Tuesday, October 8, 2013

KAGI NO KAKATTA HEYA (鍵のかかった部屋)

















Spring 2012

Kagi no Kakatta Heya (Locked Rooms) is a drama about a well known lawyer named Gou Serizawa (Koichi Sato) and his new assistant, Junko Aoto (Erika Toda) who inadvertently meets Kei Enomoto (Satoshi Ohno) who is an eccentric security expert working for a security firm in Tokyo. Serizawa is a corporate lawyer and only cares about the bottom line and his image, but Aoto works towards seeking justice. The lawyers end up becoming involved in a locked room case in which they hire Enomoto to help them determine whether the case involved a murder or suicide. Enomoto is not interested in any crimes, but is curiously drawn to the locked room as he believes he can unlock its secrets. Gradually, the group takes on similar cases as more locked room scenarios come to light.

Recommendation:

First of all, this drama wasn't great, but it was good. Every episode involved a new locked room case besides the last two episodes. The fun part of this drama was figuring out how the criminals hid their true intentions in these locked rooms. It isn't a drama specifically geared toward finding the culprit because there is enough foreshadowing, that I basically knew who the criminal was in almost every episode before the locked rooms cases were solved. The cast was pretty good and it was the first time I saw Satoshi Ohno act and I think he did a good job playing an introverted and insightful character. Koichi Sato and Erika Toda also did a good job in their respective roles. This is not a bad drama in any sense, but it also lacks certain qualities, mainly character development, to make it a very good drama. Despite the drama involving crimes, it is quite upbeat and has its humorous moments.

Spoiler alert: Although it was fun to watch, I think a lot of these types of dramas lack in character development. I guess it can't be helped because it is really just focused on solving cases, but I wish I could feel like I cared more about these characters. Sometimes it seemed like both lawyers were (almost) useless despite their hard work and research (mostly done by Junko Aoto). Enomoto basically solves every case and it just lacks in background information on all three main characters. Why is Enomoto so good at what he does? Why did he end up working for a security firm? What drove Junko Aoto to feel so strongly about seeking justice and why is Serizawa a photogenic money loving corporate lawyer? I think if they answered some of these questions throughout the series I would have loved it. I have to say the twist in the end wasn't bad, but I still wish we knew more about these characters. I know there will be a special episode coming out soon, so yes, you will hear the phrase, "mishitsu wa yaburemashita" (the locked room has been solved) one more time.

Story: 1.0
Acting: 1.0
Directing: 1.0
Character Development: 0.5
Emotional Factor: 0.5

4.0 Out Of 5.0 Crowns

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