18/01/2023

I am only five episodes in which makes it two left out of seven only the rest is yet to be released over the next 2 weeks.

A police officer, Agawa Daigo, moves into a small village, Kuge, with his wife and daughter replacing the former police officer, Kana, who has disappeared. It seems a well known local family, the Gotos, are dangerous people to mess with not to mention something doesn't feel right with the place at all especially after the body of Goto Gin is discovered in the woods after a "bear attack" and accusations of cannibalism is thrown in for good measure...

The only member of the Goto family that isn't crazy it seems is Keisuke Goto.

There are some really cool scenes like the bear attacking Daigo on the mountain, Mashiro's encounter with "That Man", the finger in the box, all the freakish adrenaline rush moments Daigo has with the Goto family, the car in the tunnel incident, the man with the half eaten face, the bodies and skeletons when discovered...

There a few minor things that irked me a little bit like one police officer taking on 4 to 5 family members with weapons by himself, a little girl wondering off in the middle of the night in a strange place and the directness of the Gotos or how impolite they were even if in a rural environment. For anyone to be so outspoken or to talk about a woman like they did of Daigo's wife so openly in public was distasteful and not something that would commonly occur in Japan where everything is usually quite indirect.

Not the Japan I remember anyhow unless it has changed a lot!

I have to say the Kuge villagers themselves are really weird and episode four has this vibe like: "The Wicker Man" or "The Lottery" coming up soon on Festival Day.

And now that I have seen Episode 5 it seems there might be a slow build up to that festival in which a "human sacrifice" might be the flavour of the day as it has been a tradition for one or two centuries.

The story is gripping until around the end of episode 4, the music is eerie, the thematics are on point, the cast is believable and the cinematography is outstanding, however, more and more it has this Twin Peaks feel or something similar to The Wicker Man, The Lottery and The Ritual.

21/01/2023: Additional Comment-

I reckon this could be turned around a little bit if they added a twist like Agawa's wife being an original villager or something and I'm wondering if they will do something like that - as in add in an unexpected twist.

Back To Original Post: 18/01/2023-

Highly recommended for the gory graphics and adrenaline rush moments, but about half way through, the story itself, loses originality and becomes similar to a number of others.

It doesn't make it terrible or bad to watch - just not original.

04/02/2023-

I have now finished watching it and although there is no real "twist in the tale" the last two episodes aren't too bad.

We find out more about Keisuke Goto and his younger brother and how they tie into the man with the half eaten face, also, a little more about Gin Goto (grandmother) and what she has in common with "That Man".

Just so you know season one ends on a cliff hanger or open ended ending which can be interpreted in two ways:

1) S2 is needed to tie up the cliffhanger in S1.
2) It is up to the audience to decide which way the wind blows when it comes to Agawa Daigo and his family as well as the Gotos and the Kuge Villagers.

Agawa Daigo is left facing "That Man" and his wife and daughter are left in the hands of one of the Gotos that isn't as sane as Keisuke.

The only silver lining in it all is that Agawa Daigo isn't all alone with what he knows about the Gotos and Kuge, however, it doesn't mean what he knows can save him...or will it?!

Background: Agira Yura (Agawa Daigo)-

The first time I ever saw Agira Yuya was in the film Nobody Knows back in 2004 when he was a beautiful looking boy taking on the role of Akira Fukishima.

Now is my second time ever watching him in a movie or series only at first I didn't recognise him until I thought his face looked familiar at certain angles.

Unfortunately, for Agira Yuya, his whole life changed because of Nobody Knows and not in a good way. He ended up turning to drugs in order to cope and at one point even gained a lot of weight which made him quite unrecognisable. In addition, he married young and had a daughter only months after being wed that became his saving grace.

Since then he has sorted his life out and is still married to the same woman he fell in love with at first sight!

I'm glad he was able to turn his life around and didn't end up wasting away to nothing.