Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo 2014 SP Review

Title: Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo Gokumon junku Satsujin Jiken

AKA: Kindaichi Boy’s Accident Files 2014 SP / The Files of Young Kindaichi 2014 SP

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Broadcast date: 2014 January 12

Cast: Yamada Ryosuke, Narimiya Hiroki, Kitamura Kazuki, Kawaguchi Haruna, Daiki Arioka and Wu Chun.

The special continues after the Shanghai story.

Kindaichi Hajime (Yamada Ryosuke) is forced to go to a well-known cramming school in Tokyo called Gokumon, famous for providing results immediately. He is taken by his two friends Nanase Miyuki (Kawaguchi Haruna) and Saki Ryuji (Daiki Arioka) who are afraid that Hajime might not continue till graduation with his grades. Arriving at the school they are met with a scream and find a dead body. When the police arrive they are surprised about how indifferent the fellow students are. Shortly after Lee Byron (Wu Chun) pops up and shows Hajime a letter he had gotten from a man calling himself “Puppet Player from Hell”, and explains him that his sister pointed him and as the mastermind behind the murders that happened in Shanghai.

As he is reading the letter he spots a man doing a magic trick and vanishes. Running after the man, Hajime and his friends are led to a warehouse where a message of a challenge is waiting for him…

Okay, yes I am a bit obsessed with these dramas, by these I mean classic, but they are really good. And this special is also pretty good, considering the scale they go through. This time it is Malaysia, and they really go there, which is nuts, but compared to the Shanghai special, this one is a bit more believable - and I sort of knew some of the trick. I am surprised that the Japanese aren’t tired of the same tricks over and over again.

Besides Wu Chun being a bit weird actor, the rest are really good, and the special appearance from Nickhun made me laugh out loud, but even though he didn’t really say anything (not that I remember anyway) his acting was better than Mr. Chun.  

So… to watch, not to watch? If you have watched the other you should, and even if you didn’t it’s still great :)

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts

Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo 2013 SP Review

Title: Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo Hong Kong Kowloon Zaiho Satsujin Jiken

AKA: Kindaichi Boy’s Accident Files 2013 SP / The Files of Young Kindaichi 2013 SP

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Broadcast date: 2013 January 12

Cast: Yamada Ryosuke, Kawaguchi Haruna, Arioka Daiki, Seung Ri, Wu Chun, Kiritani Kenta, Vivian Tsu and Komatsu Takuya.

This is the story renewed once again with a different cast and storyline.

Kindaichi Hajime (Yamada Ryosuke) together with his friends Nanase Miyuki (Kawaguchi Haruna) and Saki Ryuji (Arioka Daiki) travel to Hong King when Miyuki gets chosen as a stand in for a model that refused in the last minute. Arriving in Hong Kong they are excited to sightsee, but it is not long lived as Miyuki gets kidnapped. While running after the kidnapper they end up in a ruin which has been made into a park, and they meet Yang Lan (Kawaguchi Haruna) who looks exatly alike Miyuki. They find out that she is the model that had refused, but for some reason was worried about Miyuki since people where after her. Hajime decides to take her to the model contest and make her pose as Miyuki so that they might be able to find the kidnapper.

At the contest they meet waiter Kim Yong Dong (Seung Ri), police officer Li Bai Long (Wu Chun), talent searcher Takigawa Ryuta (Kirirtani Kenta) who found Miyuki, designer Ivy Liu (Vivian), and Xin Li (Komatsu Takuya).

While dining a man at their table dies after drinking champagne which was poured by Yong Dong, and he immediately gets suspected for murder, but that’s when Hajime steps in…

Oh man, no matter which year these are, the mysteries are all just as weird. And the way they are made are just as messed up, and practically impossible if it were a real crime. Or that is what I think, but I guess that is what makes it interesting for viewer. Yamada is okay as Hajime, I sort of was not expecting him to be as good as he is, but I think he did a good job making everyone believe he is Hajime. The rest of the cast is great as well, though I really felt it was weird having the Chinese cast in a Japanese drama, but also some of the acting was really bad. It might have something to do with the script, but I was face palming myself almost all of the time.

The story was good, but had a lot of bad points which made me pretty bored most of the time.

All in all it is good if you are a fan of the actors, but don’t expect anything grand…

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥ / 3 out of 5 hearts