Maou DVD Box (DVD) (Japan Version) DVD Region 2

Arashi's Ohno Satoshi takes on the complex role of an angelic lawyer who is in fact the devil manipulating seemingly unrelated people to become his unwitting tools for murder. Ohno's casting comes as something of a surprise; until Maou, he had largely stayed clear of TV dramas beyond occasional guest appearances and accumulated most of his acting experience on stage in theatrical plays and musicals. Part of this may be because the Arashi leader doesn't fit into the screen heartthrob image as naturally as bandmates and drama regulars Matsumoto Jun, Sakurai Sho, and Ninomiya Kazunari, but this comes to his advantage in Maou. Despite coming from Japan's top idol group, Ohno refreshingly carries no idol baggage as an actor, something that not even his Korean counterpart Ju Ji Hoon could escape. Calm and convincing, Ohno inspires both dread and empathy as the duplicitous, soft-spoken killer slowly laying out his deadly revenge plan and taunting the police every step of the way.

Fellow Johnny's idol Ikuta Toma successfully graduates from bumbling student roles with a surprisingly affecting performance as a rash cop searching for truth and redemption as the people connected to his past mistake are killed one by one. If Uhm Tae Woong seemed too old for his role in The Devil, then Ikuta Toma has the opposite problem, as he looks too young and trendy with his gelled-up hair. His boyish demeanor, however, does automatically lend an air of innocence and willfulness that helps reinforce his character. Though he does stretch at some points in the earlier half of the drama, Ikuta grows into the role as the story progresses, effectively conveying the emotional desperation of a man haunted by a past he can't forgive and an enemy he can't hate. Ikuta and Ohno's chemistry and performances in the drama's later episodes, particularly the harrowing finale, are especially compelling.

Maou's dark and riveting story is near identical to that of The Devil, but trimmed from 20 episodes down to the Japanese drama standard of 11 episodes. The shorter length works in Maou's favor, reducing the melodrama and tightening the pace for more suspense, better backstory exposition, and a stronger climax. As the killer's identity and motive for revenge are revealed to viewers early on, the drama's narrative push lies not in solving the case, but rather watching how the case and tangled relationships play out as the stakes stack up and the characters flesh out in Greek tragedy fashion. By the time Maou reaches its emotionally wrenching conclusion, all characters and cases have been effectively upturned in its unforgiving and painfully human cycle of cause and effect, crime and punishment. Though the drama's title refers to Ohno Satoshi's role, the story's tragedy and trespasses lie not in the devil, but in man.