Avalanche: An engaging, gripping action drama!

 

Action dramas are a dime a dozen. The market is beyond saturated and yet, it's still very much my personal favourite genre. For this blog post I want to take you back in time to the year 2021. Why 2021? Because of a very good drama titled Avalanche, helmed by esteemed director Michihito Fujii alongside Yoshishige Miyake. 

Avalanche tells the tale of a group of vigilantes. What's prominent about them is the fact that each member has served in either the police force or the military in some form except for one. This organisation serves to deliver justice when the law has failed and particularly when bureaucracy has intervened for political power and gain. Amongst the organisation's esteemed members is Seiichi Habu, a man that was seemingly the sole survivor of a terrorist attack 3 years before the events of the drama. The group's main adversary is a man named Kengo Oyama, a man who is hard to bring down due to his position as Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary. Oyama had been promoted to this position under suspicious circumstances following the terrorist attack that had claimed the lives of Habu's former team mates. What follows is a deadly battle of wits between Avalanche and Oyama. 

Right off the bat, it's a very familiar tale of a group of vigilantes fighting tooth and nail against corruption. It's a story that's been told over a million times before and yet, Avalanche does it well enough to overlook that fact. Sure, there's some holes that can be prodded in the methods used in the storytelling, but it's engaging and entertaining to the point were it's not a big deal. Still, the usage of livestreaming to send the message out and to let ordinary citizens decide what to do with the corrupt perpetrators of crime (often politicians or adjacent), is fun. However, it is a very risky method as if the enemy includes a skilled hacker, then the hacker could just shut down the livestream and potentially the entire channel. What if this happened before the criminal has confessed or had their crimes fully exposed? In the second half of the drama, there's also a point of contention were someone pretends to be Avalanche themselves. I was irked by this as surely someone who had kept up with their prior livestreams would notice the fact that this new person suddenly popped up on the channel with a completely different mindset and message than any of the members. Nit-picky? Perhaps, but I refuse to believe that everyone would buy that the fake Avalanche was the real one. Someone would know, such as people Avalanche had helped in the past. 

With 10 episodes that mostly have a 45 minute runtime each barring the pilot, the plot has a chance to breath. The first 4 episodes are spent on separate cases that give us a glimpse at the backgrounds and lives of the members of Avalanche, whilst also having relevance by being connected to the central plot. Episode 5 is basically spent showing us the past of Habu and the very key event that turned his life upside down. Beyond that point, things get very interesting with the central plot taking focus and the pacing picks up significantly.  

In terms of production values, Avalanche had some of the best quality possible. For a drama, it must have had quite the large budget as there was some tremendous cinematography, lighting work and colour grading. There was a wonderful array of shot types used throughout the 10 episodes. The camera was almost constantly moving in some manner, but the directors knew when to hold it steady. There was a very, very limited usage of slow-motion and that's a good thing. Slow-motion can be cool when used sparingly, otherwise it gets old pretty quickly and so credit where credit is due. 

As for the action, there's a number of fight scenes throughout the drama. For the most part, the choreography is pretty solid. At one point, I did groan however, as in an early scene, a guy gets taken out by what appeared to be a wrist hold. Despite that, there's a couple of really well done fight scenes, taking place in the 6th and final episodes respectively. The fight scene within episode 6 is short, but sweet as it's two skilled combatants squaring off before being interrupted. In the final episode, it is the rematch between the same characters, with a definite outcome this time around. The camerawork is pretty good during these scenes as the action is pretty easy to follow, so kudos to the directors for knowing how to film fight scenes. No over usage of shaky cam either, I'm happy to report. 

Go Ayano starred as main character, Seiichi Habu and once again proved why he's one of the very best actors of his generation. He was able to bring a delightful range of emotions to the role, managing to make the man a likable hero and looked cool in the process. The man excelled in the fight scenes as well, what can't he excel at? 

It was rather amusing and a bit strange witnessing Atsuro Watabe in the role of Kengo Oyama, the main villain of the drama after having loved him as the father figure opposite Takeru Satoh in Bitter Blood. Here, he managed to showcase his range by managing to make Oyama charismatic and suave enough to be compelling whilst also being slimy enough to hate. 

Sota Fukushi also did a darn fine job in the role of Eisuke Saijo. Whilst he seemed rather hopeless at first, he managed to shine during the latter episodes and comes in clutch when the chips are down. One poignant scene had him face off with his father, questioning his sense of justice. He did a lot with facial expressions and body language, showcasing a son that is disappointed with his father. 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Avalanche even with the flaws and nit-picks. The drama is an easy recommendation to any Go Ayano fans, action genre lovers and those who love to see justice being served.