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.

Ataru mid-season impressions

Since the subs for this series are now out for all the episodes I have gotten around to getting further through the series and should finish it up soon.

Even though it had been a while since watching the first episode of the series I had no trouble getting back into things. I guess if anything the first episode did well enough to establish the characters and the set up for the series for it to be easily remembered. It just lacked a compelling mystery.

The biggest issue I had with the first episode was the mystery, as it lacked an emotional appeal, but as the episodes have gone on they have fixed that issue. In fact episode five gives us a mystery that Maiko's younger brother (played by Tamamori Yuta) is a witness for that not only helps invest viewers in the outcome but also gives him character development.

I still would not say that the mysteries are top notch, as they seem to vary in quality and ability for the watching audience to figure it out with the protagonists, but with the emotional ties it makes you care about having them be solved.

The chemistry between the main characters is getting better as Maiko is realizing that Ataru is needed to help her do what she really wants to do as a cop, solve crimes.

We are also getting good bits of the mystery about Ataru and the people he is connected to, which includes the FBI. And we do get some explanation of his Savant Syndrome, which is nice to get a better understanding of what is going on with him and explaining why he can do what he can do and not do.

It does make me a bit sad to see Mitsumune Kaoru in this, as while her part is minor she shines in it. I really think she has promise but with her health issues who knows if she will be returning to an acting career. I truly hope she does eventually.


This series has improved from the first episode and continues to get more compelling to watch with better mysteries and the series long mysterious getting some good bits of development. I am glad to have stuck with this series past the first episode though I can understand why it dipped so much in the ratings with the fact that it has taken time to iron out a lot of the kinks from the first episode.

I am looking forward to finishing this series and the special episode when that comes out.

Piece Ep. 9 first impressions

At this point in the drama I am getting rather lost at times with what is being said and going on exactly. The only solace I find is the fact that I have been pretty much on so far when watching the subs, which are now up to episode 6. So hopefully by the end of the year it will be done and these pieces I am missing from the language barrier gets filled in.

While the house Mizuho has found looks like the one Narumi lives in she notices that the name placard is different. She meets with one of the occupants and learns that Narumi's brother Hiro had moved from the place at some point.

We get the first flashback with Narumi and Origuchi. She has the painting with her, as Narumi notices the initials on it. They discuss things I could not follow but near the end Origuchi tells him that she thinks he is a kind person but he does not seem to really believe it.

She ends up meeting with Yanai and Matsuura after visiting the house and discuss things with them. Really could not follow the conversation but I believe that Mizuho is stubbornly clinging to the idea that her lead is the one she needs to follow to get to the heart of the matter.

Matsuura eventually reveals that he did talk to Origuchi before. During an art class he noticed her painting because of her color use but his enthusiasm apparently freaked her out as she ended up running off.

We get the next flashback with Narumi and Origuchi which confirms without a doubt that he knows much more than he has let on as he is visiting her in the hospital. It is clear that she is suffering from cancer and more than likely supposed to be getting chemo therapy. Could not really follow much of what was said but lots of silent but grumpy looks from Narumi.

Mizuho goes to visit Narumi again to get some answers but he is not home. Thankfully Nanao shows up and lets her in and they confirm that he really is not in the house.

When Mizuho enters the living room she notices that Narumi broke the painting, and we see in flashback that he kicked it in. Mizuho is worried about Narumi not getting what could have upset him so. She and Nanao talk a bit then.

Mizuho decides to ask Nanao about meeting with his mother. The next scenes we get are Narumi and Mizuho walking around but we only get to see where Mizuho ends up as she meets with Yanai at Narumi Clinic where Narumi's mother works. And it is with her showing up that the episode ends.


Next episode should be the finale of the series, because I cannot see this being dragged out any longer without beginning to feel tedious now that we should be getting a chunk of Narumi's back story with the meeting with his mother. Or we better, because I would feel cheated if we get a cop out instead.

I think this episode just frustrates me because I could not follow it as easily as the others and I know there are things being said that I needed to catch to have things make much more sense. So I feel like I cannot comment too much about it until I find out what was said and what I missed. And thankfully it does not seem like I will have to wait too long hopefully.

Piece Ep. 8 first impressions

Ended up doing this much later than planned, sorry about that.

Things are reaching the point where even though I can follow the main points of the episodes I know I am missing some key things as well that is in the dialogue. Hopefully the subs will be able to catch up soon, though I am happy to see they have completed episode 5 now, which should be a big help in figuring out Yanai's character more at least.

So Mizuho follows Narumi into the house and notices that everything looks exactly how it did three years ago. She shows him the painting and the initials, pointing out that they are the same as his. He laughs it off commenting that there are a lot of people with those initials.

With that past he leads her into his living room which is a pigsty, like usual, and tries to get her to help clean it up with him. She does a lot of thinking about things I could not catch that ultimately end with her leaving him.

Mizuho meets with Yanai and Madoka to try to figure where to go next to find a lead since they now seem to have all dried up. In the middle of it Mizuho gets a call from Narumi who asks her to come back over. I believe he promises to help her somehow if she brings some stuff with her for him, like toilet paper.

Mizuho goes back with the stuff Narumi asked for her to bring, or at least most of it, and after some bickering seem to fall back into how they were back when they were going out. In better spirits Mizuho ends up helping Narumi clean and everything and the end up napping on the floor. I do not quite care for this turn in their relationship honestly. It would be one thing if Narumi showed any signs of having matured in any way since high school but he still comes off as the same asshole he was back then. So for now I am side-eyeing this romantic plot in the series, hard.

When she leaves the house she runs into Nanao who is pleased to see her. The two go off to talk and Mizuho learns some key details, like it was Nanao that left the room unlocked back then. Also the big piece of information that gets her a big step in the right direction to solve the mystery is the fact that Narumi has an older brother called Hiro. So of course the initials on the painting could be his as well. When Mizuho asks about going to see Hiro she is given directions to the house he lives in by Nanao.

As Mizuho travels to the house she recognizes that the route is the same that she and Narumi took that day they had their impromptu date three years ago. She wonders if Narumi was not partly wanting to go to the other house that day on that day.

Meanwhile Yanai meets with an artist, that I believe is named Matsuura and is played by Watanabe Shota of the Junior group Snow Man. Yanai looks at his sketches and finds some of Origuchi. Unfortunately I could not catch all the conversation but I believe there was a mention of Origuchi frequently using a bus stop near where he sketched people.

Yanai calls Mizuho and I believe it is to tell her that he figured things out about the painting or found a solid lead he wants her to see but Mizuho is sure that the lead she is following is important and continues on her journey. She ends up reaching the house of Narumi's brother and is shocked to see that it is identical to the house Narumi lives in.

And that is where things end for this episode. The preview shows that it looks like we are going to find out more about Origuchi and Narumi's relationship and that is about all I could glean as it seems to be making sure that nothing major is given away. With only two episodes left in the series I can understand that as we are hitting the final stretch so things should finally all start falling into place.


Not sure how much I care for the secret older brother plot here, but I guess it does work considering that Narumi does not seem like the type to talk about himself much at all to anyone. I think it is going to depend how it plays out. Though it does seem like it is going to work well as the way to bring the two main plots of the drama together for the ending.

Piece Ep. 7 first impressions

Found this episode a bit easier to follow, it probably helps that it is rather straight forward with what is covered in this episode that ends up clearing more up than adding much more to the mystery.

Instead of a straight recap of Mizuho's conversation with Sugawara we get part of it being from the scene of last episode with some added parts. One such part is that flashback to a gym class we saw in last week's preview that has Sugawara watching Origuchi stand up for Miyamoto-sensei when some male classmates were badmouthing him.

After the opening we skip to Mizuho telling Yanai and Madoka what she learned from Sugawara and Yanai is shocked and refuses to believe that Origuchi would have a relationship with a teacher. They decide to go visit Miyamoto-sensei even though Yanai does not want to, if mainly because he does not want to believe the lead to be true.

When they get to Miyamoto-sensei's apartment he is not there but then a young boy shows up and is surprised to see them there. Miyamoto then shows up and they end up being invited in. They learn the boy is Miyamoto's son, Akito, and that he is a single father. Akito did not know that Origuchi died so when the topic comes up he is quite upset and it is then they learn that Origuchi came by to look after Akito as a babysitter.

We do not get the full story until things fast forward to everyone gathering at the Origuchi household to clear things up. Akito and Miyamoto explain that Origuchi was earning some extra money by looking after Akito for Miyamoto. (Or at least that is what I got out of it.)

We do learn some key information, like clearing up the person Origuchi was talking to on her cell that Yanai assumed was a boyfriend was just Akito. But the topic of a painting come up and Miyamoto has brought it with him to show everyone. It was something special to Origuchi but I was not able to catch what she said about it in the flashback where she talked to Miyamoto about it.

Spotting the initials on the painting, H. N, Mizuho comes to the same conclusion as I am sure most viewers will as well, this was Narumi Hikaru's painting. She is shocked visibly but shakes off the concern Madoka and Yanai show her when they notice that she is shaken by the painting.

While walking with the painting later Mizuho gets lost in her thoughts were she sees visions of high school and the people she has come in contact with as she has searched to solve the mystery. After seeing them as she saw them when in high school she then sees them as she has come to know them and sees what she had missed about them.

Mizuho ends up showing up at Narumi's house with the painting, most likely to confront him about it. She does not seem exactly up to it from her reaction to him but decides to enter the house when he invites her in.

The preview is pretty vague, so I think it is safe to say that they are making sure the viewers do not get enough to be able to guess what exactly will be covered in the next episode. That said, those waiting for the episode where members of Junior group Snow Man will be in will only have to wait until the next episode, as one of the members is shown in the preview.


We have gone down the list of suspects that we were introduced to in the first episode so there really is no other possibility to explore than Narumi not being completely truthful about his relationship to Origuchi when Mizuho asked him about it. But we should have more than one episode left so I feel like I cannot really speculate how things are going to go. I think it is safe to say though we will get the resolution of Origuchi's mystery with Narumi's now.

I am glad there was a way to make this progression feel natural and even though everything feels like it just circled around everything Mizuho has learned and gone through so far has done so much with investing care towards having this mystery solved with making Origuchi a much more complex character that could be cared for.

And I am so glad that Matsumura Hokuto has his role in this drama. I have been hoping for him to get a role that has him get away from the "cool" type character and surprisingly Yanai is that role. At first glance it did not seem that way but once we got past the surface of his character he has shown quite a bit of emotion and it is roles like this that I think will really help Hokuto grow as an actor at this stage in his career.

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.

Piece Ep. 5 first impressions

Well the usual source for the episode had issues this week so it took a couple of days more to get this to watch and review. On the bright side the subs have just about caught up with the episodes with only this recent episode not subbed now. Which is nice as I now know what I was missing from those episodes and this episode is pretty dialog heavy so it will be nice to know that it should not be long for me to know what was exactly said.

The episode starts off with the phone call to Yanai Takashi that Suga Mizuho made at the end of last episode. We do not get to see much of the phone call continue as we get pulled into flashbacks from three years ago again, but this time it is Yanai as the focus of them. Things starting off with the breaking of a flower vase that Yanai and Haruka end up cleaning up together.

Later/the next day Yanai is walking to school with his friend, Koike, played by Yasui Kentaro. There is a girl from another school waiting to talk to Yanai, I assume she is his girlfriend, and they end up talking in a nearby playground. The girl is clearly upset with him and if they are a couple she breaks up with him telling him that he has a deceptive appearance, if I'm reading that phrase on the screen right.

Yanai is surprised and unsettled by this and seems to be largely distracted by thoughts about whether or not it is true. That is until he is doing committee work with Haruka and he notices a new flower and vase on the table. Haruka ends up telling him that the flower is a Casablanca Lily and Yanai is impressed with her knowledge of flowers. Yanai's crush on her seems to really start here as she smiles and he notices that she looks more lively when talking about the flower. His narration of the event though mentions about his pride getting in the way of expressing his feelings for her.

This thought about his pride comes up again when he is talking to Koike later about love. Koike is pining over Madoka and Yanai says that he understands his friend. Yet when Koike asks if that means that there is someone that Yanai likes Yanai is quick to deny it.

Eventually he decides to go ahead and ask Haruka out and finds an event about flowers to ask her to. When he goes to do so though he accidentally overhears Haruka talking to someone on the phone excitedly. He pretends not to have overheard when he enters the room but does ask if she was talking to her boyfriend. While I do not think she outright said yes she did seem to give a pretty positive answer which of course crushes Yanai's hope for being able to ask her out.

We then get to jump forward to the funeral and can see that Yanai never really got over his feelings for Haruka. And when we get back to the present with him speaking on the phone with Mizuho he is in tears.

Mizuho ends up meeting with him with Narumi in a cafe. She asks him about Haruka and her boyfriend and Yanai seems to answer honestly. When Yanai asks about why Mizuho wants to know about who Haruka was dating Narumi causes a distraction as he notices that Mizuho does not seem to want to tell him the truth. Narumi loudly asks the waitress about cakes before leaving to check them out. Yanai ends up following him.

When confronted by Yanai about how he knew that Yanai liked Haruka, Narumi tells him that he spotted them together and could tell by the way Yanai looked at her that he liked her.

As the trio walk after they are done at the cafe, Narumi ends up having to leave to catch a bus leaving the other two alone. They talk and honestly it was hard for me to follow but I believe it was about being in love. Yanai at the end though tells Mizuho that he wants to know who was Haruka's boyfriend as well so Mizuho picks up another helping hand in her search.

Yanai is able to give Mizuho the next link to try to figure out the mystery by bringing up that there was a connection between Haruka and Setouchi Madoka. The next and final scene shows that this is true with Madoka looking at a box of notes, the top one having Haruka's name on it.


I am personally quite glad we are finally getting to the part of the story that lets the viewer see the other pieces of the puzzle. Haruka becomes much more of a person than we have seen her before now that we have gotten the chance to see her around someone who actually regularly interacted with her. There also seems to be some little things that are hinting at things, but until I have a clearer idea of what was said I will not speculate too much about them.

Also glad that there are signs that Hokuto is starting to get roles that are a little more diverse. I hope he continues to be kept busy with drama roles so he can continue to expand on that and continue to become more versatile as an actor as he proves with every role he gets that he has talent in this field.

For fans of Yasui I think this and the next episode will be the best for seeing him. He definitely does not have a big role in this. It also seems tied to Yanai and Madoka with no signs that we will get to see Koike without one of them. And I know that Suzuki Airi has been done with filming for a while now so I do not suspect to see much of Madoka once the episode is done.

It is a pity the ratings have not been great for this series, but I am hearing from unconfirmed sources that the program has been delayed for the past couple of episodes until more around 2AM instead of the midnight airing it is supposed to have. So I hope that is the main reason for that as I am enjoying this drama much more than the previous one for this time slot, which I honestly still have yet to finish.