When this show first came out, I had planned to watch it, but ten years later had passed and I hadn’t. I have loved Kaku Kento since I watched him in Asuko March, over ten years ago. It had been a while since I watched anything with him and after watching House of Ninjas, I decided to watch a few more dramas he has done in the past. So, Testimony of N finally made it back on my radar.

I should start by saying the drama is very slow paced. However, it is a steady type of slow pace that kept me engaged throughout the show and made me feel like I was traveling right along the characters throughout their journeys. The acting and emotional portrayal of the characters was great and that along with the mysteries and the heartbreaks they experienced along the way kept my attention. It was truly an emotional roller coaster for me. The drama had complex relationships where they experienced trauma, hardships, laughs, secrets, sadness, understanding, even betrayal, and lastly, forgiveness.

The drama also is not told in a linear timeline. It constantly switches back and forth between multiple key years. This storytelling method is one I usually detest if the whole show relies on it and, while Testimony of N, used it through the entirety of its story, I felt it made me appreciate the story more and made me want to stay tuned to know more.

The OST was decent and the songs felt, for the most part, adequate. For me, an OST can help make or break a drama. Especially when it’s one of this kind.

I cried throughout the drama in different parts, like when they portrayed the struggles of Sugishita Nozomi, Naruse Shinji, and Masato Nishizaki with their families, and probably for the last episode and a half. Even after I watched its last scene, tears were still falling and the feeling of longing, of “what if?”, has stayed with me even as I write this review many hours after finishing the show.