Oguri Shun Returns as a Cop Who Sees Dead People in TV Asahi Procedural Dorama Border

Oh yeah baby it’s finally happening! Oguri Shun is returning to J-doramas after dropping one of my favorite performances in 2012’s Rich Man Poor Woman for Fuji TV‘s Monday at 9 pm timeslot. This time he’s joining forces with TV Asahi and is changing it up – Shun who goes from playing a socially awkward IT wunderkind to a cop who sees dead people. Hhhhmmm, a cop who sees dead people….where did I see that before? Oh yes, that horrible Who Are You that I’m still bitter about. If there is anything Japan does better than Korea when it comes to dramas it’s in the cop procedural so having Japan tackle the cop + dead people genre is definitely a step up. Even if it seems to be a step up, perhaps the stain of WAY is so great that Border does have a whiff of been there-done that. In the upcoming Spring dorama Border, Shun plays a cop who almost died after being shot in the head and now has the special ability to see dead spirits. Apparently his special power comes from the bullet still lodged in his head which not only doesn’t kill him but gives him new career enhancing ability. He uses this special ability to solve cases and is a character that is very shadowy and restrained.

This dorama comes from the hands of famed screenwriter Kaneshiro Kazuki, a Korean-Japanese novelist and screenwriter who penned the successful procedural dorama SP (Special Police) as well as wrote the K-movie Fly Daddy Fly with Lee Jun Ki. Joining Shun in Border will be Aoki Munetaka as a rival detective, his boss played by Endo Kenichi, and Japanese actress Haru playing a coroner that he works with. Please don’t let this dorama have a tacked on love story, a nice simple humanistic straight up procedure is just fine with me. Writer Kaneshiro revealed that he wrote this screenplay and character with Shun in mind to bring to life, needing an actor with great nuance and depth to essay the inner struggle of a man who gains the ability to straddle life and death. As a detective he’s also very meticulous with observing details along with being ambitious with his career advancement. While procedurals aren’t my favorite genre I did love Tokyo Dogs a lot and the thought of Shun coming back to TV is too delicious to pass up. He also looks beyond fine in the way he’s styled for this drama, no weird hairdo and plenty of detective black suits to whet my appetite. Border premieres this April.