Shinzanmono EP1

I've always loved Abe Hiroshi (阿部 寬) as an actor, ever since I watched him played the classic of the classic "Kekkon Dekinai Otoko" (The man who cannot get married). His acting skill is superb, and has always been a joyful to watch.

Although not as much change in expression as in his last work - "Shiroi Haru" (The White Spring) where he played as a ex-Yakuza dad, this time he is more of a stoic (or seemingly stoic?) character, or in fact more like an investigator - Kaga Kyoichirou. Still he portrayed the character well, even though the "ability" to able to read other peoples mind is definitely not easy to act at all.

The story portrays around Kaga as the new comer to the town "The doll town" and his investigations to the murder of a 40 year old single female in her own mansion. The storyline is one which comprises of sub-storylines, each acted as an episode, and they all tie together to reveal the truth of this murder case. Which makes it interesting - as you won't know the culprit until final episode. And each sub-storyline may seem unrelated to each other but they do form part of the puzzle.

And more importantly, there are frequent humour throughout each episode so it's definitely not dull at all. :)

Story was originally from one of the bestsellers author of Japan - Higashino Keigo (東野 圭吾) and Shinzanmono was a novel of Kaga Kyoichiro series. By the way, just in case you are wondering, Shinzanmono means "New Joiner". In the story it symbolizes Kaga both as a new joiner to the local police force as well as a new joiner to the Doll town with the investigations he perform around the town.

Also the main cast of this drama simply makes it worth watching. Apart from Abe Hiroshi, Kuroki Meisa (黒木メイサ), Mukai Osamu (向井 理), there are also other excellent actors such as Kagawa Teruyuki (香川 照之), Natsukawa Yui (夏川 結衣), Terajima Susumu (寺島 進) etc...just to name a few.

Music...here is another good example to complement the storyline. I'll let you go and discover them yourselves ;)

In conclusion, I have to give Shinzanmono an even higher rating than "Absolute Zero" - although both are definitely worth watching, but if you are short of time then Shinzanmono would be my recommended choice.