Maou (2008)

This has to be one of the best series I have ever seen.  The story was just so absorbing and suspenseful.  The central characters were all interesting and magnetic.  A wonderfully delivered plot, plus great performances, plus a smorgasbord of themes, made this an intensely gripping and emotional story. 

The title is literally translated as “devil king”.  That’s because the central character is a lawyer who’s being dubbed as “angelic” for his reputation for clearing accused people who were really innocent of their purported crime.  In truth, though, this lawyer is very carefully manipulating his clients and his entire career in order to stage a vengeance that took him eleven years to plan and execute.  When he was seventeen years old, Manaka Tomoo’s brother was accidentally stabbed by a classmate named Serizawa.  

It all began there.  Slowly but surely with each episode all the events that led up to Manaka’s bitter search for vengeance unfolds.  Death comes one by one to people who were related to the case.  Serizawa, who now has become a police detective, tries to unravel the mysteries surrounding the deaths caused by a mysterious figure called Amano Makoto.  Eventually Serizawa finds out the truth about the deaths that seem to be hounding his friends and family and their connection to the painful past that he has been trying to overcome since the unfortunate incident eleven years ago.  Unfortunately, the tides cannot be turned anymore.  Manaka and Serizawa must confront each other and face the consequences of their actions, and the series comes to an appropriately tragic conclusion.

The series dealt with some very serious themes, including guilt and atonement, closeness to one’s family, loyalty to one’s friends, betrayal, justice, sacrifice, and the redemptive power of forgiveness.  It also had a supernatural element, represented as a psychic ability possessed by Manaka’s love interest.  That particular aspect of the story gave the entire series even more depth because although Manaka finds love and the hope of happiness, he ultimately sees himself unworthy of anything good – love, forgiveness, or joy.  I was truly enthralled by the story, its twists and turns, and the unexpected ways Manaka delivered his vengeance.  He was so dead set on it that he gave up his entire life for the fulfilment of his crusade.  The pacing was excellent, and the characters were all flawlessly portrayed.  I highly recommend this series to all who are looking for something of a detective thriller/mystery, because you will definitely get much more than you expect.  Maou has quickly become one of my most favourite series of all time.  

More information on Maou.

The Firm - John Grisham

Book jacket synopsis:

At the top of his class at Harvard Law, he had his choice of the best in America.    He made a deadly mistake.

When Mitch McDeere signed on with Bendini, Lambert & Locke of Memphis, he thought he and his beautiful wife, Abby, were on their way.  The firm leased him a BMW, paid off his school loans, arranged a mortgage, and hired him a decorator.  Mitch McDeere should have remembered what his brother Ray – doing fifteen years in a Tennessee jail – already knew.  You never get nothing for nothing.  Now the FBI has the lowdown on Mitch’s firm and needs his help.  Mitch is caught between a rock and a hard place, with no choice – if he wants to live.

It’s been around for a while and has always been quite popular.  It made a rich man out of John Grisham, I’m sure.  I’d never seen the movie – I don’t like Tom Cruise all that much and legal suspense/drama stories even less.  But I remember Stephen King saying that it’s good, and I’d pretty much believe anything Stephen King says when it comes to stories.  So I grabbed a copy on impulse from a second-hand book store and decided to give it a try.

Quite true to the hype, it was indeed well-paced and had page-turning plot development.  Mitch is super-smart and very sharp.  I loved the way he pulled the strings of everyone around him, outwitting the Mob and confounding the FBI at the same time.  And the author also made him a pretty likable character - you don't end up thinking of him as an arrogant, self-important a$$h*le.    When he got scared, you got scared along with him, too.  You end up sympathizing with him and hoping he’d pull everything off and walk into the next available rosy sunset with a happily-ever-after in his suit pocket.  Story-wise it’s pure escapist.  Everything is just so unlikely and doubtful (I mean, come on, pulling one over both the Mob and the FBI?), but you go along with it and enjoy the ride anyway.  Pretty fun, actually.    

I did indeed appreciate the book.  But it is just not something I would reread, or see the film adaptation of.  Once is enough for me.  But that’s me and the legal suspense genre is not my cup of tea.  For those who like it though, read and enjoy to your heart’s content.

Perfume - Patrick Suskind

This is one of the best stories I've encountered recently.  It's a tale of a man who was born with an amazing ability - an acute sense of smell.  Life takes him along a path that leads him to learn the intricacies that will make him the world's greatest perfumer, and eventually to commit several murders, in search of the ultimate scent that he hopes will bring him triumph and affirmation.

I love how the story is told - almost like a fairy tale - so graceful and restrained.  Grenouille, the main character, was not portrayed as something to be reviled, nor something to be pitied.  He was never made to sound like a hero nor a villain.  All of his actions were the consequences of his nature, the nature of the people whom he encountered in his life, and the nature of the milieu of the time.  You will feel that he is blameless and innocent, a victim of fate - just like how we think of ourselves and all the rest of us here on this earth.  He merely did what he had to do to seek that which he thought would make him happy.  Isn't that exactly what we all want out of life?

I recommend this book to people who are not afraid of truth, and who prefer their stories to be free of cliches and stereotypes.  Those who will like this book are open-minded, who do not think that all beauty is goodness, and that all that is good is beautiful.  Readers of this book will learn that redemption doesn't necessarily mean being saved, and that success may not be as sweet as we thought it might be.  You must have time to read this book from start to finish, for you will not want to let it go.  If I would rate it, I'd give it a definite 10/10.  Happy reading.