Sunday, September 2, 2007

Review: Kurosagi


Summary
Alternative Title: クロサギ, The Black Swindler
Genre: Police, Crime, Romance
Episodes: 11
Broadcast: Apr-Jun 2006
Starring: Yamashita Tomohisa as Kurosaki/Kurosagi, Horikita Maki as Yoshikawa Tsurara

Kurosagi is about a young man named Kurosaki who had his family destroyed by swindlers (con artists). When Kurosaki grows up, he becomes a swindler named Kurosagi, so that he can avenge his family. Ever since his family was destroyed by swindlers, Kurosagi swindles other con artists and returns the money to the victim.

Kurosagi's life changes when a law student name Yoshikawa moves into the same apartment. Yoshikawa soon finds out about Kurosagi's illegal activities. She immediately disapproves of his actions, but how will she convince him to give up?

Review
Kurosagi is a bit different then most other J-dramas. Most dramas focus on one main plot, but in Kurosagi, every episode has a completely different story. In other words, every episodes has a different main plot and the sub-plot for every episode is about Yoshikawa's attempt to stop Kurosagi's swindling. This causes most episodes to be quite boring and sometimes even confusing.

Most of the episodes basically go like this: a swindling victim comes to Kurosagi for help...Kurosagi goes to apartment to put on disguise....Kurosagi meets up with the swindler....after talking, Kurosagi successfully swindles the culprit...Kurosagi calls the police...police arrest swindler...the victims get their cash back and everyone's happy!

The only thing that wasn't boring about Kurosagi is the sub-plot about Yoshikawa. This drama only touches on the sub-plot for only about ten minutes at the end of every episode. I wish there was more of a balance between the different swindling jobs and the Yoshikawa sub-plot.


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Pros

  • Sub-plot about Yoshikawa trying to stop Kurusagi's swindling
  • Yamashita Tomohisa!!!!! >//< (That one was for the females)
  • Horikita Maki plays her character very well
Cons
  • Every episode has a different main plot
  • Every episode is dominated by Kurosagi on a swindling job
  • Sub-plot about Yoshikawa only takes up a small portion of each episode
  • Ending was a cliffhanger
  • Some scenes had way too much coincidence
?Perplexing?: How come every time the police arrest one swindler, they have to use like a hundred police officers?

Recommendation
Watch Kurosagi is you absolutely love Yamashita Tomohisa (I know that many girls do) or crime dramas.

Rating: 7.5/10