"Risako Yamazaki (Kou Shibasaki) lives with her 3-year-old daughter and husband. She is informed that is selected as an alternate lay judge in a criminal case. The defendant in the case is Mizuho Ando. She is also a housewife and about the same age as Risako Yamazaki. She is on trial for drowning her 8-month-old daughter in a bathtub. Risako Yamazaki feels hatred to Mizuho Ando, but, after the trial begins, Mizuho Ando's situation reminds Risako Yamazaki of her own past memories."


wow this was an awesome drama, finished it in less than 24hours. I don't have the habit of "binge-watch" but this drama was like reading a very engaging book, where I needed to know how would it end.

Most of the story is dark and pathetic, like there is only negative things about being married and having children and working and having a family at the same time. Most of the characters that have such a sad life are women, but thankfully there is also one male POV counterpart. I say Thank God because this drama has a couple of useless and stupid husbands. Like, what is the point to marry such an asshole husband? Is what society demands so strong that we, women, just settle for anyone? Awful, but mostly true.

It was weird to see Shibasaki Kou in such a submissive role; she usually is a tough girl in the dramas/movies I've seen of her. The actor who plays her husband has such a punchable face, and the little girl who plays her daughter was so bad I mostly thought the girl was a psycho :S it didn't help that she was a little monster; I do think parents should be tougher and spank their children. Nowadays it is seen as a crime -WHUT- but there are children who understand after a proper scolding, and there are others who NEED a good spanking (author's note: best example is "Anne of Avonlea"; she has a student just like this).

So most of the story, like 5 out of 6, the audience may feel rage and impotency at the injustice of how society treats mothers in general: mothers who work; mothers who can't control their children; mothers who are not the "standard" mother. That husband that said he wanted a normal wife (someone who stays at home and cooks and takes of her baby... a "normal" wife is not someone who works)... GRRRRR RAGE!!! To think that there are men (and women) out there who think this way. And worst, they make the woman (the woman who needs counseling and support and just wants to do her job) feel bad about herself! Hello, there are women out there who suffer from mental breakdown and post-partum depression and other mental illnesses, and society think of them as useless and "not-mother-worthy", or the women who don't have children, are not women enough!!

Anyway, the final episode was really touching, I cried like a baby. The killer mother finally collapses once her struggles were recognized. And the beach scene... waaa so touching. If only the two of them had meet each other before all they went through....

Kohei Mochizuki (Hideaki Ito) is married to Maria (Yoshino Kimura), but he has an affair with Anna Kitazato (Saki Aibu). The lovers plan to kill Maria. When Kohei Mochizuki comes home, he finds that his wife has disappeared and their are bloodstains. Kohei Mochizuki has mixed emotions. He realizes that he loves his wife Maria and hopes she returns safely. He soon learns the truth of the kidnapping and who Maria really is. (asiawiki-2016)


WOW, I enjoyed every minute of this drama. I loved it! It is true that it is similar in some ways to "Gone Girl": wife fakes her kidnapping, husband is a cheater who hates his wife. And that's it; there is where similarities end. This wife is crazy but not a psychopath; this cheater husband, besides being a cheater, is quite charming. There are feelings involved, and also money -a big part-, and surprisingly, there is also humor. I laughed many times, mainly because of Kouhei, the husband, played excellently by Ito Hideaki. His expressions of terror whenever he was with this wife were priceless XD I loved how afraid he was of everything; he really was naive and silly. His wife had a great time playing with him XD

Kimura Yukino as the wife was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. I don't think I'll be able to see her differently from the crazy, manipulative, lady-like, composed and lovely Maria-san. So beautiful too (her smile!). Actually, this couple was gorgeous.

And yay! Police here is smart and know how to do their jobs. I hate to watch dramas where the police is portrayed as useless and stupid. The detectives/cops connected the dots, suspected of everyone and MOVED in order to get to the truth. Kudos!

The mistress (Aibu Saki) is at least quite smart and not a nasty woman. To be honest, the only character I didn't like was the neighbor Kujirai Yuki, not sure if it was because she was so pathetic or I just didn't like how she was portrayed by the actress.

Every episode was a surprise. I couldn't predict any twist. Maria is the most likeable villain I've seen in a drama. I loved it from beginning to end. Actually, the end was genius XD

A beautiful female magician named Naoko (Yukie Nakama) and a strange physician named Ueda (Hiroshi Abe), whose life's work is exposing fraud disguised as ESP, magic, spiritualism, telekinesis and the like, resent each other, but work together to solve mysteries that baffle laypeople, including the police.(asianwiki)


This couple is going to kill me, but in the good sense. They are so meant for each other, but as it happens in most Japanese doramas, this is not about romance, so we (the audience) is left wanting for more. That last scene.... OMG, it can't end like that (!!!).

Till now, I can count with the fingers of one hand the sequels that were as good or better than it predecessor. Sadly, I cannot say TRICK 2 was as good, but still, I liked it. The difference with the first season is that, mainly, the bickering between Yamada and Ueda is less. I mean, they still bick, but not as much. They do not tease the other because of their "sexual issue" (Yamada with her flat chest, and Ueda with his, ehem, male issue).

Also, the cases are not as creepy as Season 1, and the "villains" are not as colorful. Still, I found myself laughing out loud several times because of Ueda and his silliness. Like when Yamada was trying to tell him about the treasure, and he was misunderstanding everything. Or when he was clapping his hands happily to tunr off and on the lamp, and Yamada, out of patience, yelled "Ueda!" (I absolutely love every time she calls him "Ueda", without any honorifics). Or when he ran away, saying "jump" and his pose, like he was flying! And the scene where he and Yamada are sleeping out in the woods, and he is trying to be gallant giving his coat, but at the end, since he is freezing, he remains being Ueda. He is hilarious, and it just consolidated my admiration for Abe Hiroshi, currently my favorite Japanese actor.

In this season, Ueda is not as "useless" as in the previous one. He faints less and helps to resolve the cases; more than he did before. Still, he still needs Yamada with him, and is always pestering her when a new case is presented. I love that. I also love how Yamada narrates at the beginning of each episode, saying she is a beautiful magician XD

There are a couple of episodes where Ueda is missing, so Yabe, the cop with the wig, was a replacement as Yamada's sidekick. Surprisingly, in spite of me thinking first that it wouldn't be the same (since I love Ueda), he was a good sidekick. There is a chemistry between him and Nakama Yukie (that we can see again in the Gokusen series) and he was very funny. Although not as much as Ueda, but who is?

My favorite scene, without a doubt, is the last one. It shows that both of them care for each other, that Okaasan -it is so funny that Ueda calls her Okaasan like it is nothing- knows Ueda and Yamada are meant for each other. And it gives hope for a 3rd season (which I know there is, but audience at that time didn't).