At 1 a.m., I finished the series finale of Shibatora, FujiTV's 2008 11-episode drama about a 24-year-old detective whose young looks help him go undercover in places other detectives can't. The lead role of Shibata Taketora (Tora-chan for short) is played by Teppei Koike, who is the main reason I watched the series in the first place. Excuse my fangirl squeals - my admiration for Te-chan rivals mine for Tatsuya Fujiwara, even though Teppei often plays more humorous characters than Tatsuya.
The series itself is much more comical than I expected, which left me a little dissatisfied when some loose ends weren't fixed by the end of the 11th episode in order to allow more random, humorous scenes. (The peppy-happy ending theme song by Every Little Thing also sometimes clashed with the cliffhanger episode endings... Where's my dramatic, heart-pounding, cliched music?)
What I was happily surprised about was the ending. I'm sure if I had read the manga before watching the series, the twisted ending wouldn't have caught me off-guard as much. The cast was fantastic - and I'm not just touting Te-chan's "innocent and naive" acting here. Maya Miki's Sakura Chiba presented a strong female role that I've found missing in several other dramas since Gokusen (cue the "FIGHT-O, OH!"), Naohito Fujiki's Kojiro Fujiki wins my rarely-awarded "Japanese Men Who Look Decent with Light Hair" recognition, and Suzuka Ohgo, who plays Mizuki Hosho, is just plain adorable. I just wanted to hug her.
Shibatora's no Hana Kimi, but I recommend it just the same. My favorite scene? When Teppei attempts to dress like a "young person." His outfit looks like he just performed in a Johnny's concert - and somehow, it still looks good.
And let's not forget Teppei's transformation into a girl for his undercover operation in a maid cafe:
He's much better looking as a boy, I must say. Leave the pretty girl parts to Suzuka.
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