Gannibal (2022)

DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS JAPANESE CRIME MYSTERY HORROR DRAMA

jdramas have been hit or miss for me in terms of production value, story, and acting, but gannibals (2022) is a sleeper hit. with only 2 reviews at the time i am writing this (2/3/23), i am praying it gets renewed for a second season following the ending because I NEED ANSWERS!!!

story:
police officer agawa daigo and his family relocate to an isolated countryside town to fill a recent vacancy in the police force following a sudden resignation. they are greeted warmly by the town's people but coldly from the members of the strange and secretive goto family. after digging into the mysterious cirumstamces of the previous cop's disappearance, daigo discovers that he was last seen on the goto's family premises accusing them of cannibalism. while the agawa's hoped to start over in this small town and heal their non-speaking daughter's trauma, daigo is not someone to let go of things easily, so they are quickly swept into this small town mystery that is way bigger than them.

production/acting/everything else:
as mentioned previously, jdrama's that i have seen have been lacking in the production department. this is not an issue here. the cast and crew is impressive. the screenwriter is oe takamasa who was nominated for an oscar in 2021 for the best adapted screenplay for drive my car. yagira yuyu as agawa daigo gives a great performance, best known for his other role in nobody knows (2004) where he was the youngest winner of the best actor award at cannes.

i cannot recommend this drama enough. the pacing was great as the story slowly unveils itself. i was hooked from beginning to end. i also have never seen an jdrama that utilized a festival / folklore setting.

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Very underrated Jdrama!

I strongly recommend this drama to anyone who is into suspense, psychological, character driven, and thrilling drama. The story starts with Agawa Daigo, a police officer who got re-stationed as a substation police officer in a rural and isolated village where he is greeted with a powerful Goto family and its mysterious villagers. Rumors that cannibalism is being practiced in this village reaches Daigo which leads him to go against the Goto family to uncover the hidden secrets.

The main character, Daigo is not your typical nice guy main character which makes this drama more interesting to watch. His adrenaline chasing and super righteous mindset makes him become the target of the the village who wishes to hide certain secrets and enforce their traditional way of living. I am extremely impressed with both Yagira Yuya who plays Daigo and Kasamatsu Sho who plays Keisuke. Every single character in the drama did a splendid job portraying the pain they are dealing with and the high stakes that await their choices.

This drama is based on the manga with the same title, Gannibal. I am highly impressed with the production value, the acting, the costumes, and the music of this drama. I have watched a handful of anime and manga live action but there always seem to be a disconnect between actors and the characters and the actors comes across as overacting. This is not the case with Gannibal! No awkward wigs or caricature acting can be found here. Every episode transports you to the village where it feels you are alongside Daigo wanting to uncover the secrets of the village.

This is also a good introductory japanese drama for anyone who is willing to try out some Jdrama! Here is to hoping season 2 is coming!

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