Dearest

This is the first Japanese series I am able to finish. This is due to the fact that it has the base I prefer, a murder mystery and who did it.

The second side of the series is Romance and overly dramatic moments, which is something I didn't like because I don't like these things.

Hence, if you can live with this mixture or you are one of those who skip scenes then you will enjoy this mystery show for sure.

I can't decide whether I like this Drama or not. I'm not even sure of what I want to say.

Let me just give you the good points: Great characters (a few I found pointless) The two main characters go through so much that all you want is for them to finally have their moment and kiss. Daiki is my favourite 😍, I can easilyfall for a man like him. Rio gets on my nerves with her "inocente" attitude.

Great story (a few confusing moments but in all it holds it's ground).

The main actors play their part to perfection. Unfortunatelly i haven't had the pleasure of seeing Kohei Matsushita in an other Drama (error to be corrected).

I liked it but not loved it. My rating was more because of the actors.

This ten part Japanese series opens in 2006. Rio is living in a rural area with her father and younger half-brother, Yu. Yu has a condition which means he suffers from amnesia if he gets overly stressed but one day it is Rio who wakes with no memory of what happened the night before... the same night a boy who we saw visiting her home has disappeared. Shortly afterwards events lead to her moving to her mother's in Tokyo. Here she goes to university and joins her mother's company where she is determined to find a cure for her brother's condition. By 2021 she has risen to be the CEO of the company and is close to finding that cure. However things get complicated for her when the father of the missing boy confronts her... shortly afterwards he is murdered leaving her as one of the suspects. Things are further complicated by the fact that the policeman investigating the case is Daiki Miyazaki, a friend of Rio's who she hadn't seen since moving to Tokyo. There are also internal company politics to deal with.

I thought this was an enjoyable series. It effectively set up a mystery and gradually answered various questions and putting forward suspects for more than one crime, I liked to main characters, especially Rio and Daiki and Kase, Rio's lawyer who is somewhat a father figure for her. The mystery elements kept me interested from start to finish. Locations used are impressive; especially Rio's rural home... it could have been selected by the Japanese tourist board it is so beautiful. The cast does a fine job; this includes both those playing our protagonists and those playing more unlikeable characters. By the end there were some good twists and turns; some providing a real surprise. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of Japanese drama series.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

I thought the overall premise and the main storyline for this series was decent, but it could easily have been told in 6 episodes rather than 10. Episodes 6-9 in particular seemed to drag a little bit, and in some parts the story seemed to be going around in circles.

The side storyline around the misappropriation of funds also seemed to be a little bit unnecessary when the main murder plot lines are the ones which will keep your interest the most.

The end of the series leaves a satisfactory conclusion with all of the storylines wrapped up, but it would have been good to have got there a little bit quicker!

It's a murder mystery thriller with a perfect mixture of romance drama 👌. I was deep into the story, it hooked me from 1st ep and perfect connection of the 1st scene with final episode 😅, I liked that which had different perspective.

Everything is in front but still it's perfectly hidden that you can't see the connection until the very last episode, even when it tries to mislead with narration 😏.

I liked this structure of this series, where a simple part of mystery is solved till half episodes, by also telling more about the character's daily life and some past. Later that, is actual thriller where the complex part gets more complex with lots of twists 😨.

And the ending, the climax of last episode is damn emotional just because a good character sacrifices everything for everyone 🤧 by breaking the trust build through all the episodes 😭.

There's a romantic side story, definitely in the middle it gets confusing. But it's perfect, it lovingly brings two characters closer with each episode, with their own hiccups of story. And the way it connects everything together in the end feels dahym heavy 😭.

I'll definitely recommend it if you're looking for some interesting mystery thriller 🔪 with lots of drama. Also, if you'd watch Guilty (kdrama) then probably 👀 it will give the wrong vibes because it's confusing till all perspectives get cleared.