Kurosagi (2006)

I really liked Kurosagi. What hooked me was the manga feel to the writing and episodic set up of the drama. I enjoyed the 'legend' of a swindler of swindlers and Kurosagi's reasons behind becoming who he was. And quite baldly, honestly, Yamashita Tomohisa has never been more handsome than in this drama.

The thing with these 'Avenging Hero' type dramas/stories is the love story orbiting the hero is always a frustrating dance. Perhaps he has been deeply scarred and/or his mission is antithetic to the love that unexpectedly blossoms between the antihero and heroine. Kurosagi is classic in this respect.

Each episode unfolds with Kurosagi swindling a different kind of swindler and it's fun to watch him get into character and pull off his clever cons. I couldn't help but compare this just a bit to Liar Game, in that you have to use your brain and the hero has to work around the trick of the con. I really liked Kurosagi's little personality quirks and his different 'con' personalities.

Having sung it's praises, I still came away from Kurosagi feeling something was missing. It took a little while to put my finger on just why I can't give this drama a 10 but I've figured it out. It feels incomplete. Usually as I watch and then rate Jdramas, the fact they usually only take 9 to 11 episodes to tell the story makes me enjoy them immensely. This speedy and more concise story telling in turn raises the rating for me. But somehow this was not the case with Kurosagi. I felt this story needed more time, more story and I am left unsatisfied.

The acting was great for the most part. Yamashita Tomohisa has impressed me again. I've watched 4 of his dramas now and I really like when he plays more "character" parts like this rather than straight lead (See Buzzer Beat, which I did love). Somehow even with his handsome leading man looks, he feels more like a character actor to me. I liked the lead actress. Some of the secondary characters fell flat for me.

A word about Katsuragi: He is the most original character I've come across in a long time. He was at once; chilling, pathetic, gross, pitiful and scary. He left an impression with me, that is for sure.

The intro song didn't really thrill me but the background song which I will call Kurosagi's 'theme song' was cool. I really dug it.

I am giving the re-watch value a 7 because I think people will want to watch this again. There are already parts I have gone back and watched again.

I recommend this. It's worth your 11 hours. It's fun and if you get into manga turned into live action, I think you will like this.

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1-The reason I watched this : I was in my friend's place while she was watching the 1st episode, I watched it along with her then I literally fell in love; I went home and finished the whole drama in two days.

2-Storyline/Plot : That's what captured me about this drama; the story about revenge, hate, action and even romance, the whole concept was was so deep.
Every episode i get amazed by events and several twists that made it very appealing whether it was action twists or romantic developments.

3-Acting/Cast : After this drama Yamashita Tomohisa became one of my favorite actors; he really did his role perfectly; the kind of cold, affectionate character that made me very invested in his character. There were Horikita Maki too, she was cool but not that great as a character. I actually loved the acting department though there were too many weird characters.

4-Music : Yes I remember the music, it was quite good.

5-Rewatch value : There are a lot of moments that deserve the rewatch plus it's short therefore, it's easy to do so.

6-The ending : I liked it even though i was expecting more but either ways it was nice plus there's the film so it's not actually an "end"

7-Overall : Kurosagi is a drama that can make anyone fall in love especially action-revenge lovers (as myself).
I had so much fun while watching it. My all time favorite part when Kurosagi says "Bang"!

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