Densetsu No Kashira Sho is a fun time!

 

Okay, so... This time, I'm covering yet another live-action adaptation. I know, shocking, right? It's another drama rather than a movie and something of a hidden gem in the grand scheme of things. The 2024 live-action adaptation of mangaka Takeshi Natsuhara and illustrator Takashi Kamori's Densetsu no Kashira Sho didn't get the hype or buzz of some other adaptations, but it turned out to be a really pleasant, fun viewing experience. 

Yamada Tatsuhito is a poor, unfortunate, nerdy soul. Due to severe bullying, he stopped going to school entirely. Sadly, this did not stop the bullying from occurring outside the school grounds. His parents had no real interest nor care for his well-being, leaving him to live alone and fend for himself whilst they travelled overseas for work. On one fateful day, he happened to witness the leader of Grand Cross, the largest delinquent gang, Ijuin Sho, get into an unfortunate motorcycle accident. Sho was the polar opposite of Yamada, an unbeatable fighter who had never lost a one-on-one fight and was effortlessly cool. Thinking that Yamada looked just like him, Sho gets Yamada to stand in for him, which leads to Yamada having to fool Grand Cross and others, that he is Sho.

The very first opening shot is an extreme close up of a major character's eye before the camera slowly zooms out to reveal his whole face. The following shots are great too with a smoke machine being used to make the tracking of the character look badass. This cool shot sequence indicates the rather neat production values of the drama. Sure, it's not exactly on the level of Gannibal in this regard, but it is decent by drama standards. You have to remember that not every drama gets a huge budget with most actually having very little production costs.  

The episodic formula helps the pacing as each part of the story is given a chance to breathe and we get to learn a bit more about certain characters than we would in a movie. I enjoyed the pacing of the drama and most of the episodes. Did not enjoy episode 6 that much. It had some good stuff, but the main antagonist was extremely mentally ill and underwhelming. 

Despite being a very delinquent-heavy drama, the focus is less on the gang's various fights and more on the comedy of Yamada's struggles in pretending to be Sho. There's some slapstick humour, comical over-reactions to various events and then stuff such as Sho messing with Yamada even whilst in the hospital bed. There's a few recurring gags such as Kanako having done practically everything under the sun in her past and Beniko reminding her to call her 'Mama', not 'Senpai'. 

The fight sequences are okay. The first one could really have done with better choreography. The way the group of guys fell down after that one trash can kick was unintentionally hilarious and kind of embarrassingly bad. There's also another moment in episode 6 where a kick very obviously misses but the guy goes down anyway. Poor camerawork there, a different angle was needed for such a kick to hide the miss. The sequences do get better later on, but they're still not the greatest. 

A drama is only as good as it's lead and Densetsu No Kashira Sho is in good hands with Fumiya Takahashi. In an extremely difficult task of having to play two different roles, he excels. Sure, he's not the most intimidating looking guy, but he makes up for it with his performance in the role of Ijuin Sho. He's also exceptionally good as Yamada, bringing a great range and invoking sympathy for the unlikely protagonist. Takahashi manages to make them both different enough with clever usage of different voices, showcasing vocal range and changes in body language and overall demeanour. The costumes also help. 

Daigo Seyama, the leader of the gang, Hokuso, is perhaps one of the biggest highlights in terms of the side characters. A man obsessed with beauty, he is constantly looking in a mirror and speaking about beautiful things. Sukai Kinjo chews up the scenery whenever he appears on screen. The same can be said for Bloody Mafia's leader Shin Tojo, portrayed by Karuma. Together, they make up a large part of the best episodes of the drama. The final episode in particular is excellent stuff from them.