Despite the great forces behind it (Nishiogi Yumie, Hideaki Anno—yes, that one), my expectations for Ando Lloyd were low, low, low. I had also just come off of finishing PRIDE, which makes me bitter and wary all at the same time. Talk about making yourself hard to love…
This drama is tonally different from any Kimutaku drama I’ve ever watched, and I actually felt a little optimistic after finishing the first episode. However, the Nishiogi Yumie of Keizoku and SPEC is not the same one we know today if the convolutions in all of the SPEC sequels are any indication.
Whereas you had several episodes to build upon the burgeoning crazy in Keizoku or even a good chunk of the first episode itself in SPEC, it was sort of like… hey. I’m going to get killed at such-and-such a time BY THE WAY this is a montage because we’re totally in love BY THE WAY killer androids BY THE WAY you do not have my permission to die. Okay. For sci-fi I feel that it’s necessary to create your mythology first before jumping right into the action, and things were just mysterious for the sake of being mysterious.
As for the acting, I have never cared much for Shibasaki Kou ever BUT I think she acted circles around Kimura Takuya who seems to be really phoning it in these days. Kimutaku was basically Kimutaku trying to be a socially stunted yet foxy physics professor (we already have one) and Kimutaku trying to be a cold, uncaring android.
So, yes, I’ll be watching. Warily.