Anata no Ban Desu Review

Drama: Your Turn to Kill (English title) / It's Your Turn (literal title)
Romaji: Anata no Ban Desu, Anata no Ban Desu - Counterattack
Japanese: あなたの番です
Director: Noriyoshi Sakuma
Writer: Mitsunori Fukuhara
Actors: Tomoyo Harada, Kei Tanaka, Nanase Nishino, Ryusei Yokohama, Nao, Tae Kimura, Naoto Takenaka, Miwako Kakei, Karen Otomo, Katsuhisa Namase, Miho Kanazawa 

Nana and Shota are a newlywed couple and Nana is 15 years older than Shota. Nana works as a designer and Shota works as a gym trainer. They both enjoy mystery. The newlywed couple then move to an apartment and they attend a resident's meeting there. Nana and Shota become involved in murder cases that take place at the apartment. Residents get murdered one by one. Some residents have a motive, but those suspects have an alibi. Because of this, an arrest has yet to be made.

If you are a fan of good mystery with plot twists then Anata no Ban Desu is right up your alley. It's addicting like chocolates, just one more bite one more episode until you realize you have just consumed all the episodes. They have done a great job to make the story so interesting that you will end up hooked and invested. Yes, you are right it's the type of drama that is best to binge-watch. I would even recommend this show to those who are new to Jdramas. It has the anime vibe, but the acting is not as over the top like most Jdramas.

Exchange murder is the biggest reason why you get invested in this drama, and if you've never seen anything like it would make you love the drama more. If you're familiar with Alfred Hitchcock's film Strangers on a train, it borrows the concept from that movie. Basically one person suggest if they want to get rid of someone, they should exchange murder, that way no one would suspect them and they won't be caught.

Unlike in Strangers on a train, this time the exchange involved group of strange characters, and the exchange only happen on a piece of paper. They didn't know exactly who wants them to kill a person. You could think of chain letter message in a way. The fun part is each of those characters looks like they could be a psychopath and you as a viewer will have your own thoughts on which one started all of this...the main culprit.

The acting is quite good, no one stands out which is good for a mystery show that has a very huge cast, though I know many people watch this because of Nishino Nagase who is a former member of Nogizaka46 lol. Also, the theme song "STAND-ALONE" is sung by Aimer so I expect many Anime fans would flock and watch this drama as well, but either way if you are a fan of mystery genre you will end up loving the show.

Japan is really good at borrowing great ideas but also putting twist on it that it will still look interesting and original. I've watched many mystery dramas and this one I would say is one of the best and definitely the best mystery Japanese drama of 2019.