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Red Eyes: Kanshi Sousa-han is a 10-episode police procedural series about a newly-assembled team of dedicated crime fighters utilising means of technology to prevent criminal acts and apprehend the perpetrators (not necessarily in that order). This isn't groundbreaking state-of-the-art technology on show here but one of the many aspects of police procedural systems that perhaps do not often get the in-depth showcase in dramaland.In addition to western tv shows like Person of Interest and 911, this drama draws many parallels with K-drama, Voice. Red Eye’s Kanagawa Prefectural Police’s Investigation Support Analysis Centre and Voice’s Golden Time Team operate on the same basis of receiving “distress calls” and acting on them by dispatching a unit of field operatives while being ably supported by their teammates back at the control centre. Both teams are led by women and each of the respective field team leaders is a flawed anti-hero shouldering the burden of a tragic past - the loss of a loved one. Each case that is solved eventually connects to an overarching plot and culminates in the big reveal at the end of it all.
The main difference between the two - Voice relies on audio sensory while Red Eyes, as the name suggests, depends solely on visuals. Instead of a call centre that directly interacts with victims of crime, a huge metropolitan network of CCTVs is used to track down those criminal acts. Societal outcasts and ex-criminals (or more appropriately, good people who were somehow mixed up in bad circumstances and, as a result, have fallen from grace) are recruited to join this team. The mysterious (super)villain here is a lot more sinister and calculated with a nefarious scheme for bringing down the team.
This drama is quite engaging, for the most part. I like the concept of copycat criminals being based on infamous US serial killers being the underlying theme. The plot does make sense, albeit incredulously convoluted. The cast did a commendable job, being headlined by Kame who is fantastic in the lead role of the angst-ridden and tormented Kyosuke. Matsushita Nao’s portrayal of the team’s commanding officer Shimabara Yuri is equally convincing. My favourite side character is Minatogawa Yumiko, amazingly portrayed by Shishido Kavka, whom I thought is pretty cool and badass in her quiet and understated way. Each member of the team, including the villain(s) receives adequate screen time for developing their own story arcs.
The action is decent, comprising some slickly-choreographed unarmed combat sequences and pyrotechnics. The pacing is quite even with minimal fillers and sufficient nail-biting thrills in each episode. I appreciate the simple title cards depicting meaningful quotes at the end of each episode. The ending is a little unexpected, and although I have mixed feelings about the final outcome of the story, at least there’s definite closure for all the loose ends.
The main grievance I have is on the average production values, which in fairness isn’t really the fault of the crew. It’s great for a tv show but I can’t help but feel with a slightly higher budget, the production could have been even more impressive, at least from the stylistic and visual aspects. Despite being a 2020 production, the set designs and the lack of colour grading or more dramatic colour palette do make the show appear somewhat dated.
That being said, I’m quite satisfied with how the drama unfolded. Whether you’re a fan of Kame, police dramas or both, Red Eyes: Kanshi Sousa-han is well worth your time to check out.
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The story is truly for fans of American shows like Person of Interest, 24, Criminal Minds, and even The Mentalist. There's a single enemy to fight who approaches from so many sides and angles to attack KSBC members. Individual episodes focus on attacks to the personal and professional lives of these members and as the audience becomes more attached to the characters, it becomes harder to watch them suffer.
It's also a relational show in that the audience feels the strong connection between Fushimi (Kamenashi), Komaki (Matsumura), Yamazaki (Kimura), and Minatogawa (Shishido). They've partnered together for at least 2 years and there's a strong sense of unity and balance among the characters. There are even potential romantic sparks between KSBC member Nagashino (Shuri) and Komaki (Matsumura).
While Kamenashi is entirely capable of carrying a drama on his own, the supporting cast is superbly skilled, particularly the performances by Shuri and Kavka Shishido. I was first impressed by Shuri when I watched "Love at Least" with Suda Masaki that deals with depression, and I am equally impressed with her here as the supporting role computer genius. Kavka Shishido spends a lot of time partnering with Kamenashi and they pair so well together in fight scenes. This was my first introduction to Hokuto Matsumura from SixTones and he impressed me as Komaki. A geeky, nerdy sort of role that suited him.
Finally, Kazuya Kamenashi. He's the reason I watched "Red Eyes" in the first place. The final episode plays to every single strength that he has (except humor which he doesn't express much at all throughout the series). He always surprises me with his athletic prowess. You'd think by now I'd know what he's capable of accomplishing and doing for the sake of a role. He delighted me and made me cry and is just marvelously brilliant as Kyosuke Fushimi.
The story exhibits a repetitive feel in some unfortunate ways, like Yamazaki always coming up with a famous case that their particular case reminds him of. Sometimes those comparisons feel a little stretched. And I'm still not convinced about the freezer episode. That one felt a bit much. So there are a few weak moments, but not really enough to detract from the overall feel of the series.
I especially love the message being shared, that giving in to evil only results in evil. It's something to be fought against, not indulged. We all have a beast/monster of some sort chewing us up on the inside. It's what we do with that monster that matters. And it's not always about giving way to the emotions we have.
"Red Eyes" is a strong offering to fans of the crime drama, has a terrific OST by KAT-TUN (no surprise there), and showcases a host of excellent talent. Fingers crossed that we might get a sequel. I know we have what looks like a prequel or a special with just Matsumura, Kimura, and Shishido and that's fine, but this has the potential to be several seasons. It would be about time for Kamenashi to have a series that just kept going.
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Life Lessons with a side a of ass-kicking
I watched this because of Kamenashi Kazuya and I usually am super hard on cop shows, more so than other genres so I apologize if I seem nit picky in this Review.First lets talk about the fight choreography which was strong in 1st and second episodes, but felt more like dance moves as the show progressed. While in my head a I know the actors ar enot actually hitting each other, the choreography's job is to make me momentarily forget they are just acting. You can absolutely tell when they switch to stunt doubles or cut scenes to cover the fights not actually happening.
Second I'll touch on the hacking. For the most part it did well with showing code instead of cutsey screens, decent security. Fake Typing though abounded and used the famous transfer file time as a suspense builder, but it was well placed.
They are absolutely setting up for a sequel or a special down the road. I like the Famous quotes I am super familiar with but the younger generations may not be. The cast seemed to gel by the end and seem a team, it felt like strangers turning to colleagues.
The layers of the bad sides revealing themselves one by one was decent, almost felt like too much but it depends on where they go with it.
While not my favorite OST from KAT-TUN Roar definitely has grown on me as the season progressed.
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This review may contain spoilers
Review for the ending episode
As expected from the finale, there were a lot of tears that were shed on Fushimi san's behalf! I swear this man has made me cry more than any other character I cried for!!! That amount of toxins released through those tears lol...!Back to the plot of the episode, I love that Komaki wasn't Miho san's murderer as I was hopeful for! I rightfully believed in that child of mine! He was blackmailed into doing everything! and he did it all just to save Kyouske san and I love him for that!
Just like any other ep, I LOVED Minatogawa. She is so much fun to watch! Her not interfering in that fight while the minister was being abducted really ingenious of her!
We finally found out why Miho san was killed in the first place, that crazy-ass strong assassin, robotic ninja guy finally got his ass handed to him and that entire fight sequence was so much of fun to watch!!! I LOVED IT!!!
The ending was very bittersweet as we once again went back to the team operation on their own, after KSBC having been shut down due to the director being behind the cover-up of around 20 cases! It was similar to how the series began with Fushimi san running away from a group of thugs, then later being joined by Minatogawa to beat their asses!!!
And WHAT WAS THAT ENDING!!! LIKE EXCUSE ME! So you're telling me that no one EVER noticed that design tag on Shimabara's sister's bag! That ending snatched my wig I swear!!! LIKE WHAT!
Anyway, LOVED this series, and definitely would love it if they ever decide to make a sequel! I mean, I would definitely love it, but please, make my Fushimi Kyouske happy in it!!
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Boring to no end
I can't believe how boring this drama was! Despite the oh-so-interesting prospect of having the main detective force completely involved in the different crimes as there is a plot against them, the drama is bland, foreseeable and overall boring. The writing is so bad, I couldn't give a damn about any of the characters, not even when some really awful things happened to them and I wanted to feel for them. I just didn't care. The acting was bad, if there was any acting at all -I blame it on the bad writing and acting direction, since all they do most of the time is stand there and try to look concered. If Nao Matsushita and Kame had twitched their mouths or Shuri had opened her eyes to twice their size ONCE more, I might have gotten violent -their efforts were painful to watch.I'm giving it 4 stars because one of the villains was actually interesting enough (until it got boring and repetitive, too) and also because the OST and setting are nice, with lovely sights of Yokohama.
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