Galileo (Jdrama)

Galileo is a 2007 Japanese series of 10 episodes starring Masaharu Fukuyama and Kou Shibasaki, following Dr. Yukawa — a physicist obsessed with finding answers to the cases that rookie detective Utsumi thinks are impossible to solve.

What’s pretty awesome about this show is how they present the initial case that they will be dissecting with each witness account and clues. Finally Dr. Yukawa pieces it all together in a similar way that KEIZOKU 2: SPEC resolves its cases — Dr. Yukawa puts the final piece of the puzzle, makes a mess on anything he might be able to write on, we go inside his brain… and ta-da!

In theory, we should be complaining about this almost deus-ex-machina device. Dr. Yukawa knows everything, but it’s the way we, as an audience, speculate how they might solve the craziest things like spontaneous combustion, astral projection, poltergeists and premonitions, that make this show so much fun. Now, I’m not the most scientific of people, but explanations in the show seemed to make sense… and they might be fit for a session on Mythbusters!

Though, there is no on-going case that threads the ten episodes together, the show keeps it together with the evolving — odd and funny — relationship between the logic of Yukawa and the intuition (and often clumsiness) of Utsumi. Both Fukuyama and Shibasaki have great chemistry and play well against each other.

I have a feeling that Galileo would have taken advantage of a mystery that would develop throughout the duration of the whole show, because as it is right now, it’s very episodic.

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

You can catch Galileo (and its famous Episode 0) on Crunchyroll.

amy

YAM Magazine editor, photographer, blogger, translator and part-time web designer. Film junkie, music junkie… and lately series (a.k.a. TV) junkie.

6 Responses

  1. ersby says:

    Nice review. I love all the science-y bits and I don’t mind the bits when he writes formulae on any available surface because, although it’s a gimmick, I understand that filming somebody thinking perhaps isn’t very visual.

  1. April 19, 2014

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    […] your hand if you missed Kou Shibasaki on this year’s Galileo series [1]? It certainly doesn’t seem like I was the only person to do so, because according to rumors- […]

  3. June 3, 2014

    […] 2 is the second series following the 2007 drama that gave way to Dr. Yukawa with Masaharu Fukuyama back for his role as the handsome eccentric […]

  4. July 3, 2014

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  5. August 21, 2015

    […] plot device in Japanese shows [see Gokuaku Ganbo], and so is the irresistible male lead [think: Galileo]- everyone is in love or ends up smitten by Rintaro’s psychiatric magic and big closed-off […]

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