‘Your Turn to Kill’…An unsettling yet thoroughly engrossing mystery about a murder-swap game.
Also translated as ‘It’s Your Turn’ or in romaji as ‘Anata no Ban Desu’. This review is for both seasons 1 and 2 (Counterattack).
Mild spoilers ahead…
I have never been as thankful for recaps as I have been while watching Your Turn to Kill. Though essential when watching an episode a week, they don’t really serve a purpose if you are watching two to three episodes consecutively (or binge-watch all in one day; whichever way you like). But with a show like this, with multiple characters, multiple murders, multiple connections, lies, twists, and turns, the recaps before every episode became a necessity. If not, I would have most probably whipped out a notebook and a pen and started jotting down things instead. But fortunately, our protagonists did that for me instead, by drawing up a table, complete with flowcharts, symbols, and labels.
The table is a result of a murder swap game played (reluctantly) by the residents of an apartment complex (where newlyweds Tezuka Nana and Tezuka Shota have just moved into) after one of the monthly residents association meetings. The way this comes about is a bit sudden, but there is an explanation for this suddenness, though you will have to wait until the very last episode for it (and like me, if you still didn’t quite get it, you can read it up here).
The question is simple. Have you ever wanted to kill someone? One resident answers that he wishes he could kill his school bully. Another wishes to kill her boss, who used to sexually harass her.
This question loops back to the beginning of the (first) episode, where an unnamed narrator explains how we have all, at least once in our life, wished to kill the person who made our lives a living hell. But we can’t and we won’t. Why? Not because of morals or ethics, but simply because we don’t want to get arrested. Killing someone is the easy part, covering it up is the hard part.
The residents are then asked to write the name of the person they wish they could kill on a small piece of paper and then draw another from the accumulated pile. The name that appears on the drawn paper is the person you have to kill. This way, the person you want dead is killed by a random stranger, who has no relation to them, while you have an alibi that can allow you to evade the police.
Then, that very night, the property manager (Takenaka Naoto) dies. And so begins a series of murders corresponding exactly to the names pulled out from the murder swap game. Like in Strangers from Hell, every resident of the apartment either looks suspicious or is plain weird (except for Shota, who seems to be the cutest, sweetest most husband ever. But in an apartment full of suspicious occupants you need a pure, good-hearted anchor, which he is, and becomes even more in the second season) but Nana and Shota (played by Harada Tomoyo and Tanaka Kei respectively) are both murder mystery enthusiasts and instead of being dismayed by these unfortunate series of incidents, they decide to investigate the matter.
What follows is a thrilling, chilling cat and mouse chase, overlayed with lies, suspicion, regret, compulsion, and madness. I don’t want to say too much and spoil anything, but the story is rarely straightforward. It is complex, but not confusing, and like most Japanese murder mysteries, there is never one clear-cut answer. Take Akaike Misato (Minemura Rie), who is frayed from her mother-in-law’s ceaseless taunts. You also wish for her mother-in-law to die, but later on, we find out that Misato isn’t really all that innocent. She looks down on people lesser than her, and when they offer their help, she mocks them. The game likewise reveals how people are never what they seem, and the name written on that piece of people could be a result of a life-long hatred or just a moment’s compulsion or neither and written just for some sadistic fun. It makes you question the extent to which a person must go for the person they love and makes you question if it is indeed justice to take someone’s life because they have hurt you.
The drama is cleverly paced, dramatic but not over the top, exciting, emotional, and constantly keeps you on your toes, trying to decipher the mystery with Nana and Shota.
Side note: Cultural differences do alter the way in which a story is formulated. Through K- dramas, I have learnt that homes and offices in South Korea use keypad locks, which automatically locks the door once you enter the house, and has made the habit of carrying keys redundant. In Japan, this system doesn’t exist, with houses being secured with a simple bolt and lock. So, if you leave your house by just closing the door, someone will still be to enter your house, as it is not locked. This simple difference stood out to me because in this drama many people are able to enter another person’s house easily, when they rush out, forgetting to lock the door. If this drama was set in Seoul, this plot point wouldn’t be plausible there! All because of a change in the locking system!
