Kaleidoscope Universe

So after so long we're getting a new Kindaichi drama with Michieda Shunsuke as the 5th gen Kindaichi. That means, I might as well made an additional post based on the comparison post that I used to make of the last 4 series of Kindaichi dramas. That said, I'm considering to revisit the older Kindaichi series just because. I'd make a proper review of Kindaichi 5 later once the last episode was released. 

So onwards to Micchi's review!

Kindaichi 5th Gen - Michieda Shunsuke 

Pros
- Cutest Kindaichi to date. Have to say that Micchi really won me over, enough for me to raise his ranking to my second fav live action Kindaichi. 
- Likewise, I love Moka's Miyuki as well. After Tomosaka Rie, Kamishiraishi Moka really did carry the character really well. 
- Since Season 5 did remake some of the cases that had appeared in Season 1, of course that meant that Itsuki-san made a comeback after so long!
- Kenmochi-ossan is so cool
- Saki got some upgrades in term of recording equipments
- OST by Kanematsu Shu & Saiki Tatsuhiko with special track by Mitake Akira (Mysterious Mallet 2022)

Cons
- No Akechi again. His part in Kindaichi the Killer case was transferred to Kenmochi-ossan. Drama do seem to hate on Akechi-san, isn't it? I really am thinking that there must be some kind of ban at place against having Akechi appear in the live action.

That said, my ranking on my fav casts playing the main characters slightly got changed. Basically, it can be summed up by this.

Hajime: Domoto Tsuyoshi > Michieda Shunsuke >Yamada Ryosuke > Matsumoto Jun > Kamenashi Kazuya  @ (1>5>4>2>3)

Miyuki: Tomosaka Rie > Kamishiraishi Moka > Kawaguchi Haruna > Anne Suzuki > Ueno Juri @ (1>5>4>2>3)

Kenmochi: Furuoya Masato > Sawamura Ikki > Naitou Takashi > Yamaguchi Tomomitsu > Kato Masaya @ (1>5>2>4>3)

Title: Too Harsh
Series: 내일 / Tomorrow
Characters: Park Joonggil, Gu Ryeon, Jade Empress/Director, Gob-dan
Summary: For quite some time, he had been feeling bitter towards Gu Ryeon. While it might just be his pride, he wanted her to understand what he felt. But now, he wondered if he had been a bit too harsh on her...

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Title: Too Harsh
Series: 내일 / Tomorrow
Characters: Park Joonggil, Gu Ryeon
Summary: For quite some time, he had been feeling bitter towards Gu Ryeon. While it might just be his pride, he wanted her to understand what he felt. But now, he wondered if he had been a bit too harsh on her...

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Title: Rouge
Series: 내일 / Tomorrow
Characters: Park Joonggil, Gu Ryeon
Summary: Even as the thread of fate between them has been severed, there's still something that ties them together.

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Title: Complex
Series: 공부의 신 / Master of Study
Characters: Kang Seokho, Han Sujeong, Hwang Baekhyeon
Summary: His relationship with Hwang Baekhyeon had been complicated since the very beginning.

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Title: The Black Dragon
Series: 군주-가면의 주인 | Ruler - Master of the Mask
Chapter: Brother
Characters: Lee Seon, Lee Chungwoon
Summary: Snippets of the time period Lee Seon was living as a peddler

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Been a while since I've seen Jin Goo in dramas so it's a delight to see him in a new project. I haven't been watching anything with Jin Goo since Descendant of the Sun, so I might as well do it now.

The plot had the feel of Die Hard and 24 with a bit of a serial killer vibe on the side so I thought that this drama would be quite a thrill. Sadly though, the more I'm following each episode the more I feel that the drama was quite a letdown. Casting-wise I do still think that they were doing a good job within the scope of the drama though I have to say that I'm not quite impressed with the writing. In a way, the format of the drama being aired one episode per week may have an effect in lessening the suspense felt after each episode but the writing also did nothing much to improve the whole experience. I doubt even if one was to wait and marathon the episode at one go that it'd make any difference since the writing was THAT ridiculous.

It really felt as if the whole plot was written to be overly complicated unnecessarily just so that drama can have many ridiculous things happen within one whole day. But unfortunately, this was not the case for the drama. Arguably, some of the twists may be quite brilliant if executed properly. A lot of the time, many of the key scenes were poorly timed and choppily edited. And the whole 'superior' thing only really starts to crop up near the end as if the writer just remembered the title of the drama.

Honestly, I'm just watching the drama because of Jin Goo and Ha Dokwon and also because I might as well finish watching the show till the end since I already reached the end. Unless you don't mind feeling frustrated for the entire duration of the drama, you may need to think twice about watching this drama. Unless your faves are in here... maybe.

If you can go back into the past and do things differently, would you do it? That's basically the premise of the story as we're introduced to a couple who married at a young age and later on faced with an unbelievable situation due to a bad misunderstanding. So when a freak incident sent them back into the past, such thing would have been a great miracle.

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Ever since I learned about this series being made, I've been looking forward to it. Not just because the lead was played by Kim Namgil, but also because it's a story about the first profiler in Korea. And I have to say, I really liked it. But since this drama was based on a real person and real cases, safe to say anyone watching the drama need to prepare themselves to revisit some very well known and familiar cases in which a few had already sparked other dramas like Signal. And in particular, the drama would cover some of the most notorious serial murder cases that once loomed over the people of South Korea.

And I have to say, as much as I've yet read the original book, we can already see how important criminal profiling is in solving difficult cases. Especially with the common occurrences of the use of violence to extract confessions, (which was quite a common scene in past dramas that may reference to real life situations in the past) that can lead to some innocent victims being falsely convicted and allowing the real criminal to slip away unscathed. To people who were quite curious to learn how criminal profiling started in South Korea as well about the many criminal cases that once haunted the country which includes some notorious serial murders, this drama was a good one for you to dive in. Though, as much as the drama is based on Kwon Ilyong's book, there would still be some details that may be fictionalised and dramatised to make it more interesting.

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I took quite a bit of time to finish watching this drama but I'm glad that I finally did. This is a sweet and beautiful drama, thanks to Shin Sekyung and Cha Eunwoo and lighthearted enough to be enjoyed while also having some serious bits of plot here and there and at the end. But mind you, as much as the drama was about historians doing their jobs, the setting itself was quite fictional; as in there weren't any such king that have been dethroned in the way depicted in this drama and no female historian were ever established. And while some of the key scenes like the arrival of Christianity to Joseon, the beginning of the vaccination practices of treating small poxes as well as groups taking interest in science were based on real life events, the events didn't actually happen as it's portrayed in the drama. So as long as you're aware of that, you should be able to enjoy this drama as it is.

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