Furuhata Chugakusei is a Japanese drama “special” that runs about an hour and a half long. It’s technically a prequel of a J-drama tv show called “Furuhata Ninzaburo” which had three seasons. The TV show is about a detective named Ninzaburo Furuhata who must solve ingenious crimes and outwit elusive criminals without the use of violence or weapons. But that might be for a different review. For now, let’s take a look at this special.
Plot
Young Furuhata, a 3rd-year junior high student from Tokyo, transferred to a school in the countryside due to family circumstances. He doesn’t fit in at first, but he makes a quick friend named Mukoujima Otokichi. After an incident in the school garden, the vice principal is about to punish Mukoujima when Furuhata reveals what really happened to the flowers in the garden. Thanks to this, he gains a reputation around the school as being a detective. And after solving one more case at school, he is talked into opening his own detective agency in an abandoned shack.
Here the cases come pouring into his lap and he goes around solving them. It leads to a legend of a buried treasure and he works to solve it. I won’t reveal the climax, but let’s just say there’s a twist to the story.
The Good
+ It’s entertaining.
+ I only really figured out the twist slightly before when they reveal it, so it isn’t too, too obvious.
The Bad
+ It’s hard to imagine a 13 or 14 year old kid running around doing all this.
What The?
+ Furuhata reminds me of my friend KuroMa so much it isn’t even funny. Even the way he constantly bugs his friend, asking if he’s read Sherlock Holmes yet, is comparable to him bugging us about reading certain books.
Really there’s not a whole lot to say about this. It was a pretty fun watch. It wasn’t too sappy or stupid like a lot of J-dramas, yet it wasn’t quite as involved as a full series would be either. Not the best, not the worst by far. I’ll give it a 3 out of 5.
