Shotai deals with what happens to someone who is wrongfully convicted of a heinous crime, and finds themselves on death row and then manages to escape. It also has a parallel story regarding what has happened to the FL’s father who has faced injustice, the show’s main theme. It would seem the Japanese detectives are biased, although troubled by past events from earlier investigations into the ML.

The film is a slick production and the two hours passes by quickly. Our protagonist, although on the run, is seeking the truth of what happened that lead to his arrest and subsequent trial. During his life on the run, he adopts different disguises, works in different jobs, but his personality remains consistent throughout - he is kind and thoughtful.

Although we don’t get to see much regarding the legal side, apart from court scenes, show undersells how the Japanese justice system works -which is different to what little we see on screen. In this respect, I marked the movie down half a star for this very point. However, it doesn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of this movie.