Drama Review: MR. BRAIN

MR. BRAIN was a highly successful Japanese drama that aired this summer. In a nutshell, Tsukumo Ryusuke, SMAP’s Kimura Takuya, used to be a host until a siding of a building fell on him, and miraculously turned him super smart. I think it had to do with what the doctors had to do in order to save him. Anyway, he goes to America to earn all of these degrees and comes back to Japan to join National Research Institute of Police Science as the head neurologist. Yuri, played by the amazing Ayase Haruka, is in the Chemistry department, but is transferred to work with Tsukumo. This might sound fine and dandy, but Tsukumo is kind of crazy. He’s an oddball, and he puts Yuri through all kinds of weird tests through out the drama, which are of course hilarious. The two then solve many crimes along with Tanbara and Hayashida, played by Kagawa Teruyuki and Mizushima Hiro respectively. Mizushima was so hilarious as Hayashida and incredibly adorable that even if this show sucked, I would have watched it just for him.

I personally loved this drama as did the rest of Japan since it averaged a viewer rating of 20%. This might have been due to the fact that KimuTaku is such a powerhouse when it comes to, well, everything. Also every episode or case featured a new guest star. Most of these guest stars, I thought, were huge stars. Some of them include Nakama Yukie (Gokusen), Sato Takeru (Rookies, I love him), Gackt (I don’t even need to put anything here, that’s how big he is), and Kamenashi Kazuya (KAT-TUN). There was a super special guest in the finale, but you have to find out yourself. There was a bit of a scandal or more of an issue about Kamenashi’s stint on the show. The ratings of the episode he starred in dropped to 16%, which was the all time low. There are many rumors as to why, but no one really knows for sure.

All in all, I say that everyone should go watch it. I consider it kind of like the Japanese version House. That’s how much I liked it. I really think they should make a second season.