Following an incident during which one of his subordinates is heavily wounded either under supernatural circumstances or by him, Japanese SWAT-equivalent Lieutenant Sebumi (Ryo Kase) is transferred to the tiny unit of Tokyo’s police concerned with weird crimes committed by people who have “specs”. Specs are powers apparently explained by their wielders using the ninety per cent of their brains bad pop science said we don’t use.
The very straight Sebumi’s two new colleagues are even stranger than their cases: unit chief Nonomura (Ryu Raita) appears timid and more interested in his affair with a much younger policewoman than in the whole solving crime business. Whereas the heart and brains of the operation, Saya Toma (Erika Toda), is not only clearly on the spectrum, but also a near endless fount of strange tics, aggressive behaviour, body language from another planet and an unhealthy love of gyoza.
She’s also an absolute genius when it comes to solving weird crimes.
Directed – and as far as I understand also independently produced – by Yukihiko Tsutsumi, the ten episode series SPEC is a most curious thing in its mix of Japanese pop culture trope obsessions, the X-Files, and particularly once the main plot get going in a way Chris Claremont would probably approve of, the X-Men, filtered through a lens of absurdist slapstick that can swap to effectively deathly earnest and even genuinely affecting on a moment’s notice. None of this shouldn’t come together, but somehow, the show drags its disparate influences into a complete thing all of its own, a tone that’s utterly distinct.
This was clearly made on the very cheap, with only a handful of standing sets (all of those cheap but also thoughtfully made) and whatever locations Tsutsumi could scratch together. But then, the Tsutsumi proceeds to direct the hell out of what he’s got in a barrage of fast edits, peculiar angles and improbable camera movement that makes everything feel absurd, intense and exciting, and puts the show into a pretty unique aesthetic place somewhere between expressionism and live action manga.
This plays particularly well with Toda’s performance, which is an absolute thing of beauty. Toda turns a series of tics, slapstick ideas and always full-on physical acting into an actual person, a coherent character who is also perfect fit for Tsutsumi’s exalted style. She is as believable when she’s solving a weird crime, as when she has a dramatic revelation, or as when she has a Three Stooges style punch-up with Sebumi.
The show is inventive, funny and interesting throughout, with a plot that escalates from a series of golden age mystery inspired crimes with one added supernatural element into a grand conspiracy with high emotional stakes for both of our main protagonists.
The show was something of a surprise hit in Japan, kickstarting Toda’s career and was followed by two TV specials as well as a trilogy of actual movies of escalating plot insanity, though not necessarily quality.
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