Piece Ep. 11 first impressions

Again I must start by mentioning that at this point in the drama I am pretty lost with some parts of what is going on. Some of it is easy enough to follow along based on what I can understand of Japanese and just the knowing the usual ticks for Japanese dramas from watching quite a few.

We get to see what Hiro looks like older and oddly enough he looks like he could be Hikaru's twin brother. Kinda odd when in the photo from when they were kids they looked nothing alike. But looks seems to be the only thing they are exactly the same as because we see that Hiro is a very timid person.

In the flashback we see (which is supposed to have happened seven years ago) we see the guy Hikaru met with last episode try to get Hiro to beat a dog with a lead pipe. Hiro does not want to and Hikaru, who was nearby with friends, hears that Hiro is in trouble and goes running. His friends show up later and find Hikaru with the pipe in his hand and the guy on the ground covered in blood with Hiro cowering nearby.

After Yanai tells Mizuho that this is dangerous based on that story he was told Mizuho still wants to continue. Yanai goes home for the day and Mizuho with Remi start their own walk home. Remi though is frustrated with Mizuho and ends up storming off from her on the way. We then get Remi flashback to meeting a guy she ended up dating and things end in the flashback with them deciding to go to a love hotel together.

The next day the trio go back to continue the search and visit the apartment of the guy Hikaru visited the episode before. We learn that his name is Maruo and that he went off with Hikaru from his girlfriend who they talk to.

We learn from her that Origuchi visited them to talk to Maruo about Hiro. Not sure when this was supposed to have happened but I would assume sometime within the past three years.

We get to see Hikaru and Maruo in a hotel room. I really have no clear idea what they are doing other than it seems to be connected to Origuchi and Hiro. But Maruo gets a call from his girlfriend that brings up the visitors she got earlier that day and he passes on that information to Hikaru. So he knows that Mizuho and company are probably looking for him as well.

Remi stays over at Mizuho's and they end up talking about love and Remi tells Mizuho that the feelings that she talks about that make her uncertain about being in love sound like love to her. I still think Remi knows something more about everything but it is nice to see the two seem to get closer as friends as I think the both need someone they can talk to about these things and be honest with.

Mizuho gets woken up in the morning with a phone call from Maruo's girlfriend. She tells her that Hikaru is somewhere in Yokohama. Mizuho heads off there alone and passes by a familiar face, Narumi's older brother Hiro.


I really do not care for Hiro looking like an identical twin of Hikaru. In a way I can see it thematically making sense with the two perhaps being presented as two different sides of the same coin kinda thing, but it just is so implausible it comes off as silly. Especially when we have seen the two look so vastly different as children.

Either way though I have stuck with the drama this long I might as well see it to the end, and I would like to know how things unfold regardless.

Piece Ep. 10 first impressions

I know I am falling behind on doing these but the drama has delved into being more complex so having a good understanding of what is being said is key to knowing what is going on. I only have a so-so understanding so it is just hard to tell why some things are playing out as they are or going on.

I decided to try to wait until at least the next episode was subbed and was lucky enough to find that the next two are done. This is great as episode 8 is the start of this portion of the mystery, where we have gone through the known list and are stuck until the hidden pieces start surfacing. And I think I understand episode 10 much better after fully understanding episode 8.

So we start the episode with Mizuho and Yanai talking to Hikaru's mother, Narumi Risako. In this Yanai finally learns about Origuchi's abortion, much to his dismay. Risako seems certain that Hiro is not the one they should be looking for and is overall rather aloof and hard to read.

Mizuho and Yanai talk later with Yanai feeling pretty miserable at first but seems to understand why Mizuho would not tell him about the abortion. He brings up Hikaru, not understanding why she is willing to defend him. Mizuho ends up telling him about his mother using him and his brother as research specimens and Yanai is shocked and dismayed about it.

Mizuho ends up pouring out her heart more than expected as she ends up in tears. Yanai gives her his handkerchief and tells her that it will be okay. He is still with her for finding the answers they are looking for and he decides to follow his lead he got from Matsuura.

Mizuho tries to call Hikaru but only gets the message that the number cannot be reached. Meanwhile Hikaru is walking around as he was last episode.

Hikaru reaches his destination and comes to an apartment to meet up with a guy he knows who is played by Sakuma Daisuke. We are given only a couple of clues about this person, he is not happy to see Hikaru, looks to have a girlfriend at least, and knows something about Origuchi as Hikaru brings up her name when he talks to him.

Remi shows up to help Mizuho in her search for answers about Origuchi, even though she has expressed misgivings about Mizuho doing this. She mainly helps Mizuho go around the neighborhood Hiro grew up in to find anyone who knew him. Then goes with Mizuho when Yanai calls her saying that he found a lead about about Hiro's whereabouts.

When no one answers the door to the place Hiro is suspected in being Remi runs off then Mizuho finds Yanai showing up to give her a warning. It seems he was told that Hiro was a dangerous person. And it is basically there the episode ends.

From the previews we are going to get a lot answered about Hikaru and something answered about Hiro.


I am going to speculate right now that Remi knows Hiro somehow and perhaps more about Origuchi than she has been letting on. It is easy to tell that she is holding something back and seems conflicted about the whole thing. And of course her reaction near the end of the episode seems to confirm this. She is going to be central to figuring things out but of course Mizuho is going to have to figure out that she may know something.

Also it looks like I was off before, this series can easily go for another two episodes and end at 12 like the two in this slot before. The next episode should solve a big chunk of the mystery and the final episode will finish up with that to be followed by wrapping everything up.

Piece Ep. 6 first impressions

Well we have entered the part of this drama that I know I am missing things to the point that I feel a bit lost. But at least there are still some parts that are easy enough to figure out and follow so I still can get a gist of it.

After a recap and the OP theme we start the episode with Mizuho talking to her friend Remi. I cannot tell if Mizuho has been completely honest with Remi about what she is doing looking into Origuchi's high school connections. But it is clear that Remi most likely holds a piece of the puzzle herself and is not happy with Mizuho, but I think the latter is more for the fact that I think Remi is feeling like Mizuho is taking her friendship for granted.

Mizuho then visits Madoka with Yanai and with Koike present as well. They talk about the notes that Madoka received from an unknown person while she was in school. They say things, I think they question if Koike is a good person and do say something about Origuchi. After discussing it for a bit the four go for a walk and we get to see how Yanai and Madoka got together, which was with Yanai confessing to her on graduation day.

Later as Mizuho thinks about things she realizes that she should talk to Remi. I think she patches things up a bit between them with how they both act. Mizuho meets up with her high school friends at a restaurant and Remi tells her that they figured out who Madoka's stalker was. Megu is the one who figured it out as she caught fellow student Sugawara taking photos from a class trip off the board they were hanging from.

Mizuho, Madoka and Yanai go to Sugawara's house, though Yanai waits outside for the girls. They meet up with him and confront him over the notes. He tries to deny it completely but Mizuho notices that he is using the same kind of paper for memos on his board. Caught he lashes out verbally, causing Madoka to run out of the house. Mizuho goes to follow her while Sugawara pulls out a drawer full of momentoes of Madoka and breaks it on his desk.

Mizuho hears a crash from Sugawara breaking things and runs back into the house, an idea she knows is not that bright. Sugawara though just wants to wallow in his own pity for the most part but he lets her put a band aid on a cut he got from wrecking the drawer and calms down a bit to answer some of the questions Mizuho asks him.

And we get a scene of Narumi randomly. Of course this is not the only random appearance of his character being broody in this episode. I think the writers just want to make sure people remember that his character exists right now as he does not really play a part in the mystery for now.

We the learn that Sugawara happened to have seen Origuchi to into the apartment of their P.E. teacher, Miyamoto. And with that the episode ends.


From the previews we should get some flash backs that will of course delve into this revelation, though I do wonder how this is going to play out as there are sure to be a couple more episodes at least and their is still the matter of Narumi and whatever is going on with him.

While I did enjoy the earlier episodes that focused on Mizuho and Narumi's relationship I am enjoying these episodes that actually focus more on the mystery and looking at other characters much more. But I have always loved things with larger casts so it might be some of my bias there.

We are getting pretty close to what looks like the solving the mystery but we still have dangling plot lines with Narumi that I will only assume will be addressed near the end. I guess if there is any big fault of the drama in general is the fact that the mystery plot and the relationship plot do not really gel together well so when one gets focus the other suffers stagnation.