At first, all I knew about this drama was that it was a mystery detective type. I thought that it was like the usual Japanese detective drama that had different case in each episode. But this one was different, it is a series of cases intertwined. Also, I didn't even know the meaning of the title until the ending of the last episode. In short, I didn't have any expectation in this drama.

Let me start with the with the very first hour long episode. Everything that the director wanted to make the viewers feel, think and see was there. The mystery and creepy psychological genre that the Japan drama/anime are good at were properly executed. There were foreshadowing which made you wonder and be curious. It was a brilliantly made. Just by watching the first episode you already know where the story is going. It was a really good introduction for us audiences. I was even surprised by the ending when they made the the "family suicide" beautiful.

Now let's tackle the plot line. As I have said before it was a long interconnected cases, a chain of family suicide cases. The drama was not particular in the critical way of detectives investigating the case. It was obvious that something was up but only few of the police department realized that something doesn't make sense. There were some clues that are obvious for detectives to be suspicious about. For example, the note of the child who are part of the "family suicide", it was obvious that all of the notes were written in illegibly. What I mean is that it was written in a way that the person is in a great tension. If someone wants to write a will before you die with a lovely note saying how you love life or your family, you would not write it with much tension. (This is just an opinion and observation) There were still other things I've observed but it would make this review very long.

My point is that the focus of this drama is not solving for criminal cases but to point out the psychological events that is happening in real life that society does not understand. The very core story of this drama was to show society how people are broken and how a family setting has to do with it. After all, our values are mostly decided, for most of us, on what occurs within our family. In which it was shown in the drama. Adding the detective, mystery and creepy techniques, it made the drama even more beautiful. The plot in general was properly and orderly well though. You can see how the events turned out and was going into a direction. The script writers surely know where they were going with the story. You can see how they slowly adjusted the suspect of the audience shifted from one person to another. They slowly revealed the real one from minimal foreshadowing until they explicitly revealed everything. I commend the script writers for the story.

Next to review are the actors. I was not convinced by the acting skills for most of the actors. Don't get it wrong. I'm not saying they were bad, I just was not convinced all throughout by the way they act. Although I think I know how the director/ producer or whoever choose these actors. They choose each of them because they looked and were naturally similar to their characters. To make you understand more I'll give you an example. Mamihara-san's character was a tough detective who is violent at times but very warm to kenji-san. The actor Endo Kenichi, without knowing him well in person you would already get that kind of vibes from him - a powerful tough guy who could be violent but is looks noble at the same time. It was similar to the other actors as well. To put it simply, the director choose these actors based on who is similar to the character not just the way they act but as who they are. It was not an accidental hiring of actors to whoever is good in crying or good is making psychological creepy expressions.


A mystery psychological drama without proper music will give you less thrill but this was not the case for kazukogari. The music production was great. 'nuff said about that. Anyone who watched this drama would realize it. I like their OST song especially when t was first played at the ending of the first episode. It really created the mood.

This drama has twists and turns and for you to fully analyze and understand it you'll surely enjoy watching it again. I can see myself in the future watching it and probably realizing new things that I didn't the first time I watched it. This drama always have underlying meaning and I want to fully grasp it. The only way is to watch it again. I think I would till enjoy it probably not as much thrill compared to the first but I have to say it is still re-watchable.

If you have persistently read this review of mine up until now. Congratulations! This is the first drama review I made. For some reason I was not lazy. I'll give you the heads up: NOT EVERYONE CAN FULLY UNDERSTAND PR COMPLETELY ENJOY THIS DRAMA. Those who are veteran in watching series and who loves psychological mystery dramas would surely enjoy this. I don't want you to expect much in this drama, you might get disappointed. Just watch and enjoy the thrill ride. I hope you would also appreciate some underlying meaning in this drama that are shown subtly. I love how you can see that even though those emotionally scarred or in despair people were harming others, it was because each and everyone of them cannot stand loneliness. Their hearts was searching and seeking for something that they couldn't find. I don't want to give an example or else I might give spoilers. I hope you enjoy kazokugari. It is a pyschological thriller that you do not want to miss!!!!

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