Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

[Episode 1]

[Enjoyment Value: 9.5/10]

It’s been quite a while since I sat down and picked up a drama to watch. So, I decided to go ahead and pick one that stars none other than Toda Erika, the cutie herself that portrayed Misa in the Death Note movies and Matsuda Shota, of Hana Yori Dango fame. Not only that but this drama is based on the manga of the same name. Is it good? Damn good? Awesome? Continue reading on and you’ll soon find out.

[Summary]

Kanzaki Nao is an honest girl. Perhaps a bit too honest as she constantly falls for pranks and scams and only barely is able to avoid them sometimes. One day when she is returning home, she receives a package along with a letter telling her that she’s been chosen to participate in the ‘LIAR GAME TOURNAMENT’. She opens the box to find approximately 100 million yen and a video tape inside. As she plays it a strange masked man appears on screen, she realizes that she has mistakenly accepted the invitation by opening the box and is told that her acceptance cannot be canceled. The game is basically like this: you must steal your opponent’s money within 30 days and at the end you can receive a maximum amount of 100 million yen. However, if you lose any amount of money you must pay it all back even if you have to take out a loan and the maximum amount you can lose is: 100 million yen. After hearing this explanation, Nao panics and closes all of her windows and curtains.

The next day she goes to the police and asks for help but is refused. Later that day, she receives a letter informing her that her opponent is her old middle school teacher, Mr. Fujisawa. She quickly heads over to his home in seek of help but is eventually tricked by him and ends up handing over her money. After being informed about the current status of the game, that is that she’s now -100 million yen, she then realizes that she had been deceived by her teacher after overhearing a phone conversation he was on. Now in a mess, she seeks out help from the police once more but they can’t do a thing for her. However, before she gives up on winning she is told about a genius swindler who is about to be released from jail in the next day. His name: Akiyama Shin’ichi (played by Matsuda Shota from Hana Yori Dango fame). She goes to meet him but is instantly turned down. After following him for a bit he agrees to listen to her story and tells her to wait in a market. Night comes quickly before Nao realizes that she’s been deceived yet again. However, the next morning Shin’ichi returns to see if she’s still there and finally agrees to hear her story.

After hearing her story he decides to help her. They go to Fujisawa’s home where, after some words are exchange between Nao and Fujisawa, Shin’ichi manages to get him to admit that he was in for the money all along and deceived Nao. After leaving, Shin’ichi tells Nao that he will help her get her share of the money back from Fujisawa but that it’ll cost her 50 million yen. She agrees to the deal and they go to work immediately. After psyching Fujisawa out for a nubmer of days, Shin’ichi explains to Nao that they’ve succeeded in finding out where he’s hiding the money: inside of his home. Shin’ichi and Nao then head over to Fujisawa’s home where they manage to narrow down the location of the money in a single room. Fujisawa reveals that the money is in a safe but that doesn’t phase Shin’ichi one bit but rather he laughs and says that he can easily steal the 200 million yen out of the safe.

[Thoughts]

Damn. I enjoyed this first episode more than I thought I would! Erika and Shota are so good together that I’m already used to the idea of them being a team. Although I haven’t read the manga (I’ve only seen one volume scanlated) I must say that I’m loving the concept of this series. It has an almost Death Note-like feel to it. I can’t help but wonder how the game will evolve as the series moves along. Will it be the same tricking and stealing away the other person’s money? Or will new twists be added to each game that Nao and Shin’ichi finds themselves in?

Also I have to say that I love the music that was used in the episode. I do wonder if it was specifically made for the series or if it is derived from somewhere else….

I loved how the episode ended with Shota being so badass. Now I can’t wait to see how he’s going to steal the 200 million yen out of that safe Fujisawa has in his house. Either way, the deadline is coming quickly and next episode has to be nothing short of intense. Just how will Shin’ichi manage to save Nao from her 100 million yen debt? I have no freaking idea but I can’t wait to see what tricks he has up his sleeves.

[Preview]