Giri/Haji

Exceptional storytelling and direction in this compelling series which broke the mold and reinvented the genre with its brave and brilliant style, Everything about it was outstanding - directing, writing, casting. It had humor and wit despite the bleak subject matter and it was all done with incredible style. British drama showing the world how its done.

The nephew of a powerful Yakuza boss is murdered in London. The Tokyo Police suspect that the perpetrator is a former member of a rival Yakuza clan. After a counter-hit on his former clan and fearing an escalating gang war, the suspect's brother, a police detective, is sent to London to track him down and bring him back to Japan.

Good drama series but promised to be brilliant. Started very well: the first four episodes were fantastic, full of action, an interesting plot, good back stories and interesting characters. However, the longer it went on the more implausible and contrived some of the plot development became. Some developments are quite farcical.

Furthermore, writer-creator Joe Barton tries to cram in far too many sub-plots into the series. I was only really interested in the crime-drama aspect but Barton has all sorts of other angles wound around this, stories that really don't add anything. I didn't mind when they were just there to provide some colour to proceedings but instead of staying as minor filler they become major plot streams (in terms of time consumed, rather than quality or interest/entertainment factor). Episodes 5-8 become very unfocused because of this, resulting in my interest and engagement waning.

It all comes together more-or-less okay in the end but the contrast with how it started is still quite stark.

A tighter plot, captured in about 4 or 5 episodes instead of 8, and this would have been excellent.

After watching one-and-a-half episodes of the execrable series "The Witcher," I'd begun to doubt the reliability of IMDB ratings. Then, I decided to try "Giri/Haji," suspicious of its 7.9 rating. Also, I'd seen Joe Barton's series "Cuffs," and while enjoyable, it was pretty weak beer.

"Giri/Haji" was an absolute revelation, right from the start through the eighth and final episode. The writing and direction, art direction, cinematography and effects, were just superb. And the acting! I was not familiar with any of the Japanese actors, but they were great. So were the British actors, many of them familiar to fans of UK films and TV, including Kelly Macdonald (first seen in Trainspotting), Charlie Creed-Miles (from Peaky Blinders), Tony Way (from Ricky Gervais' "After Life"), and new-to-me Will Sharpe.

Part family drama, part police procedural, part Yakuza film, the movie flips between London and Tokyo during a Japanese gang war. Strange as it may seem, the various filmic elements hold together beautifully, whether changes in screen dimension to denote time shifts; brief uses of anime; and a lovely ballet sequence.

It is bloody, violent, tender, exciting, and contemplative. Something for everyone. I fully recommend this series.

Binged watched this week but no spoilers here. This really benefits from having 8 episodes rather than the BBC's usual 6 and allows for greater character development and backstories. There are side plots and stories galore, bloody violence, humour, tears, sadness & retribution but everything comes together with a few twists and turns in a final episode that has one of the most unexpected & touching rooftop moments. The cast are fantastic as is the script and cinematography. Loved it.

This started of really well. First 2 episodes were mind-blowing and refreshing. The animation part was awesome ,flashbacks were done great too. But after 4th episode it just became something else. Lost all its charm due to unnecessary subplots.