Meitantei no Okite (2009)

Meitantei!

This show is funny. It is a complete parody or 'send up' of every whodunit caper; whether the origin be book, television or specific character. Everyone needs to "know their place" in the framework of a detective story and act accordingly. It's so weird! But funny!

Matsuda Shota plays "The Great Detective". Only he's a hilarious, spoiled, eccentric mess. He pouts and sulks when things don't go his way or when the Captain doesn't playcate him. Matsuda Shota is great. His knack for physical comedy and his rubberlike facial expressions cracked me up.

The blatent and kitchy way they spoke about the viewers, ratings and audience expectation was original to say the least. This show was entertaining but I'm not quite sure how to catagorize it. I came away laughing for the most part. It isn't a perfect show but if you are a fan of Shota, you'll like this because he's a natural scene stealer.

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I'm doing something I probably shouldn't: paste my own review from one site into here. I just feel that this little, surprising drama deserves at least one praise.



I truly loved this show. It's a mixture of Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, Ellery Queen and Philip Marlow, all made into a hilarious parody.



The great "Meitantei", brilliantly portrayed by Matsuda Shota, is a cocktail of silly arrogance, childish mistakes and misgivings, yet he's got brain and you can't help but like him a lot through all his naive traits.

The older policeman is a sort of "deus ex machina", who understands the needs of the dramatic process and explains it to his collegues and, in so doing, to the viewers.

Kashii Yu does a great job in picturing the only clear headed character in the story, who eventually learns to follow the rules, not those of the real investigation but the ones that create a detective story.



This show has to be viewed on different levels: the plot itself and the sub-plot, which is "how is a classic detective story created?".



I enjoyed the music too. Just like the situations portrayed, it mimics the pathos always found in thriller stories and makes it all the funnier.



Not to spoil but to encourage, let me add that the finale is brilliant; it will either leave you completely perplexed or you will laugh out loud and be left with a grin on your face, as I was.

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