Those who want a LUCKY SEVEN season 2 or film version… or a Shuntaro x Nitta spinoff series, please raise your hand. *RAISES HAND for all three, but especially for third option*

For me, the biggest reason why LUCKY SEVEN was a success was because of the characters of Shuntaro and Nitta that Matsumoto Jun and Eita play. They make the show less of a humdrum detective drama and give it memorable characters. Of course, the other detectives in the “lucky seven” have their own quirky personalities like the prissy Asuka played by Naka Riisa and and the equally weird Junpei played by Oizumi Yo, but they more or less lend support to the two male characters.

The problem with SPs is that they’re nothing more than a convoluted version of the series, especially when it comes to detective dramas. There would be a bigger crime, for instance, and big stars as guests. Those two elements are present in LUCKY SEVEN’s SP, but what makes it even more “special” is the interaction between Shuntaro and Nitta that hasn’t been seen before in the series.

Scenes like this never get old but with extra oomph:

Photo credit: veeeeecky at tumblr

But this one takes the cake:

Photo credit: tsukasakun on tumblr

Or better yet, watch the cut:

That “love scene” alone, which appears on the half mark of the almost-two-hour drama special, is classic. Imagine the usually DoS Matsujun who loves torturing the other Arashi members acting like a softie? No surprise about Eita because he has always been a versatile actor.

My only quibble with this special is how Asuka and Junpei don’t see much screen time; she’s supposed to have gone to New York and only returns after all that excitement, and he was thrown behind bars. I’m not sure if it has something to do with scheduling conflict or to give way to Ishihara Satomi.

But it was a fun watch and really, I won’t mind a second season or a film version, or a spinoff series. Though a bickering pair of detectives is not really new, Matsujun and Eita breath fresh air into the oft-used plot with their earnest Shuntaro and cool Nitta.

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