Saiai (2021)

The truth disappears with love

This headline, "the truth disappears with love", is the series' catchphrase and after watching all 10 episodes, it encapsulates the whole theme of the drama.

TLDR: Saiai is an original suspense love story work made by producer Arai Junko and helmed by director Tsukahara Ayuko. Well-acted, with a tight pacing, enagaging story, and gorgeous music, this proved to be another masterpiece from the Arai/Tsukahara combi.

✦ STORY ✦
The story is original but draws the familiar themes of suspense/mystery and forbidden love. What would happen if after 15 years, you reunite with your first love, not as simple colleagues or friends but as a detective and a person under suspicion of murder? The premise is tempting and would catch the eye of lovers of drama. Add in the mystery/suspense part - of the unsolved case 15 years back and more unresolved murders in the present - and you have a neat, interesting package. The pacing of the story is tight, with revelations and clues unfolding in each episode, but the strongest episodes are those of the first half and the last. The 6th and 7th episodes are more subdued and might seem draggy since they deal more with character relationships. Despite this, the plot continued to develop and move forward. There were also some characters that I wished we have seen more on the screen, but I'm glad that at least they were used quite well in the story.


✦ ACTING/CAST ✦
The cast delivered in their roles, playing each character wonderfully, I'm so satisfied with each actor's performance. There were two in the supporting team who were quite shaky at first, but gave more nuanced performances as the episodes went on. What I also like about the characters is that they're all so capable in their jobs, from our main three to the supporting cast. It's so inspiring and so amazing to see.

Our main three actors were impressive. Yoshitaka Yuriko gave so much life to Sanada Rio, I often find myself taking too many screenshots of her expressions in each episode because she's just so captivating to watch as the character. She mentioned in an interview before the final episode that she felt that Rio's living somewhere out there, and I fully agree. Like what I have mentioned in the comments below, Sanada Rio's character may be someone that can draw annoyance due to how people always protect her, but the writing and Yuriko's charm and performance made her someone you would want to protect, someone lovable.

Matsushita Kouhei's Miyazaki Daiki is so freaking cool. I noticed that Kouhei always gives off a different vibe for each of his roles and it's no different to what he did for Daiki. What I like is that his performance and the writing made Daiki not just that "cool and capable detective", he's also very much human, he's someone who truly cares for his beloved people. He is very capable in his job, but he also has his flaws, and he is - at the core - just someone who lives to help other people, especially Rio and Yuu.

Iura Arata's Kase Kenichiro is a big cinnamon roll, he's probably my favorite character in the series. Kase Kenichiro is a strong, reasurring presence in the Sanada family's lives, and he's there for Rio every step of the way. Iura Arata's acting solidifed Kase's warmth and sharpened the edges that the character also possesses. Kase on paper is Sanada Wellness' watchdog with all the teeth and warmth,Kase on the screen is all that, magnified even more with the presence that Iura Arata gave him.


✦ MUSIC ✦
The music is so beautiful!! It actually really helped in the whole experience, especially in the first episode. Speaking of the first episode, the first two minutes of the pilot ep is a very good hook, and the accompanying music elevated it. The soundtrack was able to give off the feel of "15 years ago in Shirakawa-go", and "today, in Tokyo", and served as good backgrounds to key moments so kudos to Yokoyama Masaru! Aside from their use, the absence of music in some key scenes (!!) is also very tasteful. In these particular scenes, it leads viewers in on the suspense, waiting with baited breath along with the characters on the screen.
(Here's the whole OST on Spotify btw! : https://open.spotify.com/album/7qv1By236WWMlwMWEg9772?si=jOOeq8EvSB60gea8BYKFLg)


✦ REWATCH VALUE ✦
After watching the last episode, you'd want to watch the first episode all over again to catch all the clues and hints that you missed. The character relationships and plot progression would be better appreciated if you binged it, so yes a rewatch is in order haha. The series is very binge-worthy, the pacing of the episodes and the bite-sized clues and hints in each one makes each episode interesting.

-

All in all, Saiai - literally "beloved" or "dearest" - was a satisfying drama from start to finish. I was a bit apprehensive of their pacing in the last two episodes in terms of the big reveal, but I'm very glad that they wrapped everything up nicely. There were just two plot threads that I think were not fully explained, but overall, it was a very good last episode. The theme of the drama was also drawn out very well, I can't think of a better title than Saiai, and indeed, the catchphrase "the truth disappears with love" holds true.

What a ride. Saiai is now under my 2021 favorites and my all-time favorites list, and it's all thanks to each part of the series from the production, to the story, acting, music, and rewatch value. Despite my love for this series, I won't erase the truth - and that is that it is a satisfying, well-produced drama that deserves to be watched. So if you haven't yet, this is your sign to watch it now.

Read More

Certainly this drama has become quite dear to me!

Saiai is the first drama I have seen this year. It was an amazing series. Very entertaining and emotional. The drama revolves around many themes. The English title of the drama is 'dearest', one of the main themes of the drama is how much a person can sacrifice something for a person who is very dear to them. The story is well written, though it had a few inconsistencies, it still managed to keep me at the edge of my seat till the last moment. Every episode is narrated by different characters in the show.
The three main characters were very intriguing. Yuriko, Kouhei and Iura-san have given a very good and promising performance. Special mention to Takahashi Fumiya as Yuu and Tanaka Minami as Tachibana Shiori. I loved them here.
The music is wonderful as well, the ending theme gives me chills at the end of every episode.
Its not surprising that saiai was produced by the same director behind jdramas like MIU404 and Unnatural. All of them were interesting, emotional and amazing character driven dramas. Definitely a must watch for all jdrama fans!

Read More

This show is a solid 8/10. The mystery and suspense are pretty good. I don’t think there are any mind boggling twists, but a mystery doesn’t need that to make it good. You’re also semi-rooting for the cops to not figure out what happened, because you like and care about the suspects and don’t like the people who got murdered. It’s nice to watch a show that isn’t trying to trick you or have huge plot twists, but instead relies on the inherent intrigue of figuring out a murder mystery with fleshed-out characters. I think the characters are quite good and their relationships felt real. I really liked Rio and Kase, and their little pseudo-family was super cute. What was kind of disappointing about this show was the romance, which I found pretty underwhelming. The potential for a romance between a cop and his first love who is suspected of murder sounds exciting, but I never felt like they did a good job of establishing their romance in the past or present. You know they care about each other, but they’re too busy being shy in the past to really build a picture of their dynamic, and they don’t really do a good job building their relationship in the present either. They rely on their old relationship to explain why these two are “in love” but since it’s not very well developed I didn’t find it convincing. I buy them as old friends but not as lovers.
Overall, I think the show is quite good and you should watch it. If the romance was better that would have elevated the show to a 9/10, but it’s definitely a good show without an amazing romance.
P.S. why are 50 cops trying to solve these handful of murders? Do they not have other cases? Lol

Read More

Low-key intense.

I was extremely invested in the characters, but not nearly enough in the plot. I was not that interested in the events themselves, nor the past crimes and investigation, but I did care how they affect the characters. With that, I have mixed feelings.

There is no denying that the core of the plot are the characters and their relationships. How far can you go for people you care about? What are you willing to sacrifice? What kind of person will you become by the end? All these questions have been asked countless times in the span of these 10 episodes. I did not quite like all the answers, but that’s life - some things work out, some don’t.

For a show that tries to link a few cases and stories from different timelines in a one cohesive story - they did quite a good job. The plot was not hard to follow, I could clearly see how seemingly unrelated situations were in fact the aftermath of a larger problem. The drama even managed to deliver quite a plot twist/revelation in the last episode that I did not predict - maybe I just stopped my brain from even going in that direction?

Saiai has an amazing cast of characters played by skilled actors, who were able to portray them in an engaging and convincing manner. I might be playing favorites, but I’m totally in love with Kase Kenichiro. This character truly stole the whole show for me.

What’s also worth mentioning is the soundtrack. When the Saiai theme song starts, you know shit is about to hit the fan. I’ve gotten chills quite a few times when the first few notes started.

Overall, it’s a truly solid drama that is carried by the characters. It does not necessarily mean the plot and investigation itself was bad, it was just not as gripping as the relationships presented. I don’t even know when, but the characters creeped into my heart and at some point I stopped caring about the plot and just wanted to see them safe and happy.

Read More

Points for trying.

The plot sequentially introduces you to the suspects and invests in their stories such that you are drawn in to empathise with their choices. This is an approach which tends towards slice-of-life and resists the temptation to tell half-stories in order to either demonise or create saints. But it is at the expense of tension and suspense. On the whole the drama has a consistent pace which lacks the expected adrenaline hits, but makes up for it with a deeper characterisation than is normal for a crime drama. This is the strength of the drama and what keeps you watching.

However, there are some insurmountable credibility gaps for me in the script, which often feels like a couple of naive wannabes imagining what grown ups do. It was in desperate need of a butt ton more research and a great deal of beefing up.

For instance, I’m totally underwhelmed by the credibility of the FL being the CEO. With her attitude she wouldn’t have survived the first 5 nanoseconds, let alone three years. A CEO of a large company is constantly beset by politics and aggression, both internal and external. The purpose of their job is to lead from the front, forge a path through the political crap and preserve the integrity of the business whilst moving the company forward. You have to be a fighter, not someone who bows down to internal critics and arrives at a crucial board meeting with nothing concrete prepared other than an apology, only to be saved by some random and an emotional plea. Give me strength… This one dug a hole as deep as the Mariana Trench in the believability stakes for me, which I found really hard to get past.

Then there is a load of stuff around the journalism sub-plot. Without going into spoilers it was so clumsy and obvious that in some places it just undermined the characters making them look unprofessional, incompetent or incapable of fulfilling the role the plot demands. Okay (maybe) in a let’s-suspend-our-disbelief thriller, but in something claiming cred in the slice-of-life stakes, it’s a real non-starter.

This type of stuff is totally unnecessary. Are the writers just incapable of writing a strong, competent female role? Because a good script writer will find credible ways to work their plot rather than undermining the belief the viewers have in the characters.

Oikawa Mitsuhiro was laughably awful as Goto, but otherwise there were some nice performances. The script really held back from plumbing the depths so all the characters were not too far from bland, but within that the actors managed to capture the empathy of the viewer.

If you want PP at its worst then you will find it in the costuming of the FL. Most of the time she looks like a frumpy sack of potatoes. Who wears this stuff? As her costumes all look suspiciously like mature age maternity wear for a fundamentalist sect I was wondering if Yoshitaka Yoriko was pregnant at the time. There are occasions when she wears a belt, however, it’s never tight and the dress looks 5 sizes too big, so I’m still undecided on that one. Imagine turning up for the shoot of Ep6 and seeing that black and white monstrosity hanging up for you to wear. You’d be seriously thinking about breaking the contract.

I began to really take appreciative notice of the soundtrack about half way through. The composer is Yokoyama Masaru and his entry on MDL lists a long history of composing for drama and film. Here, he uses an edgy, contemporary style, utilising synth, strings and pianos with a dash of atonal emphasis, non-melodic structures and gritty rhythms. It really helps to create some tension and provide an undercurrent of texture in a crime drama that has it’s focus elsewhere.

What my rating means: 6+ Some aspects of it were OK but it had serious flaws. It will pass the time but you can find something better.

Read More

"Love and Loyalty Run Deeper Than Blood."

I borrowed this tag line from the cover of "Vampire Academy". If you have read that novel, you may get a gist of why I chose that as the headline.

I had a hard time rating this drama. It arose very conflicting emotions in me. Was it well written? Yes, personally. But, what I find disconcerting is the mixture of genres.
The story revolves around a small town, Gifu, where a University student had mysteriously disappeared. What's more, the MIA student is accused of sexually assaulting and drugging several girls. Fast forward 15 years later, his own father is found dead soon after his missing son's body is found buried.

One of the people whose life/passion got ruined by the case happens to be Miyazaki Dai, a police officer who had been present at Gifu during the event. When the case is handed to him, he discovers that the prime suspect was Sanada Rio, the gifted president of the Sanada group... who also happens to be his first love.
Delving for the truth, he is forced to question everyone whom he once cared about. But, what exactly was the Sanada family hiding?

This is perhaps the first blended drama I've ever seen. It goes from Family, to Life to Mystery, Crime, Law and Thriller all at once. What makes it distinctly stand out from the others that I've watched is the how the writers managed to make us care for the characters one by one. It made us understand why certain difficult choices had to be made and why certain truths had no option, but to get hidden.

Romance is not an integral part of Saiai. Dai-chan was completely professional when it came to the investigation. I was surprised by how he managed to juggle both his emotions and loyalty to his work. Sanada Rio was as assertive as him. No one allowed their emotions to get the better of them.
I initially disliked Kase-san, but he was just doing his job. Perhaps, being a lawyer is not as easy as it looks.

The BGMs were constant. Someone would be chasing a suspect, but the music never switches to a thrilling vibe. I personally did not find this annoying. But, the choice in music affects the aura of the drama.
Kimi Ni Muchuu by Utadari Hikari is repeatedly used throughout and now it has become one of my favorite songs, even though I rarely like soft music.

A sir who once came to my class asked a question to a girl who was trenchant in her opinion about how justice should be served and criminals should be arrested: "If the person is someone like your own brother, would you do it?"
She replied: "Yes, ofcourse! I will punish him!"
But, all he said was: "No, you won't. You have never been in such a situation, but when it comes to you, you won't do it."

I do not know how true Sir's staement was, but this drama is the closest to what I could find to corroborate what he had said.
The title "Dearest" is the most fitting. At the end of the day, everyone are someone else's dearest.

Read More

A bunch of shades of life and ethics

Decent slice of life murder mystery drama, with a great cast and interesting twists. The romance is very slow, subtle and lacks kisses. That said the chemistry between several of the leads is lovely.

The drama does tackles some interesting issues shown from several perspectives. What is living? Do some deserve to die? Truth vs. dignity and who is actually to blame for girls being drugged and taken advantage of?
Hint, it is not the girl who got drugged.

Other questions are about ethics, cop ethics, business ethics, parenthood ethics (if there is such a thing)

There are some twists that caught me a little bit by surprise, but some of my personal suspicions where found to be correct at the end so there is definitely quite a bit that is predictable.

The female lead and her brother captured my heart early on, the rest of the cast never fully got there but almost.

All in all a drama I would recommend, but while there is some kind of playful tension between the leads, there may be a little nit to much left to the imagination to keep the romance addict within me satisfied as it left me wanting and hoping for more interactions between the two.

Read More

Story

I absolutely love japanese series wether it BL.. Crime
Fantasy or historical. I love the language even though I need subtitles. This was a beautiful series because of the storyline and the great cast. I enjoyed it from the beginning to the end and no pressing fast forward.
The young boy at the start Yu I could have picked him up and munched him he was that cute.
Yuriko Yoshitaka as Rio was a joy to watch and showed different emotions from the innocent shy girl to a CEO
of a big drug Company not so shy and Kôhei Matsushita
as Daiki who liked her but circumstances separated them for 15 years so when they met up again it was for
a murder case and Daiki was a detective. All in all a good watch great all round cast.. Great script..thankyou

Read More

amnésie, trauma de l’enfance, amours adolescentes et retrouvailles

J’ai beaucoup aimé ce drama, assez classique dans sa forme (histoire de pertes de mémoire, de trauma dans l’enfance, d’amours adolescentes et de retrouvailles) mais plutôt bien écrit dans l’enchaînement des évènements, et la recherche du ou des coupables. Les personnages se tiennent, sont cohérents et ont une évolution assez logique. Par moment le scénariste cède à la tentation de vouloir nous orienter sur de fausses pistes mais on reprend vite la bonne direction. J’ai particulièrement aimé la façon dont les caractères des personnages sont écrits en évitant le cliché du « tout noir/tout blanc » et ils se trompent parfois, peuvent corriger le tir, restant en cela proche de la réalité de l’imperfection humaine ! la romance est agréable, et n’occupe pas plus de place qu’il ne faut, l’enquête apporte son lot de suspense de coups de théâtres… La fin est vraiment parfaite à mes yeux, éminemment japonaise, douce-amère, toute en points de suspension, avec la tristesse d’un départ, mais la joie d’un accomplissement…. Elle me satisfait vraiment, mais quand même, aux yeux de la logique cartésienne, elle devrait être différente. On comprend que tout n’a été qu’enchaînement de circonstances malheureuses qui ont entraîné un destin vers le drame, et j’ai été heureuse que ça définisse pas dans la tragédie que je craignais, connaissant la propension qu’ont les Japonais à se suicider !
Pour finir, j’ai passé un excellent moment, et je le recommanderaient !!

Read More