![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Review: Bitter Blood (ビター・ブラッド) (2014)
This was alright. It was more on the comedy than crime side of things, but I think it accomplished what it set out to do. I'd recommend this for someone who wants a lighthearted cop drama.
Spoilers.
Story
This was a crime procedural drama about ane stranged father and son duo who worked in the same police unit, and were to partner up.
I will say that the crime parts of the drama were fun, and I liked seeing that each episode would cover multiple story lines, some serious, some comedic. There were different kinds of crimes that needed different kinds of crime solving.
I did think the comedic and otherwise emotional parts of the drama were a bit cheesy. A lot of common comedy tropes were used and that offered nothing new.
I also felt that the Kaizuka story line was not particularly inspiring, but it was fine as just another criminal to be dealt with.
Production
The production value was fine. The acting was pretty good and any cringiness was more due to the forced jokes. The costume and set were decent, and I felt immersed in the setting.
I will also say that the theme song was pretty catchy. It's been stuck in my head lol.
Characters
Sahara Natsuki
Natsuki was our main character. He was a young man with a good sense of justice but also the misfortune of bumping into crime wherever he went. He also had negative feelings towards his estranged father, whom he believed had abandoned him and his sister.
During the course of the drama, Natsuki began to learn more and sympathize with his father, understanding that he was not a heartless person and maybe had his share of grievances as well.
Though their relationship as father and son was a bit strained, towards the end of the drama, they had truly come to care for each other as police partners, and Natsuki expressed that he would like to know Akimura more as a father.
Shimao Akimura/Gentle
Akimura was meant to be a cool and slick police officer. However, I felt that he was a bit too on the nose so he ended up not being as cool as he probably wanted to come off as. He was known as Gentle because he liked to drink a brand of coffee called Gentle.
Anyway, he showed very little fatherly affection to Natsuki on the job, instead treating him like he would any other kouhai. That being said, Natsuki would uncover parts of his history that would build a better picture of who he was a a person and a complex character.
I don't believe it was ever really clarified what had caused Akimura to leave the family, but Natsuki had learned that it was his mother who had fallen in love with someone else.
At the end of the drama, Akimura did also show a bit of fatherly care for his son, declining a promotion to stay in the same department as Natsuki.
Maeda Hitomi
Hitomi was the token girl character. Honestly from the beginning of the drama she had some "not like other girls" vibes, saying that she hated men that cried etc.
However, during the course of the drama, she honestly just functioned like the typical "lone female cop in a department full of guys" characters. The other cops fawned over her, and her personal story lines were mostly related to her crush(es). She thought that she had a crush on Akimura but later realized that it was probably just admiration. And though she and Natsuki never really confirmed their relationship, it was implied that she probably liked him more than she was willing to admit.
Hitomi's father had been killed by the big bad, Kaizuka. Despite that, she had little to do with the final takedown of Kaizuka, which was unfortunate. Perhaps it was because Kaizuke didn't find Hitomi fun to manipulate.
Koga Hisashi/Bachelor
One of the other cops in the department. He was known as Bachelor because of his marital status. He was constantly getting rejected and one of the cases actually involved him getting scammed by a marriage scam artist.
Inaki Toshifumi/Chaser
Another cop in the department. He was generally very serious, very tidy, and very resourceful.
The other cops wondered about who he was, and it was revealed that he had a daughter who was very ill, as well as a brother-in-law who was a criminal.
Togashi Kaoru/Skunk
A rambunctious cop. He was known as skunk because of his bad breath.
Takano Kouji
He was the last fellow cop. Sort of "the normal guy," and also the one who liked to give nicknames.
Kagiyama Kensuke
He was the head of the department, generally a bit more in control than the other members of his department.
He had a son whom he did not have a good relationship with. But it was through the help of Natsuki that his son became inspired to become a police officer.
Kaizuka
The big bad of the drama. Kaizuka had killed Maeda Shuichi, the father of Hitomi. And he was coming for Shimao Akimura as well.
Honestly I might have missed some stuff, but I believe Kaizuka bore a grudge against the two officers because they were responsible for his injury, which led to him losing his family. I don't think this was expanded upon a lot.
Though I felt that the actor did a good job as a creepy guy, I didn't feel that Kaizuka was particularly convincing as a big bad villain. He just felt like a guy, just another criminal of the week.
Overall
This drama did its job in delivering a cop comedy. However, I did have gripes with some of the tropey writing which I felt were a bit old and overused. But otherwise it was still fine as a lighthearted watch.
Spoilers.
Story
This was a crime procedural drama about ane stranged father and son duo who worked in the same police unit, and were to partner up.
I will say that the crime parts of the drama were fun, and I liked seeing that each episode would cover multiple story lines, some serious, some comedic. There were different kinds of crimes that needed different kinds of crime solving.
I did think the comedic and otherwise emotional parts of the drama were a bit cheesy. A lot of common comedy tropes were used and that offered nothing new.
I also felt that the Kaizuka story line was not particularly inspiring, but it was fine as just another criminal to be dealt with.
Production
The production value was fine. The acting was pretty good and any cringiness was more due to the forced jokes. The costume and set were decent, and I felt immersed in the setting.
I will also say that the theme song was pretty catchy. It's been stuck in my head lol.
Characters
Sahara Natsuki
Natsuki was our main character. He was a young man with a good sense of justice but also the misfortune of bumping into crime wherever he went. He also had negative feelings towards his estranged father, whom he believed had abandoned him and his sister.
During the course of the drama, Natsuki began to learn more and sympathize with his father, understanding that he was not a heartless person and maybe had his share of grievances as well.
Though their relationship as father and son was a bit strained, towards the end of the drama, they had truly come to care for each other as police partners, and Natsuki expressed that he would like to know Akimura more as a father.
Shimao Akimura/Gentle
Akimura was meant to be a cool and slick police officer. However, I felt that he was a bit too on the nose so he ended up not being as cool as he probably wanted to come off as. He was known as Gentle because he liked to drink a brand of coffee called Gentle.
Anyway, he showed very little fatherly affection to Natsuki on the job, instead treating him like he would any other kouhai. That being said, Natsuki would uncover parts of his history that would build a better picture of who he was a a person and a complex character.
I don't believe it was ever really clarified what had caused Akimura to leave the family, but Natsuki had learned that it was his mother who had fallen in love with someone else.
At the end of the drama, Akimura did also show a bit of fatherly care for his son, declining a promotion to stay in the same department as Natsuki.
Maeda Hitomi
Hitomi was the token girl character. Honestly from the beginning of the drama she had some "not like other girls" vibes, saying that she hated men that cried etc.
However, during the course of the drama, she honestly just functioned like the typical "lone female cop in a department full of guys" characters. The other cops fawned over her, and her personal story lines were mostly related to her crush(es). She thought that she had a crush on Akimura but later realized that it was probably just admiration. And though she and Natsuki never really confirmed their relationship, it was implied that she probably liked him more than she was willing to admit.
Hitomi's father had been killed by the big bad, Kaizuka. Despite that, she had little to do with the final takedown of Kaizuka, which was unfortunate. Perhaps it was because Kaizuke didn't find Hitomi fun to manipulate.
Koga Hisashi/Bachelor
One of the other cops in the department. He was known as Bachelor because of his marital status. He was constantly getting rejected and one of the cases actually involved him getting scammed by a marriage scam artist.
Inaki Toshifumi/Chaser
Another cop in the department. He was generally very serious, very tidy, and very resourceful.
The other cops wondered about who he was, and it was revealed that he had a daughter who was very ill, as well as a brother-in-law who was a criminal.
Togashi Kaoru/Skunk
A rambunctious cop. He was known as skunk because of his bad breath.
Takano Kouji
He was the last fellow cop. Sort of "the normal guy," and also the one who liked to give nicknames.
Kagiyama Kensuke
He was the head of the department, generally a bit more in control than the other members of his department.
He had a son whom he did not have a good relationship with. But it was through the help of Natsuki that his son became inspired to become a police officer.
Kaizuka
The big bad of the drama. Kaizuka had killed Maeda Shuichi, the father of Hitomi. And he was coming for Shimao Akimura as well.
Honestly I might have missed some stuff, but I believe Kaizuka bore a grudge against the two officers because they were responsible for his injury, which led to him losing his family. I don't think this was expanded upon a lot.
Though I felt that the actor did a good job as a creepy guy, I didn't feel that Kaizuka was particularly convincing as a big bad villain. He just felt like a guy, just another criminal of the week.
Overall
This drama did its job in delivering a cop comedy. However, I did have gripes with some of the tropey writing which I felt were a bit old and overused. But otherwise it was still fine as a lighthearted watch.