Kyoufu Shinbun (2020)

Although I won't go too much into details, so as to avoid major spoilers, I have to say that right until literally just a few minutes before the end of the last episode, I was pondering within myself whether I was gonna give this a 9 (or more probably an 8, 'cause it did have its faults anyway - more on this in a while), but then imho the writer decided to ruin everything just for the sake of a silly, shallow, "hollywoodian" final scare. If I ever rewatch this, I'll make sure to stop watching before that point (just as with an American TV series I liked as well, but only except the very last minutes, "Point Pleasant" - but that's another story).
Too bad, 'cause otherwise this dorama could've been a much better one, more coherently Japanese (in that horror is used also to convey deeper moral messages), despite the fact that it still had some script problems (most of all, the inconsistence in some characters' behavior - namely, the FL's BF and the mom - but also the fact that it had too much going on for only 7 episodes, and the writer wasn't able to wrap everything up nicely anyway).
Acting wise, another great performance by the lovely Shiraishi Sei and Kuroki Hitomi, whereas the rest of the cast was ok but nothing to call home about, imho. Direction, photography and music were also OK.
All in all, if you're a fan of Japanese horror, a pleasant watch.

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Love the directing, editing, acting and aesthetic of this, but I was questioning some of the writer’s choices for both the characters and plot lines.

First, I don’t quite get the mother’s character. She switched from crazy to normal to crazy far too quickly without truly good reasoning. Matsuda Yusuke's massive love was at least weird. They tried to somehow explain it with the origin story, but even that brought more questions and annoyance.

So why do I have a problem with the origin of the newspaper? It had no place in such a short drama. With the past story, the whole new world of possibilities has been opened, but close to nothing was explored. The dynamics between characters have changed, but it was not organic enough for me to accept, it was a normal progression in the story. Sometimes not explaining every detail and keeping viewers in the dark till the end is a better choice. Nothing's more scary than the unknown.

The mechanics of the Terror Bulletin were also questionable: Can the same bulletin be delivered more than once? Why would past bulletins work? And wouldn't the last episode "cheat way out" not only not save her receiver but also create more victims?

I have to say though, I enjoyed Shiraishi Sei’s performance a lot. The character was well written and realistic. It showed some flaws and the bad/questioning choices were almost made. The will to survive and the empathy in her were a nice internal conflict that had me shocked a few times.

That said, the ending disappointed me greatly. It should have ended around 31 minutes in the last episode. That would be a nice commentary on how selfish people are, and the fact one good person cannot fight it on her own.

Do I think it’s scary? No. Not only that, but I believe some of the deaths could be seen as funny for few viewers. I found them disturbing and weird, but they never frightened me. The plot got a bit messy closer to the ending, but it was an enjoyable watch with a few good pictures created.

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