JOKER -yurusarezaru sokasan- Thoughts and Final Episode Summary

Originally this review was supposed to posted last week during the airing of episode 9, but, I decided to wait because the final ep was airing in a few days.

Have you ever watched something and wondered why didn’t you watch it when it aired when everyone else was going on and on about it? Yeah, this is one of those dramas. I caught the show towards its final two weeks after much persuasion, and let me tell you I was hooked.

First off, its kind of hard to write this review after watching Sukiyaki Western Django, which I’ll get to in another review, but lets just say I focused too much on Sakai in that movie and it threw me off, lol. Here’s a brief, but short (and missing a lot of crucial details), summary of the final episode:

Was obnoxious in the beginning, but become endearing at the end.

In the final episode of this series, all the pieces come together and we find out who the JOKER really is, which happens to be none other than Mikami himself — the detective that spared Date’s life, ‘raised’ him into the man he is today, and helped in getting his revenge — pulling him into this web of vigilante justice. While Kudo suffers for the discovery by being critically stabbed in saving Asuka’s life, Date takes the discovery with a grain of salt and pursues him on his own terms.

Mikami, caught up in trying to cover his own tracks and get rid of every link to him, captures Asuka, by tricking her into meeting him, and immobilizes her by drugging her. With everyone in search for Asuka, Mikami slips into Kudo’s hospital room and grabs the CD that lists the money transactions and location of the island where the missing are located. Date soon finds Asuka at Mikami’s old home and with the little information she gives him, he leaves in search of Mikami. Kudo arrives just in time and picks Date up, driving him to the location where Mikami could be at in which Date mentions that it was the first place that the two had met at.

The two confront Mikami, who is in the process of committing suicide, but is stopped by Date. Mikami wakes up to the sound of sirens. Kudo, Date, and Mikami share brief words with each other. When Asuka and Chief Itsuzu arrive, Mikami tells Asuka that Date had no involvement with the deaths of her brother and Seako, that it was all him. Asuka apprehends Mikami and Chief Itsuzu punches Mikami several times. When they get in the car, Asuka looks at Date and Kudo emotionlessly before following behind them.

After the incident, Date vists Asuka at the grave site of her brother. He finds out she left the force to join the National Police and jokes how she could be her boss next time they meet on a case. Asuka asks if he’s now the new Joker, but without him confirming it she follows up with letting him know that she doesn’t believe in that way of justice and she will continue to fight evil in her own way.

This relationship was different, yet, unique.

The show ends with a discussion between the Chief and Date, in which the two have a mutual understand with each other. Date and Kudo continue where Mikami left off, handling justice in their own hands.

JOKER is a really good drama which did something that Orthros no Inu and Maou failed to do, tell a good psychological thriller from beginning to end. The drama starts off with a bang and it ends with a bang. Each episode, whilst episodic, still continuously weaving a backstory that leaves you wanting questions to be answered and well, which it does. The story is not overly complicated, like many other psychological thrillers, which helps in it not tripping over itself with plotholes or slow pacing. Its simple but engaging and tells a storying with interesting characters, deep secondary characters, and touchy subjects that leave you feeling the rage that the victim is feeling.

There is an attention to detail that’s impeccable. From scars and wounds to little twitches and movements — each character comes to life at you as people and not as fictional characters. When the father in episode one breaks down crying over his son, you feel his pain. When Kudo meets with his father after fifteen years to finally see the monster that he known nothing more than a shell without a memory, you want to cry. When a mother pleads to her daughter’s killer for an apology, you feel her strife. When Date severely attacked, over the course of the remaining episodes you watch his wounds heal. There’s a sense of realism in this drama that you usually don’t get in a lot of dramas – they’re not doing it just to do it, they’re doing it because they have a motive behind it. The characters are not characters, they’re people with stories to be told.

" If kissed you, would you wake up? "

But while Joker maybe amazing, there’s still things that make it imperfect and the majority of those things lying within the show’s finale. Anne, who plays Asuka Miyagi, comes short as an actress towards the final episodes. There was something about the way she delivered her lines and her facial reactions that came off too childish and silly. While it may not have been distracting to some, it was for me. Another element of imperfection was in Date’s emotional development. While me and a friend pretty much boiled it down to him being emotionally detached due to the death of his parents, we felt that in situations where he needed to be in a frenzy (Mikami’s betrayal) were in offbeat moments (Asuka’s kidnapping) that seemed a bit off. Also, while the ending was neutral and left it open for the SP, it didn’t seem like full closure for Kudo and Asuka, who’s characters were now establishing a relationship that was now going beyond platonic and into romantic. Are we to assume that her closure with Date is also supposed to reflect on Kudo? If Kudo was madly in love with her, why would he simply let her go after that final show down with Mikami (or how Kudo better said it, having a celebratory beer with Date)?

Was I the only one really into their cat and mouse game of a relationship?

Ryo’s character was really annoying in the beginning of the series. You just knew him as this guy that pretty much forced himself into Date’s world, but, by the end of the show Ryo’s portrayal of the character ended up making him one of the most likable on the cast. To be honest, out of all the roles I’ve seen this kid in, Kudo is probably his best role… maybe because it wasn’t too far from his own personal self? According to others, Ryo is a very outspoken and hyper person despite the cool type they try to make him out to be. Sakai played the hell out of his character. He can play the character of an aloof detective always in trouble with his superiors and peers but instantly switch into the character of a vengeful vigilante that leaves chills down your spine. While I felt he was too uneventful in the last few crucial minutes of the finale, he never once stepped out of his role as Date. I’m afraid that if a Johnny had the lead, it would have been a recipe for disaster.

Joker is definitely a series I enjoyed and wouldn’t mind re-watching it again a few times. Its engaging and it’s entertaining. You’re not left with too many questions or urges to throw things at your screen — you’re left only wanting more. I definitely would love to see a second season, especially one that toys with a Asuka vs Date/Kudo plotline and dives deeper into the Underground Police.  Let’s hope the SP doesn’t disappoint and clear up some of the unfinished business that the show left behind.

" You will not come to see tomorrow "