Late night drama BAD BOYS J episode 1 review!
Synopsis (from DramaWiki):
Hiroshima, 2013. The reigning No. 1 gang, BEAST, is led by Danno Hidenori, while Nights, the No. 2 gang in Hiroshima, is led by Hiro.
Kiriki Tsukasa is but an ordinary high school student. Having made the acquaintance of Kawanaka Yoji, Iwami Eiji & Nakamura Hisao by chance, Tsukasa is now drawn into the sphere of the group called "Gokurakuchou". One day, due to one reason or another, Tsukasa challenges Gokurakuchou's current leader, Jun to a duel. Before the fight ends, Jun collapses, which effectively makes a very unwilling Tsukasa, the 8th leader of Gokurakuchou.
Cast:
Gokurakuchou
Nakajima Kento as Kiriki Tsukasa
Iwamoto Hikaru as Kawanaka Yoji
Fukusawa Tatsuya as Iwami Eiji
Watanabe Shota as Nakamura Hisao
BEAST
Nikaido Takashi as Danno Hidenori
Morita Myuto as Takama Kazutoshi
Morohoshi Shoki as Harada Kazunari
Sakurai Reika as Miyashita Mariya
Takayama Kazumi as Momose Haruka
Wakatsuki Yumi as Nitta Mio
Nojo Ami as Karatsu Rina
Nights
Hashimoto Ryosuke as Hiro
Yasui Kentaro as Nakagawa Kenjiro
Hagiya Keigo as Funamoto Jun
Shimekake Ryuya as Kenjou Juri
Akimoto Manatsu as Kamijo Mariko
Ito Marika as Mikami Miyu
Ito Nene as Sakuma Mina
Others
Itano Tomomi as Nakai Kaori
Triendl Reina as Sato Erika
Hashimoto Nanami as Yoshimoto Kumi
Matsumura Sayuri as Fujii Mika
Taketomi Seika as Takanashi Aoi
My impressions:
BAD BOYS J is a gang fight type of drama, in the likes of Sugarless. In Hiroshima, there is 3 gangs currently fighting for the number 1 spot. Which team will become king of the city?
I was a little bit confused by the beginning, as I was getting mixed by the different names of gangs and a substantial amount of actors presented at once. When I understood that Gokuraku cho was the name of a gang and not a neighborhood, it started to make more sense. I am not a fan of gang fight type of drama, but I thought the story of the first episode was actually not that bad. It could be potentially interesting. One good aspect is I felt that the actors looks like gang members, with the exception of Kiriki Tsukasa which is intentional. The episode was also very short, around 24 minutes.
It has many Johny's juniors and a new generation of actors and actresses. By watching this episode, I felt that it was probably more aimed at a teenager audience.
I recommend this drama if you are a fan of gang fights drama. This is really the main focus of the story. There was not really any mention of school or anything else. There was a lot of fights scenes.
Or course, I also recommend this if you are a fan of Johny's Junior.