(Mini Series) Human Vapor - A Wonderfully Written, Dark & Tragic Sci-Fi Thriller Series With Some Awesome Special Effects

Ever since this series was shown as part of the Coming Soon in Netflix, I was already intrigued and looking forward to it. But as I was busy finishing another series on the day it was released, I only started watching two nights ago and finished it yesterday. Without further ado, here's more on the series.

Brief Story Line

During a live interview on TV by well known reporter Kyoko Kono (Yu Ayoi - Rurouni Kenshin: The Final, Asura TV series etc), the person being interviewed was killed by mysterious gas which shocked the whole audience. Police detective Kenji Okamoto (Shun Oguri - Godzilla vs. Kong, Museum etc) was assigned to investigate the case. When someone who called himself Human Vapor (UTA) claimed responsibility for the murder and threatening to kill other people, Kenji led a group of police to try and capture him. 

Meanwhile struggling streamer siblings Fujita (Kento Hayashi - Malice TV series, High & Low: The Movie etc) and his younger sister Kaho (Suzu Hirose - Who Saw the Peacock Dance in the Jungle? TV series, Our Little Sister etc) were trying to find out who the actual Human Vapor was to boost their popularity. As the investigation run deeper, it appeared to be connected to something sinister in the past and involved a lot of parties.

So who was actually the Human Vapor and why was he doing all the killings? You could find out in this series.

End of Brief Story Line

This series started off brilliantly with a shocking scene that got me very excited. And to be honest, the first episode was very good as it introduced us with the important characters and also had a fast pace. Subsequently though, somehow I felt the second episode got slower and only became more suspenseful towards the end. The intensity was later felt again in the third episode. However the fourth episode felt rather uninteresting which made me feel the pacing was a bit uneven. As I continued watching, I realized that it was a very important part of the story which ended with a shocking scene.

The second part of the series felt different with the revelation and important information that were shown earlier as it explored more on the why and history. This was also the part where I felt a sense of sadness and had a feeling of how it would end. And frankly the series had a wonderful conclusion. I like how they wrote the ending as it was just and did not feel unrealistic, although there was one part regarding the completely flawed plan involving Kenji towards the end. Oh before I forgot, the very last scene of the series was really interesting which was open to any kind of interpretation for audience. 

During closing credits of the series, I saw that it was based on the 1960 movie titled The Human Vapor written by Takeshi Kimura and directed by Ishiro Honda. I read that it was critically acclaimed and commercially successful & even got into list of All Time greatest Japanese movie of all time. This time though, the series was written by South Korean Yeon Sang-ho the man behind hit films like Colony, Train to Busan and series like Hellbound etc together with his frequent collaborator Ryu Yong-jae (Peninsula, Parasyte: The Grey etc). The whole episodes were directed by Shinzo Katayama (Gannibal TV series, Missing etc). 

I thought the cast did wonderful job here with my admiration to newcomer UTA who portrayed the Human Vapor despite having to act with all the more experienced people around him. Aside from the names above, there were also appearances of Yutaka Takenouchi (Shin Kamen Rider etc) as former Yakuza Mori, Takashi Okabe (News Anchor TV series etc) as Governor Miura, Pierre Taki (Tokyo Swindlers TV series etc) as Police commissioner Sakamoto, Haruka Imou (Rope etc) as Kenji's partner Michiko and several others. The series had 8 episodes overall with duration between 42-68 minutes. And since it is a limited series, obviously it was satisfying cause it had a conclusive ending without any worry of whether it would be renewed or cancelled.

Overall this was something that I really liked. The story was wonderful even if it felt sad and tragic. The theme song Ellie My Love by Southern All Stars also felt perfectly suited for this series. The special effects were awesomely done and the ending was satisfying. The acting was pretty good as well, not the exaggerated type like live adaptation of manga or anime that could sometime be a little bit over the top. The ending was also satisfying for me. The only thing that I thought could have been better was the pacing which sometimes felt uneven. However it did not make the series became unentertaining. So if you are interested in a sci-fi thriller series with good story, then I think you would enjoy this like I did. But if you prefer a full action and very fast paced type, then you would need to manage your expectation if you do not want to be disappointed. The choice is yours.

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars