Elpis: Kibo, Aruiwa Wazawai (2022)

Satisfyingly unsatisfying

This series can get you hooked from the first episode, and that is something that a lot of dramas has recently failed to do, at least for me. The main theme of this series may not be entirely new - true journalism, truth, cover-ups, politics, corruption... hope - but somehow, they managed to deliver it in a way that would keep the audience watching , wondering what happens next.

Cast: I think the casting of this drama couldn't have been better. This drama caught my interest because of Nagasawa Masami and Suzuki Ryohei, two seasoned actors, whose previous works I have enjoyed. I trusted their choices in their projects. But I was most delightfully surprised by Maeda Gordon. A relative newcomer, he delivered a wonderful performance of his character Kishimoto in a very raw and convincing way. Suzuki Ryohei gave a solid delivery of Saito Seiichi, in a role that suits him very well, not quite the protagonist, not quite the antagonist. As for Nagasawa's portrayal of Asakawa Ena, she delivered a very believable broken, conflicted, lost and flawed character. There were so many times when I wasn't sure whether I hated Asakawa or pitied her. But Kishimoto was the one who carried the story for this series - a frustrating and heartbreaking journey of growth.

From here on, there will be some spoilers - proceed with caution.

This is not a sweet story of good trumping over bad, of corruptions exposed and having the bad people all locked up in jail at the end of the series. It's a story of compromises, picking the battles that you can fight, choosing some wins over some incredible loses. It has a lot of dark moments.

It is also a story of hope, Asakawa's hope and Kishimoto's hope. Kishimoto eventually does find it, painfully, and at times, the path he had to take to cling to that hope was a lonely one. His hope came from his desire to tell the truth. [Spoiler!] One of the saddest moment in this entire series was seeing him breakdown after what he felt was an ultimate betrayal of Asakawa - when he felt that the person he thought was fighting with him had abandoned him. But ironically, it was also Asakawa who eventually helped him hold on to that hope. Asakawa's hope was a much more difficult journey. But she finds it, eventually realizing that somehow, Kishimoto represented that hope that she had been grasping at for so long. It was kind of hinted at even at the early parts of the series - during her worst times, somehow, she could only eat when she was with Kishimoto. And as for Saito, I felt that they purposely made his character's stance vague. He was the gray between the good and the bad.

The only regret I have in watching this is that I tried to watch it during it's actual run. Somehow, the wait every week somehow ruined the pace for me. I should have waited for it to finish before watching it. It is better watched in succession.

Why satisfyingly unsatisfying? The ending. It was satisfyingly unsatisfying, in a good way. This entire series felt very grounded. It felt real with real people. And the way they ended it with something that wasn't a complete win that leaves a little bit of a bitter aftertaste, it stayed true to that grounded feel. And it was the best ending that they could have had for this series.

Overall, this is a solid drama series. One of the best I've watched in a long while. It wont' be for everyone. You would either like it or hate it and I think that it might not have been the intention of the writers, but it is definitely that kind pf polarizing story.

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