What could I say about BOSS? Police drama and not a disappointment at all. Yet there was so much silliness in it that could make things a tad crazy as well. OKAY, a lot. But anyway, I thought the complexity of the cases–at least most of them–made up for it all. What I found interesting about the cases was how most of the killers were women. I was like, “WHOA!” and didn’t realize the pattern until later when I’m like: “It’s a girl committing the crime again?” No problem though. Kind of a message to not underestimate women OR women could be so psycho too, LOL! Anyway, moving on to other aspects of the drama.
The Team:
- Amami Yuki as Osawa Eriko. What to say about the leader of the team? She was just crazy. Honestly, at first, I thought she would be some really strict boss who would enforce the rule like mad. And in a sense she was with her attempt to lecture the others at one point or another, keeping them in line. But later, she showed traces of craziness/abnormal along with the team members as well. I found the actress very graceful and charming in her performance, convincing us she was quite capable as the boss–though she did have her moments just like the rest of her team. What made her character stand out? Her signature pose at various places, waiting for the real murderer and eating Peanut Butter M&M. Kind of classic for her. Off-work? She was known to get crazy with her alcohol consumption, especially Sake. Made me wonder at times, lol. Still a very interesting character and a good choice for the boss.
- Tamayama Tetsuji as Katagiri Takuma. OMG, he was seriously mad trained and I was like focused on him for the most part at the beginning since he was such a mysterious character. Though he was quite cool at times and could do his job well (with tracking of information and other general paperwork), he had some past demons to conquer. Kind of typical plot with the supposed “cool” guy but I didn’t mind since the way they did it wasn’t boring with some of the details. It was far from boring, complicated to the point of causing a headache even.
- Toda Erika as Kimoto Mami. I watched some of her other dramas, but I was glad to see her in this refreshing role. She was sort of oblivious to others at first, then the story unfolded telling us what happened that had caused her to be shutting herself up completely to others. Then the whole helping her get past that and trust in others again (aka her team). Yet it didn’t end there because her character developed much more than that, growing stronger and being more involved with others. Quite refreshing to see her portray a smart role also. NOT that I had a problem with the usual cute role or too innocent ones YET it was just refreshing with this one. She was convincing.
- Mizobata Junpei as Hanagata Ippei. The little inexperience kid of the bunch. He was so clueless at times yet so cute. He was quite obedient and was willing to cooperate with the rest of the team, which was cool. He was somewhat of a doormat to others at times, but at least it showed that he had a kind nature.
- Kendo Kobayashi as Iwai Zenji. At first, I found the character quite annoying because he was bullying the old man too much with taking the credit, etc. Yet later, he really shaped up and even looked out for others at times. He was seriously crazy, having a crush on Shinjiro and Takuma from time to time. But that was so funny. Then the part where he took them to the gay bar AND they thought they were getting special treatments when he promised to take them out to a place for some relaxation, LOL! They had no idea. He was quite a comedy relief for the drama all right.
- Nukumizu Youichi as Yamamura Keisuke. OMG! He was just WAY over with his absentmindedness. I admit he was quite hardworking at first. But later, he was like getting sloppy, the others had to watch out for him more and more. Not to mention how no one was taking him seriously. It was hard to. The most hilarious part about him was his carelessness with his bag. If he had replaced it earlier on, we wouldn’t get to laugh any more? Seriously, it was like babysitting him with trying to remind him of his bag, etc. But still funny.
Other Characters:
- Takenouchi Yutaka as Nodate Shinjiro. What can I say about him? CRAZY! LOL! He was considered a ladies’ man and was proud of his status. Though the funniest thing was the women he was actually interested in pursuing didn’t care to acknowledge him, like at one point, their lab person and then another Kimoto Mami. The actor was indeed another convincing one and managed to add on some suave to his character. Though a tad crazy at times, but a somewhat loyal friend to Eriko in general. I so fell for that one when it showed that he was the mole–or supposed to be the mole–based on his reaction. YET it was his secret message to Eriko before he was kidnapped along with the other man. That was a good one since it made us question his character once again BUT in the end, it unveiled the twist.
- Kichise Michiko as Narahashi Reiko. The sexy lab technician. Saw her in several dramas already and she managed to deliver in this one also. At first, the way she talked, I thought she was easy to lure in by Shinjiro, but she was so clever that it was funny how bad it was for him. His charm didn’t work on her.
- Shiomi Sansei as Onoda Tadashi. I found him kind of intimidating at first with the whole looking down on Eriko and picking on Takuma. But later as the plot unfolded, he wasn’t too bad. Was just a bit too competitive at times.
- Mitsuishi Ken as Tanba Hirohisa. One of the higher superiors. SO frustrated with him at times yet I think someone had to be the party who was giving them hard times–aside from the criminals. So unreasonable and always give them senseless deadlines because he wanted to save face, i.e. not wanting stories to get published about them. Wanting results yet not giving them enough chances.
- Aijima Kazuyuki as Yada Kenzo. I can’t believe he was the mole. I meant okay, he looked like he was always up to something but that didn’t mean he was bad since looks could be deceiving. Yet he had a bigger role to play in this whole mess. No wonder he kept giving them trouble and eventually using Shinjiro as a scapegoat for him. (Though failed, of course.) Good twist though.
Possible Couples?
I know with Japanese dramas, they don’t like to include too much love stuff in their crime/police dramas and usually stick to the main topic, which is really good. But there are subtle hints at times. AND in this case, it could be really fun to mix and match.
- Osawa Eriko and Nodate Shinjiro. Why not? Okay, maybe because they are best friends and it could get too dangerous because they used to be assigned partners. But they could be quite an interesting couple.
- Katagiri Takuma and Kimoto Mami. Why not? I don’t know. I thought they looked cute together. At least at some points, I thought it would lead to something. But wishful thinking on my part really.
Favorite Scenes? Just too much really since there was both a mix of wittiness and cleverness, along with some side comedic scenes. Yet one scene that stuck out was after Takuma already conquered his past demons with not being able to shoot, they were all gathered at their office again for this one case–or some meeting. AND they were all sitting there eating–some at their desks and some at the table in the middle. Eriko finally discovered of their eating habits and went nuts, chanting on and on about their differences in their personalities/outer appearances versus their eating habits. It was a riot because it was driving her insane with such ironies. We, the audience, also discovered that Ippei was especially picky with his selection of food, which made sense since he was so skinny, LOL! Yet he was such a pushover at times so that made Eriko bonkers thinking about it. Then there was also Zenji who was leaning on the ‘heavy built’ side (supposedly but I didn’t think he was fat) but he was actually eating nutritious food with the fruits and salads and all. LOL! On the other hand, Keisuke liked to eat those high cholesterol ones, but it was really bad for his health, etc. He should just switch with Zenji and get it over with. Seriously, even I was having high blood pressure for him while watching. Oh yeah, Mami–though small for her size–could eat anything and everything. WOW! That was kind of cliche with her but still odd to death and made her fit in with this strange team. Who topped the cake? Takuma! He was the one driving their boss up the walls the most with his eating habit? Why? He was sitting there eating ice cream in such a cool suit! Honestly? She was like saying it was so out of character, saying she couldn’t believe he was sitting there in that suit eating ice cream! NOT to mention with his cool pose. What made it even worse was how he replied that sweets helped relieve his stress. LOL! That sent her to bonkers faster than anything, LOL! But gotta love the team, right?
Another scene that was equally funny was how they were spying on Eriko’s computer and seeing what she was smiling about all the time. They ended up seeing George Clooney’s picture as her screensaver and thought it was her boyfriend! LOL! Then the others were saying how handsome her boyfriend was, etc! I got a kick out of that major time.
What else? I think I’ll save more comments for Season 2 since it’s going to overlap if I continue. So long!