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Before Keizoku 2: SPEC, there was Keizoku. Before Toma and Sebumi, there was Shibata and Mayama. And before Tsuda we had Asakura (or did we?), along with a host of lovable characters who made up the original Unsolved Cases team, including the one obvious link between the two shows, Nonomura.
The question is: do you need to watch Keizoku to watch SPEC? No, you don't. Not really, although there are places where they cross, deliberately or not. But should you watch Keizoku? Yes, yes you should.
Picspam? Let's do it.
Keizoku originally aired in 1999 for one season of eleven episodes. It was followed up by a SP episode and a film, Beautiful Dreamer, in 2000. All three are from the hand of director Tsutsumi Yukihiko, the man responsible for Trick, Ikebukuro West Gate Park and SPEC.
...needless to say, I was programmed to love it, from the director alone.
Our leading lady, Shibata Jun (Nakatani Miki).
She's a perpetually late, genius Tokyo University graduate who follows in her dead father's footsteps and begins work at the Metropolitan Police's Unsolved Crimes unit.
Like any genius, she's eccentric to the point of having little to no social skills - so much so, she'll often butt into conversations on the bus like it ain't no thang, before solving mathematical impossibilities and hacking the Pentagon. All before breakfast, natch.
She's pretty great. Oh, and can solve any shit you put in front of her, before wandering off to learn some new sex tips and/or read too much into her horoscope. Sounds like she needs a stoic partner with a secret, right?
Our leading man, Mayama Tôru (Watabe Atsuro).
He's a barely interested, phoning-it-in detective with the Unsolved Crimes unit that would love you to think that, out of all the fucks give in the universe, he's responsible for none.
I mean, seriously. You can't expect him to pay attention to work when he's the holder of a big ol' life-destroying sekrit obsession, right?
Seven years earlier, Mayama's sister was brutally gang raped by a group of schoolboys who not only dumped her on the side of the river for the police, they taped the whole thing. Yep.
To say it's fucked him up? Understatement.
His life is consumed with bringing the man he believes was the gang leader to justice, with every moment he's not at work spent monitoring and surveilling Asakura from a dingy apartment and creepin' in a lot of bushes.
"Who's Asakura?" you ask. Ladies and gentlemen, your bad guy for this evening! But more - so much more - of him later.
This is Kido Aya (Suzuki Sarina). She's a brassy ex-hostess/once-a-detective who now works as an administrator.
Her main interests are men, clothes, not doing work if she can help it, men and partying. Preferably with men.
Aya's one of those characters you could easily dismiss as the Sassy Friend to the Eccentric Genius - which she is, for a good chunk of the show - but keep your eye on her. The words "secret bad-ass" will soon be relevant.
It's also worth mentioning that the Aya/Shibata relationship is fantastically realised. They're refreshing in that they're both there for each other - they're each other's champions (as they're two women in a very male orientated world), without having a bloke get between them. Well, for the most part. More on that later, too.
This is Madarame. I'm not saying he's relevant to Aya's interests, but you best be keepin' your eyes on his little thuggish face.
You're familiar with Nonomura. His thing for young girls named Miyabi isn't a new thing.
Another familiar face, and a familiar jar. What is empty was once full, and it may be worth Toma and Sebumi tippin' those crackers out one day, just to see what may fall out. [/vague]
Our team. More sekrits in this gang that you can poke a stick at.
Still, they come together to provide Scooby-Dooesque crime fighting LOLZ, in more ways than one.
And you'll love them all to death. Even in death, if I could be so forwardly spoilery. (It's not a spoiler if I don't say who, right?)
(You should maybe keep an eye on this bloke, too. Just while you're DOUBTING EVERYONE LIKE YOU SHOULD BE.)
For the most part, Keizoku appears as a standard procedural - albeit one that's sprinkled with colourful Baddies of the Week and heightened by Tsutsumi Yukihiko's distinct directing style.
As always, he manages to make the show quirky and, in a lot of places, visually stunning.
It helps anchor Shibata's unorthodox style of police work, which in lesser hands could have come across as grating and annoying. Tsutsumi's direction helps to make sense of her and the world we're buying into - something he's amazing at.
It's at about the halfway mark where we being to see that, like a lot of the characters we are growing to love, there's a little more to Keizoku than meets the eye. Things begin to build up, and, refreshingly, we get to see our leads crumble under the pressure of their lives being infiltrated by something they weren't expecting.
Because, unlike SPEC, we're lead to believe that it's not a supernatural themed show - until it is.
The things you're expecting never arrive, and instead you're left with a mindfuck, a vendetta, a loss of innocence and the discovery of a whole other TV show.
It all comes back to Mayama, and his sister's death. I was surprised at how interesting I found Mayama - unlike most male protagonists, he wasn't The Big Dumb Hero, or the Knight in Shining Armour. He's dirty, unkempt, morally dubious and acted the shit out of by Watabe Atsuro.
Red sheep and secrets - if you're looking for answers in the series, I'd probably set yourself up for disappointment.
Because at the point where it becomes almost surrealist? You'll be thanking the TV Gods for the fact you didn't watch this ten years ago, when there was absolutely no chance you'd get another look into this world until 2010.
And how it ties into SPEC? Well. I'll put the EMOTIONAL WTF ROLLERCOASTER that is the SP and the film in another post because there's no way I'm touching that word vomit inducing journey unless it's in full, crazy fangirl detail. (Trust me.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sainomadelaine and I have been trying to work out the connections and oh-me-oh-my, we could be here forever.)
In conclusion, there's something else I need to address.
Something major. Something intrinsic to the show as a whole.
...something I kind of love a lot. What is that, again?
PARTNERZ
The OTP that is Mayama/Shibata. Her hair smells, he's an unhinged jerk.
She's Holmes, he's Watson.
She's loyal and he's lost.
She's holding on to a dream and he's barely stringing insanity along.
It's inevitable, and it's wonderful. Keizoku is as much Mayama's story as SPEC is Toma's. And, like Toma has - and needs - her Sebumi, Mayama has - and needs - his Shibata.
(YES THEY'RE KISSING. NO CONTEXT BECAUSE SPOILERS BUT STILL. This cap alone is why you should watch Keizoku.)
Well, and these guys.
And Mayama's face.I don't have a big crush on him I don't know what you're saying LJ WHAT
To sum up - this, basically. You'll laugh, you'll groan, you'll marvel at the 1990's technology and you'll wonder what the hell you did before you had the Keizoku Universe to pour over and WTF THIS SHOW WATCH IT NOW.
Tomorrow: The Mindfuck that is the SP and Beautiful Dreamer! Shit will get real. ABBA will be played. Your head will hurt but it'll hurt so good.
In other Team Keizoku news,sainomadelaine is magnificent by letting me know SPEC fic in English (finally) exists:
'Miso Flavor Boiled Dumplings with Worcester Sauce' bywarmboys
I can't even. So good. So good.
The question is: do you need to watch Keizoku to watch SPEC? No, you don't. Not really, although there are places where they cross, deliberately or not. But should you watch Keizoku? Yes, yes you should.
Picspam? Let's do it.
Keizoku originally aired in 1999 for one season of eleven episodes. It was followed up by a SP episode and a film, Beautiful Dreamer, in 2000. All three are from the hand of director Tsutsumi Yukihiko, the man responsible for Trick, Ikebukuro West Gate Park and SPEC.
...needless to say, I was programmed to love it, from the director alone.
Our leading lady, Shibata Jun (Nakatani Miki).
She's a perpetually late, genius Tokyo University graduate who follows in her dead father's footsteps and begins work at the Metropolitan Police's Unsolved Crimes unit.
Like any genius, she's eccentric to the point of having little to no social skills - so much so, she'll often butt into conversations on the bus like it ain't no thang, before solving mathematical impossibilities and hacking the Pentagon. All before breakfast, natch.
She's pretty great. Oh, and can solve any shit you put in front of her, before wandering off to learn some new sex tips and/or read too much into her horoscope. Sounds like she needs a stoic partner with a secret, right?
Our leading man, Mayama Tôru (Watabe Atsuro).
He's a barely interested, phoning-it-in detective with the Unsolved Crimes unit that would love you to think that, out of all the fucks give in the universe, he's responsible for none.
I mean, seriously. You can't expect him to pay attention to work when he's the holder of a big ol' life-destroying sekrit obsession, right?
Seven years earlier, Mayama's sister was brutally gang raped by a group of schoolboys who not only dumped her on the side of the river for the police, they taped the whole thing. Yep.
To say it's fucked him up? Understatement.
His life is consumed with bringing the man he believes was the gang leader to justice, with every moment he's not at work spent monitoring and surveilling Asakura from a dingy apartment and creepin' in a lot of bushes.
"Who's Asakura?" you ask. Ladies and gentlemen, your bad guy for this evening! But more - so much more - of him later.
This is Kido Aya (Suzuki Sarina). She's a brassy ex-hostess/once-a-detective who now works as an administrator.
Her main interests are men, clothes, not doing work if she can help it, men and partying. Preferably with men.
Aya's one of those characters you could easily dismiss as the Sassy Friend to the Eccentric Genius - which she is, for a good chunk of the show - but keep your eye on her. The words "secret bad-ass" will soon be relevant.
It's also worth mentioning that the Aya/Shibata relationship is fantastically realised. They're refreshing in that they're both there for each other - they're each other's champions (as they're two women in a very male orientated world), without having a bloke get between them. Well, for the most part. More on that later, too.
This is Madarame. I'm not saying he's relevant to Aya's interests, but you best be keepin' your eyes on his little thuggish face.
You're familiar with Nonomura. His thing for young girls named Miyabi isn't a new thing.
Another familiar face, and a familiar jar. What is empty was once full, and it may be worth Toma and Sebumi tippin' those crackers out one day, just to see what may fall out. [/vague]
Our team. More sekrits in this gang that you can poke a stick at.
Still, they come together to provide Scooby-Dooesque crime fighting LOLZ, in more ways than one.
And you'll love them all to death. Even in death, if I could be so forwardly spoilery. (It's not a spoiler if I don't say who, right?)
(You should maybe keep an eye on this bloke, too. Just while you're DOUBTING EVERYONE LIKE YOU SHOULD BE.)
For the most part, Keizoku appears as a standard procedural - albeit one that's sprinkled with colourful Baddies of the Week and heightened by Tsutsumi Yukihiko's distinct directing style.
As always, he manages to make the show quirky and, in a lot of places, visually stunning.
It helps anchor Shibata's unorthodox style of police work, which in lesser hands could have come across as grating and annoying. Tsutsumi's direction helps to make sense of her and the world we're buying into - something he's amazing at.
It's at about the halfway mark where we being to see that, like a lot of the characters we are growing to love, there's a little more to Keizoku than meets the eye. Things begin to build up, and, refreshingly, we get to see our leads crumble under the pressure of their lives being infiltrated by something they weren't expecting.
Because, unlike SPEC, we're lead to believe that it's not a supernatural themed show - until it is.
The things you're expecting never arrive, and instead you're left with a mindfuck, a vendetta, a loss of innocence and the discovery of a whole other TV show.
It all comes back to Mayama, and his sister's death. I was surprised at how interesting I found Mayama - unlike most male protagonists, he wasn't The Big Dumb Hero, or the Knight in Shining Armour. He's dirty, unkempt, morally dubious and acted the shit out of by Watabe Atsuro.
Red sheep and secrets - if you're looking for answers in the series, I'd probably set yourself up for disappointment.
Because at the point where it becomes almost surrealist? You'll be thanking the TV Gods for the fact you didn't watch this ten years ago, when there was absolutely no chance you'd get another look into this world until 2010.
And how it ties into SPEC? Well. I'll put the EMOTIONAL WTF ROLLERCOASTER that is the SP and the film in another post because there's no way I'm touching that word vomit inducing journey unless it's in full, crazy fangirl detail. (Trust me.
sainomadelaine and I have been trying to work out the connections and oh-me-oh-my, we could be here forever.)In conclusion, there's something else I need to address.
Something major. Something intrinsic to the show as a whole.
...something I kind of love a lot. What is that, again?
PARTNERZ
The OTP that is Mayama/Shibata. Her hair smells, he's an unhinged jerk.
She's Holmes, he's Watson.
She's loyal and he's lost.
She's holding on to a dream and he's barely stringing insanity along.
It's inevitable, and it's wonderful. Keizoku is as much Mayama's story as SPEC is Toma's. And, like Toma has - and needs - her Sebumi, Mayama has - and needs - his Shibata.
(YES THEY'RE KISSING. NO CONTEXT BECAUSE SPOILERS BUT STILL. This cap alone is why you should watch Keizoku.)
Well, and these guys.
And Mayama's face.
To sum up - this, basically. You'll laugh, you'll groan, you'll marvel at the 1990's technology and you'll wonder what the hell you did before you had the Keizoku Universe to pour over and WTF THIS SHOW WATCH IT NOW.
Tomorrow: The Mindfuck that is the SP and Beautiful Dreamer! Shit will get real. ABBA will be played. Your head will hurt but it'll hurt so good.
In other Team Keizoku news,
sainomadelaine is magnificent by letting me know SPEC fic in English (finally) exists:'Miso Flavor Boiled Dumplings with Worcester Sauce' by
warmboysI can't even. So good. So good.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
just let me finish two more weeks at uni and THEN I WILL DOWNLOAD THIS THING AND ROLL ALL AROUND IN IT BECAUSE IT LOOKS DELIGHTFUL
just a squillion assessments between now and then yay!
(no but really, i'm looking forward to this.)
ALSO FIC AHHHHHHH
From:
no subject
I am the winnar. :D
I'll even come up to your fine state and write your assignments for you if it means you start watching sooner.
OMG FIC I MAY HAVE LET OUT A NOISE NOT BEFITTING A WOMAN OF MY AGE
From:
no subject
i might take you up on that, because BLAR REPORT WRITING BLAR.
i have a billion fic fragments that might one day be a cohesive whole. in a couple of weeks maybe? in time for christmas, at least.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
Don't get put off by Mayama's sister's story - it's not really explored, if that makes sense, but is still a big part of the plot? And you have to overlook the 1999-ness of it (oh god the computers) and just love the chemistry. It's really an excellent show on it's own merits, but made better because it's a part of the SPEC universe.
...I'm now getting Vampire Gigolo, because as if I can turn that down. COME ON.
From:
no subject