Day 10 - New Year's Day & The End of Reverse

The start of 2018 was a relaxing one, in that it was the first day of break where I didn't need to leave my house at all! I haven't had one in a while, since I believe my last one was in August.

I somewhat was able to keep my New Year's Resolution by waking up at 9:30 AM, though I stayed in bed until 11ish. Despite getting up late, I felt like I accomplished a fair bit today: notes for an extensive chapter for my grade 9s and the final two episodes of reverse.

I couldn't help myself due to the cliffhanger ending in the 9th episode. From this point onward, there will be some spoilers. However, I'm not going to do a plot summary like how I used to do my drama reviews. Instead, I'm just going to talk about my thoughts.

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Like I stated in a previous post, I see how reverse was given an award for being the best drama for that season (Spring 2017). I believe that the screenwriters did a wonderful job in portraying the mystery behind the death of our main character's friend. To me, it portrayed how people don't truly feel responsibility for their actions unless it's explicitly stated that they have caused harm. For example, the main character, Fukase Kazuhisa (Last name, First name) stated early on that he feels it's excessive for being labelled a murderer despite him feeling responsible for the death of his friend, Hirosawa Yoshiki.

Now to make some sense of the situation, four individuals, including Fukase, were related to the death of Hirosawa ten years ago. Early on, it's clearly stated that the three individuals, besides Fukase, were explicitly involved in the death of Hirosawa:

Tanihara Yasuo, a businessman, peer-pressuring Hirosawa to drink alcohol.

Murai Takaaki, a politician's son and thus, secretary, asking one of the four to drive him to the place where everyone was going to stay for vacation.

And finally, Asami Kosuke, a teacher, for asking Hirosawa to drive, since no one else besides himself could drive and that he didn't want to risk his career for drinking and driving.

In the past, all of them were in their final year of university with jobs lined up, besides Hirosawa. 

Anyways, it's clearly stated, I think, in where blame is going to in terms of Hirosawa's death. Fukase seemed to be the most innocent throughout the whole ordeal since he didn't play an explicit part that led to Hirosawa's death. 

In the beginning, Fukase blamed it for not being able to stop him, however it felt half-hearted with his guilt... till episode 9 came into play. We find out that Hirosawa has an serious allergy to soba noodles (which I'm assuming is allergic to buckwheat). 

Fukase, gave a thermos filled with coffee... sweeten with soba-flavored honey. Now Hirosawa never told anyone about his allergy, which makes this an unfortunate accident, but it devastated Fukase.

And that, I thought was what made this drama unique and special. By scripting the plot for a realistically ordinary main character, it makes it more relatable to me as the audience. Fukase, despite his meek character, struggled earnestly to figure out the mystery behind the death of Hirosawa, not knowing that perhaps his actions, though unintentional, would be perhaps the most damaging of them all. 

I'm not suggesting, nor do I believe that not feeling responsible for something that you don't feel like you did harm is a horrible and despicable thing. In fact, I think it's just part of human nature; no one wants to shoulder blame. The lead up to the scene, therefore, was crafted masterfully. 

And what sealed the deal for me was the final reveal to Hirosawa's parents. All four of the characters confessed to the parents fully, since they were initially hiding the fact that Hirosawa was drinking and driving. The lines from the mother was once again very realistic; she could not forgive the boys despite knowing that there's nothing to bring back her son. Like how Hirosawa's father said, being the calm one of the two parents, he knows that the four characters were not seeking forgiveness, and that confessing now won't truly lift them from their guilt. Sometimes, no matter if people forgive you or not, I don't think that the guilt will ever go away.

However, what's important is knowing how to move on: in which it was shown for the last 10 minutes or so of the final episode. It's like everyone has made some peace with what has happened. 

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Overall, a terrific drama, even though some things were not really clear to me. It's a good suspense drama, and I would recommend it to people who are interested in suspense or Japanese dramas in general.