"Ringu: Saishûshô" (1999) TV series

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

7 January 1999 (Japan)

Genre:

Horror

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Toshirô Yanagiba	...	Kazuyuki Asakawa (12 episodes, 1999)
Tomoya Nagase	...	Ryûji Takayama (12 episodes, 1999)
Kotomi Kyôno	...	Akiko Yoshino (12 episodes, 1999)
Akiko Yada	...	Mai Takano (12 episodes, 1999)
Yûta Fukagawa	...	Yôichi Asakawa (12 episodes, 1999)
Hitomi Kuroki	...	Rieko Miyashita (12 episodes, 1999)
Tae Kimura		(11 episodes, 1999)
Kei Yamamoto	...	Professor Jôtarô Nagao (11 episodes, 1999)
Takayuki Katô	...	Kawamura (10 episodes, 1999)
Nao Matsuzaki	...	Herself (7 episodes, 1999)
Aiko Konoshima		(7 episodes, 1999)
Yukinori Yokoyama		(7 episodes, 1999)
Chieko Ichikawa		(6 episodes, 1999)
Shigehiro Takeda		(6 episodes, 1999)
Tetsu Watanabe	...	Officer Kashiwada (6 episodes, 1999)
Hideyuki Akabane		(5 episodes, 1999)
Mansaku Ikeuchi		(5 episodes, 1999)
Shôzô Uesugi	...	Dr. Heihachirô Ikuma (5 episodes, 1999)
Sachi Shindô		(5 episodes, 1999)

Also Known As:

Ring: The Final Chapter (Japan) (literal English title)

Runtime:

54 min (including commercials) (12 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Company:

Fuji Television Network

Movie Connections:

Remake of Ringu (1998)

Soundtrack:

Stars

A unique Japanese drama

Before watching this, I had seen every Ring film except Rasen. Rasen was released with English subtitles in 2003, and I plan to see it soon. I am a diehard fan. So, maybe I am a little biased.

The series has a completely different take on the characters of Ringu, and a lot of major events are changed. Some of these changes were clearly made to stretch the story out over 12 episodes. Other changes are just inexplicable; like the video being "hidden" inside a J-pop music video. However unnecessary the changes may seem, they did keep the story fresh and interesting.

The closest American comparison I could make is to the TV soap opera Passions. The format is different, but this is still at heart a TV drama series involving the supernatural. It also has elements of The X-Files and E.R. If that sounds bizarre, just bear in mind that this is a Japanese program.

For the first six episodes, I was hooked. Edge of the chair suspense, real caring for the characters. However, it did start to get hokey as time wore on. By the end, I began to see Ringu as an allegory against multi-level marketing schemes. In fact, the final episode was hokier than the final episode of Hack Dusk and John Galt's final speech in Atlas Shrugged put together.

All that said, the good outweighed the bad. There's no other series quite like it, and it's a must-see for Ringu fans.