Invisible (インビジブル) is a Japanese police drama written by Yoshihiro Izumi, Ken Tsuchiya, and Takafumi Kosaka. The story narrates a strict police officer getting entangled with a crime coordinator so that he can arrest all of the criminals. The Series has ten episodes in total and each has a runtime of between 45 to 55 minutes.

The official Netflix description reads,

A detective obsessed with justice receives a surprising offer of help from a mysterious figure in the criminal underworld known as Invisible.

The series consists of an ensemble cast of many talented actors. Issey Takahashi, as Takafumi Shimura, takes up the lead role alongside Kou Shibasaki as Kiriko/Invisible. Other supporting and recurring cast includes Makoto Tanaka, Yoshi Sakou, Kiyoshi Isogaya, Akane Hotta, Motoki Nishimura, Moe Yuki, Taizo Harada, Kyosuke Tani, Kenta Kiritani, Kinari Hirano, Ito Ono, Ryouta Murai, Rihito Itagaki, Takenori Goto, Ginnojo Yamazaki, Kento Nagayama, and more.

– Invisible Review Contains No Spoilers –

The episode starts with Shimura chasing a man called Wang before an explosion occurs at Shibuya. Before this particular scene, we also get to see a suspicious guy placing a speaker box which is apparently a bomb. From far away, at the top of a building, a woman watches the explosion and says that it has “begun.”

We’re back to seeing Shimura, helping the people post-explosion. It is then a mysterious person’s video appears on the buildings where he demands Shimura if the cops want to know the next place of the explosion. After this event, Shimura is questioned by the police and is monitored by them. He also becomes viral online, and people start to believe that he has something to do with the loss.

As soon as Shimura reaches the spot where the mysterious person called him, he meets Kiriko, the same woman who was at the building’s top. She and him then somehow get out of that zone (since cops are around), and she reveals to him that she is willing to help if she gets immunity. Kiriko is then taken to the MPD, where the patrol offers her a safe house while Shimura starts to catch the criminals with the not-so-good information given by Kiriko.

Why is Kiriko helping him? What is the deadly flashback of Shimura all about? Why was he demoted? Who is the main criminal behind all the small bad guys? Why are they loitering in the streets of Japan, and why is Shimura, out of all cops is demanded by them? All these questions will be answered intriguingly in the series as we keep watching and unraveling the underground criminal world of Japan.

In the beginning, I leapt with happiness because Shibuya is exactly where Alice in Borderland‘s first scene (when everyone goes missing) was also filmed. Since that point, I got hooked on the series. However, the more I proceeded to watch, the more captivating point was the unexpected duo of a criminal influencer and the unorthodox cop. The lady is super chill and extremely malicious, but there’s something about her that keeps one patient until the truth comes out. As for the cop, Shimura, he is trying his best to stay calm, but man, he is constantly on the chase, thanks to his brains.

Though fellow cops try to solve cases, it is Shimura who winds the problems, leaving others mad at him. The writers did a good job of inducing humour at relevant spots so that the cop series doesn’t go too serious and violent. Shimura looks fierce, but when he gets pissed, he’s too adorable not to smile at. Since he is very alert, he tends almost to kill his colleagues (thinking they’re criminals) because the latter people get in his way without a proper warning.

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Kiriko, on the other hand, has a junior for her Sawatari, who is one of the best characters to look out for. Though his role seems little, his quirky moves and his character itself are a great add-on to the genre. Their duo is another aspect of comedy as well as the mystery dealbreaker of the plot. Overall, Shimura, Kiriko, and Sawatari go well together hand in hand.

Coming to the action sequences, Japanese drama never fails. They’re too exaggerated or simple rather crisp and actually look like it hurts. Shimura’s combat skills are notable since the actor is well-experienced in such scenes. Why so? Well, remember the movie Kill Bill where Uma Thurman fights certain Japanese people? Yes, indeed, Issey Takahashi was one of those guys who swung the sword at her.

Invisible Final Thoughts

Having such promising stars in this drama, it’s no wonder it worked well. With the twists at the end of each episode, subtle humour, duo theme, stunning visuals, locations, dialogue, and minor characters, the entire drama is a great watch. So stream it and have fun exploring the Japanese criminal underworld.

Invisible is streaming on Netflix. Let us know your thoughts on the series in the comment section below.

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