine was amusing at times, but terribly overused and very much out of place most of the time. Having a comedic argument in front of drug dealers pointing guns at you may be funny... but really?
Ah well. If you're not looking for much plot wise then this is an average odd couple themed cat and mouse chase.
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I thought the story was told very well It sorta felt a bit like vignettes strung together with the goal of catching Jinno, I.E each episode the boys find something out find it might be related to the case at hand and go after it. It's not till really the 7'th episode where all of them tie together, this isn't a bad thing in any way the episodes before the plot really gets rolling and isn't just taking down Mafia bosses, catching drug deals and overall police work lets us know the cast and how they act and we see them get closer and we understand their dilemmas.
Acting
I really liked this series I'm really glad i was sorta stalking Mizushima Hiro but that's besides the point. I really enjoyed this drama's acting. Mizushima Hiro was great and It was really nice to see him in such a fun and energetic role. I was very happy with Oguri Shun's acting because I had only scene him in Hana Kimi and I thought his acting was ok but In this one he really portrays his part very well. I felt that Yoshitaka Yuriko did a fine job portraying her part I don't think their was ever a part where I didn't buy the acting. I thought the supporting cast did really and I loved how much personality they gave to the cast in the police station instead of having them just be one off characters.
Music
The music I found I really liked like all shows you have your romantic track your serious track and so on. The music I felt fit the series quite well and gives it the energetic feel it needs.
Rewatch value
This movie has one or two big twists but that doesn't spoil the rewatch value because It is so funny You want to go back and see if you can go back and listen to the jokes or just because It's a great story also I personally love when English is being spoken and sometimes you can tell that the person is trying to pretend to be American but is very british, I don't know i have a strange sense of humor.
Overall
The Series is very good I enjoyed it I laughed with it and cried with it. This show kinda made me think os something like Elementary and other cop shows but it's also smart and we understand out protagonists. The two main characters bounce off of each other wonderfully and has almost a buddy cop comedy feel to it while maintaining its's seriousness.
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And Yuriko? I absolutely love her as an actress! Her radiant smile never fails to add some sunshine and cuteness to any drama. But her character here, who supposedly need protection, was living with horrendously lax security, and despite her precarious situation, not much was done to protect her, nor help recover her memory. Having watched many other dramas, an effective format would be for the cops to tackle a new case every episode, while gradually edging the protagonist towards the main plot which usually involves a dark sinister past.
Despite being set on this note, the cases from each episode is mediocre at best, with plots that are almost immediately predictable. That is a big negative for a tantei-genre drama. Oh and on top of that, we have Shun's 'mystery' past, and we have Yuriko's too!
On a more positive note, every episode, the initially irritating mother would call Shun at the most inopportune time. However, Over time, I started to appreciate that nonsensical humor within his family (I mean it in a good way) which proved to be an invaluable comic element in the show.
Sorry if I sounded like ranting, but I can't help feeling bad that a wonderful cast of Yuriko Yoshitaka and Shun Oguri is involved in a mediocre drama like this. Readers may not agree with me, but this is my honest, objective review of this drama.
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Story: 10/10 this drama what got me into some of the police/detective dramas that I watched later on my Asian drama journey. It was well-written & the character development is well-done.
Acting: 10/10 because I love the main leads. I've never seen the lead actress before this drama, but I have seen Hiro & Oguri in different drama before this drama & I think this is the best roles for them. There was great bromance, The male(Shu) & female(Yuki) lead's chemistry was great too even though it was not a romantic-comedy.
Music: I love the BGMs to bits. The opening & ending theme were amazing. Some not memorable, but I can over look that.
Rewatch value: 10/10 the comedic moments in this drama is amazing. I've watched it 3 times all the way through, and many, many more times to watch the comedic moments in the drama.
I think the genres in this are the following:
Drama, Comedy, Mystery, Police, Crime & Friendship.
If you like any of this genres you should give it a try.
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The Bad: Tokyo DOGS suffers from a seemingly unorganised and random plot. The dorama can't seem to make up it's mind whether it's a character dorama following Sou, Marou & Yuki's daily struggles together on the manhunt for Jinno, or whether it's an episodic Cop Show dealing with a new crime each episode. It goes back and forth between the two and the flow of the dorama suffers considerably. Evidence and tips also have a habit of turning up out of thin air just in the nick of time.
Unfortunately, Hiro's acting is what really lets this dorama down; he tries hard (perhaps too hard) but it is obvious that he's not suited to the role at all. A good character actor in the role of Maruo could have made Sou & Maruo a memorable duo indeed; as it is we are left with only half of a great comedic partnership.
Summary: While Tokyo DOGS could have succeeded burdened by either a poor plot or poor acting from one of the lead characters, it struggles to cope with both.
The script offers the continual promise of a possible romance between the main characters but the chemistry just isn't there and in the end it simply doesn't deliver. The ending is also far too vague for my liking, although it does lend itself well to a possible sequel.
Despite its many flaws Tokyo DOGS is a dorama I generally enjoyed watching and would watch again on a rainy day.
I would not recommend Tokyo DOGS if you are looking for a serious Police Dorama. It is better suited for those who would prefer a semi-serious show with some comedy and very little romance.
<< See my full review at doramasan.wordpress.com >>
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