Theseus no Fune (2020)

I found out about this drama from Takeuchi Ryoma's twitter lol... and was glad that I ended up checking out this drama. Timeslip plot always interests me so much so I was intrigued at the plot where Tamura Shin ended up time slipping into the past and finding out who his father really was.

I like how well the plot had been written, especially when we weren't quite sure if Shin's father was truly a murderer or if the true criminal being someone else. And since the incident happened in a small village where everyone had their own secrets and motivations you couldn't help suspecting everyone to have some kind of motive to frame someone of murder. Not to mention the focus on people's eyes and evil eyes, you couldn't help feeling wary of anyone regardless of how they appeared harmless. And just when you thought you're sure about the identity of the real culprit, things took on a different take and you started to question everything that you once knew about the incident. Even when the final truth ended up being so simple, it makes one see how things weren't always so easily distinguishable or black and white.

It's like how you were given pieces of a puzzle without knowing what the final image would look like, and as you try to connect the pieces you'll either getting close into forming the complete image or ended up being misled. Yet once you finally found out the complete truth then finally all the pieces that didn't make sense before become clear. That makes the mystery of finding out the true criminal really engaging.

It's similar to how I felt while watching Erased, and while there was some difference in how the time slips/revival happens, the plot still involves the main character going back into the past in order to change a bleak future.

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Draggy and predictable, Theseus no Fune fails to present a satisfying plot development that other mystery, time-travel dramas offer. Close to half of its entire screening time is focused on pointless running around the seemingly small village, boring & repetitive inner monologues, and cliched relationship developments of the main characters. The drama's attempt to balance a complexified but predictable plot with emotional scenes ends up leaning more to the latter which often becomes a monotonous filler.

Acting-wise, Takeuchi Ryoma seems to be hindered by Shin's lack of capability as the main protagonist. On the other hand, kudos to Suzuki Ryohei whose acting shined the most amongst the main characters of the drama.

The music is well-composed; however, it fails to cover the superficial tensions in the plot that only push the protagonists to run around pointlessly again and again.

Overall, while this drama is watchable, it is pale in comparison with other similar dramas such as Signal and Erased.

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