Saiai

This ten part Japanese series opens in 2006. Rio is living in a rural area with her father and younger half-brother, Yu. Yu has a condition which means he suffers from amnesia if he gets overly stressed but one day it is Rio who wakes with no memory of what happened the night before... the same night a boy who we saw visiting her home has disappeared. Shortly afterwards events lead to her moving to her mother's in Tokyo. Here she goes to university and joins her mother's company where she is determined to find a cure for her brother's condition. By 2021 she has risen to be the CEO of the company and is close to finding that cure. However things get complicated for her when the father of the missing boy confronts her... shortly afterwards he is murdered leaving her as one of the suspects. Things are further complicated by the fact that the policeman investigating the case is Daiki Miyazaki, a friend of Rio's who she hadn't seen since moving to Tokyo. There are also internal company politics to deal with.

I thought this was an enjoyable series. It effectively set up a mystery and gradually answered various questions and putting forward suspects for more than one crime, I liked to main characters, especially Rio and Daiki and Kase, Rio's lawyer who is somewhat a father figure for her. The mystery elements kept me interested from start to finish. Locations used are impressive; especially Rio's rural home... it could have been selected by the Japanese tourist board it is so beautiful. The cast does a fine job; this includes both those playing our protagonists and those playing more unlikeable characters. By the end there were some good twists and turns; some providing a real surprise. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of Japanese drama series.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

I thought the overall premise and the main storyline for this series was decent, but it could easily have been told in 6 episodes rather than 10. Episodes 6-9 in particular seemed to drag a little bit, and in some parts the story seemed to be going around in circles.

The side storyline around the misappropriation of funds also seemed to be a little bit unnecessary when the main murder plot lines are the ones which will keep your interest the most.

The end of the series leaves a satisfactory conclusion with all of the storylines wrapped up, but it would have been good to have got there a little bit quicker!

This is the first Japanese series I am able to finish. This is due to the fact that it has the base I prefer, a murder mystery and who did it.

The second side of the series is Romance and overly dramatic moments, which is something I didn't like because I don't like these things.

Hence, if you can live with this mixture or you are one of those who skip scenes then you will enjoy this mystery show for sure.

I can't decide whether I like this Drama or not. I'm not even sure of what I want to say.

Let me just give you the good points: Great characters (a few I found pointless) The two main characters go through so much that all you want is for them to finally have their moment and kiss. Daiki is my favourite 😍, I can easilyfall for a man like him. Rio gets on my nerves with her "inocente" attitude.

Great story (a few confusing moments but in all it holds it's ground).

The main actors play their part to perfection. Unfortunatelly i haven't had the pleasure of seeing Kohei Matsushita in an other Drama (error to be corrected).

I liked it but not loved it. My rating was more because of the actors.

This series is well shot and the storyline is quite interesting. Unfortunately, it suffers from the weakness of its too main characters. The main male character is flat and robotic; he doesn't seem to have any emotions and the minimal dialogue that he is given does not help to thicken up his personality. As for the main female character, she is fine as a student at the beginning of the show, but her acting and general attitude remains the same 15 years later when she is supposed to have become the CEO of a large pharmaceutical company. She lack an edge and is too meek and subdued to be believable in such a high profile executive role. I finished the series since it was quite short (10 episodes) but I don't believe I have kept going had it been longer.