BORDER (Japanese Drama) #watched

I had watched this series a while back (9 eps in Season 1), fresh off my supernatural kick with the South Korean "The Master's Sun" (on local television / dubbed in Chinese), whereby both protagonists possess the near same ability: To be able to see and talk to the dead / deceased. In BORDERS, it serves as a boon, as the main character is a homicide detective, and is able to gather hints which lead to the victims' killers … but at the same time, DUDE, HE MEETS THE DECEASED AT THE CRIME SCENES HE VISITS! lol

It was all fun and exciting the first few eps, then it became somewhat of a procedural with an expected twist, and the underlying subplot driving the entire series came to a dull end. Or perhaps most of the story tropes have been employed by Western media so often, I'd become jaded? Nevertheless, as much as I really enjoyed this series, I don't know how they could move forward with a second season and not have it become stale, like a rotting corpse lol


But there is something about watching a series in their original language (in this case it's in "Japanese") and even more heightened a drama when it is television versus a (perhaps) smoother "film audio", that provides it with more character than dubbed series … of course reading the English subs are distracting, but that's par for course :)

I was also drawn to this series because of actor Oguri Shun, whom I remembered in CROWS ZERO - he played "Genki" (loved them! 1 & 2 anyways :p) and subsequently seeing him in "Lupin The Third". No doubt it's the make-up, but he looks pretty "harsh" in this series tho, and that is somewhat appealing to the story, methinks.

I am having a hard time tracking down video footage for this show on youtube, so instead will leave you with this opening sequence of the series where he essentially describes his past leading up to the ability to see dead people, but alas with no English subs;

DESCRIPTION: "Ishikawa Ango (Oguri Shun) is a detective with smarts and a keen sense of observation. He's in a great physical shape and also highly ambitious. Ango also only focuses on his work and his personal life is pretty much non-existent. One day, a former police officer is killed by a gun shot. Ango goes to the scene of the crime, but is shot in the head by the killer who is lurking at the crime scene. Ango hovers between life and death. At that time, he thinks to himself "where do people go after they die?" and then "I don't want to die." A miracle then happens. Ango survives with the bullet still lodged in his head. He goes back to work. A new murder case takes place. When Ango goes to the crime scene he notices a boy who looks like he is about to cry, but only Ango is able to see the boy. The boy is the one who was killed. Since Ango was shot, he can now see and talk with the dead." (www.gooddrama.net)


Theme song: evils fall by MAN WITH A MISSION
Title: ボーダー
Title (romaji): BORDER
Format: Renzoku
Genre: Mystery, suspense
Episodes: 9
Viewership rating: 12.2%
Broadcast network: TV Asahi
Broadcast period: 2014-Apr-10 to 2014-Jun-05
Air time: Thursday 21:00
(wiki.d-addicts.com)