Keigo Higashino Mystery show episode one synopsis and review

  Quick look here at a new summer drama, the Keigo Higashino Mystery Show which started airing on July 5th and will run for 11 episodes with a different cast for every show though they are all hosted by the same person, Kiichi Nakai.

  Rena Tanaka plays Mochizuka, a 30 year old archer who was aiming for a spot on the Olympic team but fell just a tad short of making the team. Some months after that which is where the story started, Mochizuka ended up committing suicide in a very elaborate way with a timer and some sort of device which she taped and left a message for all on it too. At first the police didn't think it could be anything as but a suicide but through the diligent efforts of the detective Suzuki there were some questions about the video tape she left for she had tried to kill herself a year before, she of course failed then but had also left a tape for that attempt.

  The detective noticed many similarities between the two video tapes which led him to suspect her long time coach Ishigami(Karasawa) but he always had the right answer or alibi for everything. Many strange events happened along the way such as Ishigama's wife being attacked by Mochizuka's ex-stalker who no one knew about until this attack but investigating this person opened the door for many other unknown clues which came out. Gonna make this short and tidy but comparing the two video tapes is how the crime was solved because there was no tape from a year ago, Mochizuka had figured her coach was going to kill her in a very ingenious way which he did so she had made 2 days up just prior to her death but made it look on the surface that one tape was older and the other one a new message for her suicide. Eventually with the clues the tapes revealed Ishigama ended up confessing to the murder, it really took much effort and ingenuity by the police to solve the case as this was one elaborate murder that happened!

  Sorry if it was too short of a review but you have the basic plot of the show and it was a real good one too, many twists in the plot and such an interesting story that kept me glued to the screen for the entire duration of the show. Whole cast was solid but Rena stood out, one of her better roles as of late as she played a sweet yet disturbed woman, one really didn't know what to think of her. Would highly recommend this first episode, very interesting story that was well acted with a good pace to it, kept the review a bit brief for if you get the chance to watch you should, didn't want to spoil it too bad for you. Not going to look at every episode, second I won't review but this week's show stars Nao Matsushita so there will be a few posts on that show hopefully next week. Check out the next post for many screenshots of Rena from this show.

Title of this episode was 'Sayonara Coach'.

Cast:
Rena Tanaka as Naomi Mochizuka
Toshiaki Karasawa as Junichi Ishigami
Tokuma Nishioka as Kazuma Suzuki
Naho Toda as Yoko Ishigami

Rena Tanaka: Keigo Higashino Mystery show episode 1 screenshots

Here are the screenshots of Rena from the first episode of the Keigo Higashino Mystery show, really liked her semi-wacked out character, also have more Rena posts and pics coming up as I'm about to start another 2012 drama from her called Renai Kentei. Pics are in order as the show ran, much jumping back and forth in time showing us what led up to the main event.

Tripping- Japanese-Taiwanese movie review

 Synopsis: Shaodea is a Japanese girl, living in Taipei with her father. He moved to Taiwan with his wife to start a Chinese herbal medicine shop. Ever since her mother died, Shaodea wants to return to Japan, but her father refuses to give up his dream. One day, after an argument with him, Shaodea goes out with her friends. While breaking in into a museum, the girl is transported back in time to feudal Taiwan. Thinking she’s on a movie set, the girl gets involved in a bank robbery and soon has to run from the authorities. She teams up with Haishon, an attractive young man who became a thief to save the economic crisis of his hometown. Together with a Tao-master, who is transporting 2 zombies back to their ancestral lands, they set off on a fantastic adventure.

 Most films one would not consider to ne masterpieces nor must watches, Tripping is another movie which falls into those categories but it's not to say it's not a fun watch because it is. Rena plays Shaoeda, a Japanese girl living in Taiwan, one who yearns to be back in Japan unlike her father played by the always solid Ren Osugi. As noted in the synopsis above, that's what the film is basically about, really thin on a plot but it ended up being an enjoyable watch, if you just want to be entertained and like sword fights and mystical characters then this would be right up your alley and would recommend it.

 Rena always does well in her roles whether it's a drama or film, problem is she hasn't been in many really good ones, actually most would be subpar except her acting, looks and charisma bring them up a notch or so and make them worthwhile watches, if there's any film though that is close to a must watch is 10 Promises to my Dog which I'll be posting about after another rewatch.

 Not going to drag out the review for this film, really is a simplistic film plot wise but if you're a Rena fan it's one that you shouldn't miss, she's in almost every scene and really makes a less than stellar film one that's an enjoyable time killer. Besides Osugi didn't know any of the other cast, they are Taiwanese actors, don't know how popular they are but the other big star of the film Bo-lin Chen appears to be quite popular in his home country. Final rating of this would be a 7.5/10, so many better films out there but Rena as usual is a pleasure to watch, gonna hunt down a few others of hers to hopefully find a real winner, A Day on the Planet is supposed to be a real winner so that'll be coming up on my view list and hopefully can come back with a good review for it, post below this one has many screenshots of Rena from the film.

Cast: Rena Tanaka, Ren Osugi, Bo-lin Chen, Jimmy Hung, Lichun Lee
Year: 2006   Running time: 102 minutes   Director/writer: Yiwen Chen