77 reviews · average 8.4 / 10
Sajen16 · 14 Feb 2011
of course I'm not sure it's possible to go wrong when you have, Takuya Kimura, Nene Otsuka, Hiroshi Abe, Takako Matsu, Masanobu Katsumura, Fumiyo Kohinata, Takuzo Kadono, Kiyoshi Kodama, and Yoji Tanaka all in the same cast also some great guests. However I don't think it's anywhere near the best jdrama ever.
ester_grace · 7 Dec 2010
i was enjoying kimutaku's nerd character here..
perfect chemistry between kimutaku and takako..
the story was good but sometimes i couldn't follow because they were talking so fast..
elalendi · 5 Dec 2010
great cast, really unique (in a good way) camerawork and style, overall refreshing and just FUNNY (like surprisingly so). It's a drama based on subtlety, which I like. No outright romance but I still find the interactions between Kuryu x Amamiya cute!! And the supporting characters... OH GOD. They are superb. the fast-paced dialogue adds a great energy.
MonsterZero65 · 15 Aug 2010
I was hoping for more chemistry to develop among the characters but each story was very good and the characters were all interesting. It was a joy to watch.
MonsterZero-65 · 21 Oct 2009
I really liked the plot, actors, each individual episode pretty much everything about this drama but the end was really kind of a let-down to me. I kind of finished saying that's it? Sadly that was it.
Wynter · 9 Jul 2009
This is another blueprint drama that is predictable and lacking variety. Although some of the cases (one case per episode, of course) were interesting, the show failed to hold my attention. It was boring and dull.
That being said, the discourse between Kimura and Matsu was fun to watch. The presence of Abe Hiroshi, and later of Iijima Naoko and Ryo is probably what prompted me to give this drama a 7 and not a 6.
I would recommend this drama to KimuTaku fans. Otherwise skip it.
O, and is the Special worth mentioning in this review? Nah.
Ender's Girl · 15 Jun 2009
The Cast:
Kimura Takuya, Matsu Takako, Abe Hiroshi, Otsuka Nana, Kadono Takuzo, Katsumura Masanobu, Kohinata Fumiyo, Yashima Norito, Kodama Kiyoshi
In a Nutshell:
Self-taught public prosecutor Kuryu Kohei brings his unconventional crime-busting methods to the Josai district office, much to the consternation of the other prosecutors and law clerks.
Ifm trying to rack my brains for something about this drama that I hated, or disliked\even just a teensy bit. Nothing comes to mind. Even the semi-crummy production values (which would seem more at home in 1987 than in 2001, the year the show aired), gspazzy musich (as a user from another forum so brilliantly put it), and odd, quirky editing style\they all just GROW ON YOU. And to think these are just the technical aspects of the drama.
The soundtrack is SO effinf catchy! By the end of the first episode I was jerking and twitching along to the now-familiar music, a sly throwback to those old-school detective comedies a la Pink Panther: jazzy and off-beat, with just a hint of sleaze. Brilliant!
At first the directorial style caught me off-balanced: the actors speak directly into the lens while the camera swoops in for a close-up, and the dialogue ping-pongs from one person to the next at such a frenetic pace. But the style of Hero actually lends itself well to the screwball, sometimes campy atmosphere. I soon realized how much it reminded me of Baz Luhrmannfs Velvet Curtain oeuvre (Strictly Ballroom, William Shakespearefs Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!, and even Australia), dubbed as such because of his penchant for the theatrical. But you know what? I loved every Luhrmann film to freaking BITS (and wish he were more prolific) and he remains to this day my favorite director ever. So going back to Hero, itfs all good, baby.
The great thing about Hero was that despite the drollery and high dramedy, the actors were so completely into their character. Hero scores some of the best ensemble acting Ifve seen in a drama, in a loooong time. That easy rapport among the cast was undeniably there, the comfortable system of trust and reliance so apparent in the way theyfd riff their lines off each other, scripted or ad-libbed, any which way. Itfs also quite obvious how much the actors simply enjoyed being with each other, and what they were doing\otherwise, this renzoku wouldnft have had that intangible quality that makes an ensemble drama trulyc transcendent.
Full-length review:
http://endersgirrrl.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/drama-review-hero-fuji-tv-2001/
jed_ka · 19 Apr 2009
one of the best drama of all time lawyer
jed_ka · 19 Apr 2009
Hero
makkumatr · 10 Aug 2008
I expected a lot after reading the other reviews, but what a disappointing, poorly directed drama.
-ves
1. very weak plot
2. filled with cliches, every scene is so predictable
3. third rate music (except for utada hikaru's song)
4. every episode is on its own, no flow in the story.
The only positive thing about this drama is Matsu Takako's acting. Kimutaku is boring as usual, gives his weird smile from time to time.
Don't waste your time seeing this drama!
fre3domlin · 1 Aug 2008
this drama is different from the other j dramas..it does not really hav a high content of romantic scenes but still takuya kimura n matsu takako still have great chemistry..this show is kinda funny but wat i really loved is the solving of crimes in this show..really nice!!
popdod · 25 Jul 2008
One of the best detective doramas. Again...with kimura in the casts, nothing seems too bored.
tseling · 21 Jan 2008
a very nice drma... can't wait for the movie's dvd to release!!! =)
leftleg · 8 Jul 2007
i was told there wouldn't be too much weigh on the love elements in this drama and i thought i wouldn't like it as i LOVE watchinig teary romantic bits in a jdorama.
however i didn't find hero boring and it kept me watching from the start to the end. the supporting cast is great. love the way the director shot the scenes from random angles. very funny to see kimura takuya's addiction of tele-sales products.
hic2518 · 17 Jun 2007
Great team work made a fantastic Hero with low cost.Some plots are unbelievable,incredible and dumbfounded,but humanity is propagated.The produce team try to ,I guess,explicate the twilight zone of the legal system need a Kohei Kuryu.So far, many Asian country need such guy also.
God bless us !
kakashi11 · 13 Apr 2007
This is a good drama.. make me miss hero alot... hope it movies series is better
chesed · 22 Jan 2007
It wasn't too long ago when I saw Hero, the deliciously quirky "detective" story that followed Kohei Kuryu and his offbeat sleuth skills that caused the heads of his fellow prosecutors to spin. While not the most memorable series for me, it was fun, inviting, and utilized the massive talent that made up the cast to the fullest. So now Kimutaku returns as the Hero, only this time he's transferred to a new city, with a new case to solve, and a whole new cast.
It is the cast that brings the show down to a disappointing level. It is not so much because they cannot act; on the contrary, I think Tsutsumi Shinichi is an excellent actor. However, when a special airs of a show that previously ran, one would expect the entire cast to return in full force. This was not the case, and for the most part I believe it was a rather large letdown for many viewers, including myself. This became apparent to me when the last several minutes of the show was the most satisfying; no thanks, however, to the central storyline.
To be fair, the subtitles that I was reading were not very good. I really don't wish to say this because I am very appreciative of the ample time and hard work that goes into translation and subbing (I'm just now beginning to learn Japanese). Still, there were parts that left me dumbfounded, and because I couldn't pick up smaller bits of information, the epiphanies in the show were lost on me until later when it was spelled out for me. With this in mind, it would be unfair for me to judge the writing. Regardless of the intricacies of the plot, the overall plot was completely transparent and after watching the first several minutes I was able to outline what was going to happen through the whole story with abnormally high accuracy. This is not a good thing when I can't understand people's lines half the time.
The acting wasn't all too good either. Tsutsumi-san was great to watch, becoming a completely different duo with Kimura-san than that in Good Luck!!. To be able to portray characters that are so different is a sign of incredible ability. Kimura-san was decent. I think he tried hard and did the best he could, but the writing for his character didn't seem to match quite right with the writing for the original series. I recall him being quirky but somewhat cool and quiet, doing things without explaining them to others. In this special he talked far too much. Notably, Nakai Kiichi landed a great performance as the prime suspect.
Since the original cast was absent for the most part and the location was entirely different, the music was a welcome hit of nostalgia as it remained largely in tact. I enjoyed the music just as much as I did when I watched the original, and the themes carries the excitement of the hunt for the truth as well as appropriate themes for the emotional parts.
Hero was hard to watch as I struggled with the subtitles, but regardless the story was simple and predictable. While the end was very rewarding, it was not so because of the main story which means I felt like I had to trod through two hours of tediousness for four minutes of fun. A decent special, but disappointing for its primary audience -- the watchers of the original series.
shari · 21 Dec 2006
This drama tries too hard to be funny and clever but is neither. You've got to be a hero to sit through 11 episodes of thin stories, lame subplots and bad camera work.
ThaiChick · 12 Dec 2006
Good and insightful story. Takuya did an awesome job--as usual.
JPD Fan · 4 Dec 2006
It has a really good plot in it ... Really sweet between the leads ...