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Hiroshi66
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Re: J-Drama: 魔王 (Devil)
Episode 3
Boy, after all that running and sprinting Serizawa does throughout the course of an episode, he should be ready to compete in the Olympics, LOL!
This is a really good drama. I was glued to the television screen during the last 20 or so minutes of this episode! It's definitely like a jigsaw puzzle. Certain things become more and more clear as the series goes on, even though there are still many unanswered questions. We still haven't found out the full story about the flashback and the death scene of the two schoolboys. Today, Ms. Psychic saw a weather vane in one of her visions, which turned out to be located at Serizawa's former junior high school. She took him there, and Serizawa almost had a mental breakdown there after seeing parts of that same flashback of the death scene over and over again. The final scene of the flashback that we saw was of one of the schoolboys stepping over a harmonica as he ran away from the other boy he had just murdered. Oddly enough, Ms. Psychic had seen this in her vision, as well.
What puzzled me a lot was Ms. Psychic's dream. She woke up after having a dream of a young girl carrying a basketball. Yet another part of the mystery that has yet to be solved! Apparently, the mysterious 'Makoto Amano' character has sent Ms. Psychic a card that represents a desire to 'speak on behalf of the dead.' Upon hearing this and visiting his former junior high school (which looked like it might be abandoned? It didn't look like any students were there, and the building seemed run-down) Serizawa seemed like he might be having an epiphany about something.
Close call with Mr. Glasses and Aniki's wife tonight! Ouch. While Aniki was serving tea and cakes to Aniki and Mr. Glasses, Soda walks in, asking if a job is available. Soda had seen Aniki's wife at Mr. Glasses' apartment without knowing she was married. Knowing his big mouth, he would have been sure to mention something about that if he saw Aniki's wife hanging around the office. But Serizawa's entire family seems indebted to Soda. Serizawa's father was offering Soda a whole bunch of money, but Soda mentioned that he wasn't there for the money "today." It reminds me of that scene in last week's episode where Soda mentioned to Serizawa that he 'owes' him. Hmm.
So the debt collector wasn't shot but rather died of an asthma attack after he inhaled the tear gas. As for the hotel worker, Naruse defended her, causing charges against her to be dropped since she was acting "in self-defense." Serizawa seems very discontent with this verdict, since he believes the ringleader behind all this is still at large. But who in the world is the guy with glasses (apparently another Mr. Glasses who always seems to be lurking around) who Soda tried to talk to today in the bookstore? We saw him waving to the hotel worker's little girl today as they were getting ready to enter their apartment. I think it was the very final scene.
Some great acting, and an overall excellent drama. I'm enjoying this one very much. Episode 4 airs next Sunday, November 8th. The next-week previews look really interesting. Anything could happen!
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11/1/2009, 10:15 pm
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nchristi
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Re: J-Drama: 魔王 (Devil)
class blockquote Hiroshi66 wrote:
What puzzled me a lot was Ms. Psychic's dream. She woke up after having a dream of a young girl carrying a basketball. In the Korean version in the opening scene of Episode 1, a young girl is riding her bicycle when a basketball comes rolling out into the street. She picks it up.
In this last episode, the Empress Card is sent to Shiori. The card used in this drama has some yellow daffodils in the foreground and it is explained that these represent the dead, who are voiceless. The Empress symbolically speaks for them. In the Korean version, Naruse brings a flowering plant (yellow daffodils) to the library as a gift for Shiori. In this drama, the plant is white lilies and it seems unclear how they got there.
BTW, if my comparisons between Korean/Japanese versions are annoying, or in some way spoilers, please let me know and I will cease and desist!
Mr. Glasses II - That guy made me laugh. The way his upper lip was quivering, I thought he was a rodent!
Isn't this just a wonderful collection of mis-matched characters? What a variety. Serizawa, who has two speeds—sprint and stop—and who has a mysterious past of his own. The chubby friend who dies of asthma. Soda, the troublemaker with no sense of propriety or social limits. The Wife, a hot babe. Naruse, unreadable—seemingly a strange combination of kindness, goodness, and evil. (A 'devil' who attends church?! That's a mystery in itself.) Shiori, an odd, 'other world' type person, too. Rodent Man, oddball who seems mysteriously connected to the little girl with the teddy bear.
Looking forward to Episode 4!
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11/5/2009, 3:09 am
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Hiroshi66
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Re: J-Drama: 魔王 (Devil)
Nchristi, not at all! I'm really enjoying your comparisons between the Korean and Japanese versions. It's really interesting to find out about what scenes from the original Korean drama were changed or modified in this Japanese version. Thanks for posting the comparisons! 
Yep, Mr. Glasses does look like a rodent, doesn't he? I got a kick out of his new nickname, Rodent Man, LOL! He's certainly another odd character. It was a little creepy watching him wave (concealed behind a tree) to the little girl as she and her mother were entering the apartment. The mother had her back to Rodent Man, so she didn't see -- but the little girl was happily waving back to him. I wonder what their connection could be. Hmm.
But I agree, this is an excellent drama! Lots of twists and turns. And what a motley crew of characters! I like the scene in the opening theme where all the characters are all shown one after another. When Serizawa tries to run towards them, some sort of a wall comes up in front of him and he falls down, only turning around to find Naruse walking towards him with that signature look of contempt on his face. Pretty intense! I'm really looking forward to seeing how this drama pans out.
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11/5/2009, 6:34 am
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Moises
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Re: J-Drama: 魔王 (Devil)
I'm finding myself rooting for the lawyer and not the detective. I hope the detective gets what's coming to him. He's out of control, running around all over the place, wearing his emotions on his sleeve, act first think later type of guy.
Hopefully the next guy that gets whacked next is Cola follwed by Pops. Don't really mind the rodent looking guy or Glasses yet.
About Naruse attending church, seeing as they referenced Goethe's Faust I'm gonna bring that back up. In the "Prologue In Heaven" part of the play, Mephistopheles actually sits side by side with God. They go as far as making a wager that Mephistopheles cannot stop Faust from striving and learning. I find that the Goethe version of Mephistopheles doesn't really harbor any deep hatred toward God. So him being in church is not as wild a thought.
Another thing is the personality of Goethe's Mephistopheles which doesn't really match Naruse's all that well. Naruse might be a cross between the English Faust Book and Goethe's version of the character (there is also Marlowe's play but I can't really recall anything from that version).
In the English Faust book, Mephistopheles is more reserved and apathetic. He is a cold character that doesn't show much in the emotion department. In Goethe's version he is more like a crafty gentlemen who blends in as a normal human being. However, he is a master manipulator, trying everything he can to make Faust settle down.
Lastly, in the English Faust Book the Mephistopheles character is just a demon who serves the devil. Goethe leaves his character somewhat ambiguous if I remember correctly.
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11/5/2009, 9:00 pm
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Hiroshi66
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Re: J-Drama: 魔王 (Devil)
class blockquote nchristi wrote:
If you watch that scene closely, Rodent Man does more than wave. He gives Sora a "V" sign with his fingers, then he closes the "V," putting his fingers back together. Sora returns the sign.
That's really interesting. It looks like Rodent Man and Sora might have some sort of secret 'sign' or greeting that only they know about. Things are getting more creepy with Rodent Man, aren't they? We've seen him lurking around since the beginning, but we don't know too much about him yet. I guess we'll find out!
Thanks for the info about the Faust book, Moises. We saw a close-up shot of Naruse reading it in the library where Psychic Girl works, but I didn't think much of it. It did look like Naruse was really into the book, though!
I'm really looking forward to Sunday's Ep. 4. Each part of the story has something interesting and suspenseful to look for!
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11/6/2009, 7:40 am
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Hiroshi66
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Re: J-Drama: 魔王 (Devil)
Episode 4
Nchristi, I think you're right -- this did seem like it was a jinxed episode, didn't it? LOL! I just finished watching my recording the episode tonight, and I didn't run into any technical difficulties. I was afraid the screen would turn pixelated and give me the "No Signal" message again, but luckily, it seemed fine. Yay! 
I agree, even though I'm really enjoying this drama and finding it pretty suspenseful and enthralling, it can be quite confusing and convoluted at times. I had to go back and re-watch several scenes a couple of times to get the gist of what was going on, especially during the flashback scenes. Since we're getting only parts of the story at a time, it's almost like we have to go back and try to match up what we've just seen together with what we've found out in previous episodes. I think a jigsaw puzzle is a perfect analogy! A really difficult jigsaw puzzle. LOL!
After hearing Serizawa's comments to Ms. Psychic and also to his co-workers, he admits that he "let his classmate Hideo die" 11 years before. That must be the 'incident' that everyone keeps referring to. Because of this incident, Serizawa mentions that he used to be a "wicked" person in junior high school and that he thus feels unfit to be a detective. But we don't really know what happened 11 years before. Soda, who keeps hanging around with Mr. Glasses I, mentioned that Serizawa shouldn't be trusted and that "he's just a murderer." Mr. Glasses I vehemently defends Serizawa, claiming that it was an "accident." And then we have the bald journalist, who had apparently written about Serizawa's incident 11 years ago as well. Even though Serizawa assumed nobody knew about his past -- whatever it may be -- even his boss was aware of it. I think we (the viewers) are going to have to wait and find out later on the exact details of what happened 11 years ago with Serizawa in his junior-high years.
Another new character is the bald journalist. From what we know about him so far, he wrote about Serizawa's incident in the tabloids, which made him an enemy of Serizawa's father. After the journalist wrote some scandalous articles on the Serizawa family, Serizawa's dad eventually managed to get the journalist's boss to get rid of him. So, the journalist has a major grudge against the entire Serizawa family. He approaches Naruse and asks him to turn down Mr. Serizawa's offer to be the company lawyer, which Naruse ignores. Journalist didn't seem too thrilled, although he did seem to take great interest in the fact that Serizawa (who was the topic of his articles 11 years before) is now a detective.
Speaking of which, who is snapping all those photos? Naruse, Mr. Glasses I, and Aniki's wife. Someone sent the picture of Aniki's wife and Mr. Glasses I kissing to the Serizawa company. It's a good thing Mr. Glasses I was sorting the mail! And then, someone snaps another picture of Mr. Glasses I and Aniki's wife hugging again. Hmm.
Another odd one is Mr. Glasses II, also known as Kawano. He's very timid, and seemed to get a nervous twitch every time Serizawa asked about whether or not he was involved in the death of his friend. Eventually, Serizawa started suspecting Mr. Glasses II (who was another classmate of his, apparently) of being the one who gave little Sora the teddy bear. What was odd though is the flashback of Mr. Glasses II telling Sora not to tell any "bad people" about how they know each other. Then they did their little "V" sign, before Mr. Glasses II left. I wonder what Kawano is up to?
In a desperate attempt to find another suspect, Serizawa tries to track down the family of Hideo, the classmate he "let die." Apparently, Hideo's mother died during the funeral service, and his older brother is reported to have died a year after Hideo. With no leads, Serizawa goes to the library where Shiori works, only to find another envelope addressed to him in a random book (The Divine Comedy by Dante.) Chillingly enough, this book was in the same section (Section 333) that was seen in Shiori's reading of the letter.
Ahh, so many different things going on! It's getting even more convoluted as the plot develops, isn't it? But the story is still exciting! I can't wait to see what's lurking around the corner. Also, Naruse's cold glares and smirks are quite scary sometimes, LOL!
Episode 5 airs next Sunday, November 8th.
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11/10/2009, 12:21 am
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