BAD BOYS J ep.1

Late night drama BAD BOYS J episode 1 review!

Synopsis (from DramaWiki):

Hiroshima, 2013. The reigning No. 1 gang, BEAST, is led by Danno Hidenori, while Nights, the No. 2 gang in Hiroshima, is led by Hiro.
Kiriki Tsukasa is but an ordinary high school student. Having made the acquaintance of Kawanaka Yoji, Iwami Eiji & Nakamura Hisao by chance, Tsukasa is now drawn into the sphere of the group called "Gokurakuchou". One day, due to one reason or another, Tsukasa challenges Gokurakuchou's current leader, Jun to a duel. Before the fight ends, Jun collapses, which effectively makes a very unwilling Tsukasa, the 8th leader of Gokurakuchou.

Cast:

Gokurakuchou

• Nakajima Kento as Kiriki Tsukasa
• Iwamoto Hikaru (岩本 ひかる) as Kawanaka Yoji
• Fukusawa Tatsuya (深澤 辰哉) as Iwami Eiji
• Watanabe Shota (渡辺 翔太) as Nakamura Hisao

BEAST

• Nikaido Takashi as Danno Hidenori
• Morita Myuto (森田 美勇人) as Takama Kazutoshi
• Morohoshi Shoki (諸星翔希) as Harada Kazunari
• Sakurai Reika (桜井玲香) as Miyashita Mariya
• Takayama Kazumi (高山一実) as Momose Haruka
• Wakatsuki Yumi (若月佑美) as Nitta Mio
• Nojo Ami (能條愛未) as Karatsu Rina

Nights

• Hashimoto Ryosuke as Hiro
• Yasui Kentaro as Nakagawa Kenjiro
• Hagiya Keigo (萩谷慧悟) as Funamoto Jun
• Shimekake Ryuya (七五三掛龍也) as Kenjou Juri
• Akimoto Manatsu (秋元真夏) as Kamijo Mariko
• Ito Marika (伊藤万理華) as Mikami Miyu
• Ito Nene (伊藤寧) as Sakuma Mina

Others

• Itano Tomomi as Nakai Kaori
• Triendl Reina as Sato Erika
• Hashimoto Nanami (橋本奈々未) as Yoshimoto Kumi
• Matsumura Sayuri (松村沙友理) as Fujii Mika
• Taketomi Seika as Takanashi Aoi

My impressions:

BAD BOYS J is a gang fight type of drama, in the likes of Sugarless. In Hiroshima, there is 3 gangs currently fighting for the number 1 spot.  Which team will become king of the city?
 
I was a little bit confused by the beginning, as I was getting mixed by the different names of gangs and a substantial amount of actors presented at once. When I understood that Gokuraku cho was the name of a gang and not a neighborhood, it started to make more sense. I am not a fan of gang fight type of drama, but I thought the story of the first episode was actually not that bad. It could be potentially interesting. One good aspect is I felt that the actors looks like gang members, with the exception of Kiriki Tsukasa which is intentional. The episode was also very short, around 24 minutes.

It has many Johny's juniors and a new generation of actors and actresses. By watching this episode, I felt that it was probably more aimed at a teenager audience.

I recommend this drama if you are a fan of gang fights drama. This is really the main focus of the story. There was not really any mention of school or anything else. There was a lot of fights scenes.
Or course, I also recommend this if you are a fan of Johny's Junior.