Ryusei no Kizuna DVD Box (DVD) (Japan Version) DVD Region 2

Adapted from Higashino's popular novel, 10-episode mini-series Ryusei no Kizuna follows three orphan siblings - Koichi (Ninomiya Kazunari), Taisuke (Nishikido Ryo), and Shizuna (Toda Erika) - as they try to find the man who killed their parents in cold blood 15 years ago. Though the premise of the story is heavy, screenwriter Kudo Kankuro's hand is light, approaching the crime mystery and complex relationships with a snappy tone, offbeat pacing, and amusing script. The drama, however, never for a second makes light of the family tragedy or the toll it has taken on the characters beneath their laidback personalities. The past hangs over the story and the characters at every spoken and unspoken moment, and the close, yet contentious relationship of the three siblings and Miura Tomokazu's Detective Kashiwabara is casually but clearly conveyed through simple, yet telling interactions and dialogue.

Kudo Kankuro's influence is strongest in the first half of the drama. The three siblings take to swindling in seemingly random manner, and their escapades are presented as cheeky short films directed by mastermind Koichi, complete with costumes and credits. These irreverent drama-within-a-drama interludes are clearly something out of Kudo Kankuro left field, and his script is punctuated with dry zingers and odd humor. This unpredictable quality gives the drama a very distinct tone and mood of its own that soon feels natural and appropriate for the story and the characters. After the Kudo humor is naturalized and the characters and backstories have been established, the drama settles increasingly into the familiar world of Higashino Keigo as the twist-filled investigation picks up, and the siblings' efforts to manipulate the suspected killer and the police take them to unexpected places and conflicts.

The idol trio of Ninomiya Kazunari, Nishikido Ryo, and Toda Erika form an easy and believable chemistry that gives Ryusei no Kizuna its emotional core. Both Nishikido Ryo and Toda Erika are likable and convincing as the younger siblings, but it is older brother Ninomiya Kazunari who gets the most crucial and fleshed out character, providing an anchor and outlet for all the under-the-surface ties and tensions that hold the story's many relationships together. Ninomiya may not have been the most obvious choice for Ryusei no Kizuna but his casting, like Kudo Kankuro's writing, fits like second skin. Carrying his boyish appearances with a world-weary air, Ninomiya is able to give the drama's seemingly offhand dialogue deeper meaning and hold his own next to veteran co-star Miura Tomokazu, particularly in the drama's emotionally taxing finale.